Quote:
Originally Posted by isaidso
There's enough basketball interest in the Maritimes to support both. The AUS conference finals attract more than the other 3 Canadian university conference finals put together. Nova Scotians don't care that the NBL is 2nd or 3rd rate. They want their own pro teams and those are the teams they have. They will support both the NBL and their 5 AUS teams.
What I always find astonishing is that I can watch 100's of NCAA basketball games on tv but ones from my own country are next to impossible. Right now I'm watching Virginia - Louisville but I'd rather be watching SMU - St. FX (then Dal - Acadia tonight). I can't because Canadian university ball doesn't matter to Toronto where our media is based. When I tell Torontonians that I support the Dal Tigers they look at me like I'm from Mars. Who are the Dal Tigers and why would you do that is their usual response. Um... because I went there and I'm from Canada and living in Canada???
I hope you're right about being able to support both pro and CIS teams. It didn't
If Toronto is such a great basketball city, Ryerson, the U of T, and York would be playing before 15,000 fans. They get around 100 if they're lucky. There's great support for the Raptors but no other basketball gets any attention... not even our national teams (although that's finally changing). A Canada - France game a few years back at the ACC drew ~ 1000 fans. It was embarrasing.
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Hope you're right about supporting both pro and CIS. It didn't work when the old CBA put a team here. Both the College and University saw drop-offs in their attendance, but the Dusters drew only a few hundred in a 5000 seat arena.
I couldn't agree more with your point about CIS coverage. NCAA all day long, a couple games during the week, but no CIS coverage whatsoever. I realize TSN and Rogers have to make money, but surely some coverage is possible.
Your point about Toronto support for the Raptors is well taken also. Although they're drawing well, I don't believe that there's any great groundswell of support, any more than that Torontonians suddenly became great baseball fans last fall. A winning team in an American league is simply the place to be, and the Raptors are winning.