I just wonder how many would sell their souls for a Cup.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/07/padres-dfa-josh-banks.html

Anyway, former Jays' DFA Josh Banks is DFA for San Diego.

Being from Vancouver, I admittedly don't have experience within Leaf's nation. But I would guess that the average Torontonian (is that what they are called?) would be much more excited about a Leafs run to the conference final than the Jays winning the WS or maybe even both the Jays and the Raptors. Also, I don't think that Batter's Box is the best place to conduct such a poll since the demographics of people who frequent this website are mostly die hard jays fans and I'm willing to bet most people on this site would rather the Jays win a WS.

For me, I don't think I can trade one's (Canucks or Blue Jays) success for another. I started following both teams in 1995 (i.e. the years after they are good) and I expect mediocrity since I have not expect anything different (For the Jays, 85-ish win seasons and the Canucks early rd playoff exits). The most frustrating thing being a Jays fan is that there is not even hope. You go into the season expecting to finish 3rd or 4th and that's what you get. Never in 14 years as a fan have I felt like we have a legitimate playoff contender. At least with the Canucks, they've won a couple division titles and there's hope to go deep in the playoffs.

I went to school in New England and I have to say I'm pretty envious of my friends from Boston with all those titles this past decades. But I guess after so many years of let down, if and when one of my teams do win, it will feel that much sweeter.

I don't know about now, but comparing the 92 and 93 titles with the Leafs' run at the cup in 1993 - there was no comparison. There were a million people on the street after the title wins and a good hundred thousand for the parades. For the Leafs there was a lot of cautious optimism, but the reaction after a game win during the Conf finals paled compared to the euphoria due to Cito's boys.

Of course what people would choose in a survey might be entirely different than what would happen in reality.

There was a telling set of headlines after the 1993 (could have been 92, but this matters little) that a Leaf 10 game win streak was given almost as much play on the sports page.

Also, recall that in the infamous Kings/Leafs cup semi-final drew a packed dome to watch game 6 from LA on the big television.

I don't think there's any comparison what the average Torontonian would want - a Leafs cup.

As for the Raptors, I get the distinct sense the team is on the wane. There was a blip of excitement after the GM change, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's talk of moving the team in a few years. Not actually moving the team mind you, but talk - especially if they go into the tank again. I believe I am someone who could be swayed into watching the Raptors (I like basketball and played regularly from my early-mid teenage years), but the Raptor captured my interest exactly once in all their time - the 2001 playoff and ensuing offseason.

That said, the Raptors have had some bad luck, when they had the 1st overall pick the draft lacked a true franchise player. McGrady left and Carter limped and pouted his way out of town. The current GM seems to be the only one with any savvy.

Anyway, to gauge where the interests of sports fans lie just listen to the FAN590 or watch sportsnet/TSN -- hockey, hockey and more hockey. All year round. The Jays were pushed aside for memorial cup games for heaven's sake - right in the middle of their excellent start to the season.

There was a time when the Jays ran a close second to the Leafs, I think the baseball strike drove away many of the casual fans. They've not come back and I think it'll take a pennant race for them to even start to consider coming back. In a way, I fear another rebuild for this team, as Rogers had been moving the team forward year after year and fan interest seemed to be on the rise. Mediocrity and a shot at winning at least keep the fringe fans (those a little more committed than the casuals) interested.

At any rate, give me a Jays playoff run. I'd prefer that to a Leafs Cup... but as the previous poster is right, this one of the only places you'll get answers like that...

No question that the average sports fan would pick a Leafs playoff appearance over a Jays WS win, but the bandwagon fans would take a title for any team that is viewed as major league (Raptors/Leafs/Jays) over anything else. Any excuse for a party (see Homer Simpson when the Isotopes won for a bandwagon fan example).

Me? Jays winning a game is more interesting than a Leafs Cup win. Lost interest in the Leafs a long time ago as they shifted from pathetic losers under Ballard to winners while the Jays were to mediocre playoff missers along with the Jays. Of course, missing the playoffs in hockey is a heck of a lot harder than doing that in the AL East.

The average Toronto sports fan is considered not to care at all for baseball. Invariably, I usually hear the strike of '94 turned them away, and/or the games are too slow and long to be interesting. Of course hockey has never had trouble with work stoppages or factors that are deliberately managed to make the game dull and slow, but that's a bitter conversation on hypocrisy for another day.

If your focus was only Toronto sports fans who have some interest in both hockey and baseball, it would be a different matter. You know, people who could watch a game or twenty of either team in any season in person or on the tube. Those people are a different breed from the average sports fan, and disproportionately represented here, I imagine.

Championship seasons have a strong effect on citizens with a passive interest in a sport, but if it were possible that the Leafs and Jays could be in the playoffs at the same time, there's no doubt the Jays would take a back seat in Toronto. Leafs would gobble up most all the casual fans with the hype they would generate. In agreement with Northey above, the hype of any championship would be a draw for untold thousands for an excuse to party. Thus, the Jays did pretty well during their success.

But there are some folks who are so turned off a sport, it would take a championship year, a superstar highlight reel machine or two, dramatic victories and free giveaways to draw in these people. Maybe.

I, for instance, would barely blink if the local football, soccer or lacrosse teams were playing for a championship. Or if some local boy was on top of the world in golf, tennis, or kicking people's faces in.

Some folks are just closed-minded. The good folks of Texas may never be removed from their football-centric ideas. Like that baseball is for hippies

I for one would go absolutely ga-ga if Canada produced someone like Roger Federer - in virtually any major sport. Other than hockey of course - been there done that.

I would be more excited for the Jays to win a B game in the early part of spring training - or, if not to win, then at least to avoid being no-hit - than I would for the Leafs to win the Cup.

Not a Toronto-based fan, so the Leafs earn a hearty "meh" from me. I actually hope the  Leafs never do start winning consistently, because that could be the death knell for other Toronto sports teams I actually enjoy hearing about. The amount of focus and obsession with a terrible/mediocre hockey franchise already drowns out most other coverage. If the Leafs won the cup, would TSN or sportsnet do anything but cover the Leafs 24-7-365? I picture each highlight show starting with a "today, the team trainer had the cup in his hometown, let's go the to video and story", and ending with a 10 minute interview with the 7th forward at a charity golf tournament. 

So go Jays, I hope for the Raptors, but the Leafs could go away entirely and I wouldn't miss them.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I would trade both the Jays WS rings to see Gretzky put on the Leafs sweater for one game. Or a Cup (but that's obvious).

Seriously - I lucked out and got tickets to see Leafs-Sens in '02, game 7 at the ACC. Scoreless until the 3rd. WOW, what a game. As a fan, there's just not the same "rush" for a sac-fly vs. a 3-on-1. And yes, I DO enjoy watching Doc pitch QUITE A BIT.

As a fan, there's just not the same "rush" for a sac-fly vs. a 3-on-1. And yes, I DO enjoy watching Doc pitch QUITE A BIT.

As a fan, there's just not the same "rush" for dump-and-chase hockey as there is for a suicide squeeze.  And yes, I DO enjoy watching the Wings play keep-away QUITE A BIT.  (Yes, you've been parodied.)