The Bat Flip that may have Broken the Toronto Ceiling
We all remember them. They are the moments that have come to haunt and define the modern era of Toronto sports.
• The missed high sticking on Gretzky
• The Vince Carter missed game winner
• The semi-final chokes to the Hurricanes and the Sabres
• The Pearce block/foul
• The departure of so many stars
o Delgado
o Carter
o Clemens
o McGrady
o Joseph
o Bosh
o And the list goes on.
Their departures felt like junior high break-ups where the girl suddenly realises she is more popular than she thought and you are no longer good enough. The “You are great and can we still be friends” moment with a “could you talk to Lloyd for me?”
And then last October this happened
and we all thought, “Here we go again.” It was technically the right call but I still don’t understand why the play was live after the umpire called it dead.
I was ready to call it a series and place it on the shelf with the other collapses. A winter lacking in hope and talk of failure. Somewhere, we all slumped on our couches..... maybe in tears.
But then this happened….
It was a pure release. It was an exorcising of demons. It was such a great moment but it also felt like the city of Toronto collectively announced, “ENOUGH!”
Six months later, we are ready to test my hypothesis. The Raptors are entering the playoffs as a doubted two seed. The common phrase I see everywhere is, “They are the better team but they have to show they can rise to the playoff occasion.” We had a great season and proved ourselves a worthy host for the All-Star Game. We are the new Hip NBA location, a diamond in the cold north rough. We played with the giants all year and we are the popular Darkhouse pick of many NBA experts. We have the skill, the heart, the team, the city. It is all there. We do not need to win it all, we just need to not lose before we should.
It’s time…
Because if it is not, then it may never be. It is gonna be a long opening round.
