Basketball in Canada - Page 18

Acajack · #**341** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 2:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bandage

Your proclivity for finding a way to include the words quebec, québécois, francophone or anglophone in every post you write is nothing short of pathological

I am truly sorry that you are troubled by geographic names on the map of Canada. Seek help now.

mistercorporate · #**342** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 2:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Only in Canada. Pity.

I was referring to the Raptors...

I'm well aware of the Canadian NHL teams in the playoffs.

My point being that it's not necessarily a Quebec-ROC thing. Not everyone follows all sports.

Acajack · #**343** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 3:09 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

I was referring to the Raptors...

I'm well aware of the Canadian NHL teams in the playoffs.

Oh, then sorry. I misunderstood what you meant.

Acajack · #**344** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 3:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

My point being that it's not necessarily a Quebec-ROC thing. Not everyone follows all sports.

I wasn't trying to make it a Quebec-ROC thing.

The Raptors in the playoffs also seem to overshadowed by the NHL playoffs in Ottawa compared to last year, and also by the Leafs in southern Ontario (including the GTA as well).

Just my impression.

My point was mostly that the talk in some circles of basketball eclipsing hockey in the 416-905 is extremely premature. If not nonsense.

mistercorporate · #**345** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 4:44 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

I wasn't trying to make it a Quebec-ROC thing.

The Raptors in the playoffs also seem to overshadowed by the NHL playoffs in Ottawa compared to last year, and also by the Leafs in southern Ontario (including the GTA as well).

Just my impression.

My point was mostly that the talk in some circles of basketball eclipsing hockey in the 416-905 is extremely premature. If not nonsense.

Grossly premature in the short to medium term. It's probably just kids on message boards stating that, I don't see many adults agreeing with them.

isaidso · #**346** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 6:16 AM**

The sports landscape in Toronto has changed dramatically over the last 25 years. Hockey is still very popular but increasingly it looks like the most popular sport in Toronto will be basketball.... if it isn't already. One only need look at the fan base and what's being watched in Toronto sports bars to realize that a huge cultural shift has occurred. Of course many sports fans in Toronto have their head buried in the sand so haven't even noticed yet.

The Toronto Star asked: It's Super Saturday in Toronto. Which team are you cheering on? It's not a huge sample but pretty much falls in line with what I suspected.

Maple Leafs: 28.87% (351 votes)
Raptors: 58.14% (707 votes)
Blue Jays: 6.83% (83 votes)
Toronto Reds: 3.87% (47 votes)
Marlies: 2.29% (28 votes)

Quote:

Get used to seeing the Raptors on sports-bar big screens

The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors qualified for the playoffs in the same year, Drake was a recently bar mitzvah’d 14-year-old and Mats Sundin was the toast of the town. In other words, the number 6 was just the number 6, and hockey, not basketball, was the unifying sport of Canada’s largest city.

Sixteen years later, the Leafs and the Raptors have at long last made the playoffs in the same post-season, but the city’s sports fandom has shifted in major fashion.

Last month, during the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament (the American college basketball tournament that turns basketball fans worldwide into temporary problem gamblers), my social media feed lit up with complaints by Leafs fans who couldn’t believe how many Toronto sports bars were showing basketball on their big screen TVs instead of Leafs games, especially when the hockey team was at a crucial moment in the season, trying to clinch a playoff spot. Their frustration in a sentence: “This is Canada — why is basketball taking up all the valuable screen space at our bars?”

The Raptors played an exhibition game against the Denver Nuggets in Calgary last year, a matchup that sold out among Calgary Raptors fans seconds after the tickets went on sale. Last year the operations manager of Basketball Nova Scotia told Metro news that there was a “significant correlation” between the success of the Toronto Raptors in the NBA playoffs and youth enrolment in the province’s basketball programs.

Full article: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ns-teitel.html

MonkeyRonin · #**347** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 2:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

My point was mostly that the talk in some circles of basketball eclipsing hockey in the 416-905 is extremely premature. If not nonsense.

What does the awareness of the Raptors in Quebec have to do with their popularity in Toronto?

Acajack · #**348** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 2:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

What does the awareness of the Raptors in Quebec have to do with their popularity in Toronto?

I thought it was clear that I wasn't even talking primarily about Quebec.

