Results tagged “newjersey”

Hope is a cruel thing for a sports fan: no matter how bleak the situation, as long as there's a straw in sight we'll happily clutch at it. Case in point: Leafs Nation, of which we're proud, occasionally defiant members. We've been flip-flopping over the Leafs all season long. A few weeks ago we'd written them off, then watched as the team put together an impressive run (which included comprehensive victories over the Ottawa Senators and the Boston Bruins). Suddenly, they were back in the thick of things—and hope, suddenly, sprung eternal once more.

Gate House goes coed. After a series of puerile, childish, vaguely misogynistic stunts, the infamous all-male U of T residence has been come down upon by that stuffy old dean. Of note is Gate House's claim to be an inspiration for the movie , just like every other "look at us we're so wild" frat house on every college campus ever, despite the fact that Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis went to McMaster.

Fresh from this year's successful stab at World's Largest Thriller Dance, Toronto is looking to weasel its way into the Guinness Book yet again. This time, with a big-ass Christmas stocking.

One month into the new NHL season, and this much is obvious: the Toronto Maple Leafs are a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, dressed in the league’s silly new jerseys. The Leafs are scoring more often than your younger sister, but they’re also leaking goals at a potentially historic rate. They’ve lost two games by 7–1 final scores, but they’ve also got an 8–1 win and consecutive 4–1 road victories against consensus preseason favourites (Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers). The result is that the Maple Leafs are one of the most entertaining teams in the league, even if they’re seemingly hell-bent on driving their doggedly loyal fans to drink.

2007_04_11Leafsad.jpgIt was one of the wildest final weekends in NHL history. The Toronto Maple Leafs delivered a knockout blow to the Montreal Canadiens in one of the most electric matches in recent memory, only to have the New York Islanders break our hearts and take the final playoff spot in a shootout against the New Jersey Devils the following day.

On Tuesday, the second-place New Jersey Devils came to play their road game at the Air Canada Centre, clogging up the neutral zone and waiting for the Maple Leafs to make a mistake. Which might have worked, had they been able to take the lead. But the Leafs played patient, capitalized on the power play, and held on for a 2-1 win. It was only after the oft-maligned Nik Antropov scored the Leafs’ second goal that the Devils came to life. But all that matters is the Leafs got their 2 points in the standings and are now level with Carolina and the Montreal Canadiens for the final playoff spot with just nine games left in the regular season.

New Jersey singer songwriter Pete Yorn is stopping by Toronto on Sunday evening for a show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, along with opener Moses Mayfield, for a night of making the girls swoon over his pretty face and golden voice. He's touring in support of his latest album Nightcrawler, the final installment of his 'day cycle' trilogy -- Musicforthemorningafter and Day I Forgot being the first two, respectively.

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico.

Raptors fans have had to suffer a lot of humiliation over the last few years: There was the Vince Carter trade debacle, there was the night that Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points, and there was the 1-15 start last season that had ESPN speculating that the Raptors might be one of the worst teams in NBA history. But, the absolute low-point for the franchise came on the afternoon of October 16, 2005 in a pre-season exhibition game against Maccabi Tel Aviv, the Euroleague Champions. Tel Aviv’s Anthony Parker (who is now a Raptor) nailed a last-second jump shot to down the Raps 105-103. It is the only time that an international squad has ever beaten an NBA team on North American soil.

ballswamp.jpg

On this, the eve of the 2006-07 NHL season, take a moment and consider how unhealthy our relationship with hockey in this town is.

The Raptors exploded this weekend, posting back-to-back wins in Atlanta on Friday and New Jersey on Saturday. In doing so, they also moved out of the NBA's basement and improved their season mark to 3-15. And if it couldn't get any better, Big Man Ha-fay-el Ar-RU-joe almost took out Vince Carter. VC left midway through the third with an ankle injury after getting tangled up with the big Brazillian. Although he returned to the game, Vince characteristically limped around the court and did little to help his team. He later described the injury as an "irritation of the joint". Damn we miss that guy. Chris Bosh scored a team high 29 points in the 95-82 win.

