The Globe and Mail - 19.10.2019

O

n Tuesday, the Toronto

Raptors will raise their

championship banner

and begin the 2019-20 NBA cam-

paign against New Orleans.

It’s going to be a historic mo-

ment. Generationally significant

even, given this country’s poverty

of iconic 21st-century sports mo-

ments. You’ve probably made

plans to watch it.

After that, the season could

rapidly become a bit of a bum-

mer. You probably haven’t made

many plans to watch that part.

A great deal has been made of

how Canada embraced basketball

through the spring. In the early

going, Raptors playoff games

were getting TV viewership totals

in the middle six-figures – far less

thanHockey Night in Canadagets

on an average Saturday. By the

time Toronto had got to the fi-

nals, the television audience had

increased 10-fold.

What had been a strictly To-

ronto-based concern spread

across the country. People who

had never cared before suddenly

cared – and a lot. If your city

didn’t have its own version of the

Jurassic Park rooting club, you

were in danger of losing your civic

charter.

KELLY,S10

RaptorshaveworktodoasCanada’sbasketballinfatuationfades

CATHAL
KELLY

OPINION

TORONTO

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HOCKEY

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BASKETBALL

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Sports

SATURDAY,OCTOBER19,2019 | GLOBEANDMAIL.COM

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