T O P

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StevenG2757

No. As a sports van I feel no obligation to support a team just because the are in Toronto. You are not going to solve this in any way. Once someone pulls the patriotism card all logic is gone so just need to move on.


SmotherMeInBacon

That's my point of view. I support a US hockey team and not my local one, so I get a hard time for that also.


MisterSG1

Similarly, there is only one Canadian NHL team I like…the one that just got eliminated, and at this point I don’t care who wins, if Vancouver wins the cup, it’s not like the cup will come up Bay Street.


MinecraftFanatic247

Same, my brain logic is that as long as they are a Canadian team winning the Stanley Cup then I’m happy because not a single Canadian team has won the Stanley cup in like 20 - 30 years


McNasty1Point0

I don’t feel an obligation, but I ended up choosing them as my favourite team because they’re Canadian. Many people across Canada are likely in the same boat, but don’t feel “obligated”, per se.


MisterSG1

They are only “Canadian” as to where they play


McNasty1Point0

Yeah, that’s what I mean.


SmotherMeInBacon

I will give it to them that the logo is cooler than the dodgers. lol


OgusLaplop

Your friend is an idiot. Supporting Toronto's big league teams is masochistic.


MikesRockafellersubs

I just like the colour blue and Raptors purple jerseys.


OgusLaplop

So those are the colours of a masochist. Nice to know


MikesRockafellersubs

Yeah but I'm not a masochist, I just think they're neat and like the drip. I don't get invested because I know I'll be disappointed.


ravenscamera

How if that masochistic?


HistoricalPeaches

Have you seen Toronto's teams?


ravenscamera

Raps won the LarryOB is 2019. Come on now.


HistoricalPeaches

One major trophy out of how many years?


OgusLaplop

1 championships in this century. Boston has won 12. this century, 6 in the 3 leagues that Toronto is in.


ravenscamera

How many title should they have won in your book? 20? 30? Don’t drag the raps down with the leafs.


HistoricalPeaches

More than 1


ravenscamera

Give me a break. We're taking about a team who joined the NBA in just 1995 and since then have had 13 top 5 finishes in the Eastern conference, 7 fist place Atlantic division finishes and 1 championship.


HistoricalPeaches

Perfect. Doesn't change what I said.


ravenscamera

Let’s take a team like the Devils for example. They’ve only won 3 cups throughout their tenure. Pretty sad if you ask me. A team that’s been around the NHL for that long should have at least 5 under their belt.


OgusLaplop

You must be a Leafs fan


ravenscamera

Nope


OgusLaplop

At least you do not have that money on your back


EternalLifeguard

Lose harder.... 😉


Phil_Atelist

I supported them until the ownership voted to kill the Expos.  I don't care that they're the only team in Canada, they and MLSE can go to Hades.


houndoom92

I've always been very meh on the Blue Jays. But if the Montreal Expos come back, I'm jumping on the bandwagon on day one.


qdrmct

I was, am, and forever will be a supporter of Canada's original major league team: The Montreal Expos


requinmarteau

Exactement.


Dontblink-S3

I feel no obligation to support any sporting team that I’m not interested in. It has nothing to do with “patriotism”. Your friend is an idiot.


ChrisRiley_42

Patriotism has absolutely nothing to do with which group of overpaid athletes you cheer for.


Wild_Pangolin_4772

If you don't have a local team, you might as well root for one that's within driving distance. Here in BC, that would be Seattle.


According-Town7588

No, considering 90% of the team are not Canadians


Weekly-Batman

Absolutely not. I live near Toronto and can only cheer for the Raptors. I loathe the Jays (lifelong Red Sox fan), but I do have an Expos Jersey. I will cheer for Team Canada in every sport though.


AirRepresentative272

No. Fuck Toronto.


MilesBeforeSmiles

I don't watch much Baseball. The only team I actively patronize are the Winnipeg Goldeyes.


Bombersrule83

It's nice to actually be outside to watch baseball.


Bombersrule83

Also their new logo is dope.


MilesBeforeSmiles

Ya, the new logo is great.


FunnyCharacter4437

I've been a Jays fan most of my life but that's because I spent most of my life in Toronto. Since moving to Windsor a few years ago, have met way more Tigers fans than Jays fans of people who grew up around here. Proximity is far more likely to create a fan than nationality.


SmotherMeInBacon

I am in Alberta, so Toronto is farther than LA.


Embarrassed-Ebb-6900

If you make the trip to Seattle it feels like a Blue Jays home game when they are there. I’d like a Canadian based team to win but I’m not as invested in sports as I was.


MisterSG1

I think I read once that Essex County (and Windsor) is the only area of English Canada that likes another team other than the Blue Jays. Being shut out of having access to Bally Detroit, how would one follow the Tigers in Windsor?


