A midweek game against the Tampa Bay Rays gets a crowd of over 40,000. Why? A lot of it has to do with the fact that the Jays gave the ball to Scott Richmond, a Canadian pitcher who had spent three years with the unaffiliated Edmonton Cracker-Cats, for his first Major League start.

It was a feel-good story but, more importantly, a Canadian story.

Of course, this happens on the same day that the Raptors announce they will be playing a preseason game in Edmonton, in a move to try and convince Canadian sports fans outside the GTA that the Phoenix Suns may not be Canada's Team, after all.

The Richmond example, and the fact that you see an inordinate number of Matt Stairs jerseys at the Rogers Centre is proof that Canadians want to cheer for our own. When sports talk-show types say that it's not important for our pro teams to have Canadian content, they couldn't be more wrong.

Hockey and the CFL have no issues with Canadian content. But Toronto FC, the Jays and the Raptors, all Toronto clubs vying to be "Canada's Team" in their respective sports, need to make it a priority.

Having a Canadian on the squad will do infinitely more for the Raptors profile in Alberta or B.C. or anywhere in Canada than playing preseason tilts in Edmonton. The Raps went and signed Will Solomon to basically carry a clipboard for most of the season. There isn't a Canadian player out there who would fit that bill? Bryan Colangelo needs to understand that if his club doesn't groom Canadian talent, fans outside the GTA will continue to consider the Raptors well below more important matters, like curling and the CFL.

As for Toronto FC, I talked with a friend in Edmonton earlier this year who told me that, even though TFC is better this season than last, he followed the team more closely last season when a huge chunk of the roster was Canadian. Now that most of that has been chopped, he's lost some interest. Still, it is worth noting that TFC had a CBC national contract before the Raptors, probably due to the fact that TFC had Canadian players it could use as a selling point.

Richmond proves that 40,000 fans can't be wrong.