Professional athletes are often accused of being money-grabbing mercenaries, who don’t give a damn. And at times, they don’t help themselves.
However, more often that not, this is not a fair assessment. What? You want some proof? Okay, fine. Look no further than Brandon Morrow’s reaction after giving up back-to-back home runs for the Blue Jays against the Orioles last night:
The best bit about it, is the way everyone else in the dugout goes out of their way not to react, as if someone having an epileptic fit is a normal thing: “Move along everyone, nothing to see here.”
Fortunately, it didn’t matter too much in the end, as the Blue Jays went on to beat the Orioles 12-6. However, it was good to see Morrow showing some passion.
In fact, in a lot of ways it reminded me of how Ricky Romero used to react whenever something bad would happen to him…………………….Hold on, that was actually meant to be a positive!
Credit: @gamereax.com
If you have any tips or information about any of Toronto’s sports teams, please email me at Englishpaul@hotmail.co.uk
Wow! Just when I thought it wasn’t possible to feel any worse for Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Romero, he reached a new low during last night’s 10-4 loss to the Rays. The poor guy couldn’t even make it out of the first inning, giving up three runs and four hits while only retiring one batter.
Speaking of which, if things don’t start improving soon for the former sixth overall draft pick, he may have to consider retiring himself. Literally. Mind you, it doesn’t help when you’re apparently drinking on the job:
If it’s any consolation Ricky, we’ve all been there. Just not in front of 11,000 people. (Actually, he should be grateful his meltdown didn’t happen in front of a fanbase that actually gives a damn about their team.)
Okay, this isn’t funny anymore. How do you lose 8-1 to a Mariners team not exactly renowned for their explosive hitting power? I think this just about sums up how Blue Jays fans feel right now:
Oh dear. Things seem to be going from bad to worse for the Blue Jays at the moment. Ricky Romero’s return was meant to lift spirits and while it did, ironically it was the opposition who benefited from his return.
In all honestly, we shouldn’t have been too surprised by the Mariners 4-0 victory last night. When Felix Hernandez is on his game, he’s virtually impossible to beat.
As you’d expect with a 10-20 record for the vastly underachieving Blue Jays, the fans are very emotional right now. And what better place to vent your frustration than on Twitter:
“@ianbruniges: win a goddamn ball game you over paid bums!!! #hatethisteam and I’ve been a fan for 30 years!!” Thank you, love the support!
While you can debate whether or not Jose Bautista should have risen to the bait, I would have likely responded with something similar to what he wrote in both cases.
As you can imagine, this exchange brought a varied response from other people, both in support of and against Bautista and the Blue Jays:
While I agree that you don’t just give up on a team because they’re going through a bad patch, we’re fast approaching the point where Sportnet’s analysts saying it’s still early in the season just won’t cut it anymore.
When you’re 10.5 games back in the AL East, 7.5 games back of a wild card spot and have the third-worst record in the league just one month into the season, results have to improve soon. If they don’t, we can expect to see anger towards the team continue to grow, which would be a shame after the hope and excitement heading into this season.
A couple of weeks ago we wrote about the behaviour of Blue Jays fans this season. Certainly, the mainstream media has also been all over this lately, causing embarrassment for the organisation.
Now former Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun has entered the discussion, after contributing to a Toronto Star article about the unruly behaviour of fans. Unfortuately, the Sportsnet Analyst felt the backlash on Twitter.
Here’s a selection of some of the comments, together with Zaun’s responses:
@cbarks9 feel better now that you got to take a shot at me?
Now I’ll readily admit Zaun’s one of my favourite sports media personalities, but I still feel objective enough to say I found the reaction to his comments uncalled for. Unfortunately, with social media tools like Twitter around, we now have an avenue for people, some of whom should not be allowed out in public, to spew their hatred and irrational thoughts.
Having said that, I’m confident Zaun is smart enough (and big enough) to take care of himself. In fact, I’ll leave the final word to him:
i condemn people for being too drunk and creating a dangerous situation at RC and get accused of hating on Torontonians, as if I could
It’s often said that sport reflects society. If this is the case, then Toronto isn’t doing itself any favours at the moment. We’re only a week into the MLB season and Blue Jays fans are dominating social media for all the wrong reasons.
Here’s just a few examples of what you can currently find on the internet, although I feel it’s my duty to warn you the content may be deemed inappropriate to some people! (More to the point, my grandmother may be reading this.)
Some of that is pretty shocking isn’t it? And it’s crazy to think that this is all happening at a game of baseball!
So what’s going on and why is this type of behaviour apparently more prevalent at Blue Jays games compared to other sporting events in Toronto? I have a few theories if you’re willing to indulge me:
1) Baseball is the least aggressive and slowest moving team sport you can watch in Toronto at a professional level. Translation: It can get boring sometimes. And the Blue Jays poor start to the season doesn’t help.
Now combine this with today’s ADD generation and you’re pretty much asking for trouble. The kids’ are basically resorting to getting drunk and entertaining themselves.
2) The Blue Jays are so far averaging attendances of over 37,500 at the Rogers Centre. The Argonauts could only dream of having that many fans turn up for every game, while the ACC, BMO Field and Ricoh Coliseum have smaller capacities.
In other words, the more people you have crammed into one place, the higher the likelihood of having morons in the crowd. Now if you have a group of them sat together or at least in the vicinty of each other, then you’ve really got a situation on your hands.
3) Hopefully you’ll appreciate the irony of this last theory, but another reason this type of behaviour is more likely to happen at a Blue Jays game is money. In essence, sport is again reflecting society.
