Spider Dreams and Women's Teams

This week on Toronto Appreciation Nite, Meagan, Dan and Vince unravel a legendary Toronto “spider dream” saga, a story so unbelievable it survived 1990 tabloids, the entire internet listicle era, and eventually led to a minor-league stunt involving a very real tarantula in 2017.On this week’s Over-Appreciated/Under-Appreciated, we get into Toronto’s aggressively polite ferry-naming contest, the Leafs’ annual emotional roller coaster of failure, and whether anyone at city hall has checked if the Rogers Centre roof actually opens in winter. Spoiler alert: not so much.Then in Seeker’s Corner, we zoom out to a much bigger story: the explosion of women’s sports in Canada. It's a booming market that’s racing toward half a billion dollars in Canada. We get excited as it looks like we will ACTUALLY GET the 2026 Tempo season. We deep dive the PWHL’s momentum, and why this moment feels different from every “this time it’s real” moment before it. As expansion looms, we talk where should they go next and explain why it’s possibly a U.S. city that might hold the key to growth. And, forgive our politeness, but is it the Canadian thing to do, to hope for another team to make the playoffs, so the game can grow? Finally, for our Appreciation Parade, we hand out praise for charity bra tosses, the paralympics making your kids fall in love with hockey, and why if you’re not fond of AI slop, this one simple fix, can help fight it. This week’s episode tip: If you’ve ever needed an excuse to miss work, we highly recommend you try “caterpillar nightmare”. Welcome to Toronto Appreciation Nite.