While the Blue Jays may have been less than impressive so far this season, at least the fans have picked up the slack and provided some entertainment with their bad behaviour.

However, things have been quiet of late and there was a real danger the fans were threatening to become respectable again.  Fortunately, normal service was resumed at last night’s game against the Red Sox:

Thank God for the 500 level at the Rogers Centre.

Photo credit: @The_Whistleman

If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected]

You can also follow us on Twitter @bluetoro_ca and like us on Facebook

• By paul.taylor
• May 1, 2013
• Comment

Another close loss for the Blue Jays last night and, more crucially, it was to a divisonal opponent.  The 4-3 defeat to the Baltimore Orioles means the Jays are still looking up at the rest of the AL East.

Amongst all the early season issues, it doesn’t help that Jose Reyes is currently sidelined with an ankle injury.  However, while the shortstop is not expected to return until the All-Star break, the following tweet should at least offer some encouragement to Blue Jays fans. (If they have time to take a break from their unruly behaviour at the Rogers Centre of course):

The grind never stops!!! El trabajo nunca termina!!! Discipline, dedication & determination #roadtorecovery twitter.com/lamelaza_7/sta…

— Jose Reyes (@lamelaza_7) April 23, 2013

I didn’t realise the road to recovery involved lying around, holding balls and looking up to the ceiling.  If anything, it reminds me more of another scenario that often involves grinding it out.  (I’m sure Blue Jays can relate to this, given that they must feel like they’re currently being screwed for their hard-earner money. And not in a good way.)

Photo credit: @lamelaza_7

If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected]

You can also follow us on Twitter @bluetoro_ca and like us on Facebook

• By paul.taylor
• April 24, 2013
• Comment

I appreciate the Blue Jays Brett Lawrie is perceived as a polarising figure by players and fans alike.  However, I’m personally glad to see him back in the starting lineup.

And I’m sure the majority of Blue Jays fans feelt the same way after Lawrie played a key part in yesterday’s victory against the Yankees at the Rogers Centre.  The third baseman contributed two RBIs, as the Blue Jays came from 4-2 down to win 8-4.

Fortunately, it wasn’t only Lawrie bringing his A-game yesterday, as his girlfriend, Paige Brendel, got dressed up for a night out:

Little red never hurt ❤ twitter.com/PaigeBrendel/s…

— Paige Brendel (@PaigeBrendel) April 22, 2013

Miss Brendel may will be right about a little red never hurting.  Either way, she’s definitely a sight for sore eyes.

Photo credit: @PaigeBrendel

If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected]

You can also follow us on Twitter @bluetoro_ca and like us on Facebook

• By paul.taylor
• April 22, 2013
• Comment

What a week. The Blue Jays continued their lacklustre start to the season, while the Raptors have started to wind down from their own lacklustre campaign.

Toronto FC stole a point with a dramatic late comeback, the Rock clinched the East division and the Marlies secured a playoff spot. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs continue to amaze us all with their surge towards the postseason. (Well, it has been eight years!)

Let’s get to the top pictures of the last seven days:

1) I suppose we should start with the Blue Jays, because in many ways their bad start is even more of a story than the Leafs push for the postseason.  And in that respect, this ripoff of the film ‘Major League’ seems appropriate at the moment:

Let’s just hope the Blue Jays can turn it around and finish the season in similar fashion to Charlie Sheen and company.

2) It’s often said that how you perceive a glass half-filled with water says a lot about your personality:

To be fair, whether you have a glass half full or empty outlook on life, it still doesn’t change the fact that the Blue Jays charge you a bloody fortune to drink alcohol at the Rogers Centre.  And it’s definitely needed at the moment.

3) Okay, this wasn’t planned, but I’m pretty close to changing this to ‘Blue Toro’s top Blue Jays pictures of the week’.  I guess it really is easier to find material when a team’s playing badly.

Talking of which, it’s typical that Josh Johnson waited until he joined the Blue Jays to have the shortest outing of his career, lasting just 1.1 innings against the Tigers on Thursday.  Suddenly, this photo makes a lot more sense:

I’m thinking Johnson was trying to warn us he may not be around for long, when he turned up with hardly any personal belongings at the start of the season.

4) What would you think if I told you we have photographic evidence of Jose Reyes playing with himself?  Would you like to see it?  Of course you would:

Seriously, get your mind out of the gutter. I can’t believe you went there! Having said that, it now appears after last night’s injury Reyes that will have more free time to play with himself, whatever that may entail.

