Could Expos return to Montreal?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by BretttheRiderFan

Your friends follow Tour de France? (giggles to self)

Yes. I don't but I know people who do. There is a TV network in Quebec that broadcasts every single day's "stage" in its entirety, so there must be an audience for it.

Besides, what's so funny about following cycling? Geez murphy, they're a lot tougher than baseball players let me tell you. What's more strenuous and impressive: standing in the middle of a field for 2 1/2 hours waiting for the occasional ball to catch, or cycling up a mountain in the Alps at full speed without stopping?

[b31den]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Yes. I don't but I know people who do. There is a TV network in Quebec that broadcasts every single day's "stage" in its entirety, so there must be an audience for it.

Besides, what's so funny about following cycling? Geez murphy, they're a lot tougher than baseball players let me tell you. What's more strenuous and impressive: standing in the middle of a field for 2 1/2 hours waiting for the occasional ball to catch, or cycling up a mountain in the Alps at full speed without stopping?

Tour de France is probably the toughest major sporting event in the world to win or even complete. A lot of people giggle at how many teeth hockey players are missing and how the sport is so sad the NHL has to allow fighting to keep ratings from sinking even lower.

[samne]

I cant see a team returning to Montreal. There wont be anymore expansion and a relocation is impossible without a new stadium. A new baseball specific stadium is quite the luxury in Montreal. Gone are the days of the multi-purpose baseball parks.

On a side note. There's quite the Renessaince with the Jays right now. I see so many Jays caps and Jerseys around like its early 90's all over again. The Jays have finally emerged from a very, very long dark couple decades. Robbie's Hall of Fame induction just added fuel...


cbc.ca


nationalpost.com

[SHOFEAR]

Originally Posted by samne

On a side note. There's quite the Renessaince with the Jays right now. I see so many Jays caps and Jerseys around like its early 90's all over again. The Jays have finally emerged from a very, very long dark couple decades. Robbie's Hall of Fame induction just added fuel...

I agree....Maybe its cause they are hovering around .500...maybe its because you want to see Bautista knock them out of the park...whatever it is, i'm watching a ton of them.

[kool maudit]

edit: whatever.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by samne

Gone are the days of the multi-purpose baseball parks.

Agreed.

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[samne]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Agreed.

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Gawd...thats just plain goofy.

The only way the Jays were able to survive the past 15 years is because:

a) Rogers bought them to fill in their regional programming during dead summer months.

b) East Division with the Yankees and Red Sox ensured atleast minimal attendance spikes. They wouldve been toast if they were in the Central.

[telyou]

It's a little annoying always hearing people unwilling to accept their lack of support for the Expos as the deciding factor in them relocating.
Stop blaming the league. Stop blaming Selig. Stop blaming Loria. Stop blaming everyone else. Start blaming yourselves. Montrealers never supported the Expos. The attendance never surpassed 30,000 and you dare refer to them as "Nos Amours". The only time they averaged higher then the league average was the 5-year period of 79-83. Even when they were the best team in the league they were still averaging less fans then the average MLB team.

And stop blaming the MLB because teams have been mismanaged for over a decade. Tampa has been successful. Milwaukee is quickly improving as is Pittsburgh. Cincinnati has been competitive in the past decade. Cleveland was one of the best teams in the AL in the 90s. Minnesota has been competitive and so has Seattle and Oakland. The Cubs and Astros who have good funding suck this year. The Red Sox have been able to develop a lot of their star players.

And whoever said Montreal was the smallest market team must have forgotten about: Cleveland, Kansas City, Seattle, Milwaukee, St-Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, San Diego.

[Blitz]

If the Jays were in the AL Central, I think it would actually help since that would ensure they'd be in a pennant race every year. I'm a Tigers fan and even with mediocre clubs, it's at least an exciting finish to our season each year.

I wish the Jays were still in the same division as the Tigers because they had such an intense rivalry back in the '80s and early '90s.