After a busy offseason, Raptor Basketball is back at the Air Canada Centre tonight. With all the second-guessing and criticism following every personell decision this summer, it will be interesting to see how the team responds in 05/06. There is no question that veteran leadership is at a minimum this year, however, if the preseason is any indication, it looks like Rob Babcock made the right moves on draft day. First round selections, Charlie Villanueva and Joey Graham both came from winning collegiate programs in Connecticut and Oklahoma State, and their preseason composure has shown leadership beyond that of your average freshman.

With confused fans wondering 'why in the heck?' Torontoist offers not one, but two reasons to take in tonight's game.

Listening to the Fan590 on the ride home last night, Torontoist was disturbed to hear the words idiots and applause when referring to tonight’s matchup between the Toronto Raptors and the New Jersey Nets. They suggest that it is inappropriate for Vince Carter to be punished for “quitting” the Raptors. Torontoist disagrees.

Similar to a child's excitement prior to christmas morning, Torontoist will be tossing and turning in it's bed tonight. The terrible sleep will be credited to the anticipation of Vince Carter's return to the ACC tomorrow evening. With his New Jersey Nets only a game and a half back of the Philadlelpia 76ers for the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot, Vince's long awaited return to Toronto could be the game that decides his team's fate.

For those of you still in mourning over the lost hockey season, Torontoist says “Get a Life Loser”. Both this Friday and next will offer Toronto sports fans something they have been waiting for since the Argo’s Grey Cup win… Excitement! The abysmal basketball season will be pushed aside tonight as baseball returns to the newly revamped Rogers Centre, with the Blue Jays taking the field against the World Champion Boston Red Sox. The 2-1 Jays currently hold a one-game lead over the Red Sox in the tight American League East Division. Twenty-five year old David Bush will take the mound for Toronto. The team expects big things out of Bush this season. The Sox will respond with second-year starter, Bronson Arroyo. If this isn’t enough to make you forget about Darcy Tucker and Aki Berg, just wait…

Raptor Coach Sam Mitchell had some strong words prior to Wednesday’s 110-107 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. In clarifying Tuesday’s night’s rumored altercation with point guard Rafer Alston, Mitchell called out the Gund Arena cleaning crew for keeping a messy house.

With Vince Carter merely an unfortunate memory to our fine city, another Toronto Raptor is filling the void left behind.

Don’t look now, but the Toronto Raptors are only 2 games out of third place in the Eastern Conference. Currently sitting 10th, and three and a half games back of the streaking Chicago Bulls for the final playoff spot, the Raps can thank the NBA playoff structure and their abysmal Atlantic division for their opportunity at a home court playoff series. Despite how poor a record, the division leader is guaranteed a top-three seed. With their play of late, the 18 and 24 Raptors have a strong chance of securing the division title. Torontoist is thrilled with the Raptors turnaround, while equally excited that Vince Carter’s New Jersey Nets sit dead last in the same Atlantic Division.

Time and time again, Torontoist allegations against Vince Carter seemed too far-fetched to be true, even made up. Some columnists went as far as to praise Vince for his time spent in Toronto and sympathized with the Mama’s Boy for the media torment which he was constantly faced with. Torontoist, however, stood firm.

With the year coming to an end, Torontoist takes a look back at the sporting highs and lows of the past 12 months. Here's the best, the worst, and of course, Vince Carter at his wimpiest in 2004.

There was a fair share of drama in the sporting world yesterday:

Vince Carter’s career continues to become increasingly similar to a soap opera, as a disturbing story has just surfaced that will forever vilify the New Jersey forward to Raptor fans. It appears that Tracy McGrady has given an early Christmas gift to cousin Vince Carter this year as T-Mac has handed over the reigns as the Air Canada Centre’s Public Enemy Number One to his former teammate.

There's cause for celebration tonight: As you read this, the NBA is approving a proposed trade between the Toronto Raptors and the New Jersey Nets that would see the Vince Carter in a different uniform. A Raptor team that has struggled on and off the court this year is having it’s biggest tumor removed as General Manager Rob Babcock worked out a deal that will finally send Vinsanity packing.

- Auditioned unsuccessfully for a role in .

1