5) Speaking of free time, Toronto FC’s Robert Earnshaw has decided to put his to good use by learning to play the guitar:

I just hope he continues to make sweet music on the field as well, preferably with his shirt on.

6) Turning to the Raptors, I’m the first to admit I’ve been less than impressed with Kyle Lowry this season.  As such, I think this photo sums the point guard up perfectly, because at times his play has been reminiscent of a headless chicken:

7) Sticking with the Raptors, my favourite moment of the week was when Amir Johnson took a timeout during their game against the Bulls to take some photos, leading to numeorous mockups including this one:

Certainly, you can almost imagine Johnson looking out for the lesser-spotted Raptors winning season.  And if he could find the even rarer Raptors first-round playoff win, then he’d really be onto something.

8 ) And finally, as you (hopefully) know, at Blue Toro we try our best to look at the lighter side of sports.  As such, let’s end with this GIF of Chris Bosh that I found earlier this week:

For once the former Raptor actually amused me.  I will now revert back to sports-hating him.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected]

You can also follow us on Twitter @bluetoro_ca and like us on Facebook

• By paul.taylor
• April 13, 2013
• Comment

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.

If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected]

You can also follow us on Twitter @bluetoro_ca and like us on Facebook

• By paul.taylor
• April 9, 2013
• Comment

As frustrating as it can be at times, I accept that gamesmanship is an integral part of professional sports.  Athletes are always trying to fool the umpires and opposing players.

However, it’s much more amusing when the only person the athlete ends up making a fool of is themselves.  Take Jackie Bradley Jr’s attempt to sell this check-swing against the Blue Jays during yesterday’s game at the Rogers Centre:

The best bit is how the Red Sox outfielder still looks hopefully towards the umpire.  The only way this would have been funnier is if the bat actually hit Bradley Jr in the face and led to a different type of strikeout.

If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected]

You can also follow us on Twitter @bluetoro_ca and like us on Facebook

• By paul.taylor
• April 7, 2013
• Comment

It’s only one game, but I think we can all agree most Blue Jays fans were left stunned by last night’s season-opening 4-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians at the Rogers Centre.

Personally speaking, this was the worst moment of the day for me; the realisation that ACE the mascot has likely gotten closer to Aliya Jasmine Sovani than I ever will:

Okay, so having a restraining order not allowing me to go within 300 yards of Sovani doesn’t help, but there’s still no need for ACE to rub my nose in it.  You may not be able to see it, but I guarantee that guy has a smug luck on his face. Git.

Photo credit: @AliyaJasmine

If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected]

You can also follow us on Twitter @bluetoro_ca and like us on Facebook

• By paul.taylor
• April 3, 2013
• Comment

As if I wasn’t excited enough, these pictures of the Blue Jays arriving in Toronto at the Rogers Centre have me now officially ready for the new season to begin:

I think we’ve found our Blue Jays version of James Reimer. Seriously, does Jose Reyes ever not smile?!

I’m not sure whether to perceive the following picture as supreme confidence, arrogance or delusion on the part of Brett Cecil for having more luggage than the opening day starter, R.A. Dickey:

Either way, I hope Cecil isn’t going somewhere else anytime soon. (Unlike Dickey’s hairband. Even David Beckham couldn’t pull that look off.)

In that respect, should we be concerned by Josh Johnson appearing to travel light?  We definitely need this dude to stick around for a while:

Hopefully it’s just a case of Johnson being more low maintenance than Dickey and Cecil.

I can imagine it must be a pretty cool experience when you go to your locker for the first time in the season, especially when you’ve joined a new team:

Talking of cool experiences, while nothing beats an energised crowd, stepping onto the Rogers Centre field when the stadium is empty can also be pretty special. Just look at Reye’s face:

Look Reyes, I know you’re damn good, but please don’t go pointing at where you’re going to hit the ball when you’re actually playing. Capiche?

Come on guys, now you’re just abusing the privilege.  Bautista, you should know better!

I can’t believe they’re getting footprints all over that nice, freshly cut, natural grass………………..okay, scrub that thought.  As you were gentlemen.

Photo credits: @BlueJays & @lamelaza_7

If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected]

You can also follow us on Twitter @bluetoro_ca and like us on Facebook

• By paul.taylor
• March 31, 2013
• Comment

Well that was an eventful weekend; the Raptors are on a tear with their first two-game winning streak of the season, Toronto hosted another disastrous NFL experience, otherwise known as a Buffalo Bills game and the Marlies won twice.

