My over 60 year love affair with Basketball

The Raptors' improbable victory has opened up a lot of memories.  I say improbable only because like many fans I have lived through many disappointments.  What kept me going was that there were many wonderful memories.

Who are we kidding? We are enjoying a vicarious experience  The players came through for us and if we really understand the game we realize coaches, trainers and in the case of the Raptors the manager and president played critical roles.  But behind all that are us fans.  We drove interest when it didn't seem like a sure way to make money.  We have all been disappointed after being teased from time to time.

My introduction to basketball came before the age of 10 from a Sunday school teacher, John Moffatt, son of the minister who married my parents and brother to another minister who helped bury my mother.  My guess is he loved basketball and thought a group social event would help turn us into good Christians.  Simcoe Street United Church had recently had an addition intended I guess for banquets and meetings, but also included basketball nets.  I don't remember having much awareness before being invited, but it was an enjoyable experience that opened my mind and heart.  No one would describe me as a good Christian, but I did become a basketball fan.

A few years later I entered King Street Public School for grades 7 and 8.  There wasn't much for basketball, but they did have nets on the school wall and very crude mobile nets.  To be honest I didn't play much, but knew several students who became good players.

Oshawa Central Collegiate really perked my interest.  They had three age level teams and they all seemed to win.  Mr McIlveen coached the senior team, but also took time to spend on the youngest team.  I never made any of the three teams, but watched almost all their games and not just the home games.  I walked to school with two players Larry Horne and Charlie Marlowe.   At 5' 7"  I was at a disadvantage but more critically by not having binocular vision which just means one of my eyes didn't function the same as my dominant eye.  Not aware of this lack until one of the tryouts, but in truth neither handicapped me enough to stop me playing and enjoying.

I did play intramural basketball, but more importantly spent a couple of hours almost every school day playing basketball after classes.  On Saturdays they had a league which included many top high school players--mediocre, but actually got one headline which highlighted the one game I scored the most points, but identified me as a defensive player.  More strong points included that I was faster and quicker than many and could out jump a lot of taller players.  While there I attended a referee's clinic and learned to appreciate the game from their perspective.  My interest in defense explained:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/09/bill-russell-and-rise-of-defense.html

As I approached the end of grade 11 I was told my family was moving to Haliburton for my next school year.  As I was cut from the junior team the coach, Mr Barkowsky assured me I would do better in Haliburton.  Haliburton did turn out more satisfying.  For two years I was a first stringer and was usually assigned to cover the opposition best guard and was able to block shots and get rebounds against much taller players.  Our team was able to win a few games, but never advanced beyond the regular season.  The school had a rule that grade 13 students were not allowed to play on school teams, but fortunately for me they dropped that rule when I reached grade 13.  The local doctor's son came back (he had been at I think at a private school), Jim Best and he was also able to play as well.  I remember Andy Paul, Les Fotheringham and Jim Hunter, who later died in a hunting accident.  When my father asked someone if I was any good he was told I could jump like a kangaroo.  I was never a big scorer.  One personal memory was seeing that Mr Barkowsky coached one of our opposition teams in Lakefield and I was able to say hello.  More even than winning the occasional game or scoring a few points my most vivid memory was blocking the shot of an athletic player for another team.

At the University of Guelph I knew I was over my head.  I occasionally played intramural and lot of pickup.  Again my best memories involved blocking shots.  I watched all the home games coached by Garney Henley an active all star football player.  They did win a few games, but more often losing,
After I graduated they won a national championship and I was able to interview Garney Henley for a project.  Before that I actually met my wife because I wanted to watch Guelph play on tv and because the set didn't work drove to Guelph and got introduced to my future wife for a blind date.   Read more:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/08/how-i-met-my-wife.html

After university and living in southern Ontario I had more access to watching the NBA on tv.  I became a tv hog annoying people when they wanted to watch a hockey game or non sports program.  I developed an attachment to the Chicago Bulls--well before Michael Jordan.  I was conscious of Norm Sloan who went on to coach the Utah Jazz.  One obsession was with a third string center name Dennis Awtrey.  He was not a big scorer or even rebounder, but was often assigned to cover the best  centre player on the opposition team and in his clumsy way he made life miserable.  I could identify with him.  Of course when Michael Jordan came the Bulls became even more popular for me.  I also enjoyed Scottie Pippin and later Toni Kukoc.  I remember watching future coach Steve Kerr scoring a winning basket.

