Okay, I need to make a confession and I figured why pay good money for counselling when I can unburden myself on the general public. It’s time to come out of the closet. I………am………a………CFL fan.

In fact………I LOVE THIS GAME! (That’s right David Stern, I’ve nicked the NBA’s slogan the same way you let Clay Bennett steal the Seattle Sonics.)

I realise the CFL is not viewed as particularly cool in a city with MLB, NHL and NBA franchises, but I’ve enjoyed it ever since going to my first game at the Skydome. As such, I’m revved up for tonight’s season-opener in Edmonton.

The question is, do the Toronto Argonauts have any chance of making some noise this season? I say yes, and not just because they play in an eight-team league where 75% of the franchises make the play-offs. (Hey, I may love the CFL but it still needs fixing.)

The biggest concern is the defence, which last year was softer than a 90-year-old man in bed with Sarah Jessica Parker and Rosie O’Donnell. (Translation for the more sophisticated and/or naive amongst you: the Boatmen ranked dead-last in all major defensive categories.)

Of course Willie Pile’s recent retirement didn’t help, but even with a revamped secondary (four new starters) I firmly believe they’ll play better D, galvanised by the potential of home-field advantage for the 100th Grey Cup.

On offence, the loss of former All-Star Rob Murphy (retirement) and Dominic Picard (free-agency) could impact the line. However, future Hall-of-Famer Ricky Ray represents a major upgrade over Cleo Lemon (that dude still gives me nightmares) as long as he has time to throw from the pocket.

And if I’m wrong? Then it’s back into the closet to continue quietly supporting the Argonauts and we can all forget this conversation ever took place.

Photo: Chris Young – The Canadian Press

• By paul.taylor
• June 30, 2012
• Comment

If you wanted to epitomise the 2012 Toronto Blue Jays, the Boston Red Sox series pretty much nails it: Taking early leads, bullpen implosions, (mostly) showing determination regardless of the outcome. Oh, and let’s not forget another pitcher leaving a game due to injury?!?! (Although mercifully this time Henderson Alvarez should be ready for his next start.)

Following this team has become the sporting equivalent of having a bipolar girlfriend; moments of joy and ecstasy compounded by periods of anger and despair. You just never know where you stand with them.

Obviously having a decimated pitching rotation doesn’t help.  About the only positive to take from this ridiculous situation is a dramatically improved medical knowledge (one of the underrated advantages of following sports, along with an ability to pronounce complicated foreign surnames.) I’m sure most of us were googling the term ‘oblique strain’ as soon as we knew what was wrong with Brandon Morrow.

At least the offence is doing its best to keep the Blue Jays in contention, led by a revitalised Jose Bautista.  The statistics make for impressive reading with 367 runs scored, 343 RBIs’ (both 5th in the Majors) and 109 home runs (2nd).

John Farrell also pulled off a master stoke by moving Brett Lawrie and Colby Rasmus to the top of the order. They are potentially the most explosive duo since Ike and Tina Turner (although the only things being battered are baseballs).

However, this team still needs to show more consistency in general.  If the Jays don’t resolve their pitching situation soon (sorry, but Jamie Moyer is NOT the answer), I fear they’ll struggle to stay above .500, never mind contend for a wild-card spot.  And let’s be honest, most men prefer more stability in their relationships, whether it’s sports teams or women.

• By paul.taylor
• June 28, 2012
• Comment

O Canada!

Since the 2004 departure of the Montreal Expos to Washington, the Toronto Blue Jays have been “Canada’s Team”. Even though not everyone across the country is fond of the Jays, it is still something the organization can claim.

Recent years have seen the team make off-season trips across the country and provide training clinics with alumni and current players to bolster the fan base in the Maritimes and Western Canada. One other way to do this is to release new merchandise. The Jays unveiled a revamped uniform this season that has been a huge hit with the fans and has increased sales (doesn’t hurt that every tween and twenty-something girl in Toronto wants to wear a Brett Lawrie t-shirt).

Now the Jays have released their once a year Canada Day jersey. Keeping the same design as their current uniform, but with the major difference being, it is red! Also, every player will be named Canada on July 1. Hopefully this will confuse the LA Angels and Jose Bautista will see the pitches that were intended for Rajai Davis.

Will you buy a red Jays Canada day jersey? Whose number do you want on the back?

Check out the entire history of the Blue Jays Canada day jerseys at Uni-Watch

Photo: The Score

• By ben.trattner
• June 25, 2012
• Comment
• 3

Stunning revelation coming out of Miami, where the Blue Jays are taking on the Marlins and Fidel Castro’s mate Ozzie Guille (sorry, too soon?) As regular followers of Bluetoro know, your Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie is a fan of the Miami Heat.

With Lebron James and company having the chance to clinch the NBA title on their home-court in game five, sources tell me Lawrie faked his injury during Wednesday’s loss against Milwaukee so he would be free to watch the following night’s action in Miami.

Obviously, after featuring in Friday’s line-up against the Marlins, I can only surmise that everyone’s fourth-favourite Canadian* (after Pamela Anderson, William Shatner and Michael J Fox) suddenly realised the Blue Jays weren’t actually playing on Thursday night, thus leading to a miraculous recovery.

