If ever there was an acid test for the city of Toronto and it's supposed love for football, this is it. Toronto, in all it's glory will be hosting the 100th Grey Cup game, once known as Canada's National Drunk. The gods smiled upon the Canadian Football League yesterday by telling Anthony Calvillo that he can't turn back the hands of time. How fortuitous for the Toronto Argonauts and all those football lovers in the GTA who follow them religiously. One might have thought that Toronto must've been crazy yesterday as thousands huddled in front of their TV's to watch the Eastern Final. Not exactly. I'm sure the TV ratings were good, but everybody I saw at the Irish Embassy in Toronto was watching the NFL. Ditto for the Beer Bistro (mmmm Beer!) around the corner, where ALL the screens except for one were tuned to NFL games or the Raptors. Even when we went for dinner at Paganelli's on Front Street (excellent pasta and desserts), nobody was talking about the Argos and the Grey Cup. It was all about Tom Brady and RG3 and how shitty Bargnani has been playing and the gridlock from the Santa Claus Parade. My American friend Steve, who is a huge football fan, couldn't figure it out. (He also can't figure out why, in Canada, we serve salad as a side dish with quiche, but that's another story) Shouldn't the city be buzzing with the Argos in the Grey Cup? Apparently not. More folks are excited about seeing Neil Young, Los Lobos and the Sadies at the A.C.C. tonight than seeing Ricky Ray and the Chads at the Rogers Center on Sunday. Oh, by the way, the Argos play Calgary, and that means guys in cowboy hats will be descending upon Toronto and there might even be a horse or two walking through a hotel lobby. I don't have a point spread on the game yet, but I'll let you know so you can get a bet down.
And just in case you are a conspiracy theorist, don't forget that the Edmonton Eskimos greatly helped the Argos by GIVING them a future Hall of Famer, Ricky Ray. This move, to help the CFL sell the Grey Cup in Toronto, probably set the Eskimos back five years. The fans are outraged and have been since Eric Tillman made the deal. Tillman is now gone, but the stench from that trade lives on. It would be like Buffalo hosting the Super Bowl and suddenly the Bills get Tom Brady from New England in exchange for a fifth round pick and a bag of footballs. Very shady indeed.
My 17 year old son just got his learners permit and I took him out for his first drive yesterday. He thought he was going to go for a drive in the neighbourhood and maybe do a little parallel parking. Instead I told him to keep driving all the way to Home Depot, which meant a trip through a winding valley road with severe elevation changes, and then onto a main street with stoplights and everything. Finally into a busy parking lot at the Meadowlands with all kinds of obstacles like drivers not paying attention and the like. When he finally pulled into the parking space I congratulated him (and myself) for an excellent job. My only problem was HE WAS GOING TOO FAST. I had to yell at him a few times to slow down. I feel shame. But he's going to be a good driver, just like me (I hope).
Congrats to the McMaster Marauders, who will defend their Vanier Cup title against the Laval Rouge et Or on Friday night at Rogers Center. Both National semifinals were blowouts, which means you've got the two best teams in the nation battling each other for the second year in a row. Mac won it last year, but only after coughing up a huge halftime lead. 5th year quarterback Kyle Quinlan will be the difference as I am predicting a Mac victory. Hopefully there will be a big crowd out to see the best in Canadian University football. Hopefully Kyle Quinlan can find a job as a professional quarterback in a league that is SUPPOSED to promote Canadian talent.
Who will the next manager of the Bluejays be? I'm going to call Jim Riggleman for the job. He managed the Washington Nationals, but quit in 2011 after his team had won 11 of 12 games. The Nats didn't want to extend his contract, so Riggleman quit. He felt he was disrespected by the organization, so he resigned. I say bring him back for 2013 as the new Jays skipper. He's got Major League experience and I'll bet he'd be great in Toronto.
Oh yeah. They might sit down and talk hockey this week, just a few days after they said they were going to take a 2 week break. Wake me up when they've made a decision. Until then, I'll continue to get frustrated/excited about the Toronto Raptors. We've got to have something to cheer about this winter.
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