By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor few things that can match the popularity of NASCAR. Along with relatives that are multiple types of family members, squirrel hunting and Sarah Palin, NASCAR enjoys tremendous popularity in the Bible Belt. However, in the rest of the country (and the continent), professional auto racing just doesn’t hold much sway. But is it a sport? After all, there are millions of people out there really do get a kick out of watching cars go around in circles for hours, so there has to be something there. I suppose that drivers do have to acclimate themselves to pretty incredible speeds. They are clearly competing against other people on even footing. They have to be constantly aware of not only their position on the track but the spots of other drivers as well. There is danger involved as well, as they have to be very alert to avoid crashing into other cars. ’ After that though, there aren’t many similarities to more firmly entrenched sports. While drivers do indeed have to be very mentally sharp, and while the pressure is undoubtedly enormous, there isn’t exactly an overwhelming physical component to car racing. After all, even the most ardent NASCAR fans, or at least the logical ones, have to admit 18 I: the Southern United States, there are UR a rarer ecra cere ere that the car does all the work. If you put me in the best race car in the world up against Jeff Gordon in my mom’s minivan, I’d win hands down. That’s obviously going to the extreme but the point is that it is the car that wins the race in the end, not the driver. The best driver in the world in an average car will lose to an average driver in the best car in the world every time. You can make that argument about other sports, such as golf, but in car racing, it holds up much more. Take it this way, if you gave me the best golf clubs on the planet and Tiger Woods, or anyone on the PGA Tour for that matter, a set of wooden clubs from the ‘50s, Tiger would still destroy me. So while there is a large amount of skill involved in NASCAR, it isn’t nearly as important as the equipment needed to compete, which separates car racing from other sports like football or hockey. THE VERDICT: NASCAR, and over in Europe Formula 1, may be exceedingly popular and covered on ESPN and in Sports Illustrated, but that doesn’t make it a sport, sort of like poker. Poker is a huge part of ESPN these days, but it’s still not a sport. Auto racing is closely affiliated with the sports world but in the end, it is not a sport. Man, it’s fun when Toronto sucks T-dot in a real funk when it comes to sports pit Pn By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor ctober is generally regarded as O- of the best possible times to be a sports fan. It’s a time when the MLB postseason is in full swing, the NHL and NBA are both staring up again and both the NFL and the CFL are in the middle of their respective seasons. You, know what else is great about October? It’s one of the best times of the year to reflect on just how crappy sports are in Toronto. For a city nicknamed “the center of the universe,” it all starts with the crown jewel of the Toronto sports market, the Maple Leafs, who, as of this writing, has yet to win a single game so far this season. Brian Burke was brought in last season amidst much fanfare and smugly touted the new and improved Maple Leafs under his direction. He boasted about how they would be a tougher, harder team to play against. Well, I don’t know about harder to play against, but it damn sure is hard to watch the Leafs this year. With six consecutive losses to open the year and having given up 28 goals while scoring just 13, the Leafs are a truly awful hockey team. Thankfully, it appears that they are once again poised to miss the playoffs, even though we’re just three weeks into the season, for what will now be the fifth straight season. Plus, they'll be building on what is perhaps my all time favourite statistic: the Maple Leafs haven’t won, or even appeared, in a Stanley Cup final since 1967. That’s 42 years and counting. But the fun doesn’t stop with the Maple Leafs. Nope, there are plenty of i other options to choose from in Toronto right now. They’ ve also got the Blue Jays, who haven’t made the playoffs in 16 years and finished up this season with an inspiring 75-87 record. But hey, they were just 28 games out of first place in the AL East. Plus, the only player on the Blue Jays worth watching, star pitcher Roy Halladay, is sure to be traded out Toronto during winter or early next season. What’s next? Ah, the Toronto Raptors, the NBA’s version of the loser brother who can’t get anything right. Yes, the NBA season has just begun, but so far the Raptors already have a losing record of 2-3 and don’t exactly look like a powerhouse. They’ ve made the playoffs just twice in the past seven years. On the gridiron, the Toronto Argonauts ended last year with a nine game losing streak (the total season length is just 18 games) and missed the playoffs despite hosting the city hosting the Grey Cup. This year they picked up right were they left off and are currently last in the entire league with a terrible 3-11 mark. The closest teams to them, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Edmonton Eskimos, have both doubled the Argos in points. Yes, it’s a great time to be a sports fan in B.C. While the Lions are mediocre and the Canucks are still searching for their stride, we at least know that we are much, much better than anything coming out of that mess out east. And when you think of all their smug, arrogant fans, that’s a beautiful thing.