Thoughts On The West Side Of Life
Is it just me or do West Coast Blue Jays fans seem a lot more into things than the apathetic Toronto crowds?
Hey, I guess it wasn't just me.
Although in fairness, the West Coast fans did have an exciting new cap to cheer for, and that's in addition to the great tidings that Kyle Welwood would soon be suiting up for the Vancouver Canucks. Throw in some easy access to heroin on Hastings St. and the biggest city in British Columbia can almost seem liveable.
Psyche. Getzkee. It's not. Everything in Vancouver is so spread out that if you want to party for the night, you either have to waste a fortune on taxis or be willing to seriously fuck around with your buzz. I'm pretty sure that the urban planning committee is the reason for Vancouver's addiction to street drugs.
In a normal city like Toronto you can maintain your buzz easily as you move around from destination to destination because nothing is farther away than twenty minutes. In Vancouver you need that extra kick to keep any sense of inebriation going. At least the girls are a little less frigid.
Anyway, a baseball game was played in Seattle last night, and all that preamble bullshit was my way of avoiding having to bring up the heartbreaking loss surrendered by the bullpen. It's hard to get on their backs though because the corps of relievers has been pretty much fucking nailing it all season long.
It would seem insane to suggest that the bullpen could perform at a high level without their two best pitchers from last year and a closer only a year removed from Tommy John surgery, yet the Jays still rank fourth in the league in bullpen ERA and second in opponent's batting average.
Unfortunately, Mike Wilner makes a good point in his game recap when he suggests that Jesse Carlson has come back down to earth, while predicting that a lack of depth from the right handed relievers could prove to be troublesome.
These types of losses will happen from time to time. They just seem to rend your ventricles apart a little bit more when you've invested a couple hours past bedtime to watch them lose it in the ninth.
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30 comments:
Vancouver spread out?
All the entertainment in Vancouver is downtown, almost no need to cab anywhere (unless your accomodations were at UBC or the near the airport). I don't know if when you were there you were hitting up scuzzy bars in Surrey or Richmond, but it seems like your experience was skewed.
This Toronto-centric fratboy bullshit is offensive.
I agree with the antiVancouver sentiment. If you're going to shit bars all night it's okay but if you have to get around to parties elsewhere it blows.
It's fine if you're just going to one bar or hanging out downtown, but if you have multiple items on the agenda, or more than one party to hit up, it's excruciatingly difficult to get around.
In Toronto, $10 will pretty much get you anywhere worth getting to.
^^ Precisely.
These types of losses have happened a lot more than "time to time" with these Blue Jays. 12-21 in 1 run games now?
Is that not more a testament to how shitty Toronto (is considering there is nothing worthwhile outside a $10 cab ride from downtown)?
^^I was referring more to the bullpen implosion than the closeness of the score.
^No, it's testament to having anything you'd ever want right at your fingertips . . . except easy chicks that don't look skanky.
Plus, we see the sun in the winter.
At least in Vancouver they can swim at the beach without worrying about catching some diseases from the polluted water.
Know what my favourite thing about Vancouver is? It's how people who are from there, but now live in your city, tell you how great it is there: how it NEVER snows like this in Vancouver, how there's always SO much to do, how there are SO many great places to go.
Hang on... wait, no, that's not my favourite thing about Vancouver. That's my least favourite thing about Vancouver.
How 'bout this: if Vancouver is so fucking great, why don't you go back there? M'kay? Thanks.
I will, once I finish this degree.
I really can't wait to get out of this cesspool called Ontario.
I just returned from BC two days ago and I both agree and disagree with the statements about Vancouver.
On Saturday night I saw a show at the Commadore Ballroom, which is right in the heart of the action on Granville Street. When we came out after the show, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they cordon off a few blocks of Granville and turn it into a no-cars pedestrian thoroughfare on Saturday evenings. That would never happen anywhere in Toronto (imagine closing Queen St. to cars on a Saturday night).
However, the transit system there does suck. So if you are going from a party in Surrey to one in Richmond (which is like going from a party in Scarborough to one in Ajax) then you are screwed.
If you're already partying in Scarborough, why bother leaving the centre of fun, excitement and safety?
getting from scarborough to ajax on public transit is kind of a pain in the ass too no?
I don't think that's the issue with Vancouver that Parkes is talking about. I lived there for five years and everyone drives when they go out because the city is so spread out. Forget about the burbs. Party hopping in actual Vancouver doesn't happen like it does in Toronto where you could end up at five different places in one night.
Although, pedestrian malls, mountains and easy hippy chicks do offer a bit of a counter argument.
My city is better than your city.
I think Vancouver is great in the summer, dismal in the winter. I prefer the Okanagan, which is where I resided briefly.
As for swimming in the water . . . it's a little bloody cold. Anyhow, you can swim in most of lake Ontario . . . it's cleaner than it used to be and getting cleaner (though a way to go yet).
As for this:
"On Saturday night I saw a show at the Commadore Ballroom, which is right in the heart of the action on Granville Street. When we came out after the show, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they cordon off a few blocks of Granville and turn it into a no-cars pedestrian thoroughfare on Saturday evenings. That would never happen anywhere in Toronto (imagine closing Queen St. to cars on a Saturday night)."
Toronto closes streets for festivals often in the summer.
Anyhow, they're both nice cities, but Toronto is more fun in my eyes.
You guys are all on crack. Dayton is where it's at. Single A baseball, snowstorms in winter, humid as hell in the summer, championing this country's unemployment problem. What else could you ask for!?
Well, now i'm dying to know, is Dayton Buffalo's uglier or more attractive sister?
It's like Flint, Michigan on unemployment?
It's like 7% so not quite up to Flint's standards. (Flint is about 10% I think.)
I think Dayton is nicer than Buffalo, but I live here. I actually really like it. I'm close enough to get almost anywhere worth going for a weekend trip. It would be nice if I had a little more career opportunity though...sigh....
Please refrain from tasting the knob and talking about Vancouver when you clearly know nothing about anything.
I smell a dirty hippie!
Toronto definitely wins out on trigger-happy minorities.
I find it hard to trust the opinion of anyone whose initials represent a place where fingerpainting is done . . . poorly.
Toronto has Parkdale, Vancouver doesn't. Who's in for the late game, the rubber match, the series winner tonight at the ol' Rhino? Hands up.
Vancouver vs. TO? Yaaaaawn. I'd rather talk about really awful shitties (see what I did there?). How about Toledo and Detroit? Then there's Buffalo--no comment. On the bright side, they make Toronto look really good. Pretty much any industrial north-midwestern city is atrocious. I once was in Milwaukee and EVERYTHING close at 10pm. I ended up eating a Snickers bar and a Pepsi for dinner.
Down south, Atlanta is vastly overrated. Seriously, how did they get the Olympics again? All of Atlanta's development has been AFTER the Olympics. And the white people...WHITEY OVERLOOOOOOOOOOOAD.
Vancouver is a truly shitty, boring place. It's like London Ontario if you placed it beside the ocean and mountains. And if you turned all the students into junkies brazenly doing taking intravenous drugs in the streets.
Good god, I go away for a couple of days to cheer on the Jays and this blog starts shitting on my town?!?! What the fuck??!?!?
I don't wanna get into some stupid arguments, but...
- Parties in Surrey suck my balls, so who cares if you can make it there or not
- Transit does suck
- As long as you can get to one of the good beaches, it doesn't matter
- You need a car to go to the mountains in the winter anyway
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