One of the most ignominious streaks in Canadian sports history is finally—finally—over. As we mentioned on Monday, the University of Toronto men's football team snapped its frankly mind-boggling forty-nine game losing skid. It was their first victory since October 13, 2001. The last-minute, come-from-behind 18-17 win over the Waterloo Warriors likely wasn't aesthetically pleasing, but no one associated with the long-suffering program is going to care. And while we thought about dwelling on the... [continue]

We love baseball statistics because they're totally malleable. Case in point: our very own Toronto Blue Jays. Heading into the weekend, the Blue Jays are 66-61; they’re mired in fourth place in the American League East, yet they’re technically on the fringes of a playoff race. And depending on how you examine their performance this year, they're either really good or really bad. Last night, as we watched the Blue Jays pummel the New... [continue]

It's been a quiet year for Pearl Jam. Apart from a brief excursion into the United States (which featured a stunning, career-defining performance at Bonnaroo), the band's been spending most of 2008 recording the follow-up to its 2006 release, variously known as Pearl Jam, self-titled, or Avocado (on account of its unusual cover art). The waiting (to quote one of the band's better-known songs) is driving Pearl Jam's legions of fans mad; bless Eddie Vedder,... [continue]

Toronto's latest dalliance with the National Football League is underway—and while yesterday's Buffalo Bills/Pittsburgh Steelers game was a predictably tepid affair, we're guessing the organizers will be reasonably happy with the way things played out. First, the game. Preseason NFL games are frequently dire, and yesterday's wasn't much of an exception. Buffalo rookie Leodis McKelvin briefly brought the Rogers Centre to life with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, but for the most part... [continue]

Toronto's NFL experiment begins this Thursday—and while we still don't know where it'll lead, we do know it's beginning not with a bang but a whimper. Not that the Buffalo (Toronto?) Bills are an awful team; neither are their inaugural Toronto opponents, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who've actually won more games than anyone else since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970. The problem isn't the teams—it's the format, as well as how it's being marketed. The... [continue]

David Beckham is finally—finally—making his Toronto debut, and as we suspected it won’t be with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Instead, he’ll be the featured attraction of Major League Soccer’s annual all-star game, which this year pits the very best of MLS against the very mediocre West Ham United of the English Premiership. As glamour match-ups go, this year’s game is a step below last year's when the MLS all-stars took on Celtic F.C. of the... [continue]

The Rogers Centre is beginning to show its age—yet despite its advancing years, it's still lacking what we'd call "authentic" ballpark atmosphere. Which is probably inevitable, since the Stadium Formerly Known as SkyDome is a sorta-generic, poured-concrete monstrosity with a cool-looking ceiling; when compared with some of baseball's classic stadiums, its shortcomings are plainly evident. Given the circumstances, the Rogers Centre's employees are vital to making a baseball game in Toronto a more enjoyable experience.... [continue]

The Toronto Maple Leafs won't play a meaningful hockey game for another three months, yet we've already begun steeling ourselves against the impeding overexposure. During the past few weeks, Canada's sports media have begun ramping up their hockey-related coverage. We were horrified to discover, for instance, that TSN ran an hour-long "preview" of NHL free agency last week; we were equally appalled to find ourselves watching it in its entirety. Not surprisingly, the Maple Leafs... [continue]

It’s been (warning! understatement alert!) an interesting week in Toronto Blue Jay Land. Seven days ago, they were floundering under a lame duck manager. This week, the team is still floundering—but at least they're showing signs (albeit tentative ones) of turning things around. One week—six games—is a negligible sample size; it’s barely sufficient to draw any sorts of conclusions, let alone meaningful ones. Still, as fans, we’re cautiously optimistic. Cito Gaston was bound to... [continue]

Today, to the surprise of absolutely no one, the Toronto Blue Jays fired their manager John Gibbons. Three other coaches, including the ever-popular Ernie Whitt, were also let go. Gibbons's replacement, at least for the time being, is none other than Cito Gaston, the man who led Toronto to back-to-back World Series championships in the early 90s. We’re still absorbing this announcement—and while we'll have plenty more to say about it in the coming weeks,... [continue]

