Last Thursday was a big night in our house--it was Game 6 of the NBA Finals. The Raptors were coming off a tough loss by one point earlier in the week, and it made the difference between a championship victory and a devastating series loss a little too close for comfort. Jacob was obviously very upset and disappointed, and admittedly we were all a bit on edge with nerves as Game 6 approached. It made it even more frustrating when the NBA admitted that the referee botched a call late in the game that would have given the Raptors foul shots that could have won them the game. It was actually quite a crazy game even without the foul drama, as the Warriors' star player, Kevin Durant, came back from a calf injury. Many thought it was premature, but with the team down 3-1 in the series, undoubtedly it seemed like a necessary desperation move to get him back in. And initially, it paid dividends. He scored 11 points early on, but then as he took a sidestep around another player, he fell down. Upon further review, you could actually see something snap in his calf as he shifted, and it turned out to be a ruptured Achilles' tendon. As a human it's tough to see someone go down like that, but clearly it was a tiny sliver of light for our hope that the Raptors could win--whether in this game or later in the series. But when the Raptors lost by one, it meant they were going back on the road, and if they lost that game, it was on to Game 7, which is always a complete toss-up. Anyone can win, and the thought of blowing a 3-1 lead was devastating, particularly with the botched call and any other what-ifs from earlier in the series.
Game 6 was a very close, back-and-forth affair. Another star Warriors' player went down with a fluke injury (later announced as an ACL tear), which was again tough to watch but clearly seemed to boost Toronto's odds of winning. That's certainly not the way you want to win, but I would venture a lot of sports championship runs over the years have benefited from key injuries to opponents. Heck, Craig and I saw two amazing Amerks' teams destined for glory get decimated by injuries during our time there, and the Knighthawks had their star player out for the season a couple times in the midst of two separate sets of glory years. It happens. Even the Warriors benefited from it during their recent dynasty. Even still, the game remained too close for comfort. All I could think about during the game (and the days prior after the last loss) was how miserable Jacob would be if they lost again, and how intolerable he would be all summer if, God forbid, Game 7 slipped through their fingers as well. He's so passionate about this sport and about this team, and with how invested all of us have been through the playoffs (trip to Toronto included), I couldn't imagine how he'd process something like that. Character-building losses are important (I'm from Buffalo, so I'm well aware), but it just didn't feel like this should be one of them.
Toronto finally hit a couple key shots and took the lead late in the game, but it felt an awful lot like the previous game where Toronto led by six and then lost their lead right at the end. They almost blew it when they had the ball with the shot clock off (less time remaining than what would be on the shot clock), and they accidentally threw it out of bounds. Golden State got the ball back, but in a moment of desperation with 0.9 seconds left, they called a timeout they didn't have. Instead of the clock running out and the Raptors celebrating, there was an awkward five minute delay of them figuring out what to do with that. In the end it was a technical with foul shots, and finally those last tenths of a second ticked off and the Raptors were champions!
Jacob was, of course, thrilled! Craig and I were both thrilled for him, too (and relieved for ourselves). I actually wasn't as jubilant as I thought I'd be, though I'm not sure if that was because the boys kicked me out of the room as bad luck for a while (which was annoying) or if it was because I realized mid-celebration that I couldn't even go to the championship parade (which we'd been talking about) because my passport is currently in the midst of a renewal. I had sent it in after our last trip so I had a chance to get it back before our possible "vacation" before Jacob's last tournament, since we'll be right near the border. I totally forgot about the parade possibility, not that it would have mattered since it would have been possibly expired anyway. I should have done it months ago, I guess. Crap.
Over the next couple days, Craig found a cheap hotel right near the main site at City Hall, and we hatched a plan to drive separately to Buffalo for Father's Day so the boys could leave straight from there. And yes, we decided to let Jacob skip school. Look, it's a once in a lifetime experience and it's the end of the school year. They're doing minimal work right now. He won't be in elementary school forever (literally only eight more days at that point), so while it's still relatively harmless to do something like this, I'm fine with it. It warmed my heart a bit to see how bummed Jacob was that I couldn't go, but I was still excited for father and son to have this experience together.
