Raptors and Argos

My dad and I took our four visiting South Korean students to Toronto on Wednesday night. We went to the new-ish Vaughn Mills Mall first, which is supposed to be the coolest/biggest new mall in the Toronto area. It was a nice place, designed in a simple loop rather than a cloverleaf maze like White Oaks Mall. The main attraction is this gargantuan outdoor recreation store. It has a massive water tank at the entrance with various kinds of local fish, nothing exotic, just big fish that you can catch in Ontario water. It also had a big waterfall right beside that.

My dad and I went bowling while we there in this Palasade-like place. The place was so cool they had couches for every bowling lane. I sucked at bowling but at least I broke 100 in both of my games this time, unlike the two games I played at Palasade this past weekend. The last game I played last year I managed to get a turkey (three strikes in a row) and I seem to have lost my touch.

The main event of the day was that we went to see the Toronto Raptors play against the New York Knickerbockers. ("Knicks" is actually a nickname, "Knickerbockers" is the full name.) Toronto beat NY soundly, which was exactly what I wanted to see. Everyone gleefully booed Lenny Wilkens when he was introduced, and everyone viciously booed Vince Carter when he was introduced. And by everyone, I mean me as well. Lenny Wilkens is the coach that allowed Toronto to become a lazy, uncaring team for several years and Carter is proving himself to be lazy and uncaring on the court this year while he seeks a trade. It was great to be a boo-bird for a while.

On the other hand, the crowd loudly cheered for several other Raptors. Particularly Matt Bonner, who has been playing surprisingly well this year. We also cheered proudly for Jerome Williams (JYD, the Junk Yard Dog), a fan favourite as a former Raptor who is now playing for the Knicks. At one point during the pre-game shoot-around he went over by the Raptor mascot and the two of them had some fun putting a few dance moves together.

And the highlight of the night was an unexpected one. As any good Canadian knows, the Toronto Argonauts beat the BC Lions this past Sunday to claim the CFL Grey Cup. (Take that, Joel!) Lo and behold, coach and former star player Pinball Clemons took a courtside seat part way into the first quarter. He received the loudest standing ovation of the night at that point. During the break between the first quarter and the second quarter most of the Argos team came out onto the court, holding the Grey Cup in the air for everyone to see. The crowd went nuts as they walked around with it and took a team picture at centre court. It was fantastic. (Take that too, Joel!)