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A 24-7 record—the best of all 30 teams in the pre-season Grapefruit League— pumped even more hot air into our inflated expectations.

But.

Then the season happened—all injuries, mutinous managers and PR disasters. Optimism curdled. To borrow an appropriate metaphor from former Leafs GM Brian Burke, it seemed like a runaway 18-wheeler heading straight towards a cliff as one thing after another went wrong.

So when General Manager Alex Anthopoulos shocked the baseball world this past off-season, overhauling his team with the acquisitions of Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, José Reyes and Emilo Bonafacio from the Miami Marlins; signing free agent Melky Cabrera and then topping it off by plucking 2012 NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey from the New York Mets, it seemed like just the tonic to reinvigorate fan interest. All of a sudden, the Blue Jays went from being the butt of jokes to World Series favourites. Even bookmakers in Las Vegas bought into the hype once Anthopoulos had finished his wheeling and dealing, listing the Blue Jays as 7-1 to win.

But for the Blue Jays’ GM, it was more strategic than that. Sure, recapturing the famously fickle commitment of the Toronto fan base was important, but the big money moves didn’t come solely to rehabilitate the Jays’ reputation; Anthopoulos made them because the timing was finally right.

“We were excited about the core of the team going into last year [2012], and we saw enough during the year to think there was an opportunity to make the club better,” said Anthopoulos. “We didn’t go into the offseason saying, ‘Let’s go make some big trades or spend money for the sake of spending.’ With the core we had in place, we’re in a position where we’re closer to contention than to rebuilding.”

Moreover, the always ultra-competitive AL East appears ripe for the picking in 2013, with much uncertainty surrounding the two usual titans, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Yankees’ captain Derek Jeter is inching ever closer to 40, and while on pace to be ready to start the season, he will be playing on a surgically repaired ankle that he broke last year, and Alex Rodriguez recently forgot how to hit a baseball. Making matters worse, Rodriguez is facing yet another round of drug use allegations, which will only add to the traveling circus that normally follows the Yankees.

As for the Red Sox, patching up holes by signing aging outfielders Shane Victorino and Jonny Gomes to big-money contracts is hardly a sure thing. If Boston is going to have any success this season, John Farrell will first have to foster some harmony in a toxic clubhouse. Somebody might want to ask him how his “dream job” is going come July.

If there was ever a time for the Jays to strike, it’s now.

**

Anthopoulos took over as general manager in October of 2009. He had been promising that, when the time was right, the money would be spent to make the team into a legitimate contender. To a fan base that hasn’t seen meaningful games in September—much less a playoff spot—since 1993, three years into his tenure, it was a promise that was starting to wear thin.

But the team he took over in 2009 looked very different than the one that finished 2012. Older players approaching free agency were replaced with younger core players like Lawrie, J.P. Arencibia and Colby Rasmus—all under contractual control for the long term—and supplemented with stars in the prime of their careers like Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Plus, back then, the team lacked any meaningful ammunition from a minor league system that was ranked among the bottom five teams in all of Major League Baseball.

“When you talk about trying to build a sustainable contender, it just didn’t feel like the infrastructure was there in 2010,” said Anthopoulos. “At this stage, we have a lot of young players with a lot of upside, some very established stars like Jose Bautista, the minor-league system is strong and we have payroll flexibility.”

Timing is a difficult thing to master in pro sports. Teams that do it well are usually the ones at the top of the standings every year. Wait too long for prospects to develop and by the time they get to the big leagues, the established talent has moved on. Conversely, teams that consistently trade all their prospects away for “win now” talent are often the ones that are competitive for a year or two before facing five- or six-year (or even longer) rebuilding periods while the minor league system is restocked. His plan hits the sweet spot that should vault the Blue Jays into “serious contender” status for the long term, leaving the team with the ability to further cultivate new young talent at the minor league level in the meantime.

