CLEVELAND — Not that long ago the Blue Jays were rather irrelevant, the Raptors insignificant, the Maple Leafs dreadful, Toronto FC stumbling and bumbling and the Argos unable to move the needle in whatever state they were in.
That was Toronto — the town that seemingly invented sporting woe. Nothing to feel great about, unless you were looking for a restaurant or a condo. Nothing to emotionally attach yourselves to. It was, to twist Larry Tanenbaum’s favourite expression, the passion that didn’t unite us.
And here is October and the sun is shining and the Blue Jays are in the American League Championship Series and Auston Matthews is already the talk of the hockey world and the Raptors are a high-end NBA team and even Toronto FC, loser of all losers, is contending in Major League Soccer.