Sunny days

Toronto sports head into foreign territory: hope

Fans celebrating after the Toronto Blue Jays clinched the division last year. (Steven Goetz / for Metro)

I once had an idea for a sports talk show called The Optimist & The Pessimist. Sports fandom, like fandom in general, often gravitates to one or the other of these extremes. It’s similar to a Jerry Seinfeld joke that all criticism today can be summed up by either “that’s great!” or “that sucks!” There’s no in between.

I would be the Pessimist; my talk-show partner would play the Optimist. Each time we’d talk sports, I’d point out why our favourite team was going to lose, despite whatever good had just happened. And my partner would overlook blazing red flags and prep himself for the ticker-tape parade that was just around the corner.

But as the new baseball season begins, a weird thing is happening with Toronto sports: I’m becoming an optimist. I bet you are, too. It’s an odd feeling, and frankly one this city hasn’t experienced in, well, I simply can’t remember when.

The Toronto sports scene is unique. We may not realize it because it’s all we know. But almost all major-sports cities — with at least three pro teams in four major North American leagues — have experienced more championship-level joy than Toronto has in the last two-plus decades. Only Minneapolis and Cleveland come closest to our level of dissatisfaction. And it’s not lost on anyone that Cleveland is the city where the Toronto Blue Jays plucked its current management brain trust after losing MLB Executive of the Year Alex Anthopolous.

Since 1994, the year after the Blue Jays won their second World Series, Toronto has been on an epic losing streak:

The Blue Jays followed up their championship run with a losing record in 1994, going 55–60 before the players’ strike ended the season. And before winning their division last year, the Jays’ previous best finish in the AL East since 1994 was second place in 2006. Their division-mates fared better: from 1994 to 2014, the Yankees were world champs five times; the Red Sox three; the Tampa Bay Rays appeared in the 2008 World Series; and the Orioles won two division titles. Jays, nada.
The Toronto Raptors joined the NBA in 1995, and despite not leaving the country as fellow expansion team the Vancouver Grizzlies did, the franchise’s two biggest moments in its first 20 years were: 1) Vince Carter winning the slam-dunk competition; and 2) Kobe Bryant scoring 81 points against them. The Miami Heat, which joined the Association only seven years prior, won three championships in that same period. First overall draft picks since 1995 included LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose, and Blake Griffin, to name a few; the Raptors selected the underwhelming Andrea Bargnani with their one-and-only first overall pick in 2006.
Before last season, the Toronto FC had never made the MLS playoffs since joining the league in 2007, a feat all six other expansion teams accomplished, including the Montreal Impact (making the playoffs twice), which joined five years after TFC, and the Portland Timbers, which won the championship last year. The Seattle Sounders, which joined MLS in 2009, have made the playoffs every season of their existence.
And the Toronto Maple Leafs. Enough said. (In fairness, the Leafs did make the playoffs eight times before the 2004–05 season, reaching the Conference Finals in both 1999 and 2002. But so abysmal has this period been in Leafs franchise history that former Mayor Rob Ford proclaimed May 6, 2013, as Blue and White Day to commemorate the Leafs’ first playoff home game in almost a decade. They lost that opening round series to the Bruins in seven games. You may remember Game 7, Leaf fans.)

I could go on. I could point out the Toronto Raptors just won their 50th game of the season, the last team in the NBA to reach that milestone, while in the same timeframe of the Raptors’ existence, the San Antonio Spurs have virtually ONLY won 50+ games per season (not to mention a few championships). I could point out the wasted years during which the Toronto Blue Jays had the best pitcher in baseball, Roy Halladay, whose Hall of Fame bid will only be short-circuited due to the complete lack of playoff appearances his team mustered. I could also point out the young Boston sports fan who made a sign — updated after the Patriots won the 2015 Super Bowl — bragging about the number of celebrations he’s witnessed in his short lifetime: “13 years old / 9 parades.” Screw you, kid.

But enough pain. Let’s circle back to this strange new time in Toronto sports when optimism abounds. Currently all four major-league North American teams have reasons to believe, certainly in playoffs, possibly in series wins, and maybe even in that word that begins with C and ends with –ship not –shit.

There are our MVPs, Josh Donaldson (Jays) and Sebastian Giovinco (TFC), both young, popular and groomed to win it all. And while not league MVPs, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, all-stars both, are peaking, guiding the Raptors to back-to-back-to-back franchise win records (if not playoff success).

And again, lastly the Leafs. They aren’t close to being a playoff team, but if sports radio is any indication, I haven’t heard as much optimism about hockey in this city since guys named Gilmour and Clark were here. Finally there appears to be a path to winning, rather than a resignation of mediocrity. Only time will tell if the combination of a Stanley Cup-winning coach and GM (Mike Babcock and Lou Lamoriello), a high (hopefully very high) draft pick, and deft free-agent moves (goodbye Dion Phaneuf; hello Steven Stamkos) will translate into titles, but current results are promising.

Are there red flags? Of course there are. The Blue Jays are propped up by an aging, albeit explosive, offense. But baseball is about pitching, and the Jays have question marks there (not to mention they don’t have David Price and they do have executives from Cleveland). The Raptors may not clear their playoff hump before their window closes (and DeRozan possibly signs with another team in the off-season). Toronto FC is still a losing franchise. And the Leafs make their corporate bosses buckets of money regardless if they win, which brilliant statistician Nate Silver argues takes away motivation for competitive success, whether MLSE wants to admit it or not.

So enjoy these few weeks, maybe even days, Toronto sports fan. Let the waves of optimism wash over you in a way you haven’t experienced before. Remember the feeling, like that perfect summer day. Because it may never come again. Pessimist out.