Did I miss anything?  Oh yeah, I also heard something about the Blue Jays maybe making another trade and I think there’s a lockout going on at the moment.  Let’s get to the mailbag:

Q. In my opinion, the five-year deal to have the Bills play games at the Rogers Centre hasn’t exactly been a success.  How close are we to having our own NFL team in Toronto?

Rob - Toronto

A. Well that depends.  If the advertisers are to be believed, Toronto already has an NFL team.  You’ve heard the radio adverts right?  The ones that go something like this:

“Quick! While there’re still available!  Buy tickets for YOUR Buffalo Bills.  That’s right! YOUR Buffalo Bills, who we originally used to try and fleece you out of your hard-earned money by setting ticket prices at an astronomically high price, but then, after realising we totally overestimated your passion for the team, gradually lowered the cost every year, but now, in year five, still have trouble selling out, hence why we’ve resorted to doing radio promos where we refer to the team as YOUR Buffalo Bills.”

In all honesty, as you say, the five-year deal with the Bills has not been a success.  In fact, it’s bordered on being a disaster.  Let’s just say that an announced crowd of 40,770 (in reality, only about 35,000 showed up) for an NFL game isn’t exactly going to convince Roger Goodell and the owners that having a team here is a good idea.

It doesn’t matter anyway, because everyone knows the first place likely to be granted any relocated franchise (because the NFL’s not expanding any time soon) is Los Angeles, the second-largest market in North America.

And while the NFL is looking to grow the game outside of its own country, they’re thinking further afield than Canada, where they already have a hard-core following.  Much further afield.

Having spent time speaking to Goodell and CMO Mark Waller during the buildup to the 2011 international series game in London (England not Ontario), it’s clear the NFL would rather place a team on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean as opposed to just North of the border.

As such, I think Toronto is just going to have to accept the Bills as the closest they will get to having their own NFL team for the foreseeable future.  In fact, with the Bills needing the money that playing in Toronto generates, to have any hope of remaining in Western New York, there’s every chance Toronto will soon be enjoying two ‘home’ games a year.

Go on, just embrace it!  Repeat after me: “YOUR Buffalo Bills!”

Click here for part two

• By paul.taylor
• December 17, 2012
• Comment

Due to popular demand, we present a second edition of top pictures and stories of the week.  (Okay, I’m lying. I just wanted an excuse to share some more photos with you.)

1) Two games into the NBA pre-season, it appears that Raptors head coach Dwane Casey is already feeling the weight of heightened expectations:

Maybe someone should help lower Casey’s high blood pressure by advising him that no one is expecting too much from his team this year.

2) Hot off the press, Paulina Gretzky has been spending some time in Toronto this week:

This is only newsworthy due to the fact she was actually photographed with her clothes on for a change.  But what does this mean?  Is hell about to freeze over?  Maybe the Mayans’ are right after all…………………

3) A Pittsburgh Steelers fan was lucky enough to have his photo taken with the Blue Jays Jose Bautista before last Sunday’s home game versus the Philadelphia Eagles:

I guess after the season he suffered through, Bautista just wanted to be associated with a winning team for once.

(Hold on……………….aren’t the Steelers now 2-3 after last night’s shock defeat by the Tennessee Titans?  Never mind Jose.)

4) Sticking with the Blue Jays, watching the MLB playoffs during this week, (especially the continued success of the Baltimore Orioles) has only served to remind us of what could have been.

As such, let’s end their campaign on a high by signing off with a more aesthetically pleasing image of the Blue Jays 2012 season:

5) Due to the fact they play a regular season game every year at the Rogers Centre, the Buffalo Bills are the closest Toronto currently comes to having a team in the NFL.  In that respect, the Bills fit right in with the current sentiment Torontonians have about most of their professional teams:

6) The Maple Leafs are suffering more that most during the ongoing NHL lockout.  However, while I can understand their efforts to continue finding ways to make money, this is getting a little ridiculous now:

7) With the regular season nearly here, the Miami Heat are excited about defending their championship.  Trust Chris Bosh to ruin the moment.

I’m not sure what Bosh has trodden in, but Lebron James and Dwyane Wade appear to be telling him what he’s just done, while Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis examine the evidence.

(All I can say is they are better people than me. I wouldn’t have said anything.)

8 )  Finally, I’m not particularly into politics (something tells me this doesn’t surprise you) and I know this has absolutely nothing to do with sports.  However, with the US Presidential election fast approaching, I couldn’t resist sharing the following image with you:

If ever any photo fit the phrase ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’, this is it.

• By paul.taylor
• October 12, 2012
• Comment