Linkage – July 4
While Peddie said that Tanenbaum had met with Schumer, he said the Raptors would play all 41 of their regular-season games in Toronto for the foreseeable future.
“We had over 30 sellouts last year,” Peddie said. “We’re one of the top NBA teams in gate in the league. One of the very top.
“Economics aside, our fans want to see the games. They’re buying season-ticket packages — 90% renewed. We’re interested in moving our exhibition games around, but not our regular-season games.
As for exhibition games, Buffalo is a possibility, but not for this year, and maybe not even for the following season.
“We go right across the country from the East coast to the West coast on exhibition games, because we like to get out there and be Canada’s national team,” Peddie said. “Buffalo, given that there is a St. Catharines market and a Niagara Falls, Canada, market is interesting. That would be the discussion. We’re all booked for this fall. I’m not even sure if next fall is available.”
Last week, I made mention here of Kurosawa and his Seven Samurai. Now I just have to say that this is a film that should be viewed by teams in preseason. Forget about Gladiator and Braveheart - mere pretenders. This one is in the top 5 all-time and has all the action that you won’t find in Citizen Kane and Casablanca. It’s too bad that neither the Raptors, or quite likely you yourself will ever take me up on that recommendation. Yes it’s three-and-a-half hours long. Yes it’s black and white. Yes - subtitles too. But still, beyond the brilliant use of camera movement and deep focus, beyond the insane choreography of the battle scenes, beyond the perfect compositions, there is a story of complexity about men of various talents and backgrounds coming together, making sacrifices, and accomplishing something a higher purpose. The seven characters themselves range from the cagey vet-type, to the superstar-type, the green rookie-type, all the way to the clownish showboat and the coach, who must maintain a balance between all of them, as well as among themselves and the farmers. They all need to somehow work together to beat the odds, and not a frame of it resembles a cliche. Here is a large franchise all working on the same page, all brought to life from somewhere in 16th Century Japan. When there’s nothing else but the WNBA, this makes for a hell of a cathartic substitute to pure ball.
The Toronto Raptors are preparing to hold their 2008-09 training camp at Carleton University, pending the finalization of a deal between the NBA team and the school, sources confirmed yesterday.
In Phoenix working on more immediate issues such as trades and free agents, Raptors president/GM Bryan Colangelo did not return calls from the Ottawa Sun.
Rotating their training camp site is nothing new for the Raptors. Last fall, they were in Italy and Spain. In previous years, while trying to expand their fan base, they’ve held training camp in Waterloo and in St. Catharines, at Brock University.
The Raptors have also been to Ottawa in the past, hosting a pre-season game at Scotiabank Place in 1994.
Along with a week-long camp in October would come the Raptors’ annual intra-squad game. Such an event would likely have to be played in a larger venue such as Scotiabank Place.
Jul 4th, 2008 at 7:58 am
I find it very odd that Seven Samurai was mentioned here, after I watched if for the first time this week. I strongly recommend the film.
As for its relevance to the Raptors, I doubt it has one. While it COULD be applied to almost ANY team, I would never equate us as fans to farmers worried about food shortages. I also wouldn’t want to compare poor character-riddled samurai to overpaid NBA athletes.
Poor Kurosawa. “Raptor’s Forum” meant no harm.
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Jul 4th, 2008 at 10:04 am
I bought Seven Samurai several years ago during my “must watch the top 100 movies at IMDB” stage in life. It has some great moments, but I don’t think I’ve yet been able to sit through the entire thing. Any recommendations? Did you drink a few RedBull’s beforehand?
Jul 5th, 2008 at 6:58 am
I watched Disc 1, waited a few days, and then watched Disc 2.
I found that I thought a lot about the movie in between, and the pause made me appreciate the cinematography and emotional connection with the characters, even more.
Note: Just watched “The Hustler” last night with Paul Newman in his glory days. The plot was kind of standard, but the acting, the characters (”Minnesota Fats”) and the dialogue, made the movie. Interesting on how much cinema has devolved, just to increase a movie’s pace.
(I’d be interested to hear Granville chime in here)
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