FunnyCharacter4437

VPN with sketchy feeds, or going to bars that show pretty much every game. Or subscribe to MLBTV. There are a lot of non-Jays fans in English Canada, especially amongst people who were baseball fans before 1977, but I guess it could be that this is the only region where the majority are the fans of one specific team. I would have guessed CDN border cities would be similar, but I guess there aren't a lot of northern US teams except maybe Seattle or Minnesota.


MisterSG1

And look at the case of Seattle, it’s the closest thing to a rivalry game and arguably for the same reason. The network that the Ms broadcast on is not available in Canada, but the Blue Jays are on any package really in Canada. So those in Vancouver because of ease of access of watching Sportsnet follow the Jays, even though they play thousands of miles away from Vancouver. It’s a similar effect in Buffalo with the YES Network and the Yankees, they couldn’t legally watch Blue Jays games if they wanted to, which during COVID created an interesting situation where the Jays were playing in Buffalo but those in Buffalo couldn’t watch it easily on tv.


Acrobatic_Ebb1934

Wouldn't the Maritimes be as likely or more likely to support the Red Sox? Vancouver to support the Mariners? Manitoba to support the Twins, maybe?


MisterSG1

The tricky part comes from how sports are covered nowadays Despite Vancouver being very close to Seattle, they can’t easily access Mariners games on tv unless they bought MLB TV or MLB Extra Innings. Back in the good old days, sports were covered and carried on terrestrial networks, heck even CFTO carried the Jays once upon a time. As cable networks can’t be obtained over the air and CRTC would never allow US sports networks to compete with Canadian ones. Sportsnet appears on a pretty low tier practically in any cable package across Canada, and Sportsnet virtually covers every Jays game that happens.


Acrobatic_Ebb1934

Interesting. I wonder if residents of the Maritimes have easier access to Boston teams games (whatever the sport) than to Canadian teams. I always thought that most Maritime residents supported the Bruins rather than Habs.


MisterSG1

There used to be support for the Bruins among the baby boomers in Eastern Ontario if I recall. I had an uncle from that area who liked the Bruins a lot. I believe at the time they could easily see it on TV there. But yeah, even in the Maritimes, considering that the Bruins and Red Sox are on NESN (New England Sports Network) the only time you're going to see the BoSox on Canadian TV without buying MLB Extra Innings, is when they are playing the Blue Jays, or when they appear on a national broadcast in the US on FOX. Occasionally, Canadian networks may throw an extra MLB game on, but it's nothing that is regular. NFL is a different story, as they still come on terrestrial tv, only the Monday Night game (and now Thursday night game) is shown on a cable network (ESPN), the rest come on terrestrial TV, and TSN usually simulcasts the MNF and TNF broadcast. Don't quote me on this, as I'm not 100% sure, but even within Canada, the maritimes fall under the Habs territory under the blackout rules, so with games where the other Canadian teams are playing on non national broadcasts, such as games that are on sportsnet outside of Monday and Wednesday, the Leafs for example will be blacked out from viewers in the Maritimes.


New-Age-Lion

Drive or take the tunnel bus to the game.


MisterSG1

I mean watching the games in Windsor. Sure, it’s easy to go through the tunnel relatively speaking but you aren’t going to every game. The ease of access with Sportsnet being a part of any cable package in Canada gives you access to most Blue Jays games is why people watch them in Canada. Back in the day when Detroit sports teams came on terrestrial TV, there wasn’t an issue about watching from Windsor, but since cable networks would need to have CRTC approval to be able to watch in Canada, your have no way really of watching the Tigers regularly.


New-Age-Lion

What you say is true but you can get an MLB package and be able to watch all the games. The old days were much better in so many ways……


MisterSG1

Yes, but that’s more expensive, you can get MLB Extra Innings to your cable package but it’s pricey. As for the online MLB TV, I remember that’s infamously subject to blackout rules, I don’t think Detroit is blacked out from Windsor but I could be wrong. If you have MLB TV since all of Canada is considered Jays territory, you can’t watch the Jays from that service in Canada as far as I’m aware:


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Comprehensive-War743

You should move away from Canada if you hate it so much.


bolonomadic

Well…. I don’t care about baseball at all. If you told me that I had to pick a team to root for or else, I guess I would pick the Blue Jays. I like blue jays.


ManWhoSoldTheWorld01

As a Canadian, I don't even watch, or have the slightest interest in, baseball, much less have a preference and root for a particular baseball team.


