Toronto 2015

[nykfan845]

Faster is right.

The top American athletes don't compete at the Pan-American Games, because sadly they are such little relevance to them. With both the World Championships in Track as well as Aquatics coming, let alone the Olympics, there is little incentive for the American athletes to care about the Pan Ams. :shrug:

[ofan]

There are rumours that Kanye West will be performing at the closing ceremony.

[LDOG]

CBC's coverage is awful. Nothing but highlights and beach volleyball.

Brazil and Mexico both sent their top teams in 2007 and 2011 respectively. If the Pan Ams served as an almost universal Olympic qualifier instead of having the regional and Pan American qualifiers later in the summer/fall/early next year it would bring so much more relevance to the Games.

Mexico always sends their top team. Brazil I think is here with their best team except some swimmers (because of the WCh next week), some judokas like Menezes or Rafael Silva and the volleyball teams.

Only the US and Canada have a tradition of sending almost completely B teams.

[MisterSG1]

The Squash competition was very good, as far as I know, all the possible top athletes in that sport were there from the Pan American Zone. The Squash player who is ranked #4 in the world won the Gold Medal in an exciting match. (in a sport that honestly should be in the Olympics anyways, unlike Ping Pong) I was under the impression that Canada usually sent olympians, and that the US mostly sent a B-team, but I could be wrong.

[MisterSG1]

Now that Kanye West has been confirmed, that's angered a lot of people here. Cue the typical whining of the Canadian nationalists, I hope to god, BTHarner, that you didn't have to deal with their nonsense. Toronto may seem nice to you but Canada is the most anti-American country in the world.

[dave199]

Now that Kanye West has been confirmed, that's angered a lot of people here. Cue the typical whining of the Canadian nationalists, I hope to god, BTHarner, that you didn't have to deal with their nonsense. Toronto may seem nice to you but Canada is the most anti-American country in the world.

Really? I don't think Canads is "the most anti-American country in the world". I beg to differ. At the end of the day we would always have the Americans back on the international stage.

As for Kanye West, I'm not a fan and could careless. I would have preferred Drake plus he's from Toronto

[MisterSG1]

What happened at the 2008 MLS All Star Game was totally disgusting on how the fans reacted and I try to distance myself from Toronto FC because of that. You think we aren't extremely anti-American, look at that monument at Lake Shore and Bathurst which is historically inaccurate as to what happened, it's just to prop up Canadian nationalism which is based on hatred of the United States, you know this as well as I do, what unites Canadians of all stripes left or right is their hatred of that "evil" nation south of us.

Because of how people act, this was a very VERY bad PR move for the organizers, it's a given pretty much that Kanye will get the same sort of treatment Bieber got at the 100th Grey Cup halftime show in 2012, you can be sure of that.

[LatinXTC]

What happened at the 2008 MLS All Star Game was totally disgusting on how the fans reacted and I try to distance myself from Toronto FC because of that.

Please clarify on that All Star game for those who have no clue about it.

As for the 100th Grey Cup, the audience had every right to boo Beiber because at that time he was at his highest douchiness and was an embarrassment to all of Canada, and even the US. AND choosing him for the halftime show is one of the worst decisions ever made because the audience was the wrong demographic for him. The audience is not full of 12yr old girls, nor are most 12yr old girls at home watching the game just for him. You make that mistake at the Super Bowl, and he would totally get booed too.

As for Kanye, I think he's a terrible choice for the simple reason that he is a controversial character and creates disharmony. That's not a good image you want to show at an event like the Pan American Games, and I don't think the US would even have him there for an Olympic OC. And yes why the hell isn't Drake in the lineup??? As someone mentioned he is a native Toronto resident after all! AND as far as a public image goes, it's better than Kanye's. Plus he's hotter than Kanye's bloated looking face.

[MisterSG1]

Ok, as for the 2008 All Star Game. All MLS matches begin like international soccer matches, even though it's a domestic club league as they say in Europe, the players all walk out onto the field and line up and the national anthem(s) is sung or played. As Toronto FC was the sole team that plays in Canada, at the start of every game they also brought out a Flag of Canada and Flag of the United States like you see in a world cup match.

The 2008 MLS All Star Game had the MLS All Stars taking on West Ham United of the English Premier League, now this match started a bit unusually. Usually the flags would come out with the players, but in this case, a flag of England (not the UK flag but an England flag) and a flag of the United States came out, but no players had entered the field, at this point we were told to stand up for God Save The Queen and The Star Spangled Banner. Fans were quiet during God Save The Queen but looked to show contempt, but as soon as The Star Spangled Banner started, people in my section were sticking up the middle fingers, booing loudly, and the south end supporters were singing O Canada over top of it. As well to counter the people disrespecting the anthem, some sang along to The Star Spangled Banner.