[Highinthesky]

Originally Posted by BretttheRiderFan

Your friends follow Tour de France? (giggles to self)

I don't know about Montreal but baseball is a solid 3rd place in Canada based on ratings and such after hockey and football. The Jays are much more popular nationwide than the Raptors, though my generation (I'm 16) probably follows basketball more than baseball, though hockey and football are also king for us teens from my experience

In Toronto or the GTA itself the Jays are far more popular than the Argos.

[mr.John]

The truth of the matter is that the vast majority of Montrealers couldn't give a crap about baseball, in fact you would be hard pressed to find a baseball diamond on the island of Montreal,so Montreal lost it's baseball team boo hoo hoo, does that make the city less attractive and vibrant? last time I checked London, Paris, Hong Kong,Moscow,Shanghai, Sydney, Rome are all without baseball teams,PS that shit sport is even more boring live than it is on TV..... I rather watch curling hurry hard hard

[Blitz]

^ Yet, every other city in North America of Montreal's size has a baseball team (it makes no sense to mention cities on other continents in this argument).

Part of the reason for the lack of support is that many kids in Quebec don't grow up playing baseball (whether in high school or house leagues) perhaps because of the culture, or the cold weather.

There are parts of Canada where baseball doesn't work (Quebec) just like there are parts of the US where hockey doesn't work (the South).

[mr.John]

Part of the reason for the lack of support is that many kids in Quebec don't grow up playing baseball

well the main reason for enrolling kids in any sports is to have them get some exercise please tell me what kind of exercise a kid playing little league baseball gets? other than picking his nose waiting for a ball to be hit in his direction. now compare that to soccer where you just throw the ball to the kids and have them chase after it, ....guess which sport most kids play in Quebec

[Xelebes]

Baseball has been dying in Alberta for quite a while too. During the 50s, baseball rivalled the CFL for popularity but now it's behind Lacrosse, Curling and Soccer.

[BretttheRiderFan]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Yes. I don't but I know people who do. There is a TV network in Quebec that broadcasts every single day's "stage" in its entirety, so there must be an audience for it.

Besides, what's so funny about following cycling? Geez murphy, they're a lot tougher than baseball players let me tell you. What's more strenuous and impressive: standing in the middle of a field for 2 1/2 hours waiting for the occasional ball to catch, or cycling up a mountain in the Alps at full speed without stopping?

Originally Posted by b31den

Tour de France is probably the toughest major sporting event in the world to win or even complete. A lot of people giggle at how many teeth hockey players are missing and how the sport is so sad the NHL has to allow fighting to keep ratings from sinking even lower.

Originally Posted by Highinthesky

In Toronto or the GTA itself the Jays are far more popular than the Argos.

Originally Posted by mr.John

The truth of the matter is that the vast majority of Montrealers couldn't give a crap about baseball, in fact you would be hard pressed to find a baseball diamond on the island of Montreal,so Montreal lost it's baseball team boo hoo hoo, does that make the city less attractive and vibrant? last time I checked London, Paris, Hong Kong,Moscow,Shanghai, Sydney, Rome are all without baseball teams,PS that shit sport is even more boring live than it is on TV..... I rather watch curling hurry hard hard

There's nothing very funny about following the Tour de France...that's why I am only giggling quietly. Cycling is tough as crap and I have the utmost respect for those guys, my original comment wasn't totally serious so don't get those panties knotted up

Hockey is so sad the NHL has to let players fight to keep up ratings? That must explain why international tournaments where no fighting is allowed have the highest ratings....oh wait....

No one is questioning the vibrancy of the city of Montreal for not having a baseball team (though having a popular baseball team in the inner city that consistently sells out and gives fans a good experience doesn't hurt a city...see Boston, Chicago, Milwaukee etc)

And London, Paris and Hong Kong not having baseball teams is rather irrelevant in this discussion.

