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Go Jays Go
I went to the game with Claire and Kim, not alone honest Until I read Duncs blog, I didnt realise how long it was since my last update.
I have been lucky enough recently to have been given more free basketball tickets. Sometimes I cant believe my luck, it seems to get better and better. This time a gym member gave me and 2 tickets to a game an amazing 10 rows behind the bench, all because I helped him with his bench press! I ended up going with Luigi. We arrived about an hour before tip-of to soak up all the atmosphere and get some photos near the court. The game itself was only really exciting at the beginning and end (Luigi fell asleep, although that could be because of the night out for Julias birthday).
After having the time of my life, the basketball talking heads and players wandering around a few feet from me (by the way 6 foot 11 is fairly incomprehensible until your right next to it) I made a mental note to thank Bruce (member) the next time I saw him. I happened to see him in the next few days in the gym and said my thankyous. To my surprise, he then told me he
Hooters
Happy as a pig in...oops, I cant say that!! was in Australia on business for a couple of weeks and presented me with more tickets. This time for the final game of the season for both the Raptors and the Maple Leafs (NHL) I had not been to a Leafs game as the tickets were like golddust in this town.
There is nothing like watching the final seconds of a close hoops game, with 'the final countdown' blaring from the speakers and all the fans on thier feet.
Through these games I have also been (mis)treated to some, shall we say, interesting pre-game and half-time entertainment. There is always the American and Canadian national anthems before the game starts. Recently, these were performed without words, by two guys playing steel drums. Call me old-fashioned, but I like anthems to be blasted out by a singer and all the fans. I cant imagine going to an England football game and having a little old lady play God save the Queen on a harmonica!
The half-time shows have gotten pregressively more ridiculous as the season has gone on too. In one game, while the players were talking tactics, the mascots took to the court for thier own game. The teams were
Hooters
Me, Claire and Kim. They requested we go to Hooters, who am I to argue? made up of various animal suits representing different teams, including a grizzly that looked more like a weasel, a pretty scary looking wizard and of course the infamous Raptor. In a game that felt like it lasted 3 days these creatures managed to rack up a score in the region of 4-2. It was at this point that I started questioning whether they were running out of entertainment ideas for the games. Just as I was pondering this, they managed to raise the bar. They decided to feature the ever classic and always cringe-inducing karaoke contest. Almost as soon as the first contestant began thier rendition of 'celebrate' the boos started to rain down on them from the sellout crowd. Maybe its the Brit in me but I found this truly hilarious.
The hockey game was played between the Leafs and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Having sheepishly told me my big brother, Neil that I was going to see his team (Penguins) play on his birthday and recieving a hate message from him I got ready for the game. The game was of little importance to the season. The Penguins were near the bottom of the league and the Leafs
10th row baby
Put me in the game coach had recently been put out of playoff contention. Nonetheless, it was fun to see a couple of fights.
Recently, I had some friends visit from England.
Claire and Kim came over for a week and we had great fun.
One thing that I was pleasantly surprised by was that the girls wanted me to take them to Hooters. I grudgingly obliged having tole them how i felt it was degrading to women and that we shouldnt endorse this kind of... sorry I couldnt even get through that.
Following theyre departure a former teammate from the university basketball team stayed for a few night on his travels (Tonto for those of you who know him. Im sure youll understand why I was a little scared when I recieved the email asking if he could stay) You see, Tonto was in the third year when I started university and it was part of his job as a captain to humiliate me throughout the first year. Anyway, there was very little humiliation this time around and we managed to get quite a lot done in the time when he was here. We rented a car and drove to Niagara Falls which was
At the game
Press row before the game to be honest unbelievable. I couldnt do it justice, even with the sheer volume of photos I took there. We also went up the CN Tower (finally!!) and took a boat out around the Islands. All this with a healthy dose of Torontos nightlife and a couple of pickup basketball games at the Y. (Hoopsquad has officially gone global!!)
The season has drawn to a close now for the Raptors, unfortunately with a whimper and all we had left for a while was baseball, which it has to be said is the slowest and most pointless game I think exists. Now, however the CFL season has started which is Canadas version of American Football. I went to the season opener and was pleasantly surprised. It was a fun day even though there was a lot of stoppages. The Argos (Toronto) has signed a star player from Miami after he was suspended from the NFL for taking drugs. Drugs or not, he was amazing. Unfortunataly, I didnt manage to watch half the game as, purely for research reasons (to see if they were fitter than the Raptors girls) I needed to watch the cheerleaders pretty closely. It was a scorching
Raptors Dance Pack
As if I wasnt gonna get photos of this hot day, as has been the trend recently with temperatures around the 34 mark which with the humidity here translates into the low 40s.
Recently, I was invited to a colleagues wedding. This was a great event. It was, I have to say, unlike any wedding Ive ever witnessed. Firstly, it was a Dutch theme (Grooms nationality) and some of the toasts were in the native tongue.
One of the stranger moments occured when the newlyweds were introduced together at the reception. It was a scene not unlike the player introductions at a sports event and I half-expected to see a wall of dry-ice and aerosmith blaring out of the speakers. Then things got a touch stranger when a godfather of the groom burst in to a similarly over the top introduction telling a drunken speech and playing the bagpipes?! Finally, to top it off, salsa music dominated the airwaves as an influx of glowsticks, maracas and sombreros suddenly appeared on the dance floor. I really couldnt make head nor tail of it but it was a good night regardless. There also happened to be another wedding in the same venue so I ventured downstairs to thier hall to
Amazing
This still doesnt do it justice dance with some bridesmaids and offer my congratulations and well wishes to a group of very confused Italians. All in all a good night was had by all.
It was also my birthday recently. On the day, being a wednesday, there wasnt a great deal of things going on in the nightlife scene and I ended up at the movies with some work friends to see Superman. I defy anyone to watch that film and not feel completely invincible and have a slight feeling of 'why cant I be Superman?'
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Big bro
non-member comment
Nice
Hooters was a stroke of genius, you should keep in touch with those girls! Thanks for bringing up the Pens game too!! Take it easy, G