Parting with highly touted prospects including Travis d’Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, Justin Nicolino and Adeiny Hechavarria wasn’t easy for Anthopoulos, but he figures that, by the time they all mature into big league stars, the window of opportunity to win will have come down hard. “As much as we’ve traded away a lot of prospects that we like, we still have a good group of them, giving us three to five years to stockpile more while being competitive at the major-league level.”

Clearly, the time is now for the Blue Jays to win with their current stars. Wait five years and Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion—the two big middle-of-the-order bats—would be well into the back nine of their careers. Even one more year of inactivity would likely have resulted in Bautista knocking at Anthopoulos’ door politely suggesting he be moved to a contender for a chance to win, just like Roy Halladay did three years ago.

So, now, with the winning window open, it’s unquestionably playoffs or bust. After 20 years, the time for moral victories and talk about individual accomplishments is gone. That’s what losers talk about. Winners count playoff positions and World Series banners. Anything less will be a disappointment. However, Anthopoulos, wisely, understanding that sports executives who make bold playoff proclamations often set the clock ticking on their own job in the process, isn’t about to make any unnecessary guarantees.

He deserves credit for capturing the opportunity that was at hand. At the same time, his legacy in Toronto—and his job—depends on the success of the next few seasons. Anthopoulos has gone all in; he’s laid all his cards on the table. Reach the playoffs, win a World Series, and Anthopoulos will be considered the best sports executive in Toronto in more than twenty years. Lose, and he’ll have to contend with a major case of buyers’ remorse. 

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Shortly after Subban ended his holdout and re-signed with the Montreal Canadiens, the team’s coach Michel Therrien announced that Subban would no longer be permitted to engage in the tradition of “triple low-fiving” goaltender Carey Price after victories. Therrien cited a desire to “pay more respect to the game” as the reason for his strange stipulation. During training camp, fans of Subban had protested against the frugality of Montreal’s front office and the Canadiens came to the realization that the cult of P.K. was too powerful. Bob McKenzie, the most respected member of the hockey media, reported that the Canadiens were making clear that their preference was for Subban to be referred to as plain, old Pernell.

Now, with Subban and the Canadiens winning hockey games, the petty noise that surrounded the contract negotiations is dead. The teammates who responded frigidly to questions about Subban’s return to the locker room are happy to have their backend spark on the ice. P.K. has answered the critics by playing like a man who deserves respect, if not adulation. At 23 years of age, Subban is pulling the trigger on the Habs’ power play, learning to limit his mistakes and solidifying his reputation as a premier defenseman.

Towards the end of the summer, before the prolonged lockout, I encountered Subban under the air-conditioned shelter of a hockey depot store in Don Mills, Ontario. P.K. was making an appearance at the release of his friend and Hockey Night in Canada analyst Kevin Weekes’ “No 5 Hole” clothing line. I didn’t see an oversized ego or a purposeful radical. I saw a self-assured young athlete, the son of strong parents, the eldest of three talented siblings. Subban is aware of his iconic status but he won’t let celebrity interrupt his drive to reach the height of his profession. That’s his decision alone. Before I got a chance to speak to P.K., a female store employee shyly approached her famous crush and gushed about watching his fights repeatedly on YouTube. The girl was almost in tears and, for a final show of affection, she presented Subban with her P.K. doll. Subban held up the puppet, looked his Sesame Street reflection in its fuzzy eyes and laughed, in awe of his image’s reach.

How do you feel about Montreal’s new players and the team’s ability to bounce back this season?

Alex Galchenyuk is a great player. I watched him for a few years before this season and had the opportunity to skate with him. He’s a real rising talent and I’m looking forward to seeing him develop. The playoffs should be realistic every year. In every season there are teams that you don’t expect to make the playoffs that do. It just goes to show that you have to have a good start, and that starts in the summer with training and making sure that you’re in shape.

You’re one of the faces of the franchise now. Though you’re still young, are you taking on a bigger leadership role?

I think that at this point I’m just focusing on getting better every day. Since I’ve been in Montreal I’ve been welcome there, it’s been a warm reception for me these past two years and I’m just trying to continue that as my career goes on. The next step for me is winning a championship and I hope that I get that opportunity in Montreal.

