Toronto doesn't deserve to have the Blue Jays

[LittleOzzy]

It's time for me to jump back In the Zone and this week I want to ponder a question about Toronto's beloved Blue Jays.

The question is how beloved are they anymore? The team recently had its worst one-game attendance in club history with a crowd that just scraped over the 10 thousand mark.

And what is worse, this figure doesn't appear to be an anomaly. Over the past several years the crowds at Jays games have been getting smaller and smaller.

And the fact they haven't been in the playoffs in a dog's age is more than likely one of the main reasons.

But questions of the Jays' viability in Toronto have to be asked. Can Toronto support a major leaguer baseball team? The answer is of course they can. During their heyday in the early 90's they were pulling in 4 million fans a season. But as the on field struggles started and did the dwindling attendance.

So the question now is does Toronto deserve to have a MLB team. Sadly, I say no.

Torontonian have to understand and accept that it will be many years before the Blue Jays will ever contend for the World Series again. And as long as they are in the same division as New York and Boston, the playoff prospects are even slimmer. But that doesn't mean this team and future teams deserve to play in front of nobody. If a lack of winning is the reason why are people still going to see the Leafs? Well of course it is because we are a hockey centric country and Leaf Nation is the most delusional, if not loyal fan base in the world.

But Leaf Nation is proof that people will go to see the local team even when times are tough. So again, why are they not going?

http://www.northernnews.ca/ArticleDispl ... ?e=2547303

[Randle McMurphy]

[tsherkin]

20 games into the season and we're getting flak for not showing up in droves to see a team that has missed the playoffs for 16 consecutive seasons and doesn't show signs of getting there any time soon, in the wake of trading the best player this team has had in years?

What the Hell do people expect? Yeah, it'd be nicer if we weren't setting record-lows and stuff but lots of teams have issues when they aren't very good... or if they're projected to be incredibly bad for the season. Eh. Doesn't deserve to have a baseball team... this is like that asshat who wanted to move us to Caracas.

[Brew666]

Ya Howard Berger posted a similar article on Hockeybuzz.com.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Howard-Berger/Leafs-Are-This-Citys-Only-Habit/3/27775

IMO, I don't think it's fair to compare the support for the Leafs to any other professional sports team support within the city. This is a hockey city (& surrounding area) that will support it's team through thick and thin but when it comes to other sports, the team has to be good to be supported including our beloved Blue Jays.

It would like be asking if New York deserves a hockey team because their attendance doesn't compare to the Yankees.

[youngLion]

These articles are so shortsighted. Last yer at this time the city was practically enamored with baseball after Cito's strong run in the latter half of 2008 and the fast start in 2009. People were interested, engaged, and there was a real buzz about the team, especially around the time of that Burnett @ Halladay start.

After that the quality of play fell off a cliff, and all at once the fans were heartbroken and disenchanted, and finally bought into the new rebuild, particularly once AA was brought in. I really believe that it's because the fanbase was so engaged at the beginning of last year before the fall that they're checked out (at least in terms of attendance) now.

Are the numbers troubling? A little. Could they be problematic? Only if sustained long term. I really believe that the fan base will come out as soon as this group starts to get better.

[Schad]

But Leaf Nation is proof that people will go to see the local team even when times are tough. So again, why are they not going?

Well, you imbecile, baseball in Toronto is played in a spacious dome, whereas hockey is played in a comparatively small arena. Last year, the Jays had an announced attendance of 1,876,129, which translates to an average of 23,162 people per home game, with a grand total of 81 home games, a decent portion of which are played at inconvenient times, like 2pm on a **** Tuesday. The equally sh*tacular Leafs drew 791,395 fans at 19,312 a game. More people on average saw the Blue Jays live last year than saw the Leafs. 10,000 fans sucks, but it has the appearance of sucking more because the Jays play in a venue larger than Liechtenstein.

Now, if the Leafs played in a 60,000 seat stadium, would they draw more? Absolutely. But attendance would be impacted somewhat if they were playing in the middle of the workday, and it would be impacted if games were less an event than a near-constant presence. No argument here that the Leafs are more popular than the Jays by a pretty wide margin, but there are far more variables at play than can be encapsulated in "hurr durr, Leafs fill stadium, Jays empty seat!". So go **** yourself.



