Dr. J. Naismith

Leafs fans are dying off or fading away, while Raptors and FC fans are beginning to thrive. I love it.

Now we just need TSN and Sportsnet to get their act together and have basketball come before hockey on their daily wrap up shows.

Source - Click here

Barracuda

TFC fans are crazy.

So even if the game sucks, it's still fun!

Gurk

BMO center is always packed at any game no matter what

jeffb

Leafs blow! As for TSN,they are a lost cause they talk hockey 95% of the time.They call themselves the "Hockey network" ,nothing more needs to be said about that dumbass network.Sportsnet is nowhere close to being as bad as TSN.The Raptors often lead off their telecasts.If the Leafs play,they lead off then the Raptors highlights are second.

TSN on the other hand will show 10 minutes of crappy thrashers/blue jackets type of highlights before they get to the Raptors highlights.I don't watch TSN for this reason alone.I watch The Score,SN & Raptors channel.

Gurk

TheScore all the way

m5racer

i cant agree more. I hate that even when the raps are doing great and the leafs are shit they paly all the leafs shit first. Not only that but its pretty shitty to have to wait for the last 10 min of the shows for them to show any basketball highlights. You know maby someone should tell them there is more then jsut hockey during the winter moths

Gurk

Yea I hate that. They go through all the hockey analysis then at the end they show Basketball

XiaominWu

lol.... hockey pays the bills, people. they are running a business and as much as the fanbase is aging (although one trip deep into the playoffs by the Leafs will bring a lot of young "fans" out of the woodwork), there are still waaaaay more hockey fans than basketball.

fancylad

it's TFC and BMO FIELD.


and it doesn't suck. dump and chase, clog the middle zone defense sucks.

fancylad

The day that this city becomes less hockey obsessed and there will be more balance in terms of all sports will be a great day. maybe it will come in the future. who knows.

I'll also say that if that happens (and other sports are considered equally "important"), then Toronto can be a full fledged sporting powerhouse.

Snooch

Its already pretty much there, its the rest of the country that is still hung up on hockey.

fancylad

I wish that were true, but it's not really the case. you notice it everytime you turn on the FAN 590, or any sports television channel. Still wayyyyy too much hockey.

That being said, I can only imagine what the rest of the country is like. yikes.

Snooch

There is no Fan590.

I remember a morning after a Raptor game this past season the radio station here said that the Raptors won by 4 points in an overtime game against Golden State and Joe Bosh scored 35 points in the win.

The game the night before was against LA and the Raps losts. Chris scored 25 points.....

XiaominWu

I dunno, dude.... I've tried to watch TFC games on TV and it just looks awful.... the field is pathetic, the quality of play is just abyssmal. Maybe I'm expecting too much.

zachus

Have to agree with the comments about our sports channels here. TSN definitely provides the most aesthetically pleasing broadcast, so it's kind of a shame that it's so hockey-centric. The score is definitely the cheesiest looking channel of the three, but their basketball coverage is the best hands down - Adnan Virk also runs shit.

Even though it's been said about Toronto many times, I'll say it again: Toronto is NOT a hockey town. Toronto is a LEAFS town. This article really shouldn't be too much of a shocker. I'd even go so far as to say that in terms of participation, Toronto is MUCH more of a basketball and soccer town than it is anything else.

XiaominWu

I disagree.

Based on that, show me a city that would qualify as a "hockey town"... I don't think you can.

Montreal is a HABS town. Vancouver is a CANUCKS town. etc etc etc.

I think there is actually more casual interest in non-leaf hockey teams in Toronto than anywhere else..... In fact, it frequently pisses me off to see just how many hockey fans in Toronto cheer for a team other than the Leafs.

fancylad

the quality of play in the MLS holds much to be desired - this is true.
But i'm just such a big soccer fan that i've grown to love the team. However, the field is fine. It looks fine on TV - so i don't get you there...

Of course natural grass is what we desperately need, but the field turf is OK.

As for the game - yeah it's not La Liga, but it's pretty decent. I'd say it's of the quality of coca-cola championship (the english league below premiership). And hell yes, TFC are awful, but i cheered for the Raptors when they were awful too.

XiaominWu

I would agree with your usage of the word 'desperately'. Can't stand artificial turf..... it's one of the reasons I won't watch the CFL.

Superjudge

heh.

cept for the outdoor rink on every corner and the highest minor hockey participation in the effin world....ya aside from that toronto is pretty much a basketbball town...heehee...

stop smoking pot.

Claudius

But SJ he does kind of have a point. Toronto notoriously undersupports minor hockey (St. Mike's Majors, Marlies). As a spectacle, Toronto loves its Leafs but doesn't really care about the other hockey teams. So yeah, I dig his point saying that Toronto is a Leafs market.

And I would agree that its moreso a soccer city than anything else simply based on the demographics of the city. Problem was until the ushering in of TFC it was a majority that was mostly silent due to an outlet. That's not to say these same fans aren't hockey fans.

The concern should come in though with changing demographics. I would venture to say that most young people under the age of say, 14 are more basketball fans than hockey fans. Not to say they don't enjoy either sport (many of us love all sports) but I'd be willing to say that most would rather choose basketball to watching instead of hockey. THAT should concern MLSE and even the NHL.