Raptors host open practice for fans to kick-off NBA season

By Kirsten Parucha

Christmas came early for Raptors fans when the city’s NBA team held an exclusive open practice in Scarborough Dec. 16.

The team of ballers, accompanied by their mascot and cheerleaders, entertained a group of 300 guests for a night of interaction, integration and introduction.

The level of excitement inside the Variety Village was tangible as fans of all ages had the chance to gain one-on-one time with their favourite players who posed for pictures, signed autographs and played a little ball with ardent fans.

Andrea Bargnani (top, left), James Johnson (top, centre) and Jamaal Magloire pose with fan and members of the Raptors Dance Pak.

The event also gave guests the opportunity to be introduced to new head coach, Dwane Casey, as well as the newcomers to the team, such as forward Rasual Butler and guard Anthony Carter.

But the most anticipated introduction of all was of hometown hero, Jamaal Magloire.

Jamaal Magloire  speaks to Raptors fans about new season in Toronto.

A roar of applause and a standing ovation greeted the Scarborough native as he ran onto the court and addressed the fans.

“This season we’re going to pack the energy and enthusiasm of 82 games into 66,” said the 11-season veteran. “In order to do that we need your support. It’s going to be a great season and we thank you all for sticking by us and being patient with the lock out. We love you guys.”

Following the presentation of each teammate was a show-and-tell of what goes down during a regular practice for the dinos. Team trainers and assistants demonstrated the drills and exercises the team does together to warm-up and prepare for games.

To end off the night, the boys played a pick-up game, showing the crowd a preview of what’s to come for the season.

Linas Kleiza (left) and Jose Calderon (right) share a laugh with fans.

Since the five-month long lockout cancelled 16 regular season games, the 2011-2012 NBA season will consist of only 66 regular season games. Pre-season for the Raptors began Dec. 18 at the Air Canada Centre, where they’ll be facing off against the Boston Celtics. The regular season tips off on Boxing Day against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kirsten Parucha is a Toronto Star intern. She works in the radio room.

In stadiums where fans do the samba

By John Rieti

Havana's Industriales were crowned champions of Cuban baseball this week, no doubt touching off a big party for its fans — or Industrialistas, as they call themselves. It was a comeback victory for the team in blue, one I wouldn't have predicted after watching them get drummed in the first two games of the series last week. But that's baseball.

For a week in March I traveled to Cuba with a classmate to document the country's baseball culture. The material I gathered will be crafted into a major multimedia project, my journalism school’s version of a thesis.

A boy connects with a pitch outside of Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, Cuba.

Baseball fans know the story well. Cuba produces some of the world’s best baseball players, evident in its triumphant wins at the Olympics and other international competitions. But the black mark on the Cuban game is the players who have left to compete in North America’s professional leagues.

Leaving the country is illegal for baseball players, and those who have left are unlikely to ever return, at least while the current government regime stays in power.

Some Cuban players have gone on to become major league stars, like brothers Livan and Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, who both pitched their teams to World Series glory, or Angel slugger Kendry Morales.

And in the last year or two there’s been a surge in Cuban players leaving. Here in Toronto, the Jays are courting Adeinis Hechavarria, a 21-year-old shortstop from Santiago de Cuba.

Havana, from the window of a friend's apartment.

My hope for the project is that it will appeal to more than just baseball fanaticos. While these players may have hero status in their country, they live the same way as other Cubans.

We stayed in Havana, not the booze-soaked beaches of tourist hotspot Varadero, and spent several days roaming the city with friends and sources. In a country as complex as Cuba, almost every conversation we had could have produced a story.

Riding the bus with an Industriales fan, we told him we were still confused about a lot of what we learned. He laughed, and told us we were trying to figure out in a week what he hasn’t been able to figure out during his entire life on the island.

A Cuban man collects empty cans ad bottles in a cart adorned with gun-toting, cigarette-smoking dolls.

It’s been more than 50 years since the Cuban revolution, and while this history is still tangible on the streets there‘s less fresh propaganda. The government is officially socialist now, led by Fidel Castro’s brother Raul. Army and police officers are a common sight, but they hassle Cubans less, our sources tell us.

Cuba still provides its citizens with food – chicken or fish, rice, coffee and milk – but many told us they want more, which they have to buy themselves. In Cuba, everyone is required to work, but seemingly everyone does something on the side to get by.

For players, baseball could be a way to get by or it could be a way out. But the decision to leave is not an easy one. That decision is what I’m interested in.

My final project isn’t scheduled to be published until August, but if you’d like to get in touch, or have any tips for me, please get in touch at jrieti@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnrieti.