After that, the flag of Canada comes out with ceremonial RCMP officers in between the two flags and the players of both teams enter the field with the MLS theme playing (you know how the FIFA theme plays before a match), when they entered, O Canada was actually sung, the other two anthems were recordings. I don't care what you say, anyone with half a brain knew that they weren't going to skip O Canada and it was totally disrespectful what they did. It reinforces the hatred Canada has for the US, I mean why did no one boo God Save The Queen? (which technically is our anthem as well)

[ofan]

Please don't listen to what this guy is saying. Canadians do not hate America. It's just that you make yourselves very difficult to be friendly with.

[Throne]

Ok, as for the 2008 All Star Game. All MLS matches begin like international soccer matches, even though it's a domestic club league as they say in Europe, the players all walk out onto the field and line up and the national anthem(s) is sung or played. As Toronto FC was the sole team that plays in Canada, at the start of every game they also brought out a Flag of Canada and Flag of the United States like you see in a world cup match.

The 2008 MLS All Star Game had the MLS All Stars taking on West Ham United of the English Premier League, now this match started a bit unusually. Usually the flags would come out with the players, but in this case, a flag of England (not the UK flag but an England flag) and a flag of the United States came out, but no players had entered the field, at this point we were told to stand up for God Save The Queen and The Star Spangled Banner. Fans were quiet during God Save The Queen but looked to show contempt, but as soon as The Star Spangled Banner started, people in my section were sticking up the middle fingers, booing loudly, and the south end supporters were singing O Canada over top of it. As well to counter the people disrespecting the anthem, some sang along to The Star Spangled Banner.

After that, the flag of Canada comes out with ceremonial RCMP officers in between the two flags and the players of both teams enter the field with the MLS theme playing (you know how the FIFA theme plays before a match), when they entered, O Canada was actually sung, the other two anthems were recordings. I don't care what you say, anyone with half a brain knew that they weren't going to skip O Canada and it was totally disrespectful what they did. It reinforces the hatred Canada has for the US, I mean why did no one boo God Save The Queen? (which technically is our anthem as well)

You've provided the context but you yourself have interpreted it incorrectly. The patrons didn't boo because of the US National Anthem was playing. They booed because someone forgot the Canadian national anthem OR forgot to announce the order of the playing of the three anthems! Shoddy!

[FYI]

Please don't listen to what this guy is saying. Canadians do not hate America. It's just that you make yourselves very difficult to be friendly with.

Well, maybe that has to do more with snide Canadian comments like this one.

[LatinXTC]

Egh, well hopefully that will be the only time that Canada hosts an MLS all-star game, because the MLS is a predominately American league, owned by Americans. It would be nice if we had enough franchises in the US to tell Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto to f**k off. I actually don't blame them too much for being disgruntled about the situation because as a Canadian I too would probably a bit pissed off. BUT as mentioned it's a predominately US league and the Canadian franchises haven't made much of an impact in the league so no loss there if they left.

But maybe this is just a sports thing because your everyday Canadian is very friendly towards Americans and come across as fascinated by us! But it also helps to be friendly to them as well. I've only run into two issues with Canadians and that was 3 years ago and I don't think it had anything to do with me being American, they were just massive c**ts to begin with.

[Durban Sandshark]

I disagree that it will be the last time Canada will host the MLS All-Star Game for the forseeable future, even if it's predominantly US. After all, it was created to develop a top-notch American domestic pro soccer league following the NASL's demise (with all due respect to the APSL/A-League's attempts at that to US Soccer) and deepen the US soccer talent pool. Vancouver and Montreal, don't forget, both have strong local soccer communities. Montreal has some European sensibilities while having its other foot being in North America, which makes it unique to many North American cities. When it does come to Montreal, it obviously will carry a Gallic flavor in addition to all the other nationalities like Italian and Greek in terms of its soccer support. On the other hand, there are plenty of US MLS markets who will host the MLS All-Star Game ahead of Montreal and Vancouver. Even those who don't as of yet have the MLS.

I'm really disappointed that there's no PASO YouTube channel for those who like the Pan American Games coverage whenever you're not around ESPN/ESPN Deportes here in the United States. I use public computers to write things like this, so they don't get involved with the cable/telecom provider and see events on ESPN3, and still have yet to get a laptop. Thankfully, there's versions of the Opening Ceremony with versions uploaded not just from the CBC but also Brazil's Record and SporTV. But the CBC ones has commercial breaks and did miss out on some nations.

[MisterSG1]

You know, to be fair, Ricky Martin was at the last closing ceremony in Guadalajara, as well as Nickleback and Drake.....are they Mexicans....I don't think so...so it's not exactly far off that Kanye West headlining this is not neccesarily bad.

[LatinXTC]

You know, to be fair, Ricky Martin was at the last closing ceremony in Guadalajara, as well as Nickleback and Drake.....are they Mexicans....I don't think so...so it's not exactly far off that Kanye West headlining this is not neccesarily bad.

That was also a pretty stupid mistake on Guadalajara's part. It's not like Mexico is lacking in the singing department, they have a lot of acts they could have gone with that are native Mexicans and people would still recognize him. The Pan American games are predominately a Latin American games and most of them would recognize Mexican music acts. The same can be said about Canada. As I mentioned, Kanye being in the Pan American games CC is an issue that has more to do with his personality than his country of origin. I hope they tell him if he goes up there and gives the audience one of his stupidass speeches, he doesn't get paid.

