Never Toronto.

From the Fitted Hat Files

The NBA does something that makes me nuts… they just assume all Canadians are cheering for the Toronto Raptors.

Hey, NBA: I’m a Montrealer and that means I will never, ever cheer for any team from Toronto. I don’t care if the Raptors are the only team from Canada — they are not “Canada’s Team”. Not by a long shot. (Same goes for the Blow Jays, but that’s another story)

I’m well aware that one day I’m going to be campaigning for federal office and someone is going to throw this back in my face, but let’s be honest… I’m not anti Toronto. The city is fine. I have family and friends there. But I’m absolutely anti Toronto sport teams. It’s my birth rite.

I’m really not a passionate basketball fan, but I grew up in the 90s, so the Chicago Bulls are my go-to… but I also have a soft spot for the Nuggets after having seen a game live in Denver, and I’ve always sort of thought the Lakers are cool. I could rock a Lakers hat. Or a Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, or Minnesota T-Wolves lid.

Really, my NBA cheering is pretty much ABT… Anyone but Toronto.

Aside from that, there’s a group that’s been working on trying to bring a team to Montreal for a few years, and why not? We’re the 19th biggest metro in North America (excl Mexico) and the biggest market with neither an NBA nor an MLB team… the latter of which is just a few years away from being solved by expansion or re-location.

All this to say — much as TSN might try, jamming Toronto teams down the throats of the rest of the country doesn’t work. Vancouver is Seattle Mariners country. Since losing the Expos, Montreal is more or less Red Sox land (for now)… there are examples of this all over the country.

Remember when they lit up the CN Tower bleu, blanc et rouge when the Habs made the Stanley Cup Finals in 2021? That would never fly here.

For this Montrealer… it’s never, ever, Toronto.

About the hat

This was a New Era exclusive that I bought off their site in 2020. It’s the Bulls “City Edition” so it features the stars from the Chicago municipal flag above the team logo.