Until then, Star readers, keep reading Morgan Campbell's (@MorganPCampbell) outstanding coverage of these players and baseball in general.

Some classic Cuban propaganda spotted from one of Havana's buses.

John Rieti is a Toronto Star radio room reporter and studies in the Master of Journalism program at Ryerson University.

The Olympics and another, much less important sporting event that happened

By Thandiwe Vela

As if Canadian varsity athletics didn't already get the least bit of attention, this year the provincial track and field championships happened to coincide with the final days of the Olympics. The Olympics, on home soil to boot.

Even my favourite coach Dave Hunt went to Vancouver to cheer on our athletes there.

I too, slept quite late the night before watching Joannie Rochette compete to win bronze.

And there's no doubt many of my teammates stayed up watching the Olympics as well. After all, Olympians are what we aspire to be, no matter how far-fetched that dream may be for some of us.

No worries sports editors, we understand that your departments were stretched with Olympic coverage, so there were no breaking news alerts when Varsity Blue Michael Del Monte [pictured] broke an OUA record. And - please excuse the shameless plug - there were no post-run interviews after my women's 4x200-metre relay team took the silver medal (shout out to my teammates Athena, Alicia and Jessica).

But then again, I don't recall ever seeing reporters and TV cameras clamouring to get a few words from the varsity champions in years before.

And no Canadian sports legend ever felt snubbed by lack of formal invite to the provincial championships.

I did get a little excited when I bumped into CTV's Andria Case at a championship meet last year. Just as I was prepping for my on-air interview, she introduced me to her husband, a track coach. She was off duty that day.

Now that I think about it, inter-university sports never really needed the Olympics to be ignored.

Well, if anyone cares, nationals are next week.

Thandiwe Vela is a student, a track athlete and secretary of the Canadian Association of Black Journalists. Her goals are to graduate, to be president of her native Zimbabwe (if the position ever frees up), and to beat Usain Bolt in a 60-metre match race. tvela24@hotmail.com

Olympics a chance for immigrants to feel included

By Tamara Baluja

The Olympics have been over for just a few days and already Canadians are asking themselves if the euphoria will last?

Oy, my fellow Canadians - it's alright to be proud of your country. 

I feel a little odd telling this to citizens of my adoptive country, but sometimes I think that immigrants appreciate Canada more than folks who lived here all their lives. 

I was taught some basic etiquette rules regarding patriotism. When your anthem plays, you either join the singing or stand respectfully. You don't slouch or talk. And I don't think anything angers me quite so much as a tattered Canadian flag or another nation's flag (usually American) flying higher than the Canadian flag on our soil.

I would say a significant number of Canadian immigrants want to show some patriotic pride for their new country. After all, they come from countries with a well established national identity, but it's difficult to do so in a country as self-deprecating as Canada. 

But the Olympics are truly neutral - after all, it's all about sportsmanship and harmonious international relations.

As an expat who has lived in three continents before finally settling in Toronto, I have somewhat of an identity crisis. These Vancouver Games mark an important personal anniversary for me. It's been exactly a decade since I immigrated to Canada, and somehow they really cemented that sense of Canadian pride in me.

I cried when I heard "I Believe" sung in the opening ceremonies. I stood in the cold to see the Olympic torch in Toronto. My loud screaming nearly gave the cat a heart attack when Alexander Bilodeau won the first gold on Canadian soil and the men's hockey game was the most agonizing game I've ever had to watch. For the first time, I felt truly Canadian.

Could the opening and closing ceremonies have acknowledged the role of immigrants in shaping a Canadian national identity,sure! But putting that aside, the Olympics were for me, as I'm sure for many immigrants, a moment to stand as a proud Canadian - not an outsider looking in wistfully.

Be proud, eh!

Tamara Baluja is a radio room reporter, a journalism student and a former GA for CFRB 1010. tbaluja@thestar.ca

The sweet sound of victory

By Tamara Baluja 

We saw the pictures. We saw the videos. We even heard the buzz that declared the game over. But did you hear the sound of the city in celebration?

A videographer posted a YouTube video of the deafening roar in Vancouver at the very moment that Sid Crosby scored the overtime winning goal in Sunday's Olympic men's hockey game. My personal favourite is the boat horns. 

Now if only someone could have captured the sound of an entire nation in celebration...

Skip ahead to around the 1:15 mark to hear the cheers.

Tamara Baluja is a radio room reporter, a journalism student and a former GA at CFRB 1010. tbaluja@thestar.ca.