RAPTORS WIN!

Wow! Go Raptors Go! NBA Champions for the very first-time in their history!

While I'd be the first to admit to not being a big basketball fan or really following the sport, I can't deny that Dave West and I fell a little in love with the Toronto based team during our visit there for the TCAF, comic art festival last month.

We caught a couple of their regional play-off games against the Philadelphia 76ers including their captivating last second 'basket bounce' victory in a wonderful atmospheric bar where the entertaining bar manager kept us informed of not only what we were witnessing but also their history. It seems that the Raptors are 'serial chokers' when it comes to the big games and regularly put their fans through torture before failing to deliver yet again.

This time was different though as Dave and I were there to add our considerable support and expert knowledge on the sport - well what an Englishman and Scotsman don't know about basketball isn't worth knowing frankly :) So when Leonard's winning shot went in, the bar and Toronto exploded in emotion as history was made. The following day was our last before flying home and it was clear what the victory meant as Toronto was buzzing, so much so we went in vain to buy shirts as a souvenir - demand had meant stores had run out of our sizes!

A Jubilant Kawhi Leonard after his history making shot (photo from Toronto Star)

It worked and not only did they put those Pesky 76ers to the sword, the Raptors continued to progress through the seemingly endless regional play-off finals until the Big One, the grand final against the fancied San Fransisco Golden State Warriors where last night, history was made with the Raptors finally delivering on their promise and it seems Toronto and maybe much of Canada went wild with this long promised but tantalisingly distant victory.

Go Raptors Go, you did it - We The North!!

Moments on the Radio!

 

Okay forgive me for being a wee bit 'starstruck' as earlier today I had my name read out on BBC Radio 2 and a question I'd raised asked of author Joseph Boyden who was being interviewed about his new book The Orenda!

 

Hey okay in the scheme of things its pretty minor but I'm pretty chuffed to say the least and impressed that the 'interactiveness' of such things actually works!

 

I'd been listening to the Simon Mayo show early evening when my ears pricked up during his Book Club feature when the author interviewed mentioned the Iroquois and Huron tribes of Southern Canada and their interaction with the Jesuit priests being the setting of his new novel. While no expert, I'd an interest and awareness of this subject after visiting a reconstruction of a site founded by the Jesuits during our trip to Canada last year. I listened intently and became more interested in the story being described but I'd missed the author's name and wasn't sure of the book's title so logged on to the BBC Radio 2 website and found that I was listening to Joseph Boyden describing his new novel, The Orenda.

 

 

I then noticed the BBC's invitation to 'interact' with the programme by texting or emailing the presenters so while thinking 'yeah right' I bashed off a short question name checking the Sainte-Marie among the Huron site we'd visited and asked if the author had drawn on its location at all? Well you can imagine my complete shock and surprise when mere moments later, Simon Mayo name checked me and read out my question! Even more pleasing was that the author was not only familiar with the location but that it had indeed featured in his thinking as the story's "ground zero" setting - gulp!

 

You can hear the clip yourself here for the next 7 days - try around the 1:22:10 mark - and you can also read an extract from Joseph's book here!

 

Yep I was - and still am - pretty flabbergasted about this, maybe its just me as not being part of the smart phone/twitter generation, I'm not used to this instant interaction but hey I'm impressed, thank you Simon Mayo and BBC and I reckon the least I can do is buy Joseph's book now!

One of our 2012 photos of the Sainte-Marie among the Huron site

 

Some chap drafting an email to the Simon Mayo show in Jesuit times!