Basketball in Canada

[WhipperSnapper]

We can say it was the fall season but, in reality, the decision to host in the SKydome was probably because the expensive stadium was still new and in public hands.

It was a free event and no one was allowed on the field.

The dome didn't fill up in 1993 however, in 1992, I ended up in the middle of a horde that stormed the gates and absolutely destroyed them. I ended up sitting on a step in the 500 level with hundreds of others. The dome is not a secure, containable structure against the hordes.

[suburbanite]

For all the jokes about how Toronto has been "planning the parade" for decades, the whole thing yesterday was a shit-show. 3 hours late to get to Nathan Phillips Square where people were dehydrated and they had no entertainment to fill the gap. No barricades set up on the route so police had to clear the streets as they went.

Feel bad for those who went to NPS at 10 am and waited for 5 hours only to be part of a stampede as the shooting took place almost immediately after the team got there.

Extremely glad I caught the route at University/Front and went to a patio afterwards.

[megadude]

I hope the people who went to NPS and especially those who went early early understood that a massive delay was always a possibility. I have no interest in standing around endlessly hours in advance on concrete for an hour of listening to people talk on the stage. But for those who don't mind that and they complained about the delay then I don't have sympathy.

Things never go according to plan, especially if you're entrusting government officials with no experience to do the planning.

These things can never be perfect, and I'm glad there was feel good vibes all around despite the massive delays. But beneath it all there really must have been some serious ineptitude and unfortunately, it's basically become accepted.

Obviously, some great work was done for such a massive event, but there were some glaring holes in planning.

[theman23]

Originally Posted by logan5

Stuff like this doesn't help matters...

Are you serious? Why would that upset you? Having an extra million people in a city is neither a positive or negative. I was simply trying to show the scale of the event, not get dragged into another classic SSP city vs city debate.

Not to mention that Acajack et al were already hard at work well before I posted.


This flicking forum. I guess if people spend half their life arguing about their cities weather, I shouldn’t be surprised.

[Berklon]

Yea, I didn't see any intended bashing by showing the scale of the event by comparing it to city populations. There's nothing to be offended about it as there's really nothing to bash in the first place. If a US city was used for comparison, would there still be crying about it?

Seems that some here are trying their best to downplay the whole thing by either inflating the significance of the shootings, questioning the authenticity of the fans who attended or just being downright jealous of the attention the Raptors are getting across Canada.

[TorontoDrew]

Human Swarm!


Swarm! Swarm! by kotsy, on Flickr

[megadude]

I posted this pic in the NHL thread a while back. Anyway, before game 6 someone at my work brought 6 of these to the office. Those were the last ones.

I've been inside two Hortons since that game and haven't seen anymore. I'm shocked. Now is especially the time to capitalize on these donuts.

Past two years there have been Leafs logo and jersey donuts. I've only ever seen Raps logo donut. They need to come out with jersey donut. Then donuts with back of player jersey with name and number. And then some ^NORTH donuts. And OVO black and gold colour scheme too.

Maybe they'll come out with more batches the rest of the summer. Anytime I buy a few for family gatherings the kids go nuts for them.

I was just at Tims and some guy bought a gift card. Lady asked which one? Of course the guys got the Raptors branded one.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by theman23

Are you serious? Why would that upset you? Having an extra million people in a city is neither a positive or negative. I was simply trying to show the scale of the event, not get dragged into another classic SSP city vs city debate.

Not to mention that Acajack et al were already hard at work well before I posted.


This flicking forum. I guess if people spend half their life arguing about their cities weather, I shouldn’t be surprised.

It doesn't upset me. I was showing an example of the type of statement that gets people going here. Lots of people will interpret that as bragging. That should not be surprising to you, you are well acquainted with this forum.

Your choice of using the City of Vancouver to show the scale of the event is suspect since the CoV is only 650 000 people, so it doesn't make sense, other than to provoke the Vancouver forumers.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by theman23

Are you serious? Why would that upset you? Having an extra million people in a city is neither a positive or negative. I was simply trying to show the scale of the event, not get dragged into another classic SSP city vs city debate.

Not to mention that Acajack et al were already hard at work well before I posted.


This flicking forum. I guess if people spend half their life arguing about their cities weather, I shouldn’t be surprised.

Um, this is not a sports forum first and foremost.

While we do talk sports quite a bit, it's perfectly normal on a forum like this one for the discussions to frequently go towards the socio-cultural implications of sports on cities and even the country.

If people absolutely want to discuss the sheer brilliance of some guy's slam-dunking without being distracted by other stuff that SSPers like to discuss, then perhaps they'd be happier on TSN, Sportsnet or one of the zillions of other boards that only talk about the game itself and the awesomeness that surrounds it.