My favourite part of visiting Montreal is the food. I know you frequent Moishes steakhouse. What’s your favourite restaurant in the city?

There are so many to choose from, but I’ve got to go with Garde Manger. The food’s great and I love the atmosphere.

You spend your off-season training in Toronto. Do you ever miss Toronto during the season?

Toronto’s home for me and no place in the world will ever truly feel like home. I love Montreal but coming back to Toronto and seeing my family and friends is a great feeling.

Your brother Malcolm was drafted by your rival team, the Boston Bruins. Do you have any bets with him about whether you’ll snipe one on him?

He’s still got to make the team [laughs]. He’s got a lot of work ahead of him. He’s still young, only 18. I’m sure a lot of people are anticipating his first game in the NHL but I don’t know when that’s going to be and really, he doesn’t. He’s just got to get prepared and give himself the opportunity to make the NHL sooner than later.

Who would win a pond hockey game between the Staals and the Subbans?

[Laughs] Well there’s more Staals than Subbans right now – they’ve got four, we’ve got three, so they’ve got the advantage, but I have to say that we’d probably win because we’ve got a goalie. [laughs]

What sort of individual goals do you set heading into a season?

To be as strong as I possibly can. I was ahead of the curve in my training because I started in May. I’m always trying to improve my fitness level.

I’ve seen you be criticized for your fashion and for standing out. How do you respond to analysts and even opposing players who go at you over your style?

Everybody’s got their own style and reference and at the end of the day, I go to the rink dressed appropriately. It’s my job to come to the rink and look like a professional – I think I’ve done that. I’m a different person just like everyone else. Everyone’s entitled to wear different coloured suits. We don’t have two options – it’s not just black or white. Everyone’s going to have their own opinion about me and I don’t really care. I’ve never cared about what people think. That’s why I’m in the NHL in the first place. People are always going to have things to say. At the end of the day I just play hockey.

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Casey hasn’t backed down since arriving in Toronto two years ago. A tenured NBA coach with a championship ring (won as an assistant with Dallas in ’09), Casey has brought professionalism and credibility to a formerly rudderless Raptors team. One of his first moves as head coach was to establish the “Pound The Rock” philosophy – an ethos of grinding every day to improve. The players, a motley crew of youngsters, journeymen and disillusioned veterans, responded. The Raptors are not a contender but the collective effort they show in every game has warmed the usually cold and cynical hearts of Toronto sport fans.

Now, with general manager Bryan Colangelo having pulled the trigger on a trade to bring star forward Rudy Gay to the T dot, there is real pressure to win. Casey couldn’t be happier about the expectations; he’s been a winner and a worker for his whole life and he’s making sure to imprint that personality on the franchise. When I met coach Casey after practice recently, I noticed one Raptors player who stayed in the gym long after his teammates had left for the showers. It was Alan Anderson, a 30-year old who has made stops all over the league and in Europe. In Toronto, Anderson has been granted an opportunity based entirely on merit. Dwane Casey rewards effort.

I walked with Casey to a secluded area of the empty Air Canada Centre (otherwise known as “The Hangar”) and asked the coach about the journey that has led him to Toronto. Casey is well-spoken and has a calming presence that gives you confidence in yourself, like a good grade school teacher. It’s hard not to respect a man who has the patience to maintain his cool while surrounded by microphones every day. After only a brief conversation, I felt like I was ready to fight on the frontlines for coach. In the gym, Anderson continued to fire off jump shots and curse his misses.

__________________

Growing up in Morganfield, Kentucky, what was your introduction to basketball?

My neighbours were Larry Johnson who went to Kentucky and his older brother Tom got a scholarship to Pepperdine university. I saw Tom go to college and get a free education when I was 7 or 8 years old and that was my awakening to what basketball could do for you. I said, ‘Hey, I want to be like Tom and Larry.’ In our little small country town in Kentucky, not a lot of people were going to college.  Larry was the first player from our town to go to the University of Kentucky  and I followed him there.

What defined your game as a high school and college player?