After going through my first job I had moved to the Hamilton area to do a job checking car insurance policies.  One day took me to Fort Erie just after a snow storm and on impulse decided to go to Buffalo so I could check out my first NBA game.  The Buffalo Braves were an expansion team, but after seeing a few other games and following them on tv and radio I got to love their players--my favorite was Randy Smith and later Bob McAdoo. 

I wrote a letter to Bill Ballard, son of Harold Ballard  who was serving time in jail.  Harold did not like basketball seeming to think it a sissy game, but his son was more open.  At this time they were contemplating getting involved with the NBA.  My letter was passed over to Ken Twigg and I ended up selling tickets when the Buffalo Braves decided to play part of their season at Maple Leaf Gardens.  At this time I was working for the Oakville Journal Record in their circulation department and had offered a Buffalo Braves ticket as a sales incentive.  When they did in fact start playing in Toronto I got the whole circulation department to have a sales promotion which went over well.  I was a little critical of the ad campaign and made one suggestion which they did use for in the big Toronto dailies.  I had already designed an ad for the Record high lighting the 24 second rule when Pete Maravich played a game in Toronto.  check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/06/travels-of-salesman-part-1-ontario.html

One of the concerns I ran into aside from basketball being boring, sissy, strange, etc was that it was an American game.  This offended me, but at the time there were barely any Canadian professional players.  On impulse I decided to write a book on Canadian contributions to the game and gained quite an education.   I met several what to me were celebrities including Garney Henley, Bill Robinson, Jack Donohue, Ron Foxcroft, etc., etc.  I received letters from many people and treasure a response from Bill Bradley.  I traveled a bit with the help of a government grant including Montreal, Ottawa and Springfield, Massachusetts.  Another memory was being only one of three whites in a crowded gym of Filipinos cheering on their teams from Toronto and Montreal.

I had hoped the Canadian national team would at least win a medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympic medals, but the ball didn't bounce the right way.  I ended up dealing with two publishers, but the reality was they didn't have enough confidence there would be a market for it and I ended up giving up.  It did result in some articles in a recreation newsletter through Shopper's Drug Mart, a children's story and contributing to a master's thesis.  I learned a lot about basketball and publishing.  Two earlier blogs give more details of my "career" with basketball:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/02/my-basketball-projects-part-one.html and  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/03/my-basketball-projects-part-two.html

Update:  August 11, 2021  Not sure what year, but Hamilton, under ownership of Ron Foxcroft (inventor of the Fox whistle and famed referee) took part in a new league that had the idea of limiting the height factor.  All teams were given a height total for the players on the floor at any one time, which meant if you elected to have one exceptionally tall player he had to be balanced with shorter players.  I was only able to watch one game, before the league collapsed due to a massive fraud.  Nobody has been able to revive the idea, but it would probably make games more exciting and accessible for more people.

 My interest in basketball didn't wane too much, but I did have other interests including being a father to two children.  Finally the Raptors came to Toronto and my interest perked up.  I do remember their first draft choice, Damon Stoudamire was booed which just goes to show that fans are not as knowledgeable as they think.  I attended a few games with my son who now watches live games on tv in New Zealand (at very odd hours).  Vince Carter got a lot of attention and over the years a number of outstanding players have passed through to keep up interest even though there were a steady line of disappointments.  One got the feeling Americans didn't like us as most of the best players avoided Canada (this did in the Vancouver franchise) seeking out the American media

One promising note from just a few years ago was that  Masai Ujiri  had been offered a contract with the Raptors as general manager.  Ujiri had been raised in Nigeria and originally was steered towards soccer, but he became interested in basketball and his family supported him.  He played a bit in the U.S. collegiate system and professionally in Europe.  After finishing playing he moved back to Nigeria and got involved with youth programs.  At summer camps he made contacts with NBA executives and made an impression that led him to be an international scout for the Denver Nuggets.  From there in 2013 he was named NBA Executive of the year.   Obviously it takes a few years to assemble a team.  From there he came to Toronto with one of his first moves trading popular, but disappointing player Andrea Bargnani to New York.  Shortly after they obtained DeMar DeRozen and Kyle Lowry and made the playoffs consistently.