PS - I realize that for a lot of us SSP Canada is our online gang or crew. It's one of our social milieus so when something big happens like the Raptors, you want to discuss it with your peeps. But not every group of peeps you have is always going to give you the satisfying discussion you're looking for on every topic.

[theman23]

Originally Posted by logan5

It doesn't upset me. I was showing an example of the type of statement that gets people going here. Lots of people will interpret that as bragging. That should not be surprising to you, you are well acquainted with this forum.

Your choice of using the City of Vancouver to show the scale of the event is suspect since the CoV is only 650 000 people, so it doesn't make sense, other than to provoke the Vancouver forumers.

Does it matter? The point was that there were enough people at this rally to fill entire cities, even provinces.

[logan5]

Okey dokey

[SignalHillHiker]

Of everything I've seen from people's posts during the parade, this is my absolute favorite. It's heartwarming, not funny, but still wonderful:

https://reddit.app.link/8rFjyv60DX

[elly63]

Originally Posted by theman23

Does it matter? The point was that there were enough people at this rally to fill entire cities, even provinces.

One million according to the CTV newscast.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Of everything I've seen from people's posts during the parade, this is my absolute favorite. It's heartwarming, not funny, but still wonderful:

https://reddit.app.link/8rFjyv60DX

That's great!

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Of everything I've seen from people's posts during the parade, this is my absolute favorite. It's heartwarming, not funny, but still wonderful:

https://reddit.app.link/8rFjyv60DX

Amazing!

[esquire]

Originally Posted by JHikka

What is this based upon? The Leafs have had every chance to be successful like any other team in the league. They just had horrid ownership for 40+ years.

The fact that the largest hockey market in the world only has one team, for starters. Just getting in the building requires a lot of money and either connections or great foresight (hitting refresh the moment ticketmaster releases a supply, months in advance of the game itself). That means a generation has grown up without seeing games live.

The NHL was content to let the Leafs franchise run itself into the ground while maintaining a lucrative monopoly for its corporate fanbase. Good for the short term, but over the long term people stop caring. It would not surprise me if by now the Raptors appealed to a broader segment of the population in and around the GTA.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by esquire

The fact that the largest hockey market in the world only has one team, for starters. Just getting in the building requires a lot of money and either connections or great foresight (hitting refresh the moment ticketmaster releases a supply, months in advance of the game itself). That means a generation has grown up without seeing games live.

The NHL was content to let the Leafs franchise run itself into the ground while maintaining a lucrative monopoly for its corporate fanbase. Good for the short term, but over the long term people stop caring. It would not surprise me if by now the Raptors appealed to a broader segment of the population in and around the GTA.

100% agree. I think in a few generations they will be on a level playing field as Toronto matures and the population becomes less new Canadian, and more die hard winter sports loving Canadian. But in the not so distant future the Raptors have every ability to become the cities number one team until the Leafs can finally win us a cup.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

100% agree. I think in a few generations they will be on a level playing field as Toronto matures and the population becomes less new Canadian, and more die hard winter sports loving Canadian. But in the not so distant future the Raptors have every ability to become the cities number one team until the Leafs can finally win us a cup.

I have no idea how this will go (and realize that basketball is seen as sexier than both hockey and baseball), but it's worth noting that the Blue Jays winning two World Series while the Leafs continued to suck still did not allow the Jays to overtake the Leafs as the most popular team.

[wave46]

Originally Posted by esquire

The fact that the largest hockey market in the world only has one team, for starters. Just getting in the building requires a lot of money and either connections or great foresight (hitting refresh the moment ticketmaster releases a supply, months in advance of the game itself). That means a generation has grown up without seeing games live.

The NHL was content to let the Leafs franchise run itself into the ground while maintaining a lucrative monopoly for its corporate fanbase. Good for the short term, but over the long term people stop caring. It would not surprise me if by now the Raptors appealed to a broader segment of the population in and around the GTA.

The NHL reminds me of Cadillac.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the most desirable car was a Cadillac. It was the 'ne plus ultra' in North America.

As the 1970s dawned, smaller luxury car companies starting making inroads. Mercedes and BMW landed on our shores. Cadillac cared not one whit and kept peddling the same crap to its increasingly aging client base.

By the 1980s and 1990s, the Japanese luxury makes had come to North America. Cadillac was so out of touch selling chrome-laden barges to blue-hairs that they had no idea how to reach the next generation who wanted an Audi, Lexus or Mercedes as a status symbol.

There is a lesson for the NHL in there. Success is ephemeral. By not connecting with the next generation, they stand to lose big in the heartland.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

100% agree. I think in a few generations they will be on a level playing field as Toronto matures and the population becomes less new Canadian, and more die hard winter sports loving Canadian. But in the not so distant future the Raptors have every ability to become the cities number one team until the Leafs can finally win us a cup.

Success certainly plays into it too, as it should. The Raptors' run was very compelling and highly entertaining... I'm not surprised that it would turn people on to being fans.