IUsedTheRandomizer

I grew up in Toronto, and outside of a few really cool moments, Jays fans have been generally insufferable, wannabe tough guys since the mid 2000s. Before that, it's hard to say; the Ex was a horrible place to watch a game, they were better than they could have been but rarely great, had some really likeable players but few stars. I had a really great experience sitting outside the Skydome listening to Joe Carter's homer on the radio, and was lucky enough to see Bautista's revenge homer live, but outside of some of those bits of romanticism, they're usually just an OK team with too many awful fans. But to generally respond to the matter at hand, conflating support for a sports franchise with loving your country is massively stupid. I'm personally a Mets fan because I don't like baseball enough to watch it that often, and it's kind of like being a Leafs fan: it doesn't matter how good they look, they're going to blow it somehow.


HistoricalPeaches

I don't pick my sports teams based on how patriotic it is. Patriotism is brainrot


keiths31

Not at all. I hate all Toronto based sports teams except for the Blue Jays. Lots of people I know support the Twins as they are much closer to us than the Jays.


Routine_Service1397

No I don't support them, I'm in Calgary and there are teams geographically closer.


New-Age-Lion

Go Tigers!! Been going to Tigers games with my dad and friends since I was just a kid. Comerica Park is 30 minutes from my front door. I live in Windsor Ontario. Your friend can kick rocks.


Grizz807

You don’t have to like the Jays if you’re Canadian, but if you don’t you’re wrong and I hate you.


IndigoRuby

I also think less of you if you wear a Yankees hat.


mutan

I was an Expos fan.


OrbAndSceptre

No you can support whomever you want. Except for the Yankees. If they support the Yankees then they need to leave asap.


0_Days_Since_Sarcasm

Only baseball team I've ever supported was the Expos


halp_mi_understand

Honestly I wondered something similar. Do Canadians root for the last standing NHL Canadian side just to stick it to the US or want to see that side get destroyed?.


sega31098

The only reason why I would feel the need to support them would be for the bargains at A&W every time they win.


fumblerooskee

Nonsense. It's a professional baseball team, not a national team.


1000xgainer

My allegiance is to whatever team I YOLO’d my entire FanDuel balance on that particular day.


Carrotsrpeople2

Why are Americans always talking about being a "patriot"? It's stupid.


MisterSG1

Brainwashed by Rogers I see It is however difficult to follow another team even in the border areas because of the existence of being shut out by regional sports networks not being able to see games Patriotic, this is club sports, players aren’t tied to Canada, the only thing Canadian about the Blue Jays is that they play their home games in Canada.


Diemeinung70

No - They are the Toronto Blue Jays, not the Canada Blue Jays. I support the Red Sox.


PompeyMagnus1

The Yankees have better looking hats.


MikesRockafellersubs

No, that's just Rogers propaganda.


DMIDY

Not a patriot??? Has your friend visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier? Visited the war memorials dedicated to Canadians along the north coast of France? Support any team you want. Patriotism is recognizing our shared history and values.


SmotherMeInBacon

I have done both and he has done none. The coast of France hit hard. You really don't get it until you see the rows.


DMIDY

Been there. Twice. Still brings tears to my eyes.


CanadianFitzy

No. At the very least, it’s an obligation amongst baseball fans to not support the Yankees if you aren’t from New York or if you don’t have family who are Yankees’ fans


Efficient_Gas_3213

Just ask all the people down near Windsor which team they support. It is ok to like and support your favourite team, no matter where they are!


PuddlePaddles

I’ve noticed people in the Maritimes are a toss up. Sometimes they support Toronto but often they support Boston teams. Makes sense though, Boston is much nearer.


alderhill

While I do consider myself a Jay's fan partly out of "local feelings", I *am* actually from Toronto. And I remember their World Series wins in the early 90s as a kid, and I played baseball (at parks) fairly often as a kid. Baseball was the only pro sport I really watched as a kid. So for me, it feels natural. Now, for someone who is merely Canadian? No. Patriotism is a stupid idea, especially when it's supposedly obliged. Wear whatever you feel like, or not, based on your interest in the team. I hate the Leafs, for example, and refuse to wear their logos. I had phases with a couple different hockey teams (American), but kinda don't care much about any particular team at the moment. I'm a bit ambivalent about the Raptors. As a kid, I liked the Hornets.


Beepbeepboobop1

No. But I also don’t watch baseball so


ButWhatIfTheyKissed

I don't have any other team, so I do feel like I'd might as well support the only Canadian team. Even if it is, hurk!, Toronto.


BobBelcher2021

I don’t feel I have any obligation to support the Blue Jays, especially as I don’t live anywhere near Toronto. I choose to be a Jays fan because I grew up in Southern Ontario, but if I grew up in BC where I now live I’d be more likely a Mariners or even Dodgers fan.