Also Ricky Martin has been past his prime for over a decade let him tour the gay circuit scene and be done with him, even though we don't want anything to do with him either lol

[zekekelso]

Please. Canadians can't hate anything except, maybe, other Canadians, and even at that they are at best half-heated.

Here's a much more typical Canada/Star Spangled Banner Story:

[Faster]

Egh, well hopefully that will be the only time that Canada hosts an MLS all-star game, because the MLS is a predominately American league, owned by Americans. It would be nice if we had enough franchises in the US to tell Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto to f**k off. I actually don't blame them too much for being disgruntled about the situation because as a Canadian I too would probably a bit pissed off. BUT as mentioned it's a predominately US league and the Canadian franchises haven't made much of an impact in the league so no loss there if they left.

But maybe this is just a sports thing because your everyday Canadian is very friendly towards Americans and come across as fascinated by us! But it also helps to be friendly to them as well. I've only run into two issues with Canadians and that was 3 years ago and I don't think it had anything to do with me being American, they were just massive c**ts to begin with.

The Canadian MLS francises are some of the most profitable, so they had a lot to the coffers. It is just one of those things that the US leagues want to tape the major Canadian markets but don't want to treat them as an equal partner in the league. The Raptors weren't allowed to have the 1st overall pick for like a decade. MLB tried to make the Blue Jays play God Bless America during the 7th innings stretch on Sundays.

[MisterSG1]

The Canadian MLS francises are some of the most profitable, so they had a lot to the coffers. It is just one of those things that the US leagues want to tape the major Canadian markets but don't want to treat them as an equal partner in the league. The Raptors weren't allowed to have the 1st overall pick for like a decade. MLB tried to make the Blue Jays play God Bless America during the 7th innings stretch on Sundays.

The God Bless America issue may become a serious issue if the Blue Jays ever make the postseason since they always seem to televise that part of the game on television. Stupid when the proper tradition associated with that point in the game is ignored on TV, that is "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" the true anthem of baseball. The Blue Jays, a team in Canada who wanted to be different and distance themselves from all the evil American teams refused to even play Take Me Out to the Ballgame until 2005. Seriously, all they played was that stupid "OK Blue Jays" song.

What do you mean that the Raptors "weren't" allowed, are you saying that the NBA is ganging up on Toronto because they are a team outside the US? That's just like the same people who become nationalistic during the NHL playoffs and insist that Leafs fans cheer for our bitter rivals the Canadiens or Senators just because they are "Canadian" teams. When there may be more Canadians on one of the franchises which play in the US then there are on a franchise that plays in Canada.

The future of the Canadian teams in these leagues are starting to become questionable due to a problem that no one seems to be acknowledging. I'm referring to border thickening between Canada and the US, before 2009, Canadians just needed a birth certificate or some small document to cross the border, now a Passport or NEXUS card is demanded. We used to have a special relationship that first started eroding in the 1970s, and has gotten progressively worse. The CBSA is generally more hostile to US citizens than the US CBP is to Canadian citizens, and the beefing up of the border is having intense negative effects. If further restrictions are placed between Canada and the US, I can see all the Canadian franchises in US based leagues like MLB and NBA removing the Toronto teams no matter how profitable they are, because crossing the imaginary line has become way to difficult. The NHL has a lot of Canadian nationalism, and while it may have started with teams just in Canada, there have been a majority of teams based in the US since the Rangers, Black Hawks (as they were known), and Cougars (now the Red Wings) were founded

[dave199]

Canada and the US have really separated themselves from the competition in the medal standings.

[neneu10]

Day 5

[BTHarner]

Now that Kanye West has been confirmed, that's angered a lot of people here. Cue the typical whining of the Canadian nationalists, I hope to god, BTHarner, that you didn't have to deal with their nonsense. Toronto may seem nice to you but Canada is the most anti-American country in the world.

That's okay. I bought and started wearing a Toronto Argonauts hat so I look like a native.

[Faster]

Don't be silly, no one likes the Argonauts, especially not in Toronto.

[BTHarner]

For the record, we did go to the zoo today and it did take forever to get there. Bus from Square One to Union Station, train to Rouge Hill, us to Meadowvale, another bus to the zoo.

Tomorrow's agenda. A quick trip through the hockey hall of fame, badminton finals at 2 and wrestling finals at 8.

The Argos will make a comeback once they move into BMO (hopefully). Actually I'm an Alouettes fan, but I love the CFL and will wear any team gear.

[Faster]

Another great day for the Canadian team but the Americans have caught up in total medals and will likely surpass Canada in golds tomorrow.

Guaranteed 4 medals in badminton, 2 in squash (might not count tomorrow unless both Canadian teams lose) and 1 in tennis plus good chances in swimming, wrestling, and cycling. A perfect day Canada could reach 100 medals but 13 for a total of 96 is more likely.