Acajack · #**349** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 2:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso

The sports landscape in Toronto has changed dramatically over the last 25 years. Hockey is still very popular but increasingly it looks like the most popular sport in Toronto will be basketball.... if it isn't already. One only need look at the fan base and what's being watched in Toronto sports bars to realize that a huge cultural shift has occurred. Of course many sports fans in Toronto have their head buried in the sand so haven't even noticed yet.

The Toronto Star asked: It's Super Saturday in Toronto. Which team are you cheering on? It's not a huge sample but pretty much falls in line with what I suspected.

Maple Leafs: 28.87% (351 votes)
Raptors: 58.14% (707 votes)
Blue Jays: 6.83% (83 votes)
Toronto Reds: 3.87% (47 votes)
Marlies: 2.29% (28 votes)

Full article: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ns-teitel.html

Holy self-fulfilling prophecies Batman!

Acajack · #**350** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 2:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso

Last month, during the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament (the American college basketball tournament that turns basketball fans worldwide into temporary problem gamblers), my social media feed lit up with complaints by Leafs fans who couldn’t believe how many Toronto sports bars were showing basketball on their big screen TVs instead of Leafs games, especially when the hockey team was at a crucial moment in the season, trying to clinch a playoff spot. Their frustration in a sentence: “This is Canada — why is basketball taking up all the valuable screen space at our bars?”

If indeed there were that many sports bars in Toronto that were showing March Madness instead of the Leafs playoff drive, then that totally proves my point (and that of many others) about how things are fucked up.

Acajack · #**351** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 2:37 PM**

And yet, that’s how so many of us are, when in fact, if there’s a professional sports team that represents Canada at large it isn’t a hockey team: It’s the Toronto Raptors or the Blue Jays. Ironically, it’s precisely the absence of a basketball and baseball presence nationwide that lends the two traditionally American sports a unified Canadian identity. The Leafs are a Toronto team, but the Raptors and the Jays are Canadian teams. Their fan bases span coast to coast; Canadians travel from different provinces and cities to Toronto to attend their games. Or they go elsewhere. Blue Jays fans in Vancouver have been flocking to Seattle to watch the Jays play the Mariners for years. The Raptors played an exhibition game against the Denver Nuggets in Calgary last year, a matchup that sold out among Calgary Raptors fans seconds after the tickets went on sale. Last year the operations manager of Basketball Nova Scotia told Metro news that there was a “significant correlation” between the success of the Toronto Raptors in the NBA playoffs and youth enrolment in the province’s basketball programs.

In other words, when the Raptors or the Jays make the post season, Toronto doesn’t get excited; Canada does.

The statement a true Canadian sports patriot might make, then, upon entering a Toronto sports bar this spring isn’t “hey, why isn’t the Leafs game on?” but “Turn up the volume on the Raps game.”

Canada as a gigantic suburb of Toronto, our collective token "in" to the phantasmagoric world of USA pro sports fandom! FTW!

MonctonRad · #**352** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 3:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso

The sports landscape in Toronto has changed dramatically over the last 25 years. Hockey is still very popular but increasingly it looks like the most popular sport in Toronto will be basketball.... if it isn't already. One only need look at the fan base and what's being watched in Toronto sports bars to realize that a huge cultural shift has occurred. Of course many sports fans in Toronto have their head buried in the sand so haven't even noticed yet.

The Toronto Star asked: It's Super Saturday in Toronto. Which team are you cheering on? It's not a huge sample but pretty much falls in line with what I suspected.

Maple Leafs: 28.87% (351 votes)
Raptors: 58.14% (707 votes)
Blue Jays: 6.83% (83 votes)
Toronto Reds: 3.87% (47 votes)
Marlies: 2.29% (28 votes)

Full article: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ns-teitel.html

Who or what is/are the Toronto Reds????

As for the Raptors, there was some national interest in the team last year when there were no Canadian teams in the NHL playoffs; but with five NHL teams in the post season this year, the Raptors will only get on the radar in Moncton, Rimouski, Moose Jaw or Kitimat if they go very deep in the NBA playoffs (at least semi-finals).

It's a bit early in the season to have a lot of fan interest building in the Blue Jays. They are after all the "boys of summer". Get back to me on that one in mid-June.

The Marlies are an AHL team for cripes sake. They would have zero following elsewhere in the country. They are a local team, pure and simple. It's a bit like generating interest for the Saint John Sea Dogs in Moncton. Once the Wildcats season is over, nobody (in Moncton) much cares who the QMJHL champion is or will be. I'm sure the AHL is like that too.

