"Although six of the league's nine teams are based in the United States, over 75% of the players are Canadian. Aproximately half of the league's players originate within 75 miles (125 km) of Toronto.
The remainder of the players are either American or Iroquois, with a select few Europeans and Australians."
Talk about being a niche sport.
Toronto, without question, is Canada's major sports market.
Despite the league being dominated by Canadians, it's the United States that dominate the world lacrosse championships - which basically is a contest between three countries including Australia. Weird how that works out.
***
I love this bit. Stupid British government:
"The Iroquois Nationals' participation in the championships was threatened in a dispute over passports. The team sought to travel on their Haudenosaunee passports, but the British government demanded evidence that the United States would allow the Iroquois to travel and return. Even after the United States Department of State gave the team a one-time waiver, the British government denied entry to the team, saying the Iroquois passports were unacceptable.
As a result, the Iroquois would have had to forfeit their opening match against England, with the host team playing Germany in an exhibition match instead."
Oh well.
***
Speaking of sports, I was listening to a French language reports on the Montreal Impact's second home game of the season against Toronto FC. They were wondering why the attendance went down to 23 000 from the 58 000 that attended the first game against the Chicago Fire.
I don't know where the wearied eyes come from. What's so surprising about it?
First off, it was a novelty. Some people just want to be at the "first game ever" to tell their friends and family even though they may never attend another game again. "Hey, there whatcha talkin' 'bout? The Impact? I was at the first game ever!" Snaps suspenders.
Second, it was the home season opener. Sorta like how the Expos would attract 50 000 people (mixed in with fans) and then attendance would revert back to normal averages (historically 21 000).
Third, it never occurs to Montreal talking heads that we're not that great of a sports market. Sports events are another matter. The overall average this city will support for any extended period of time (a season) is about 20 000. That's what the market will bear. I have no evidence to support this claim, just years of following the city's sports landscape.
It doesn't take a genius to compare our city to other cities of similar sizes, like Philadelphia and Boston, to see we're not a hard core sports town.
Just calling a spade a spade, dudes.
***
About Bobby Petrino. I don't know the full details as to why he was fired but something tells me him banging a girl wasn't as much an issue (we're only miserably human) as putting her on the payroll. People can turn so many cheeks.
He was a great coach for one of the best programs in the land, but he kinda abused his power, no?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Mysterious and anonymous comments as well as those laced with cyanide and ad hominen attacks will be deleted. Thank you for your attention, chumps.