My hustle. I was a decent shooter in high school but I got more done with defense and scrappiness than anything else. In college I was the point guard, but all I was allowed to do was run the show and play defense. We won a National Championship at Kentucky. I was never a scorer but I was a playmaker and the captain of that team. My job was to be a leader and set the tone for everyone else.

You went at (former All-American and NBA player) Kyle Macy in practice, right?

Every day. We had battles. He was such a great shooter – I couldn’t stop him and he had trouble stopping me because I was a lot quicker back then. That’s what I remember about college, the great practices we had. There were twelve of the best basketball players from all over the country on our roster at Kentucky so sometimes our practices would be more competitive than the games.

How did you get your start in coaching?

When I was a senior, my coach Joe Hall asked me if I had thought about what I wanted to after college. I told him I didn’t know. He said, ‘Humana corporation, in Louisville wants to interview you, they want to hire you.’ I did the interview, then came back and saw coach Hall. I told him, ‘Coach, I just don’t know if I want to get into the hospital administration.’ He suggested that I consider staying at Kentucky to be a grad assistant and that’s what I did. I got into grad school for business administration and began coaching. At Kentucky, we had some of the top recruits in the country. We had Sam Bowie, then Mel Turpin. Sam Bowie actually ended up living with me. I took him under my wing, got him acclimated to Lexington, got him over freshman homesickness. We became great friends and are still friends to this day. We almost had (Hall of Famer) Ralph Sampson in that class too. The jet was on the runway in Lexington, ready to go sign him but he changed his mind at the last minute to Virginia. We could have had the Tri-Towers.

Can you explain how good Sam Bowie was to the people who only know him as ‘The Guy Taken Over Michael Jordan’ ?

First of all, he was one of the best shooting big men in basketball. Great hands, could shoot the outside shot, great passing, great basketball IQ. The only thing Sam didn’t have at the time was strength. Everybody today says they would take Michael Jordan, but Michael Jordan back then wasn’t the best player of all-time. Portland had Clyde Drexler and didn’t need a shooting guard, they needed a big. So they took Sam. It sounds like they made a huge mistake but anyone would have made that choice under the same circumstances.

You spent time coaching the Japanese national team. What did you gain from that experience?

Well, it was a different experience – the living, the food. Some of my best friends now are from the time I spent in Japan, not being able to speak the language. That was such a great education for me culturally and basketball-wise, studying under Pete Newell and coaching the national team there. It was like going to graduate school for basketball, being able to pick the brain of a legendary coach every day.

What have you learned about Toronto, since living here, that you didn’t know before?

How great a basketball city it is. This is one of the top sports cities in the NBA. Fans here are very knowledgeable and you don’t know that coming here a couple of nights as a visiting team. Being here, you realize that the writers, the media know the game well. The organization here is first class but the fans, for not having the success over the years, are the most loyal I’ve been around. That’s why I tell the players, ‘You give a heck of an effort and the fans will come.’ They deserve an effort out of us because they’ve stayed true all these years.

Why do you think so many players are wary of coming to play here?

Some players just don’t like being in another country. They have a fear of the tax implications, which is not true. You can pay just as much in taxes playing in California. People worry about the weather, even though you have the same weather here that they get in Chicago and New York.

When did you first see (Raptors rookie guard) Terrence Ross?

I saw him practice at University of Washington during the lockout. I live in Seattle during the offseason so I went to a few of their practices. I saw this active, very bouncy, shooting wing player. I e-mailed Bryan Colangelo and management already had him on the radar. I’ve loved Terrence from the first time I saw him work.

You worked as an assistant for the Dallas Mavericks, who very much value analytics in their game strategy. What’s the influence of statistics on your coaching here?

It gives you a back stop more than anything else. I trust my basketball eyes. Those instincts will fail you every once in a while and numbers can help support a decision. You can’t got strictly on numbers. Numbers don’t read chemistry, talent level, switches or pressure. You have to have a balance.

You were an assistant on the Seattle Supersonics during the Gary Payton/Grunge heyday. What would it mean for Seattle to get an NBA team back?