They got to Toronto late in the evening on Father's Day, and went to check out the site near City Hall where the parade would end and the formal ceremony would be held.
If it looks familiar, it's because we went to this area (and stayed in a hotel right across the street) a couple years back. It was winter then, and much of this area was a skating rink. There were already people camped out for the night to secure their spot!
When the boys checked things out from their hotel window at 5am the next morning, they could see things already filling up, so they ventured out bright and early.
Unfortunately, people were taking full advantage of the law legalizing marijuana in Canada, and apparently the smell was rampant in that area. Two media outlets even mentioned it later in the day. The smell was making Jacob sick, so the boys decided to go back to the hotel and grab breakfast before checking things out again.
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| See those arches in the background? People actually climbed on those during the festivities so they could get a good view. They're deceptively high and that was a super bad idea for so many reasons. Glad no one got hurt! |
The area was filling up pretty quickly, and ultimately they decided to head down to the arena, do some shopping, and try to watch the parade from there. They were lucky to snag a spot under a tree, since it got progressively warmer as the day went on.
Jacob even got right up to the edge of the road!
In the meantime, I was sitting at my desk watching and listening to coverage online. The parade was supposed to start at 10am, and reach City Hall by 12:30. Well, it seems Toronto was pretty excited to have a parade, because they now estimate more than two million people came downtown. The parade started down along the lake at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds, right near the team's practice facility. It was held up nearly from the start because the crowds along the route were thick, and apparently not enough cordoning off had been done ahead of time. As a result, it took forever for things to move, and I ended up on duty texting Craig updates of where the parade was based on what I could see in the background of the media coverage. The waiting was eternal so I was trying to help him grasp how much longer it would be. In the end, it took about 2-3 extra hours for the parade to reach City Hall!
The most shocking thing to me was when people started pulling off to the side of the Gardiner Expressway, the elevated highway that leads directly into Toronto, to watch the parade over the side while it was still near the lake. The Gardiner is very busy and traffic is always a challenge, so it was shocking that people thought it was okay to block two lanes of traffic with their parked cars! I guess it just gives you an idea of how crazy the city was for this team! I also very much enjoyed when I'd catch a glimpse of entire groups of construction workers hanging out to watch the parade. There was actually a group directly across from where Craig and Jacob were watching...
After hours of waiting, the parade started to make it to them...
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| The guy in the red jersey is the Raptors' Superfan who has had season tickets forever and now sits courtside |
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| Bagpipers |
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| Coach Nick Nurse |
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| The Raptor! |
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| Cool float! |
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| Serge Ibaka |
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| Long time Raptor Kyle Lowry, who has been cradling the trophy practically since they won it |
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| Pascal Siakam |
And this is what happens when you're close to the road during a championship parade...
The one downside to the trip was that there was an unfortunate incident that happened once the parade reached Nathan Phillips Square. Four people were injured in a shooting during the ceremony. Reality set in for the boys as they realized that they were in that area earlier in the day and could have ended up in that exact spot if they decided to stick around in the least crowded area of that overcrowded space. Overall it was scary how little security there was throughout the parade route and particularly in that area. Considering the Canadian prime minister was there, you'd expect more security. But they didn't check anything as people entered that area! It's sort of shocking considering how tough the security is at the arena for Raptors games! Thank goodness they stayed safe, but it's sad that we have to think about things like that in the midst of something so great.
The boys truly had an amazing experience! It's been quite a run with full family participation, from our trip last fall (and Craig and Jacob's preseason game before that) to all of us now being fully outfitted in an assortment of Raptors' gear! We had such a great ride through this spring's playoffs, and Raptor-centered life is now our new normal! Hopefully we can have a repeat next year, but in the meantime we've moved on to obsessing over whether playoff MVP Kawhi Leonard and Jacob's favorite Danny Green will re-sign with the Raptors or take advantage of free agency to go elsewhere. God forbid!
But like I learned with the Knighthawks' championships, nothing can ever take away the experience of this one. We will always know what it was like to cheer on the champions and see them win. And even better, Craig and Jacob will always have the memories of seeing this parade and all of our favorite players celebrating in person. Truly awesome all around!
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