Acajack · #**353** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 3:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by monctonrad

who or what is/are the toronto reds????

.

tfc - mls

Acajack · #**354** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 3:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

As for the Raptors, there was some national interest in the team last year when there were no Canadian teams in the NHL playoffs; but with five NHL teams in the post season this year, the Raptors will only get on the radar in Moncton, Rimouski, Moose Jaw or Kitimat if they go very deep in the NBA playoffs (at least semi-finals).

.

Even if the Raptors were to get very far, I have my doubts about Rimouski with the Stanley Cup at the same time, the Impact's season ramping up in Montreal, the F1 and Grand Prix, and stuff like ATP-WTA tennis as well... not much room left for basketball.

BTW, it's not an anti-Raptors or anti-Toronto thing. It's just that the NBA in general isn't really a big deal in this province.

esquire · #**355** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 3:19 PM**

There was some noticeable broad-based interest in the Raptors playoff run last season in these parts, but virtually nothing this year. Only the hardcore fans, really.

Canadian NHL teams in the playoffs really dominates everything else.

Acajack · #**356** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 3:25 PM**

I believe it has been posted on here before, but this article is also full of self-fulfilling prophecies (even if he makes some valid points):

http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/col...died-in-canada

That article quoted a study from 2010, which showed that even back then, the growth of basketball in our country exceeded that of hockey or soccer. In fact, the study stated that basketball was “the most popular team participation sport in Canada among youth between the ages of 12 and 17″ and that “29 per cent of all households in Canada have a household member who participates in basketball.”

Of course basketball will have tons of players. It's mandatory in phys ed class all winter when you can't play soccer outside and of course hockey is totally impractical for elementary and high school. They all have a gym where you can play basketball any day of the year.

Soccer defintely remains number one for kids' participation (i.e. actual registrations) outside of in-school phys ed classes.

MonkeyRonin · #**357** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 4:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

As for the Raptors, there was some national interest in the team last year when there were no Canadian teams in the NHL playoffs; but with five NHL teams in the post season this year, the Raptors will only get on the radar in Moncton, Rimouski, Moose Jaw or Kitimat if they go very deep in the NBA playoffs (at least semi-finals).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Even if the Raptors were to get very far, I have my doubts about Rimouski with the Stanley Cup at the same time, the Impact's season ramping up in Montreal, the F1 and Grand Prix, and stuff like ATP-WTA tennis as well... not much room left for basketball.

BTW, it's not an anti-Raptors or anti-Toronto thing. It's just that the NBA in general isn't really a big deal in this province.

Again, how exactly does the Raptors/Basketball's lack of popularity in whatever province take away from the hypothesis that it either is or is on the trajectory to become the most popular sport/team in Toronto?

TorontoDrew · #**358** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 4:54 PM**

"the Raptors will only get on the radar in Moncton, Rimouski, Moose Jaw or Kitimat if they go very deep in the NBA playoffs." LOL what a strange selection of places that you chose.

MonctonRad · #**359** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 5:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

"the Raptors will only get on the radar in Moncton, Rimouski, Moose Jaw or Kitimat if they go very deep in the NBA playoffs." LOL what a strange selection of places that you chose.

I was just choosing a random selection of mid sized Canadian cities not located in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

In essence, I was just pointing out the fact that Toronto does not equal Canada (and vice versa).

The only team that can even be closely considered as being "Canada's team" is the Blue Jays, and this will only be true as long as there is only a single MLB team in the country. I personally think Montreal will be rejoining the fold sometime in the next 10-15 years.

BTW, I acknowledge the popularity of basketball and soccer in the country, but this mostly has to do with the exposure of these sports in school intramural programs and the fact that they are inexpensive to play. They may have elevated levels of popularity in places like TO due to the immigrant population, but this only accentuates the disconnect developing between the top 3-5 cities in the country and the rest of Canada.

mistercorporate · #**360** Posted **Apr 17, 2017, 7:48 PM**

I don't see what the big deal is, basketball was invented in the Golden Horseshoe (Hamilton I believe?). What's so hypocritical about watching it?

Super Saturday isn't much of an issue for TFC as most of their fanbase overlap occurs with the Jays. Jays at 1pm and TFC at 8pm sounds almost ideal! Both teams should have good turnouts that day. Heck with both the Raps and Leafs in the playoffs, every team should be filling their stadiums/arenas in nicely!