Like Toronto, Seattle has some great fans. I remember being there in the ’90s, when we were averaging 45-50 wins a year and it was the loudest building, the most rabid fans that you could find. If that comes to fruition it will be very exciting for that city and the league.

I remember being angry when Minnesota fired you in the middle of the season, way back in ’07. It seemed like you had that team performing above their talent level. As a coach, is it difficult to have things out of your control, to know that at any moment you can be made into a scapegoat for management?

It’s what we sign up for. It’s a lot easier to fire a coach than it is to change fifteen contracts. You’re going to get fired eventually unless you win a championship. It seems like eons ago being in Minnesota. We had it going, we were 20-20 at the time, right there in the playoff hunt but they made a decision to go their way and I’m sure that they had their reasons. I know we were doing things right, we were playing defense. There’s different reasons behind every decision – maybe some people like certain colours or whatever it is but it’s part of the business.

Did you view this move, coming from a championship team in Dallas to a building one in Toronto, as a challenge?

I love the challenge. It’s fun to see guys improve but in the end it’s about winning. Coming from a championship team to a building team, it’s a different approach but you know that going in. In Dallas you could skip over the smaller teaching points. Here, you know you have young players and not grizzled veterans so you can’t skip a letter of the alphabet, you need to teach the fundamentals from A-Z.

You’re one of the most stylish coaches in the league. Do you dress for occasion? Does Madison Square Garden get a certain look and etcetera?

[laughs] No, no, I mostly go with what’s clean. I try to represent the team. I make sure to look halfway decent so that I don’t embarrass the organization or my family. [laughs]

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Most CFL players don’t have particularly high salaries, and some even take on a second job to keep the bills paid. Take for instance, former Argos linebacker Adriano Belli who, during his playing days, famously ran a meat-packing plant on the side.

Airing It Out:

Any clown should be able to get 10 yards on four downs. But three? That’s a whole other story. CFL quarterbacks are forced to make more throws to advance the game—that way you’re less likely to be lulled to sleep by the often boring ground-and-pound game of the NFL.

Pinball’s Smile:

The diminutive Michael “Pinball” Clemons was considered too small to play in the NFL. But, the ever-smiling running back overcame his small stature to win three Grey Cups as a player and one as a coach, becoming an inspirational story of how to succeed in pro football.

The Rouge:

Put simply, this rule states that if the returning team can’t get a punt out of the end-zone for one reason or another, then the kicking team gains a point. This peculiarity of the Canadian game makes punting a more exciting and strategic pursuit than in the NFL.

Snow Games:

The NFL used to have the odd Super Bowl in the cold and snow, but for Canadians it’s practically a yearly ritual. While NFL fans and athletes mostly flock to sunnier climes, we brave the frigid temperatures of Winnipeg and Calgary, using beer and sausages to fend off frostbite.

Hidden Talent:

Remember Cameron Wake? He’s the Miami Dolphins’ Pro-Bowl lineman who started out in the CFL with the BC Lions. In fact, they switched him to the position he now excels in. You’re welcome, Cam. Oh, and some guys named, Warren Moon, Doug Flutie and Joe Theismann are also CFL alumni.

The Grey Cup:

We’re forced to share our beloved Stanley Cup with our neighbors to the south and they’ve been hogging it for a while now. Not the Grey Cup, though. It’s been all ours for 100 years now (save for one strange year in ’95) and it doesn’t matter what your team is—everyone’s welcome at the party.

No Yards Rule:

On punts the CFL straddles a line somewhere between the old XFL’s crazy “No fair catch” rule, but not as soft as the NFL, which gives players the option of a free pass. CFL players must give five yards of space to punt returners before they make a catch, but the receiving team must return the kick, leading to more excitement.

Faster Clocks, Faster Games:

Have you sat through an NFL game lately? If so, congratulations. They are often a marathon of commercial breaks and Joe Buck’s monotonous chatter. CFL teams are given only 20 seconds between plays, whereas NFL teams have a whopping 45, which considerably slows the game.

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