We're as intrigued by "The Hockey Theme" saga as any Canadian sports fan—but with the story becoming increasingly surreal (not to mention trivial), we've decided it's time to focus our attention elsewhere. Like Switzerland and Austria, for instance, where Euro 2008 kicked off last weekend. We're big soccer fans (or "football supporters," if you'd like), and so naturally we're well-chuffed about the tournament. However, we're also of the opinion that those of us who are... [continue]

Analyzing Sleater-Kinney lyrics can be a fruitless task, but we're pretty sure they had the Toronto Blue Jays in mind when they wrote this line: "Rollercoaster, want to go back to the way things were." The way things were, say, in the late 80s/early 90s, when a winning baseball team was like a birthright 'round these parts. From 1989 to 1993, the Blue Jays won four division titles and two World Series championships. Since... [continue]

Remember when David Beckham was supposed to make his Major League Soccer debut at BMO Field last year, then wasn't even on the substitute’s bench? Well, brace yourselves, transient sports fans: it’s about to happen again. Beckham—who's since made his inaugural Canadian appearances in specially-arranged friendlies in Vancouver and Edmonton—was supposed to be in town May 31 along with the rest of the Los Angeles Galaxy, the team who signed him to one of... [continue]

Photo of the Toronto Centre for the Arts by selosa On Thursday, Cameron Mackintosh’s revival of My Fair Lady makes its long-awaited Toronto debut. Just as significantly, however, its arrival brings a new lease on life for one of the city's finest major theatres.... [continue]

For a team that's accustomed to flying under the radar (partly because they're a Canadian team in an otherwise all-American league, partly because they're perpetually mediocre, and partly because they're in a division with two of the most self-absorbed franchises in professional sports), it's been an unusually eventful year for the Toronto Blue Jays so far. Last weekend they announced that Frank Thomas—the team's best slugger, #18 on baseball's all-time home run list and a... [continue]

Tomorrow, our lives come grinding to a halt until mid-June. The NHL playoffs are here—and even without the Toronto Maple Leafs (more on them in a second), that means there’s going to be meaningful hockey on TV almost every single night for the next two-and-a-half months. (That’s assuming you think it’s possible for sports to be meaningful, obviously; then again, if you didn’t, you probably wouldn’t be reading this.) Back in October we picked the... [continue]

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Which isn't surprising, given how poorly they've played for much of the 2007/08 season. What is surprising is that it took the team this long to make it official. Heading into this week's crucial home-and-home series against the Boston Bruins, the Leafs were still on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. A two-game sweep, however, would've brought them level with the Bruins... [continue]

Far be it from us to take pleasure in our favourite team’s misfortunes...but as much as we love the Maple Leafs, we had to laugh after Vesa Toskala’s incredible blunder against the New York Islanders earlier tonight. If you missed it, we’ve included the YouTube clip...which was probably unnecessary, since the play—a goal scored by New York defenceman Rob Davison from his own goal line, a distance of approximately 200 feet—is about to become... [continue]

Hope is a cruel thing for a sports fan: no matter how bleak the situation, as long as there's a straw in sight we'll happily clutch at it. Case in point: Leafs Nation, of which we're proud, occasionally defiant members. We've been flip-flopping over the Leafs all season long. A few weeks ago we'd written them off, then watched as the team put together an impressive run (which included comprehensive victories over the Ottawa... [continue]

Far be it from us to conflate professional sports with Bill Shakespeare—but the Toronto Maple Leafs’ actions before, during and after Tuesday's NHL trade deadline recall Macbeth’s famous words: full of sound and fury, yet ultimately signifying nothing. Charges of heresy will be duly acknowledged. In the end, the promised blow-up never materialized. None of the five big-money, no-trade-clause-holding players could be moved. Pavel Kubina was apparently ready to be shipped off (to San... [continue]