Everyone may (quite rightly) complain about how ridiculously expensive it is to go to a Leafs game in comparison, but at least you’re less likely to see troublesome incidents. While you can’t entirely stereotype people into categories, the chances are that the more money you have, the odds of loutish behaviour decrease.
Fingers crossed the Blue Jays start performing better soon to pacify the fanbase. Mind you, if they don’t improve, at least the bandwagon jumpers will soon bail out, thus leading to less incidents. I hope.
An 0-2 record, 12 runs and 15 hits given up in two starts against the Indians and Red Sox, an ERA of 8.44. Surely not even the most pessimistic of fans imagined such a disastrous start to R.A. Dickey’s career in a Blue Jay uniform.
As such, the following picture of the reigning NL Cy Young winner seems appropriate, with some people wondering if he’s gotten away with daylight robbery in respect of the contract he signed with Toronto.
Actually, while we’re on the subject of Dickey’s (and indeed the Blue Jays) less than stellar start to the season, there was an interesting call to ‘Jays Talk’ after yesterday’s 13-0 ass-kicking by the Red Sox. I think* the caller was talking about the right to boo at sporting events, something which Mike Wilner vehemently disagreed with.
* Yes, I may have had a few drinks by that point to ease the pain.
Anyway, I just thought I’d throw my two-cents worth into the mix. Now normally, I’d agree that booing doesn’t do anyone any favours. I just don’t see how it helps.
In fact, I feel Toronto sports fans are a bit too free and easy with their booing. Everyone makes mistakes at some point, whether it be in work or wherever.
However, even I will admit the fans were well within their rights to boo yesterday. The odd error here and there is one thing, but to be down 5-0 in the top of the first with no outs is unacceptable.
Overall though, it’s still way too early to start ringing the alarm bells. The bandwagon brigade should at least give it another week before bailing out.
I appreciate the start of spring training can be a struggle for a lot of players, depending on how much they stayed in shape during the off-season (albeit an offseason that seems to get shorter every year.)
However, if you were to pick one Blue Jay’s player who would be the least likely to require an extra boost, the chances are it would be Brett Lawrie right?
As such, I’m still getting over the shock of seeing this tweet from everyone’s second-favourite Canadian (after William Shatner of course.)
It just seems crazy doesn’t it? Lawrie has more energy than a demented puppy bouncing around nonstop in an undying attempt to sure how much it loves its owner, as per exhibit A:
If Lawrie needs a boost then what hope is there for the rest of us?!?! Unless………..perhaps that’s why Lawrie is always so full of energy. Maybe he’s hooked on the stuff? In which case, I suppose it’s a better alternative to using PEDs.
As a youngster, some of my most exciting days each year were whenever one of the teams I supported would release their schedule for the upcoming season.
However, when I found out MLB, and in particular the Blue Jays, had released their 2013 schedule, I had about as much enthusiasm as if someone had told me there was going to be a Bridesmaids sequel. (I can only hope I haven’t just put the idea into someone’s head.)
So what’s changed from when I was a young whippersnapper, full of wide-eyed innocence and the joys of life? Is it the fact this season hasn’t finished yet? Or the Jays decision years ago to move into the toughest division in all of sports, just to make a few extra bucks? Maybe it’s just my gradual transformation into a miserable old git?
It’s likely a mixture of all three, but whatever it is, a quick look through the Blue Jays 2013 schedule threw up these observations:
1) The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays will again provide a considerable blockade to any Blue Jays ambitions of making the playoffs. As such, the news they will now be playing every divisional opponent 19 times instead of 18 must be considered…..…err, how can I put this……..a bit of a bitch.
2) As if that wasn’t enough, even if the number of games against each team hadn’t increased, the Jays still have to deal with an apparently revitalised Baltimore Orioles team. What this basically means is that whereas heading into 2012 the Jays had 54 divisional games to worry about, they will now enter 2013 with 76 potential ball-aches.
3) The games against the Red Sox in particular could be very intriguing. We know John Farrell will be involved; the question is which side will he be managing?
4) On a more general level, I’m guessing Bud Selig delivered his verdict to all those critics who want interleague games wiped from the schedule altogether. With the Houston Astros moving over to the American League in 2013, this now means there will be at least one interleague game every…..…single…..…day!
I don’t know about you, but I’m already resigned to 2013 being another year without post-season baseball in Toronto.
Ah well, at least I get to sit down shortly and watch the Jays play Seattle………….Sorry, what’s that? Ricky Romero’s on the mound tonight?! Oh well, at least it should prepare us for next season. Enjoy the game.
You’ve heard of the saying “when it rains, it pours” but this is getting totally ridiculous now for the Blue Jays. Just when we thought nothing else could go wrong this season, the Skydome roof virtually ground to a halt while attempting to shut after it started raining.
Due to technical difficulties, the retractable dome took nearly an hour to close completely, although this still felt quicker than Omar Vizquel trying to steal home base. Needless to say, baseball fans in Montreal suffered nightmare flashbacks while watching the ordeal take place.
Maybe employees within the stadium knew things were going to get ugly and decided to sabotage the roof closure in an effort to get the game called while the score-line was still respectable.
Carlos Villanueva said the roof distracted him on the way to his fifth loss of the season. You would have thought he’d have welcomed the diversion, especially with the way he was pitching.
There’s no truth to the rumour that Rogers are considering putting the roof on the disabled list along with the rest of their injured starters, but they can still expect claims from Blue Jays fans looking for a refund of their dry-cleaning bills.
