Tag: Toronto

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Congratulations to the 2019 NBA World Champion Toronto Raptors!

Toronto Raptors NBA World Champions
Toronto Raptors – NBA World Champions

After 24 years of existence in the NBA, the Toronto Raptors are the 2019 NBA World Champions!  This is our city’s biggest championship win since the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series championships in 1992-1993.  We finally have something to be proud of!  And we probably had one of the most epic championship parades in all of professional sports too!

Trust the process

To be honest, the Raptors were definitely ahead of schedule (realistically a year or two) in their championship development.  Much credit goes to team president Masai Ujiri for expediting this process.  It was his gusty executive decisions for taking risks in trading for superstar Kawhi Leonard, veteran Marc Gasol and promoting Nick Nurse as a rookie head coach. Masai made change happen.

I can’t tell you how many years I’ve stopped supporting the Raptors since the Vince Carter era.  Put it simply – they just weren’t competitive enough or didn’t have the right leadership at the helm.  They had some really bad teams over the years just getting mopped by other teams.  If you are a Toronto sports fan, you understand the mindset of having your expectations fall short year after year.

The shot heard around the world.

I really started becoming entrenched in this playoff run when Kawhi Leonard hit that buzzer beating, game 7 series winning shot over the Philadelphia 76ers.  That probably was the biggest shot in the team’s history.  It also reignited my interest in Raptors playoff basketball.

This was a complete team effort from the rest of this group, who stepped large on the big stage.  We are seeing right behind our very eyes, new stars emerging on the front court.  The sky is the limit for players like Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet to name a few.

Raptor favourite Kyle Lowry came up big in Game 6.
Raptor favourite Kyle Lowry came up big in Game 6.

Victory.

If you had told me back in October that the Raptors would be winning the NBA title, I would have said that you’re out of your mind and don’t know sports.  But this year’s crop did it and really made a name for themselves playing basketball in June for the first time ever.  At least I predicted that they would win the series in 6 games!

Toronto Sports Legends
Toronto Sports Legends

*UPDATED 10.22.19:

RAPTORS RECEIVE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS

 

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Two tales of social media infamy

Social Media Infamy
Jessie Smollet and Marcella Zoia made headlines this month for all the wrong reasons.

This month we saw two really interesting headlines that were connected to social media. The first being a local news story for my fellow Torontonians and the other featuring a celebrity actor trying to make a bigger name for himself. The question I have to ask…is social media infamy worth it?

Jessie Smollet
Jessie Smollet was arrested February 21, 2019 on suspicion of filing a false report.

Dumb and Dumber.

First off, you have Empire actor Jessie Smollet, who last month staged his own racially driven assault in the late hours of downtown Chicago, only for it to unfold before his very eyes. It turns out this clown hired two men and rehearsed the robbery with them. Phone records were traced, while eye witness accounts were given.  All in the sake of what, trying to gain some notoriety and grow your name out in Hollywood?

Originally the public sympathized and felt sorry for the 36-year-old actor.  But as the story started to gain more traction, Smollet’s account in this matter started to become suspicious.  Hence Jesse went from being a victim to now becoming a laughing stock of the television and film industry.  This should be a lesson to those who want to make it big in the entertainment business, that there are no shortcuts in this game and people will out you for trying to.

The  chair toss heard around the GTA.

Secondly you have Chair Girl aka Marcella Zoia, who seems to crave the spotlight.  In what seemed like a really funny video that would eventually go viral, has now turned into a disgraceful sign of embarrassment.  Where is her common sense?  Sure, she is only 19-years-old and is probably doing what most young teenagers do, get into foolish behaviour.  But this is one of these circumstances where trying to be popular and getting a rise out of your friends becomes dangerous.  Luckily, the chair she threw that day off that condo balcony did not seriously injure a pedestrian or a driver on the road.

What we have learned from a story like Chair Girl is that everyone can get their 15 minutes of fame and can either A) grow into a larger attraction or B) fall into obscurity and become yesterday’s news.  Zoia’s story is definitely of negative light, but her youthful, rebellious attitude could blossom her into  a larger story.  News outlets will be glued to her in the upcoming months.  Personally, I think people will be fascinated with her and what she does next.  Her social media following has grown exponentially since she made headlines and will continue to rise once this is all said and done.

Real Talk.

In regards to social media use, sometimes we have to ask ourselves, do we know what we’re really doing?  We all have social accounts, it’s up to all of us in how we portray ourselves online.  Our close friends have an idea of who we really are, but there will be others on the outside who have no clue who we are. These people could be employers, someone trying to date you, stalkers and so on.  What they search about you online, ultimately gives them a different opinion.

Jessie Smollet and Marcella Zoia both become trending digital topics this month based on their mindless actions.  Perhaps Smollet thought he could stage his own hate crime that would garner public sympathy and boost his stock in Tinseltown.  This looks like it could backfire in the long run for him. As for Chair Girl’s case, she’s just a young adult living her best life.  But truth be told, she might have stumbled onto a potential goldmine opportunity.  Don’t believe me?  Just Google Bhad Bhabie.

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Social media scandal inspired by Netflix show?

Image courtesy of The Canadian Press
Image courtesy of The Canadian Press

Scandal in the 6

This past month’s story involving six students from an all boys high school assaulting two fellow classmates, has been the talk of the town on social media. St. Michael’s College School is one of the most prestigious high schools in all of Canada. If you are not to up to date with this news story, here is a recap:

CityNews were the first media outlet to receive the disturbing videos.

Was the bullying inspired by 13 Reasons Why?

The details are certainly disturbing. While hazing and bullying are nothing new to adolescents, could it have been inspired from programming seen online?

Netflix’s controversial show 13 Reasons Why, takes a look at teenage pressure such as sexual, alcohol and drug abuse. It is quite possible that what happened at St. Mike’s could have been inspired from the hazing that character Tyler Down endured on the show:

This was the most controversial scene in season two of 13 Reasons Why.

What to do now?

It’s a terrible thing to see our youth emulate what they see on their devices.  I think bullying in general is never going to go away and with a medium like social media, we can react fast and raise attention.  In this case, the videos were briefly circulating on Instagram and it was a matter of time before the authorities got involved.

As for the school turning a blind eye originally, shame on them.  It took local news outlets to expose them for not paying attention to the school culture that goes within their hallways.  What they thought that was happening was just a small level of teasing, has now turned into a sexual assault case, with six students aged 15-17 being expelled for good.