Basketball in Canada

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Sorry I was referring to the Blue Jays pre-season games in Montreal. In the first couple of years they drew about 50,000 x 2 nights so 100,000 people.

This spring I think attendance was 25-30,000 for each of the two games.

Ya I know, I'm pretty sure they started doing that in 2014. That was the year after they made the big Marlins trade and landed Beurhle, Reyes, and Josh Johnson. They were widely regarded as one of the top teams heading into the season. In 2015 and 2016 they actually were one of the best teams so the sellouts weren't surprising.

The last two years have had the lowest expectations going into the season since the Montreal series started.

[megadude]

From the train platform, to University Ave, to the office, lots of people with Raps gear. Nice to see. Okay it's no more than 5% of the people, but there's a lot of people around.

And people lining up at Jurassic Park since 4am.

And how many cities have Jurassic Parks now? Must be double figures by now. That's good to see.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Halifax is doing one!

https://www.reddit.com/r/torontorapt...20_in_halifax/

Many other cities as well, along with some theatres:

https://www.tsn.ca/canadian-cities-s...-run-1.1313387

[JHikka]

Both the Cineplex theatres showing the Raptors game tonight in Ottawa are sold out.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by megadude

And how many cities have Jurassic Parks now? Must be double figures by now. That's good to see.

Toronto started the fans-crowding-outside-the-arena thing, and numerous other teams have caught on. They did it in Milwaukee. Actually, not sure about Philadelphia, but I'm fairly certain they didn't in Orlando. It seems like such an obvious thing to do. It's not surprising that other cities have caught on.

There's something palpably momentous going on in Toronto right now. How much of it is due to the novelty of a non-Lebron team finally making it to the finals, and how much of it is due to the absolutely novelty of a place like Toronto making it? I normally don't pay attention to all the media hoopla, but this year I am, so I don't really trust my own impressions. Does anybody else think there's something extra special going on with this year's finals?

The NBA media circus descending on the city seems to be having extra fun with the Canadian component of it. Things like Jimmy Kimmel's sidekick challenging Norman Powell to take a shot of maple syrup, jokes about Canadian fans being polite as the players come and go from the hotel, etc.

I guess I'm feeling flush with excitement at my team finally making it to the dance and all of the concomitant attention that that entails. Maybe everyone in Cleveland was saying the same thing last year.

[WhipperSnapper]

Wasn't LA Live first?

Canada only registers with a small but populous area of the country. 10 to 1 there's a staff writer or a leading actor is Canadian whenever Canada gets mentioned. Pick a show. Pick the best looking main. 10 to 1 they are from Canada. lol

[suburbanite]

There is an air of novelty of about having the first finals outside of the U.S. but my impression is that it's just that, a novelty that doesn't linger on anyone's mind

Canadians tend to create this boogeyman of big, bad, ultra-nationalistic America that doesn't want to see anyone else succeed. I spend a fair bit of time on the largest online basketball community and it's more often Canadians projecting this stereotype than any actual American exhibiting it.

This is the most upvoted comment in a thread about Toronto jersey sales:

I feel like most of us Americans don't really even think about the Raptors being from a different country when we think NBA. The Raps have a lot of fans from all over, so this isn't surprising.

I know a lot of Canadians think we have this whole "US pride vs the foreign land" thing going on, but I can assure you that 95%+ of us don't care about that or think about that at all. Most of us just think of the NBA as a whole.

Below that:

Yeah the Raptors are just another NBA team. It never even crosses my mind that they are in a different country. The only people who care about that are Canadians.

It really is embarrassing to watch sometimes.

[Berklon]

I really hope I'm wrong, but I think GS takes it in 6.

It's still pretty cool to be in the finals and have the series play outside of the US for the first time in history - like the World Series already did.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Toronto started the fans-crowding-outside-the-arena thing, and numerous other teams have caught on. They did it in Milwaukee. Actually, not sure about Philadelphia, but I'm fairly certain they didn't in Orlando. It seems like such an obvious thing to do. It's not surprising that other cities have caught on.