After the end of the 2018 season he was involved in some very heavy decisions.  He fired the coach of the Year, Dwane Casey, although most would blame LeBron James for the short playoff run.  The most popular player who stated he wanted to stay in Toronto (not a common sentiment for many other players) DeMar DeRozan, but was the best bargaining tool.  In return for DeRozan and others they got Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green and then later Marc Gasol (for a promising popular player, Jonas Valunciunas).  Fans were very upset until the season actually began.  All three players became starters.  Kyle Lowry retained his critical starter role, but a backup player, Pascal Siakim, perhaps the league's most improved player stepped up for the fifth spot.  He is from Cameroon with his first language French and is always smiling and looks to be the future.

Researching Masai I learned one interesting fact that he criticized Donald Trump for his reference to "shithole countries."  Trump doesn't seem to realize there are people all over wanting to improve themselves and capable of contributing to America.  There is speculation about whether Trump would invite the Canadian NBA champions to the White House.  I hope they get a chance to reject him.  More on "shithole countries":  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2018/01/the-brain-drain-fromshithole-countries.html

Unfortunately there is also speculation about the future of not only Kawhi, but also Masai who rumor has it, has been offered more money to work with the Washington Wizards in a town where his wife works.  But now I think the Raptors have helped establish basketball in Canada and I hope to watch Canadian teams and players do well.  I am very pleased that basketball has grown so much in the Canadian conscience and think it is a good thing for the whole country.

Brushes With Celebrities

We live in a celebrity worshipping society.  Most of the time it is from a distance, but whenever we get a little closer it can be quite an ego booster.  I am not immune.

Bobby Orr is still considered one of the greatest hockey players ever.  I had two advantages over others.  I lived in Oshawa when he played for the Oshawa Generals and I lived in Haliburton when he trained young hockey players at a local hockey summer camp.  In Oshawa looking back I believe a friend was just trying to impress me and literally introduced me to Bobby Orr while we were both in a long jump competition.  I remember that I jumped 17 feet 11 3/4 inches and that Bobby jumped something like 18 feet 3 inches.  He just missed the cut and I was ranked just below him.  A few years later I was in the local Haliburton hockey arena and another fellow also trying to impress me introduced me to Bobby again.  Unlike my image of most hockey heroes Bobby was very shy and modest, but obviously had a strong competitive spirit.

Gordie Howe was a hero from an earlier era, a time when I watched the NHL religiously but mostly cheered for the Boston Bruins and mostly watched the Toronto Maple Leafs.  It happened that he was an endorser for a product that my employer, OKD Marketing handled the marketing for.  He visited our office with his wife and for some reason I just barged into a small meeting and shook his hand.  I remembered a story I had read about how he met his wife at a bowling alley and asked her if it was true.  She said that in reality he had "stalked" her.

Someone, probably Len Olynyk suggested I might get Gordie involved in some sort of fund raising event.  Eventually I teamed up with a Canadian manager and talking to Bill Tufts, Jr a member of the Rotary Club got quite excited about the opportunity.  Eventually an agreement was made for Gordie Howe to come to Hamilton, make a speech and sign autographed books for which a part went to the Rotary Club.  One of my jobs was to book his hotel room and was amazed at how easy it was to get a free room for a celebrity.  I worked with the Canadian agent and learned that Gordie's wife was the key person and a lot of adjustments were made to suit her.  One person who impressed me was Steve Ruddick, the CHCH sports reporter who understood the situation perfectly and got a great interview with Gord and Colleen Howe.  A lot of enthusiasm and I ended up buying two books, one for my father and one for my wife's step father.  Afterwards my job was to escort Gord and Colleen to their hotel room.  My father in law had been born in Saskatchewan and that was one of our topics of conversation.

I had an indirect connection to Wayne Gretzsky.  It took me awhile to realize that Rheta Cornish who was a secretary for the circulation department where I worked had  been a legal guardian for Wayne Gretzsky when he played minor league hockey in Toronto.   Even as my interest in sports shifted to basketball I was a great admirer of Wayne, not only for his skills, but also for his broadcasted comments which always seemed thoughtful and diplomatic.  Rheta with her husband Bill attended Wayne's wedding, talked about his previous girl friend and also housed Wayne's sister when she attended a local college.  Rheta had a strong influence on me, some of which I am sure was shared by Wayne.  Read one of my more popular blogs http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/06/why-i-love-opera-wayne-gretzky.html

Coming back from a Florida vacation met and talked with Murray Dryden who had made a connection from Haiti where he was involved in a program to give poor children beds to sleep in.  For those who don't recognize the name, Murray is father to Dave Dryden, an NHL goal keeper and Ken Dryden, NHL goalie, author and politician.  As it happens I was delivering newspapers in Etobicoke for routes without a regular carrier and had met Murray while making collections, but didn't know of any connections at the time.

