Tip of the Tower
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Why Toronto Sports Has Become “The Evil Empire”

By Ryan Greco

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With the departure of yet another innovative mind, Toronto sports fans must come to grips of being the “Evil Empire” that we so thoroughly rooted against.

I’m going to say it like it is, we are the true New York Yankees.

We are the “Evil Empire”.

Toronto, ALL of Toronto sports are the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New England Patriots, and the New York Knicks, in a way that is even more insufferable than the ownership groups that control all of those teams.

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It gets worse, as a matter of fact, we are worse.

Yes, we are worse than all of those arrogant, bank rolling, cigar smoking, styling-and-profiling, shrewd Wall Street/white-collar types that own those teams.

Why? For all of their means to buy championships, straight up cheat, micromanage, and rip off lesser markets for their budding stars, they do one thing our Evil Empire does not.

THEY DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO WIN ON THE FIELD.

WHATEVER. IT. TAKES.

They go for the best players, they hire the best coaches available, and they court the finest front office people money can buy.

They understand that in the business of sports, winning will always equal dollar signs, a lot of the money they make from these teams generates a lot of income for both them, and their other endeavors.

Some own these teams as a pet project, some own them because it is a great investment, some were born into the business, but the passion and will to win from all of those franchises’ front offices and owners boxes is never in question.

When was the last time you saw a Toronto pro sports team owner in a box suite?

Don’t worry I’ll wait.

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    • You couldn’t pick one out if all of them were walking together at once down Bay Street.

    I’m not accusing them of not showing up to games, every now and then.

    I’m certainly not accusing them if caring little for their investment, because they greatly care in what MLSE and the Blue Jays  brands have become now, and what will become of them into the future.

    But they are in it for the wrong reasons.

    They are in it solely for the gains of themselves, not this city, not the “consumers” supporting their brand, and certainly not for the people they hired to do the jobs of running the teams.

    Forget owning a piece of the pie in their market of business. THEY OWN ALL OF IT.

    THEY LITERALLY OWN THE MEDIA MARKET OF AN ENTIRE COUNTRY OF 35 MILLION PEOPLE.

    Sports to them, at least from us on a ground level, is not even a serious blip on their radar.

    It is another investment to have, a notch on the belt to show off to world investors and major players in their global market as if to say, “well that’s nice, but check out this”.

    The actual performance of the team is an afterthought, and as such so are the people who live breathe, and die by the sports we love so much, that these people love so much.

    They say that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

    Jul 31, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos addresses the media during a press conference before a game against the Kansas City Royals at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

    In sports, for capital driven owners to succeed in creating a monopoly, all we have to do as fans is to continue drinking the kook-aid.

    They never cared about winning, they are a corporation in the business of making money.

    Big business is terrified of risk, and embrace the status quo if it is profitable. It is why you will see an iPhone 10 in the near future that will look almost exactly the same as a whatever is in your pocket right now, or why you could pop in any version of Call Of Duty from the last six years and not be able to tell the difference between any of them.

    Are we really that surprised that Rogers let go of Alex Anthopolous because he wanted a little more autonomy, the ability to gamble?

    In the corporate world, not the sports world, there is only one chief. If his directive is to make money over anything else, then it doesn’t matter if the Blue Jays, Raptors, Maple Leafs, or TFC (who are currently getting spanked 3-nil as I write this on a Thursday night) win on the field, as long as they win in the market.

    Canada is a small place in media terms, and when the media becomes a monopoly, what else can we watch or support?

    This wont be the breaking point, not yet.

    Letting AA go at this point is just another disappointing chapter in Toronto sports history.

    But at some point, we will have to say enough, we will have to turn on the colours, history, and teams that we claim to be oh so proud of, but we do so little as fans and supporters to protect.

    In the world of sports, fans should never be asking “what about us?”

    We built this house, long before this Mother ever turned a profit, and by God if we can’t burn it down.

    And to AA, if you somehow ever wonder on to Tip Of The Tower, I leave you with this, from all of us sports fans here in Toronto.

    Next: Toronto Blue Jays and Alex Anthopoulos to Part Ways

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