Maple Leafs, Raptors, Jays, Argos: Toronto Fans Look to Interesting Offseasons

It’s been quite the year in Toronto.

The Leafs missed the playoffs for the third straight year. The Raptors disappointed down the stretch and eventually flamed out in 5 games to Orlando in the first round and the Jays have kicked off their season with a 17-20 record, good enough for last place in the division.

It looks like our only hope as Toronto fans is to wait until the CFL season kicks off and watch our beloved Argos go for the Grey Cup. However, let’s face it, no one in this city cares about the Argos and the CFL, but if there ever is a year to show interest in the CFL, it might as well be this year with all our other pro sports teams flaming out like a candle.

Let’s analyze this closely.

The Leafs missed the playoffs for the third consecutive year. The first time since 1928, I believe. To make matters worse, they have no coach, as Paul Maurice was fired earlier this week. They have no GM, as John Ferguson was canned back in February, and interim GM Cliff Fletcher and Co. are still continuing their search for a full time GM.

They have no captain, as Mats Sundin is contemplating whether to come back or call it quits as he is ready to focus on married life with his fiancé Josephine, who is 25 and 12 years Mats' junior.

There are plenty of candidates available to take the GM’s job, including Doug Armstrong. Doug Armstrong has made it clear that he is interested in taking the Leafs job, but he has received no calls from MLSE.  However, it’s been made clear that their focus is on Brian Burke, currently tied up to Anaheim for at least another year.

Just to summarize the experience of both gentlemen, Doug Armstrong built the Dallas Stars into a Stanley Cup champion in 1999 and they were a contender for years to come until he got fired in 2007. Brian Burke arrived in Anaheim in 2006 and instantly became a success for the Ducks, as they won the cup in 2007. This situation can be compared to an ordinary single guy, that has this relatively decent—looking single girl that is interested in him, but the guy shuns her to go for another beautiful looking girl that already has a boyfriend. The search and saga continues.

The Raptors arrived into the 2007—2008 season with high expectations, coming off a division title the previous year. The Raptors were riding high, going six games over 500 with 15 games left but then came bad losses to the Knicks, Pacers and Bobcats and they finished an even 41-41, six wins less than the previous season. On top of that, add injuries to Chris Bosh, TJ Ford, and let’s not forget the TJ Ford—Jose Calderon starting point guard fiasco that ended in TJ Ford moping about starting time and Calderon unselfishly going to management and making Ford the starter.

Then came the playoffs, The Raptors were thought to have the best match—up in the first round in an Orlando team that clearly had the inferior point guard tandem to Ford—Calderon. In the end it turned out to be the Raptors point guards were inferior ad Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis ripped them to shreds.

Let’s not forget Dwight Howard averaging 20 points and 20 rebounds in the series and Hedo Turkoglu looking like the next reincarnation of Larry Bird. The end result was a five game loss to Orlando and the Raps being labeled as “soft as Cottenelle tissue” according to some NBA observers. Just like their MLSE counterparts, Colangelo and co have a lot of decisions and changes to make.

The Jays entered the 2008 season with high expectations as well. With a starting rotation consisting of Halladay, Marcum, McGowen, Burnett and Litsch and the new acquisitions of David Eckstein and Scott Rolen, this team was expected to compete for the AL East division title and have the best starting pitching in baseball.

Well, the jury is still out on how they will finish the season, but with a record of 17-21, they are good enough for last place in the division. The pitching has been spectacular, but they can’t hit if their lives depended on it. They could have a situation where they have the bases loaded with nobody out and still can’t cash in runs. The hitting is putrid, and Riccardi’s 7^thyear of his "5 year plan" will go down in flames, along with Riccardi if this continues throughout the season.

Now that leaves us with the Argos. With a new Quarterback and a new coach, and since the CFL season has not begun yet, why not be optimistic for a Toronto team to succeed? After all, a 0-0 start has every team thinking about championship glory.