Unfortunately, much like Roger Goodell and the NFL’s ongoing bounty scandal, I can’t actually produce any hard evidence to substantiate this claim.  Okay, I have to go now as apparently Bud Selig is holding on line three for me.

* I assume everyone is in agreement that Martin Short is bottom of the list.

Photo: Keith Allison – Flickr

• By paul.taylor
• June 23, 2012
• Comment

TMZ recently reported, with courthouse proof in hands, that Vladimir Guerrero was paying over 25,000$ per month in child support, to 5 different women. He apparently has 8 kids in total.

Guerrero must have been ecstatic when Alex Anthonopoulos gave him a phone call. The ex-superstar has to pay over 300,000$ in child support per year, I can now understand his motivation to get back to the big leagues as fast as possible.

After burning the single A league, Vlad continues to have decent stats with the AAA Las Vegas team. In 8 games, he his hitting for .303 with 4RBIs. Even he has no home runs in his 10 hits, he registered 2 doubles and 1 triple, which is a good news for the Jays, considering his knees and ankles were pretty much done over the past seasons.

He should be back in the MLB before too long, and we now all know how come his progression has been so quick. The man cannot wait to get his big leagues paycheck!

• By Manny Frag
• June 12, 2012
• Comment

Last night, the Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics in game 7 of the Eastern Conference final. The Blue Jays’ players, who are obviously big sports’ fans in general,  took advantage of the decisive game to chirp at each other on Twitter.

First of all, Ricky Romero made fun of Brett Lawrie for being a big Miami Heat and Lebron James’ fan. I gotta give it to the Jays’ ace, that comment was priceless.

2hRicky Romero ‏@RickyRo24

@blawrie13 How does Lebron dunk with u hanging from his sack??? #HeMustHaveHugeCalves

Earlier in the night, another Toronto’s pitcher, Brandon Morrow, doubted Lawrie and his legitimacy on being a Heat’s fan.

Brandon Morrow ‏@2Morrow23

@blawrie13 You must have caught a lot of Heat games as a kid up in BC #lifelongfan

Here is what the canadian replied with

Brett Lawrie ‏@blawrie13

@2Morrow23 well I was a huge Big Country Reeves fan ! But then .. Ya know .. Lebron hit the scene #Grizz

• By Manny Frag
• June 10, 2012
• Comment

The Toronto Blue Jays will be looking to complete their first sweep versus the Chicago White Sox, in more than twenty two years, tonight, at U.S. Cellular Field.

Not only would John Farrell’s squad achieve a rare feed, they would also win 3 big games against a red hot team that was on fire prior to that series.

However, the task won’t be easy for Henderson Alvarez (3-5 3.75ERA), who has registered a loss in his last 3 decisions. He will be facing White Sox’s ace Jake Peavy (6-1 3.05 ERA), who is remarkable, so far this season.

• By Manny Frag
• June 7, 2012
• Comment

Ricky Romero is a big hockey fan, most likely because he plays in a market where hockey is king. He also has many friends across the NHL, inclunding Brandon Prust.

Romero was delighted to watch the NY Rangers-New Jersey Devils battle yesterday, where 3 fights broke up in the first seconds of the game. Here is what he tweeted.

@RickyRo24 : WOW!!! Just saw how the #Rangers #Devils game started today. My boy @BrandonPrust8 is the man… #PunchesComingHot

He then added the link from hockeyfights.com to let everyone see what happened. Looks like the Blue Jays’ ace has some Canadian blood in him!

• By Manny Frag
• March 20, 2012
• Comment

The MLB and the MLBPA have set a deadline, today, to figure out whether or not an extra wild card team will be added to the playoffs for the 2012 season.

It seems that the addition of the extra wildcard, which was originally supposed to come in effect in 2013, will be introduced for the 2012 season.

This is an excellent news for the Toronto Blue Jays, who are battling in the toughest division in baseball. The young Jays could have a chance to compete in the postseason for the first time since 1993, when they won the world series, because of that decision.

So far, reports are saying that the two wild cards in each league would face each other in a 1 game playoff, and the winner would go on in the same format playoffs as the precedent years.

Let`s just hope this goes through as expected!

• By Manny Frag
• March 1, 2012
• Comment

The Toronto Blue Jays have reached an agreement with starting pitcher, and upcoming star Brandon Morrow. The 27-year-old right hander registered 11 wins and 203 strikeouts in 2011, which were career highs for him.

With Ricky Romano has a first starter, the Blue Jays are looking at a very decent 1-2 combo for the years to come. Alex Anthonopoulos also made a few key signings in the bullpen, notably Francisco Cordero, who reportedly agreed to a 1 year/4.5M$ contract today with the Jays. This should help the Canadian club have a much deeper presence on the mound late in the games.

Hopefully their bats will remain hot for the upcoming season as they will need all the runs possible to compete in the very strong AL East.

Source: Blue Jays twitter and Fox Sports

• By Manny Frag
• January 24, 2012
• Comment