OT: Toronto's next champion?

[ForeverTFC]

I would say TFC and my reason is because Soccer is very much like Football. The team that gets hot at the end of the season has a great chance of taking the whole thing.

I think TFC right now has so many pieces that they don't know what to do with. They have their prized signing DeRo playing out of position for example. As long as they rack up some points in the first half of the season, I could see them finally gelling at the end and going on a run.

[Mustard_Tiger]

TV Ratings for Saturday

260,000 Toronto FC vs. Columbus Crew - CBC
255,000 Orioles vs Blue Jays - SportsNet
103,000 NBA Boston vs Chicago - Score
80,000 Chelsea vs Fulham - SportsNet
62,000 Portsmouth vs Arsenal - SportsNet

Soccer is clearly growing in Canada.

I think you need to analyze these results a bit better.

Take a look at their ratings when they aren't on a national public broadcaster that everybody in the country gets. The Jays have much more of a following in this country than this insignificant MLS team. The fact that the Jays actually challenged TFC on Saturday while being on a regional cable network should tell you that.

[Mustard_Tiger]

Question: would you give up Snider and/or Cecil for a big-time 09 free agent (e.g. Bedard)? In other words, do the Celtics regret the KG trade ... yet?

Not sure how Bedard equates to KG, or why we would ever consider trading either one of those two for an injury-prone, mediocre starting pitcher.

[LittleOzzy]

TV Ratings for Saturday

260,000 Toronto FC vs. Columbus Crew - CBC
255,000 Orioles vs Blue Jays - SportsNet
103,000 NBA Boston vs Chicago - Score
80,000 Chelsea vs Fulham - SportsNet
62,000 Portsmouth vs Arsenal - SportsNet

Soccer is clearly growing in Canada.

I think you need to analyze these results a bit better.

Take a look at their ratings when they aren't on a national public broadcaster that everybody in the country gets. The Jays have much more of a following in this country than this insignificant MLS team. The fact that the Jays actually challenged TFC on Saturday while being on a regional cable network should tell you that.

Sportsnet is a regional channel but you can still get it across the country. I have Sportsnet West for example just like everybody else.

It's in just as many homes as the CBC probably. Any sports fan would make sure to have the sports package.

[Mustard_Tiger]

Sportsnet is a regional channel but you can still get it across the country. I have Sportsnet West for example just like everybody else.

It's in just as many homes as the CBC probably. Any sports fan would make sure to have the sports package.

Sportsnet is a specialty cable channel. CBC is a public broadcasting network (that's in far, far more homes in this country). Obviously a public broadcasting network will get more viewers than a specialty cable channel (for example, check out the Blue Jays' ratings on CBC compared to their ratings on Sportsnet last year, you'll see a huge difference).

[J-Roc]

CBC is on basic cable. Your local regional Sportsnet channel is one tier above. To get all the others you need to pay for digital cable. For sure the CBC is available to more people and that's why the numbers are always skewed.

What I'm not sure about is why TSN numbers are always so much higher than Sportsnet numbers.

[Mustard_Tiger]

What I'm not sure about is why TSN numbers are always so much higher than Sportsnet numbers.

TSN has a lot more subscribers than Sportsnet in this country.

[J-Roc]

What I'm not sure about is why TSN numbers are always so much higher than Sportsnet numbers.

TSN has a lot more subscribers than Sportsnet in this country.

But who's "subscribing"? Isn't TSN and Sportsnet always on that same second tier of channels? In Ontario it is, correct?

[Mustard_Tiger]

What I'm not sure about is why TSN numbers are always so much higher than Sportsnet numbers.

TSN has a lot more subscribers than Sportsnet in this country.

But who's "subscribing"? Isn't TSN and Sportsnet always on that same second tier of channels? In Ontario it is, correct?

I don't live in Ontario at the moment, so I wouldn't know. My guess is that they aren't in the same tier of channels everywhere in the country.

[ForeverTFC]

What I'm not sure about is why TSN numbers are always so much higher than Sportsnet numbers.

TSN has a lot more subscribers than Sportsnet in this country.

But who's "subscribing"? Isn't TSN and Sportsnet always on that same second tier of channels? In Ontario it is, correct?

Basic cable in Ontario with rogers gets you until channel 28. So Sportsnet would be the only one there. The next level gives you until the 60s which would include TSN and the Score. Have fun trying to figure the numbers out there.

[RockTHECasbah]

Why would you give up Snider for a 'star'?

Baseball is different from basketball.... even an ace pitcher can only do so much