I also had a sort of indirect contact with a man who combined sports excellence and a strong political path.  When I was researching a book on basketball I had read that Bill Bradley had spent some time in Canada and on impulse wrote to him.  He responded with a thoughtful letter.  His New York Knicks played in Toronto against the Buffalo Braves, but it was an inopportune time for me to follow up.

Not on such a big scale, but also while researching my basketball book I got to interview Jack Donohue, Bill Robinson and Garney Henley amongst many who I greatly admired.   They were all happy to share their experience and joy of basketball.

The University of Guelph with a very strong agricultural (and veterinarian) base was trying to  boost its academic credentials.  I was lured by the tri semester system and the enthusiasm of a spokesperson at my high school.  My friends who went elsewhere laughed that I was going to a cow college, but when they visited they all asked to be taken to see the cows.  I ended up at Lambton Hall and unknown to me, one the residence rooms on my floor had been set aside for the student president.  It happened that they were able to persuade a famous Canadian poet, Irving Layton (a common guest on tv shows for his provocative views and art).  One of the first events was for the residents on my floor to meet him.  What I remember is that he didn't believe in censorship and he was provocative.  As a college student his ideas weren't radical for me, but pointed the way to a better future.  In many ways he would not seem so outrageous today, but we  enjoyed the notoriety.

Not too many literary contacts, but I enjoyed talking with John Lawrence Reynolds who had done some writing work for my employer, OKD Marketing and I encountered him a number of times and have read most of his books.  I was also thrilled to get a signed copy of a book I had bought from James A. Michener whose book had been reading.  I had also met Lawrence Hill (winner of two Canada Reads contests) at a Human Library put on in Hamilton.

Perhaps the most impactful celebrity I met was Ziauddin Yousafzai who is best known as the father of Malala, his daughter who had been shot in the head by a Taliban warrior.  She attributes her character to her father who taught both girls and boys in Pakistan where it attracted violence.

It seems everyone has had an encounter with some one of celebrity status and they seem to remember  them in more detail than most of their other contacts.  How about you?

My Basketball Projects Part Two

Basketball was such a big part of my life that I have had to split my memories of it so that it wouldn't be too much for one post.

Wanting to sell more basketball tickets and for Maple Leaf Gardens to make a more permanent arrangement with an NBA team one obstacle seemed to be ignorance.  Canadians were so tied to hockey they looked down on many other sports dismissing their importance.  A book could at least give some ammunition to existing basketball fans and gradually win over non fans.

The focus of my early book research was to find out as many Canadian connections to basketball as possible.  Not only was it invented in 1892  by a Canadian, James Naismith, most of the first participants were Canadians studying at the YMCA school in Springfield Massachusetts.  The game spread across Canada through the YMCA, railways, military regiments and churches.

Women crept into the game. Naismith originally invited women to watch the men in the early stages, but before too long he encouraged them to play the game amongst themselves.  Basketball for women  was adapted for women who supposedly were the gentler sex, but over time evolved into the game played by men's rules.  Many Canadian men took the attitude that as a women's game it was too sissy for them and it took quite a long time to bury that notion.  In Canada, one of the greatest teams was the Edmonton Grads.  Today Canadian women compete for American basketball scholarships and play professionally.  Just like to add that women's hockey took quite awhile to evolve as a competitive sport, but we are better off for the results.

Originally as an indoor game basketball was more common in cities.  In rural areas ice hockey and curling were outdoors.  As it happened I played basketball in a small town, Haliburton and decided to research it a bit.  Basketball came to Haliburton in the 1950's when a new high school was built to cover a large area.  Part of that research took me to Fenelon Falls and a rival coach who mentioned the importance of cable tv.   My last two years of high school restricted me and my family to one tv station with limited schedule that included little if any basketball.  Urbanization is not as critical as it once was for the popularity of basketball as cable television made basketball more accessible to greater parts of the country.

