WARMINGTON: FIFA brought the World Cup trophy to Toronto to see what a real one looks like

· Toronto Sun

See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source

Visit turconews.click for more information.

That’s not a cup. This is a cup.

For this column, those of a certain vintage might remember Crocodile Dundee’s legendary line from the 1980s when he ran into some punks with a knife and he famously said, “That’s not a knife. This is a knife.”

His brandished version was definitely much larger and more impressive than the puny one the hoods flashed.

Toronto had that kind of moment Monday, one that conjured up another Hollywood moment, when Mayor Olivia Chow gathered a crowd together in Nathan Phillips Square to unveil the FIFA World Cup trophy making its first appearance in Toronto as we are down to a few weeks before these six soccer games funded by the taxpayers will finally be played here.

To tease the more than $1 billion in tax-funded 13 games to be played in Toronto and Vancouver, which the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) says will cost $82 million per game, on the same day she announced she’s seeking re-election in October, Chow led a countdown to lift a bizarre hood covering this trophy.

When it came time to pull it off and unveil this magical moment for Toronto to celebrate, there were no shrieks of excitement. It was more like, “What, that’s it?”

It was like a spoof out of SCTV. It definitely reminded of that size matters line from the Paul Hogan movie. It also brought back memories of This is Spinal Tap when the band dropped down a model of Stonehenge on the stage that accidentally ended up being an 18-inch miniature version instead of the 24-foot structures, leaving the audience in stitches of laughter instead of in awe.

This trophy is tiny

Sometimes you do have to laugh. In Toronto, Monday was one of those moments where they pushed on the public an emperor wears no clothes moment. You are supposed to bow down to the nonsense that this is a great trophy when the ones in local kids leagues are actually grander.

The build-up was bigger than the actual moment.

That was hilarious as Chow and other important dignitaries tried to sell this FIFA trophy as a great moment for Toronto. It wasn’t. This tiny trophy, still behind a glass encasement and with all kinds of rules about how you are to approach it, was underwhelming to say this least.

Especially in Canada where we house the standard of a championship trophy, being the Stanley Cup. There is no comparison between the almost three-foot-tall, 34.6-pound silver beauty for hockey greatness compared to the 14.5-inch, 13.61-pound, 18-karat gold sculpture of two hands holding up the world that goes to the best soccer country every four years.

Tickets sold out to see World Cup trophy

Who would stand in line to see it? Many, apparently.

Although more than 13,000 tickets were nabbed online courtesy of Coca Cola for Monday and Tuesday at City Hall for people to get to this trophy, Torontonians have seen more impressive trophies on display here than this.

The World Series trophy has been won by Toronto twice. The Larry O’Brien Trophy for the NBA too. The Toronto Marlies won the Calder Cup and don’t forget Toronto FC won the MLS Cup.

Even the old 120-pound half a maple leaf Canada Cup for hockey made from Sudbury nickel was grander than this thing designed originally by an Italian artist.

And don’t forget the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup. At 37-inches tall and 30 pounds, it always has an amazing presence when two Mounties escort it along the sidelines towards the end of the big game.

All of those trophies are way more exciting and jaw dropping than this World Cup one. But, of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and there’s no question that there are some serious bragging rights for winning the FIFA World Cup. However, maybe it is in need for a redesign or resizing or something.

Canada can offer ideas for new trophy design

The good news is they brought it to the right place to get some ideas. Before the FIFA people leave Toronto with their miniature, stop by the Hockey Hall of Fame for a tutorial on what a real championship trophy looks like. With all of those hundreds of millions of dollars taken from hard-working Canadians to host these soccer matches, the least Canucks can do is show the soccer crowd what a real championship trophy should look like.

There’s still a couple of weeks to work on getting a more substantial design. In the meantime, perhaps somebody should do a commercial spot. Theirs is not a cup. The one called Stanley is a Cup.

[email protected]

Read full story at source