(It would appear that all of my anti-media screeds this year will probably end up finishing with 'go **** yourself' this year. I yearn for simpler days when a mere 'blow me' or 'go marry your cousin' would do.)

[SharoneWright]

(It would appear that all of my anti-media screeds this year will probably end up finishing with 'go **** yourself' this year. I yearn for simpler days when a mere 'blow me' or 'go marry your cousin' would do.)

Jon Stewart, is that really you?? LOL.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/jon-stew ... ourselves/

[Alfred]

How about "Blow me you ****ing idiot"?

[Chevy Chase]

I think MLB needs to take some of the blame. They are the only league not to have any type of system to instil parity. Add to that a highly exclusionary playoff format and what do they expect. A team needs to at least have the illusion of a chance to compete in order to create interest.

Futhermore: I prefer to follow the Jays on Radio or TV (or even internet) because the experience at the Skydome is amongst the worst in all sports. The food is worse than a high school cafeteria and priced life fine dinning. If I owned the Skydome I'd made the bleachers a 1/2 beer garden. With so few tickets being soid they could make a few sections 19 and older only. Then they could add extra security and not have to worry about improper behaviour.

[youngLion]

How about "Blow me you ****ing idiot"?

This is the best answer. Sometimes the most accurate & appropriate response is a simple, straightforward, shouted statement.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEtFMj6ZiHM[/youtube]

[Raptor_Guy]

Omg how many times do we have to answer to this..IT'S APRIL!!!

It's not nice weather yet and everyone knows the roof is closed, a lot of people are in school and most are still watching hockey and basketball. On top of it, yes, the Jays are in a re-building year and people are aware of that.

I'm so sick of hearing about this crap. When contend for the World Series in a couple years, the fans will return.

[Attonitus]

It's clearly a short sighted article but to be fair, it was a fairly similar situation in Montreal when years of mismanagement (and bad luck) and ownership issues brought about record low attendances which gave them an excuse to move them when they wouldn't build a new stadium.

Now we have a much better ownership, a stadium in place, and a much bigger city and fan base, however, my fear is that if we go by the attitude of posters here, such as "fans will come when the team gets better/weather gets better", what if the team doesnt get better over the coming years? what if attendance doesn't increase significantly in the warmer months?

Fans clearly have a right to take the wait and see approach after what we have been through with JP but that could end up being the eventual downfall of this orgranization. I guess what i am trying to say is I think people take the team for granted and assume because it's Toronto, we could never lose a pro team but if the overall interest starts to decrease more and more it can become contagious for the casual fan and there are plenty of American cities who would take this team in a heart beat and a commisioner that would probably love to see that happen, just saying.

[chargerxthirty]

people really need to put things in perspective....

the sad truth is, these sparse crowds would be a non-issue if it wasn't for bottom-dweller reporters and writers grasping for something to write about baseball related. The unfortunate part is everyone wants to hear the negative. Yes the crowds are tiny right now... big deal, it's **** April people. We live in Canada and there are NHL playoffs on every single night, we all know that raptors fans are also paying attention to NBA playoffs too. Let's get serious. Why don't the writers focus on the positives. Talk about the fact that we have 3 young pitchers who have taken no-hit bids into at least the sixth inning, talk about the fact that Alex Gonzalez is pacing himself towards his career high in home runs (23). That's my point...

It's easy to sit at home and observe the empty blue seats from your couch, but do you know why that happens? It's because when you wake up one day and want to go to the Jays game, you will unequivocally be able to do so because there is no scarcity for tickets in a 50 000 seat stadium. Like Schad said, do the math and the Jays outdraw the leafs on a numbers basis when you extrapolate because the leafs play in a rink 1/3 the size and have half of the home dates. When the NBA and NHL are finished up, there will unquestionably be a lot more interest in the Blue Jays whether we are first place or last place.