You think baseball is more boring live than TV? I guess some people have different entertainment demands I guess, but being at the ballpark in the few MLB games I have attended (Seattle, LA, San Diego, Toronto) were 1000X more enjoyable to me than watching on TV IMO

I would also rather watch curling than baseball, the Brier beats the Jays any day IMO for excitement value (I'm 100% serious when I say this) though being from the prairies it's more a part of our culture than most Easterners who tend to condescend the game without understanding it and realizing how difficult it actually is

Jays are more popular than the Argos in TO? Good for them, my post was saying baseball is 3rd in Canada (that means Toronto and the ROC) and nothing else

IMO baseball could be successful in MTL given the proper circumstances, look at where the CFL in Montreal was in the early 90s and it's plenty similar to the MLB there now. Look at the CFL there now.....getting an MLB team can end up well. If you build it, they will come.

[Darkoshvilli]

Originally Posted by mr.John

The truth of the matter is that the vast majority of Montrealers couldn't give a crap about baseball, in fact you would be hard pressed to find a baseball diamond on the island of Montreal,so Montreal lost it's baseball team boo hoo hoo, does that make the city less attractive and vibrant? last time I checked London, Paris, Hong Kong,Moscow,Shanghai, Sydney, Rome are all without baseball teams,PS that shit sport is even more boring live than it is on TV..... I rather watch curling hurry hard hard

There are baseball diamonds in almost every park in the west end and west island. Also, the expos had pretty good support in the 70s and 80s and in 94 when we had the best team in the league. Of course we all know what happened in 94. People say that was the last straw.

[artvandelay]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Agreed.

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My god! It's so bad you just can't stop watching.

[artvandelay]

Originally Posted by Xelebes

Baseball has been dying in Alberta for quite a while too. During the 50s, baseball rivalled the CFL for popularity but now it's behind Lacrosse, Curling and Soccer.

Perhaps in terms of participation (soccer has greater participation than baseball and all other sports; I doubt that lacrosse and curling are higher than baseball though), but not in terms of spectator popularity. Jays ratings regularly trounce everything other than the CFL and NHL, and I think that MLB interest is on a bit of an upswing lately - at least in this end of the province.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by artvandelay

Perhaps in terms of participation (soccer has greater participation than baseball and all other sports; I doubt that lacrosse and curling are higher than baseball though), but not in terms of spectator popularity. Jays ratings regularly trounce everything other than the CFL and NHL, and I think that MLB interest is on a bit of an upswing lately - at least in this end of the province.

Across Canada, I'd say curling is probably close to baseball or even slightly ahead (though there are fewer televised matches, so difficult to compare). Lacrosse isn't even on the radar as far as TV ratings I'd say.

As for Quebec, where the Expos would be located, it's a bit of a different story. NHL is in a class by itself, probably followed at some distance by the CFL. Then it's really a toss-up as to who gets the crumbs that are left, with non-team sports like tennis, Formula 1 and cycling perhaps even more popular than MLB, and stuff like L'Impact in soccer and CIS football likely getting more viewers than pro baseball. Lacrosse and curling aren't on the radar at all.

[BretttheRiderFan]

Originally Posted by Xelebes

Baseball has been dying in Alberta for quite a while too. During the 50s, baseball rivalled the CFL for popularity but now it's behind Lacrosse, Curling and Soccer.

You'd have to be on shrooms to think lacrosse is more popular than baseball in Alberta. The only lacrosse games that are even televised are Toronto games on TSN2...

With curling you are kinda right for the big time events but at the same time the curling season is quite short and the baseball season is dragged on. The Brier kills the World Series in the ratings though but at the same time it usually involves an Albertan and the World Series is two American teams

For soccer, you are also wrong except for World Cup. The Jays are at least 5 or 6 times more popular and mainstream in AB than Toronto FC and the Whitecaps combined. And all the European soccer jerseys you see around isn't close to approaching all the MLB caps worn by people.

Though all these sports are probably less popular than NHL, CFL and NFL