Though this is largely a function of a stadium's urban context and ability to host a crowd. The Raptors are lucky that the ACC had the foresight to build an urban plaza out front.

LA's Staples Centre, Brooklyn's Barclay's Centre, and Miami's AA Arena, amongst a few others are also well-equipped to accommodate these sorts of events; but most aren't. Philly's stadium and surrounding sea of parking lots at least is probably not very conducive to fostering the right atmosphere.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

There is an air of novelty of about having the first finals outside of the U.S. but my impression is that it's just that, a novelty that doesn't linger on anyone's mind

Canadians tend to create this boogeyman of big, bad, ultra-nationalistic America that doesn't want to see anyone else succeed. I spend a fair bit of time on the largest online basketball community and it's more often Canadians projecting this stereotype than any actual American exhibiting it.

This is the most upvoted comment in a thread about Toronto jersey sales:



Below that:



It really is embarrassing to watch sometimes.

In spite of what I said about the conspiracy theory regarding the 1994 Expos, I generally believe this is the way things are for most people.

Most people in the world aren't conditioned to view club-based pro sports as "nationalistic" affairs, with the possible exception of Champions League soccer. And even then...

Americans especially don't view city-based clubs that play pro sports in terms of national pride, and the teams from the top 3-4 sports they follow generally don't play against clubs outside of their league, and in the rare instances that they do, it's usually totally meaningless.

Pro sports clubs aren't generally meant to be "national" teams. But more on this in another post.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Wasn't LA Live first?

I may be wrong but I also associated LA Live with that "innovation".

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Wasn't LA Live first?

The Lakers last made the playoffs in 2013. Were people gathered outside of the arena then?

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Though this is largely a function of a stadium's urban context and ability to host a crowd. The Raptors are lucky that the ACC had the foresight to build an urban plaza out front.

LA's Staples Centre, Brooklyn's Barclay's Centre, and Miami's AA Arena, amongst a few others are also well-equipped to accommodate these sorts of events; but most aren't. Philly's stadium and surrounding sea of parking lots at least is probably not very conducive to fostering the right atmosphere.

The setup at Milwaukee's new arena is perfect for it, and the whole area was crowded with fans during the games. I suspect they may have been influenced by Jurassic Park.

https://fox6now.com/2019/05/15/every...during-game-1/

As an aside, the different demographics of the respective crowds were fascinating. In Jurassic Park the entire racial palette is pretty much evenly represented and diffused, while in Milwaukee it is a binary white-black split with solid accumulations of each. More bluntly, Milwaukee being one of the most racially divisive and segregated cities in the U.S., the white folks and the black folks aren't partying together, but mostly stay within their respective demographics.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by rousseau

The setup at Milwaukee's new arena is perfect for it, and the whole area was crowded with fans during the games. I suspect they may have been influenced by Jurassic Park.

https://fox6now.com/2019/05/15/every...during-game-1/

As an aside, the different demographics of the respective crowds were fascinating. In Jurassic Park the entire racial palette is pretty much evenly represented and diffused, while in Milwaukee it is a binary white-black split with solid accumulations of each. More bluntly, Milwaukee being one of the most racially divisive and segregated cities in the U.S., the white folks and the black folks aren't partying together, but mostly stay within their respective demographics.

The bold is undoubtedly true, and Toronto is clearly more diverse and integrated than Milwaukee. Not sure about the italicized part though.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOC4Q_vaEC8

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

...I spend a fair bit of time on the largest online basketball community...

Got a link? I'm curious.

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Got a link? I'm curious.

https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Toronto started the fans-crowding-outside-the-arena thing, and numerous other teams have caught on. They did it in Milwaukee. Actually, not sure about Philadelphia, but I'm fairly certain they didn't in Orlando. It seems like such an obvious thing to do. It's not surprising that other cities have caught on.

There's something palpably momentous going on in Toronto right now. How much of it is due to the novelty of a non-Lebron team finally making it to the finals, and how much of it is due to the absolutely novelty of a place like Toronto making it? I normally don't pay attention to all the media hoopla, but this year I am, so I don't really trust my own impressions. Does anybody else think there's something extra special going on with this year's finals?

