Last week I spent some time writing about some of the key sport happenings set for this year that I am most looking forward to following.
But a new year also creates a sense on wishing for some things to happen, although we recognize there are no guarantees they will.
I could go for some huge wishes, like the creation of a professional Australian Rules Football league in North America, of course with Canadian franchises. Obviously that won’t happen in 2019, and probably not ever, although AFL Canada posted on Facebook recently that more than 20,000 people from eight Canadian provinces played Aussie Rules this year, it would be a league I’d follow in a heartbeat.
But, Aussie rules is too big a dream, so I’ll start with a couple of perennial wishes with a greater potential of actually happening in 2019.
The first is my hope to see a Canadian team back in the Stanley Cup finals. The last Canadian team to make the finals was the Vancouver Canucks losing four-games-to-three to Boston back in 2011.
The last win was Montreal in 1993 in five games over Los Angeles.
Certainly this country is overdue for the excitement of a finals again, and Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary all at least look at present like they could contend come playoff time, so let’s hope this is the year.
In a similar vein it would be huge to see the Toronto Raptors in the NBA finals.
The perennial roadblock in the east has been removed as LeBron James has moved to the Los Angeles Lakers, which opens up the east to be more of a for fight for the teams involved. The last time a team in the east won without James on the roster was 2010.
This is a retooled Raptor team with Kawhi Leonard the player who was added as the key element to take the step to the final. So far the team has looked great, but Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Indiana, Boston, and Detroit with former Raptor boss Dwane Casey as head coach, are all solid making the playoff run one that will have some bumps on the road.
In the Canadian Football League we know the team will be called the Atlantic Schooners if they ever get off the ground as the league’s much-coveted 10th team. It would be great to see the different people involved in the bid find the financing for the needed stadium so that the league could officially announce the franchise and when it would start play.
In the world of baseball the Toronto Blue Jays are not likely to offer fans a whole lot to cheer about in 2019. Barring a complete implosion Boston and New York will fight it out for first and second in the American League East.
That leaves the Jays hoping for third with the only chance at a playoff spot the second wild card berth. Tampa Bay will have a lot to say about that. While the Rays seemed to be held together with luck and pine tar in 2018, they did finish ahead of the Jays. Tampa might well regress, but they have always played Toronto tough so head-to-head meetings will be critical.
Even if the Jays finish third in the AL East I doubt they make the playoffs, but the team does offer one of my biggest hopes for 2019, the eventual call up of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to take on a permanent spot for the next decade or so.
By season’s end Bo Bichette should also debut, (I hope).
There is no doubt Guerrero and Bichette are the Jays future, and the best hope fans have for a return to serious contention. That contention won’t be in 2019 but I do hope we get a look at the team’s future stars this upcoming season.