We all know that Maple Leafs tickets are overvalued and that it's very difficult to get a seat. I love the Dome and all, but I wish the Jays would play in a more comfortable park with about 30-40k seats... that way, when we do have a great team in the middle of summer, tickets will be tougher to get and create a little scarcity. The Yankees and Red Sox haven't even visited yet and they are for sure draws with 100% certainty. I am relatively sure that we'll be drawing between 28-33 thousand people for the Yanks and Sox... which by the way we get something like 9 home dates with.

So let's relax everybody... just wait 2 months, see where the team is and consider the variables that nobody is paying attention to right now.

[Natural11]

Tough to stay positive when your team hasn't made the play-offs in 16 years. MLB does a great job of beating you down just when you start to catch a glimmer of hope. Even when we have good starts and overachieve we inevitably slump and/or the Yankees or Red Sox go out and buy a few all-stars to get them over the hump.

As a kid I grew up with the Jays winning those world series and as a result I was a fan for a lot of years after that. But as I got older and those memories faded, I was left to think about just how broken MLB is and how disappointing it is to be a fan of an American League East team that isn't NY or BOS.

When MLB get their **** together and fix the woeful play-off setup and team salary discrepancies, I'll be right there to support again. But I'm tired of watching baseball just for the sake of watching baseball. I need at least some hope that a successful season is possible, and having that hope as a Jays fan in MLB's current state is just asking to get burned.

[noob_please]

The Yankees and Red Sox haven't even visited yet and they are for sure draws with 100% certainty. I am relatively sure that we'll be drawing between 28-33 thousand people for the Yanks and Sox... which by the way we get something like 9 home dates with.

.

the sox are in town and there is barely any people there...LOL

[Raptor_Guy]

Yea I was at the Jays/Sox game tonight and attendence was just under 14000.

I dunno, I mean these games used to draw around 25 000, even in April on week nights. There's just no marquee players anymore and it's kinda depressed everyone, besides Lind,Hill and Wells theres nothing really for people to sink their teeth into. You used to go to a game thinking maybe Halladay or Burnett will be pitching, and knowing Rios (when he was good), Glaus/Rolen, Frank Thomas, etc would be there.

I'm still not that worried though, in a couple years we'll be improving with our young talent and have money to make a big splash in free agency, the future is bright, you just have to rough it out through some bad times.

[J-Roc]

I'd say it's more like MLB doesn't deserve a world-class town like Toronto. But whatever angle you want to look at it, "the ship is sinking".

[kelso]

20 games into the season and we're getting flak for not showing up in droves to see a team that has missed the playoffs for 16 consecutive seasons and doesn't show signs of getting there any time soon, in the wake of trading the best player this team has had in years?

What the Hell do people expect? Yeah, it'd be nicer if we weren't setting record-lows and stuff but lots of teams have issues when they aren't very good... or if they're projected to be incredibly bad for the season. Eh. Doesn't deserve to have a baseball team... this is like that asshat who wanted to move us to Caracas.

Amen.

Hey Rogers- how about you take some of the money you are effin gouging us for on your mobile network and spend it on a team? We (the fans) dont owe the Joys, MLB or Rogers a damn thing. The city of Toronto showed the Jays that when they spend and make and effort to put a winner on the field, we will buy tickets and come.

You cant make chicken salad out of chicken s**t.

[Alfred]

The time for spending is a few years away. Right now, the Jays need to develop prospects and our younger players. Going out and getting some high priced, older free agent isn't going to "push us over the top". That will come in a few years, hopefully.

[Raptor_Guy]

The time for spending is a few years away. Right now, the Jays need to develop prospects and our younger players. Going out and getting some high priced, older free agent isn't going to "push us over the top". That will come in a few years, hopefully.

Exactly. People don't really get that, there's no point in wasting money on free agents now when we're still a couple years away from being serious contenders. What would have been the point of signing a Matt Holliday or someone like that in the off-season, so you we can spend 17mil a year on one player so we can win 78 games instead of 70? Might as well save the money now and use it all when we're ready to contend.

And ps. the Jays are supposed to be spending a ridiculous amount on the draft this year, so that's good, very good.