Canadians helped to spread the game to other countries. T. Duncan Patton, a participant in the original game introduced the game to India in 1894.  Lyman Archibald brought the game to St Stephen, New Brunswick which was the site of the first international game on Canadian soil against a neighboring team from Calais, Maine in 1892.  On  a sales trip several years ago I went out of my way to visit St Stephen. and learned many friendships crossed the border and the two towns even shared fire protection.  In 1893 Archibald brought basketball to Hamilton, Ontario my new home town.

Canada won a Silver medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the first to accept basketball as an official sport.  The first NBA game was in Toronto in 1946.  Another pro team was started in Vancouver in 1947 and lasted two years nurturing Norm Baker who went on to play professionally in the United States.,

I was able to get the attention of publisher Bob Nielsen who opened a lot of doors for me.  At one point he asked me to write a short story for his Canadian Children's Annual  and I was able to get a drawing by Lorne Miller, an artist friend from university.  At a reception at Hamilton City Hall I was approached by Victor Copps, the mayor who directed me to the  organizer of the Olympic qualifying tournament at McMaster University.

The Pre Olympic tournament at McMaster was a new experience for me--I watched several games and took part in a number of press meetings.  I remember talking with players/coaches from Bulgaria, Iceland, Yugoslavia, Israel and elsewhere.  At McMaster I once watched Canada play Yugoslavia but was surprised to see the visitors were very definitely treated as the home team.  This apparently was not uncommon that the ethnic communities supported their teams whilst Canadians mostly ignored our national team

Bob got me a government grant and suggested I travel to Springfield, Mass. to visit the Basketball Hall of Fame.  I decided we could turn it into a vacation and added on Cape Cod and a short drive through Boston.  A few years later my family tree took up a lot of my time and I learned that one branch of my mother's family had lived in the Springfield area for a few generations. Unfortunately I could find no connection between my ancestors and basketball.  I also traveled to Montreal and Ottawa to talk to basketball officials.  The rest of my driving was within two hours of my home.

After 1936 Canadians were overshadowed by other countries in basketball, but one area we did well was refereeing.  I was able to talk to Kitch McPherson who told me about Al Rae.  They had both done prominent international games.  At the time, Ron Foxcroft had followed in their footsteps and not only did big international matches, but also major American College basketball and later some NBA games.  During one of his international games his whistle failed him in a riotous atmosphere.  He set about inventing a more reliable whistle which came to be known as the Fox40 and was adapted for many sports.  More on Ron later.

Ethnic connections did turn out to be critical for basketball as Canada was multi national.  I was vaguely aware of the Baltic countries, but became more aware of Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians that helped produce Leo Rautins and prominent Canadian university players.  I learned Japanese played in British Columbia and after their internment many came to Toronto and organized teams.  For me one of the most interesting experiences was when I was invited to a match between Montreal and Toronto in the Filipino community.  I was one of only three European ethnic people in a packed gym and the other two were referees.  I was introduced to one key Montreal player and learned he had left the Philippines to avoid gamblers.

Other important ethnic groups who helped develop basketball were the Mormons, Hungarians, Chinese and natives.  Basketball as an economical game was popular in other countries and when they came to Canada was something they were familiar with.  A Sioux Indian tribe in South Dakota had been introduced to basketball in 1892 and helped to spread the sport amongst fellow natives and in particular to Canada's west coast.

Another thrill was talking to people I considered celebrities.  Garney Henley was a very famous football player (Bob Nielsen had written a book about him) and a basketball coach at my alma mater. University of Guelph  He coached a team that won a CIAU championship.  I met Jack Donohue numerous times plus several team members, Jamie Russell,  Bill Robinson.  Norm Vickery, the women's coach had dinner in my little apartment.  Gus MaFarlane, a Member of Parliament.  Lew Hayman, who helped organize the first NBA team in Toronto and also involved with the Toronto Argonauts.

A note from Bill Bradley of the New York Knicks and later the United States Senate was a thrill.

Professional football players, mostly American gave a little prestige to the game.  Bobby Simpson, Vince Mazza, Garney Henley and Canadian Russ Jackson were good examples of famous athletes who played basketball while in Canada to keep in shape, but also because they loved the game.    Wally Gabler played basketball in one of my recreational games.  Sal Maglie, a famous baseball pitcher helped win a Canadian basketball championship.

