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Sports

Why baseball never caught on in Western Canada

By Josh Martin,
Sports Editor

t’s common knowledge

that baseball is not
popular on the West
coast. I can’t say for
the entire country of
Canada, because teams
like the Toronto Blue Jays
are household names,
but even then I doubt
that baseball in Toronto
overcomes hockey ina
popularity contest. Even
Toronto’s basketball and
football teams, from my
point of view, would
come out on top. It’s
strange that baseball is
so popular in the United
States, but once you cross
that border and head
north, the popularity
diminishes. Vanishes.
And turns that vapor
into a hockey-mad,
brawling, riot trashing
environment. But why?

Perhaps it’s because

 

By David Hollinshead,
Contributor

hen the

Indianapolis Colts
drafted quarterback
Andrew Luck with the
first pick of last April’s
draft, they knew they
were getting someone
with superstar potential.
There’s no way in hell
they could’ve predicted
that he would turn the
team around like this so
quickly. After finishing
last season with only
two wins, the Colts
have jumped out to
a 6-3 record halfway
through the season after
shellacking the lowly
Jacksonville Jaguars

Canada only has one
MLB baseball team, the
Toronto Blue Jays. If there
are no baseball teams
across the country than
how is it even possible
for the sport to gain
followers? We only have
one major baseball team
in our whole nation; you
can’t expect the entire
population of Canada

to jump on board the
baseball bandwagon. It’s
not convenient for the
over-privileged, iPhone
consuming, public.
There’s also the other
point of view of the con-
siderable risk there is of
bringing an MLB team to
a hockey mad city such
as Vancouver. If baseball
isn’t popular in Canada,
why even bother trying?
Is the risk worth it?

The Vancouver
Canadians, being the
Blue Jays affiliate team,
are the closest baseball
team Vancouver has to

27-10. This turnaround
is hugely thanks to Luck.
Just for a small sample,
against the Jaguars Luck
completed 18 of 26 passes
for 227 yards and ran for
two touchdowns.

His stats on paper
for the whole season
don’t exactly proclaim
superstar, with a decent
79.1 passer rating and
10 touchdowns to nine
interceptions. He has
thrown for 2,631 yards
and had a huge week
against the juggernaut
Green Bay Packers when
he threw for 362 yards
and two touchdowns,
bringing the final score
to 30-27. If you look at
the team surrounding
him, you'll find that Luck

the big leagues. Yet, I
never hear about them
next to the Canucks,
Whitecaps, and the
BC Lions. Maybe it’s
because I don’t have a
particularly strong inter-
est in baseball, but even
still there isn’t a buzz
in advertising to go see
Canadians games around
town. No commercials,
posters, 2-for—1 deals,
no nothing. Not being
a baseball connoisseur,
if there isn’t advertising
to promote the sport I’m
most definitely not going
to randomly decide to go
to a Canadians game. It’s
just not going to happen.
Last year, I went to a
baseball game in South
Korea and couldn’t
believe the environment
there. Every single player
on the home team had
their own specific song
that the crowd would
cheer for, and every
time the players went

(GD ° the Luck ofthe Cott

doesn’t have the star
power to back him up
either.

The best player
around Luck is wide
receiver Reggie Wayne,
who is on the wrong
side of 30, but is having
an absolute blowout
of a season. As Luck’s
favourite target, Wayne
already has 69 receptions
for 931 yards and six
touchdowns, putting
him on pace for an
astounding season of
over 1,600 yards. Wayne
is the only player on
the Colts’ offense that
can be looked at as a
threat. Rookie receiver
T.Y. Hilton was a third
round draft pick, rookie
tight end Coby Fleener

 

up to bat the fans in the
stands would break out
into song and dance for
that player; the dedica-
tion and passion that
these fans had for the
game was unbelievable.
Baseball to them is like
what hockey is to us.
Hockey in Vancouver
is almost like a religion.
You don’t even have to
be a fan of the Canucks
and you can probably
list a few players that
you know on the team.

came from Stanford with
Luck and was on pace for
a decent season before
his injury, and none of
their running backs can
be considered “starting
quality.”

He also does this
with the extreme
pressure hanging over
him of competing with
shoo-in Hall of Famer
Peyton Manning. Any
football fan knows what
Manning has done over
his career with the Colts,
and as soon as it became
apparent that Luck was
going to be the future
of the franchise, the
comparisons started to
roll in. In fact, Luck looks
to surpass Manning’s
rookie season. Manning

 

gx

It is engrained in the
hearts of Canadians and
therefore profitable in the
well-developed market
where baseball doesn’t
hold the same cultural
value. Less people attend
the baseball games,
which is why the sport

is less profitable, has

less advertising, and is
less popular in Canada.

threw for 3,739 yards
with 26 touchdowns but
only led his Colts to a
3-13 record and threw 28
interceptions. Look above
to Luck’s stats now. He
has already doubled
Manning’s wins, looks to
double his yards, and cut
down his interceptions
by several. He also has
the Colts looking forward
to the playoffs as they
currently sit in the fifth
seed, making them a
wild card candidate. The
expectations for Luck
were unrealistically

high, but he’s come in,
shouldered the shadow
of Manning off his back,
and is proving he is the
real deal.

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