Seattle & Toronto : Sporting Cities

1993. The Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series at home in game 6 over the Philadelphia Phillies. Any Canadian sports fan worth his salt knows exactly where they were the night Joe Carter struck the homerun that brought the trophy North Of The Border for the second straight year. 'Touch'em All Joe!" is still one of the most widely understood statements in Canadian baseball, and dare I say, Canadian sports period.  That was also the last year any major sports team won anything of importance in the city of Toronto.

Touch'em All Joe!

Before the 1992 & 1993 seasons, the previous time a major sports title was won in Toronto was in 1967 when the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup. That's a 25 year dry-spell between titles of any sort, one that has been felt yet again (21 years now for Jays... But this is our year!) 

Seattle sports fans should understand this narrative all too well. Before the Seahawks (bolstered by the 12th Man) won the Lombardi Trophy, the last major title to be won in the city? From 2009 to 20011 the Sounders were US Open cup Champions (and runner-up in 2012), a streak that is impressive to any sports nut. For the next title we have to look much farther back to he NBA title by the now re-located SuperSonics in 1979. Before that? 1917 when the Seattle Metropolitans won the Stanley Cup, becoming the 1st team in the USA to win North American hockey's biggest prize.

So, why the history lesson?

All things considered Seattle & Toronto share a joint sporting culture mentality. Fervent fans who come out game after game to support teams that punch well below their potential. Look at the 12th Man over the last 10 years, at the Mariners, at the SuperSonics. Strong fan bases that create some of the most dynamic crowds in sports. Cross that over to Toronto where the Maple Leafs sell out the Air Canada Centre and are the richest team in the NHL. The Raptors continue to be a 50/50 club 20 years into their existence, and the Jays... Well... They were picked as an 8:1 chance to win the World Series in 2013. That's all I'm going to say about that. 

The similarities are there. Die hard support for teams that continue to disappoint year after year. We're fans though. We love our teams no matter what. Through the lean years (and each city has definately had those) to the strong years (which are on the rise for both cities). Many of us have been there all along, it's only now that the rest of the populace are starting to take notice. 

And they will notice.