One of the strangest events was a wedding on a basketball court.  Richie Spears had been a successful coach at Dawson College in Montreal and organized basketball clinics and festivals.  He met Norma Dudgeon at a basketball clinic, learned their basketball philosophies were compatible and found even more commonalities.  They agreed to get married at the basketball gymnasium at Dawson College with "Sweet Georgia Brown" replacing the traditional wedding march.  After the ceremony Richie coached his team to clinch league title and a week later coached the Quebec women's team at the Canada Winter Games.

As a short person I was always conscious that basketball gave a lot of advantages to taller people. Other people were aware of this limitation and sought solutions.  One response came from the wheelchair community who had discovered basketball a relatively cheap, healthy activity that helped boost morale.  The problem was that people were handicapped to different degrees.  They worked out a system grading each player by their disability and then requiring each team to balance the grades so that there was a reasonable competitive equality.  For a short time there was a league that tried to make a team have a total height requirement.  This meant that if you had one exceptionally tall player he would be balanced with shorter players.  Speed played a role.  Ron Foxcroft bought into this and brought the Hamilton Skyhawks to Copps Coliseum where I was able to enjoy a few games before the league folded with the owners all losing money to fraud by the organizers..

Coaches and managers and organizers make all the difference  Niagara Falls produced a number of successful coaches--Paul Thomas at University of Windsor and Jay Triano with both the national team and the Raptors.  Another coach who sparked some hotspots in Alberni (where Bill Robinson came from) and Victoria (home of Steve Nash) was Geroge Andrews who had played with the Vancouver Hornets.  Marvin Pearl organized basketball tournaments in Toronto that attracted top teams from the United States.  Ruby Richman who had played in the Olympics campaigned for NBA basketball against a lot of obstacles, but planted the seed that resulted in the Raptors.  We don't always realize the difference an individual can make.  This insight, although far from original opened my eyes to its truth in all fields.  Without a spark many possibilities lie dormant.

One semi original idea I had was to do a map of basketball.  People joke or brag about some places being the unofficial capital of some endeavor and there is some truth to it.  I wanted to include a national capital, provincial capital, historical sites.  Some of the choices may not be household names:  Almonte, Tillsonburg, Port Alberni,  St. Stephen all played important roles in the history of basketball in Canada.

At one time I was assigned an editor to work with me, but I admit I found it frustrating; as I wanted to add more stuff in and she wanted to streamline it.  Another publisher expressed interest, but apparently had their own financial stresses.  The truth is there wasn't enough confidence in the topic at that time (or perhaps in my writing).  Although I had devoted countless hours to the project I had other things to worry about, like a job and a family.  I often wonder what would have happened if I had stuck it out.

My manuscript ended up being used for a Masters thesis, part made it to a Shopper's Drug Mart serial and there was a children's story that actually led to writing a basketball story and then a book review for a local newspaper.  Although it was never accepted in the form I wanted, looking back it served me well.  I learned lots of interesting things, met lots of interesting people, but perhaps the greatest benefit was understanding the process.  As Bob Nielsen explained, lots of people think they can write a book, but I at least learned there is much more to it than outsiders realize.  I respect writers and understand there are a lot of hoops to jump through.  I should also add that I enjoyed myself most of the time.

What do I love about basketball?   As a marginal writer one can respect his betters; as a marginal athlete I can also respect the skills involved.  As a spectator basketball can be dramatic.   At one time a jump ball after every score tended towards lopsided action, but alternating possession has a tendency to keep scores close. Basketball is noted for having many exciting last second finishes.  The NBA well behind hockey, even in some American cities adopted the strategy of making a game an entertainment spectacle that would appeal to many non fans.  Definitely a part of success of the Toronto franchise where the Maple Leafs rely on the game itself.

A few years later the NBA became very popular in Canada  and I am glad if my efforts helped in any small way.  American colleges realized Canadian high schools could provide talent and many Canadians saw American scholarships as an opportunity to get an education.  Canadians are doing better than ever and more youngsters are finding an outlet for their energy and talent.  A few Leaf fans have discovered winning is a nice feeling that is more often provided by the Raptors.  And the NBA does provide entertainment for all ages.

Nowadays I don't watch as many sports, but have enjoyed the Raptors on tv, radio and in person. When my son visits we both enjoy a trip to the Rogers Centre.  May watch the Pan American basketball. March Madness gets my attention and am pleased to see more Canadian content.

If you missed part 1 here it is:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/02/my-basketball-projects-part-one.html