The NBA media circus descending on the city seems to be having extra fun with the Canadian component of it. Things like Jimmy Kimmel's sidekick challenging Norman Powell to take a shot of maple syrup, jokes about Canadian fans being polite as the players come and go from the hotel, etc.

I guess I'm feeling flush with excitement at my team finally making it to the dance and all of the concomitant attention that that entails. Maybe everyone in Cleveland was saying the same thing last year.

It's almost (though not quite) being treated like a national team participating in the FIFA World Cup.

When the Blue Jays first won the World Series in 1992, I happened to be with a bunch of Aussies and they told me the atmosphere felt like when their country won the America's Cup in yachting/sailing a few years earlier.

The Jays' win was a bit different in terms of "Canada winning" vs. "Australia winning" the America's Cup, and even more different than a national team playing at the FIFA World Cup, but regardless it's treated in much the same way by the populace.

As I mentioned in my other post it's fairly uncommon to have a club team be elevated to quasi-national team status (especially with no "nationals" on the roster), but I wonder if say a club from a smaller country like Serbia or Belgium did well in the UEFA Champions League if the entire country would rally around them? Bigger countries like England, Italy, Germany and Spain are probably blasé about such things on a national(istic) level - two English clubs are playing for the Champions League title in a few days.

Of course, if Red Star Beograd or Standard Liège made it through to the Champions League final, they'd still have a bunch of nationals on their squad - as European clubs generally have half or more of their players from the country they're based in. Unless I am mistaken.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The bold is undoubtedly true, and Toronto is clearly more diverse and integrated than Milwaukee. Not sure about the italicized part though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOC4Q_vaEC8

During the games in Milwaukee they often panned over the crowd outside the arena, and it was definitely groups of white folks together and groups of black folks together. It was really obvious, and made sense in the context of a segregated city where, with few exceptions, the white people came with their white friends and the black people came with their black friends, so people stood together in groups with their friends.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It's almost (though not quite) being treated like a national team participating in the FIFA World Cup.

When the Blue Jays first won the World Series in 1992, I happened to be with a bunch of Aussies and they told me the atmosphere felt like when their country won the America's Cup in yachting/sailing a few years earlier.

The Jays' win was a bit different in terms of "Canada winning" vs. "Australia winning" the America's Cup, and even more different than a national team playing at the FIFA World Cup, but regardless it's treated in much the same way by the populace.

As I mentioned in my other post it's fairly uncommon to have a club team be elevated to quasi-national team status (especially with no "nationals" on the roster), but I wonder if say a club from a smaller country like Serbia or Belgium did well in the UEFA Champions League if the entire country would rally around them? Bigger countries like England, Italy, Germany and Spain are probably blasé about such things on a national(istic) level - two English clubs are playing for the Champions League title in a few days.

Of course, if Red Star Beograd or Standard Liège made it through to the Champions League final, they'd still have a bunch of nationals on their squad - as European clubs generally have half or more of their players from the country they're based in. Unless I am mistaken.

I'm not a fan of the nationalism, especially if it gets out of hand, as suburbanite suggests seems to happen in the big NBA discussion board where Canadians are getting tribally Canadian while the Americans are staying in their city-based tribes. I mean, the maple syrup jokes are all great fun, fair enough. I just hope it stops at that, and that nobody gets carried away and runs amok.

I agree with your characterization of it seeming a bit like a smaller footballing nation having a side make it to the Champions League. But I can't get my head around the nationalism, I just can't. It sucks. I don't recall so much of that back in 1992 when the Jays won, but I guess my memory is faulty, because you do indeed see Canuck flags waving during the victory parade.

• Video Link

I cringe at that.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by rousseau

I I don't recall so much of that back in 1992 when the Jays won, but I guess my memory is faulty, because you do indeed see Canuck flags waving during the victory parade .

Yeah just a few flags there!