culture
Today Is Raptors Day!
That's why Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly is cozying up to that big red dinosaur.
Photo from Norm Kelly’s Twitter account.
“WHEREAS the Toronto Raptors captured the Atlantic Division championship with an impressive franchise breaking record of 48 victories.” So begins the City of Toronto’s official Raptors Day proclamation, signed by Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, on behalf of city council.
Norm Kelly kicked off Raptors Day in a fine and appropriate way: taking to a stage in Nathan Phillips Square with Raptors head coach Dwane Casey and player Greivis Vasquez and embracing much-loved Raptors mascot, the Raptor.
“We’ve been doubting ourselves lately,” Kelly said. “Our static economy, the friction between the downtown and the suburbs, a sense of being overwhelmed by the challenges of our success, the disturbing revelations of our leadership, and the sudden, unexpected onslaught of an aggressive nature haven’t ranked these past few years as among our best. Then along came the Raptors … first in their conference and in the playoffs. The magic word: playoffs.”
The Raptors were eliminated from the playoffs by the Brooklyn Nets after an excruciatingly suspenseful and down-to-the-wire game seven, but they’re a solid, young team with a future (we’ve been told), so here’s hoping that next year will bring with it more excruciatingly suspenseful (winning) games and official appearances by the Raptor outside City Hall—and fewer of those “sudden and unexpected onslaughts of an aggressive nature.”