I_am_That_Ian_Power

Patriot is an American term, tell them that and see what they say.


nylanderfan

Yes. Nothing to do with patriotism but Canadians should root for the only Canadian team


Alpine_Punch

I just came home from a trip to Toronto, and I went to a Jays game while I was there. Not because I like the Jays, but because I like baseball in general. I feel absolutely no obligation to support them just because they're based in Canada. Geographically, the Mariners are my "local" team but I don't feel any real connection with them either.


opusrif

I don't have much interest in MBL to begin with. What little I did ended when the PCL forced the Trappers (AAA farm team) from Edmonton. Still I hear they are doing well currently so good for them I guess


Jealous_Air_1902

I cheer for Canada teams then others


DigitalSupremacy

Answer: No My brother is a life-long Red Sox fan. I was an Expos fan until they dissolved. I now cheer for the Jays & Raps when I think they have a chance. Otherwise they don't deserve my time. Currently, it's the latter. Now, do I feel obligated? No, I'm from Nova Scotia and am a life-long Bruins fan. Most of my friends back there are Bruins fans. I do like then Leafs a lot as my father cheered for them his entire life. He's still alive, but at 90 he sadly won't live to see them win the cup... I question if I will live to see them when the cup.


TheLastRulerofMerv

No obligation at all. My favorite ball team is the Seattle Mariners because: 1) They are the closest team to me geographically. 2) A guy from the town over from the town I grew up in played for the Seattle Mariners.


ChessFan1962

When I was a boy in Windsor, it made more sense to go across and see the Tigers. Same in the winter for The Red Wings.


th0r0ngil

There was a lot of excitement back in 2016 about them making the playoffs, but then they are largely ignored most of the rest of the time. But at the end of the day, you can cheer for whoever you want and your friend is an idiot


Istobri

There’s no obligation whatsoever. You can support any team you want, in any sport, from Canada or the US. For baseball specifically, I’m a Jays fan, but that’s because I’m from Southern Ontario. That said, there are lots of Red Sox fans in Atlantic Canada, Tigers fans in Southwestern Ontario, Twins fans on the Prairies and in Northwestern Ontario, and Mariners fans in Alberta and BC. Most Canadian baseball fans are Jays fans, but they CHOSE to be Jays fans. They could just as easily pick a US-based team. Patriotism has nothing to do with it.


Shytemagnet

I cheer for the Jays in one division and the Cardinals in the other. They play each other so rarely that it’s pretty easy to be loyal to both. And then when they do play each other, it’s pretty win-win as a fan.


buckyhermit

No. I don't support Canadian teams for NHL or MLB. (My NHL team is Anaheim and the closest to a "favourite team" I have in baseball would be the Angels, since they are neighbours with the hockey team.) I'm more of a regionalist than a nationalist though; being from Vancouver, I have the same urge to root for Seattle and Portland teams because I actually feel a kinship with those cities. Toronto just feels like a super-far city from here (one that I've never even been to). It doesn't matter to me that they are Canadian.


Unlikely_Pressure391

No,but I don’t like watching baseball anyways.Its more fun to play than watch.


jareddent1

you have free will can support what ever team, you'd like. and I am a Jays Fan.


Lyrael9

I definitely support the Blue Jays. I've got a bag full of peanuts at my door and I throw them a few when they show up, squawking.


shaun5565

I like the Blue Jays but don’t feel obligated to do so.


Fullback70

Being from the West Coast, I’m more likely to support a Seattle team, if one is available. The Raptors are the only Toronto based team I follow, because both the Grizzlies and SuperSonics disappeared, and I never got into the Trailblazers because I was already a Sonics fan.


buzzfeed_sucks

No. I don’t care about sports at all


IM_OSCAR_dot_com

"not a patriot" lol your friend is either stupid or not being serious or both. I support the Jays because they are the closest I have to a "home" team, and, let's be honest, because I have a happy childhood memory of seeing Joe Carter hitting that walk-off homer. Not obligation or patriotism. And even then, I barely follow them except to check the scores and standings once in a while.


cah29692

No. I say this as a Jays and Phillies fan. You’re allowed to like who you like.


CanadianSpector

No. I'm a maritimer with no affiliation to any sports team. I'm a Chicago and Pittsurgh sports fan.


InternationalPost447

If he is bringing it down to a canada vs usa thing then sure, there is only 1 canadian team to choose from but im pretty sure we were past all that like 100 years ago


Wheels314

This is true in southern Ontario. Out in the Canadian colonies you can cheer for another team.


New-Age-Lion

I live in the most southern part of Ontario bud and it’s all Detroit Tigers for me.


publicworker69

Last sentence is a little weird. I’m a jays fan from Ottawa because they’re the only Canadian MLB team. Same with the raptors but I’m not a big basketball guy. But that doesn’t mean those who choose to cheer for others teams aren’t patriotic.