For those into games or hobbies like me, it was well worth the trip up to the International Centre, by Pearson International Airport this weekend. There were contests for Scrabble, chess, pinball, table hockey, Halo and rock-paper-scissors, as well as Star Trek and Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame trivia.

The 2009 Hobby Show, which was held over the same weekend in the same space, provided a multitude of vendors, from model airplanes to radio-controlled helicopters to comic books, Magic cards, jigsaw puzzles and collectors of stamps, coins and even reptiles. Is collecting reptiles even a hobby?

From a supporters standpoint, this season was full of highs and lows. Here are some of the most memorable and most talked about moments of the 2009 season.

Field Turf gets blamed for everything from nagging injuries and missed goal opportunities to the price of beer at BMO, so it's no surprise that while TFC's playoff hopes fade for this year, MLSE is pushing hard to install a natural grass surface to make the players happy and maybe even to quiet the rising, very vocal disappointment of TFC's most loyal supporters.

When I first moved to Toronto in the summer of 1994 the "internet" meant noisy modems, and cell phones were heavier than dumbbells. The Toronto Blue Jays were coming off two World Series victories, and it was a good time to be a Canadian baseball fan - or so I thought. I left Toronto in the summer of 1999, after 5 seasons of watching Gord Ash's Jays try to reclaim the glory they once had. They never did. In fact, they still haven't.

But as a kid entering my teens, the times I spent in the then Skydome left an indelible impression on me. I remember Pat Hentgen winning Canada's first Cy Young Award. I remember turning on the TV to see Roger Clemens, the greatest pitcher of the day, come to Canada. I remember a classic Canada Day pitching matchup between Pedro Martinez of the Expos and Clemens - two of the best in the game going head-to-head, toe-to-toe. I remember watching Roy Halladay pitch a no-hitter in his second career start, only to watch it vanish on a solo home run with 2 outs in the ninth. I remember BJ Birdie and Domer. I remember when every game had a packed house.

It's also a fun place to shoot photos, and so many excellent ones have been landing in the blogTO Flickr pool. Here are some that caught my eye.

Being a photographer and residing right here in the city, I am constantly in pursuit of sights unseen through the lens of a camera. This pursuit often requires me to be constantly driving or riding the Red Rocket across this expansive city, typically accompanied with extensive walking over unfriendly terrain. But not anymore.

Bauer, 41, performed at The Ex, back in 1981 with his parents and sister Lisa under the name The Fabulous Fearless Bauers. He's an eighth-generation circus performer, his family originally from Switzerland.

Bauer's act features him walking and running inside and outside of a 45-foot long wheel that rotates on a beam at 360 degrees. It's kind of scary to watch... there's no safety net to catch him if he falls.

So in a gesture to the arrival of the Tour de France to the Alps, I've compiled a list of some of the ones I alternately love and fear. I'd be happy to add more to the map at the bottom if readers can think of some that I've missed!

This being my first Indy, I didn't quite know what to expect, except for the noise. The fumes were worse than the noise, but then I had earplugs in the entire time I was down by the race course.

I hung out at Turn 3, also known as the Budweiser Winner's Circle. From King's Corner, I got to observe the race mostly through two chain-link fences.

Rios, who hasn't come close to delivering on the huge contract he signed a couple of years ago, just can't seem to hold it together these days on or off the field. He struck out five times on Thursday before the ROM event and is 1 for 7 since.

And what gutters! The bowling alley has been impeccably restored. In stark contrast to the suburban strip mall of a facade that houses it, the entire space features original and vintage floors, lighting and seats....it's almost like stepping into a time-warp (in a good way) to the century past save for the bottles of Mill St. that hint to its impending liquour license. Sadly though the bowling alley won't be open to the public for long. Today is the last day to throw some free strikes. Starting next month it will only be open for corporate and event bookings.

For hockey fans and even casual observers we feel like we've seen this story before. But this time there are new circumstances and Balsillie has decided to launch a web site - makeitseven.ca - to try to get fans in the Toronto area to rally for his cause.

A few minutes ago I connected with Balsillie's spokesperson, Bill Walker, to find out more about the bid and whether Toronto, Vaughan, Hamilton or some other Southern Ontario city will be the Coyotes next destination. Here's our Q&A:

So often during the early half of this decade, Jays fans bemoaned the team's geographical plight. "If we were in any other division, one where we didn't have to contend with the Yankees or Red Sox, we'd be a playoff team". Then last year, the unthinkable happened to our perpetual third-place team. Tampa beat out both the Yanks and the Sox and took the division. The season started with the Jays tabbed to be a fourth-place club at best. The team currently sits in first place. Also, the team has won all five of its series thus far in 2009. No team has done that in the majors since the Giants, in 2003 (when they won their first 7 series).

2. Recession Busters

Unlike the Leafs, you can get into the game for under $10... sometimes as little as $5. Unlike TFC, there are actually tickets to be had on most game days. And unlike both, you can actually get pretty decent seats.

There are even special nights when you can get in for a fiver, get dollar hot dogs (as many as you want!) and even cheap souvenirs.

@F_I_N_K on Twitter alerted us to the story of the fan who got ejected from the park for throwing back a home run ball. A totally sober fan who caved to the pressure of the rest of the fans in the park - and his own sense of proper behaviour when you catch an opposing team's home run ball - to throw the ball back.

It just so happens that (thanks to the opening day fiasco, in which Jays fans littered the field with balls and debris - nearly forcing the Jays to forfeit) the team decided there would be no more throwing of anything onto the field. Including opponents' home run balls.