And in the end, a nice day of solitude

Here’s the deal, folks.

I’m pretty much done here.

It’s been 23 days, my guess is somewhere north of 40,000 words typed, stories told, pictures taken.

And I’m plumb tuckered out with about six hours left before the flight.

So …

A few little things to empty the notebook and we’ll be back to something akin to usual tomorrow morning, if that’s all right?

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You may not know this about me but I’m not the most, um, energetic guy in the world when it comes to exercise. Sure, I’m pretty good sitting at a desk or on press row or in some media room but when it calls for an ambulatory day, sometimes I struggle.

Except, for some reason, the day or two after these Olympic things come to a close.

Four years ago, we dragged our dead tired carcasses up the Great Wall of China with almost the whole Star team at that time.

Yesterday here?

Was a solo day, most of ‘em had already blown town and – quite honestly -- I needed solitude more than anything. You come to these things and you cannot get away from people and if you can imagine the various personalities, egos and quirks of a group of talented writers and photographers, you can imagine there’s a clash every now and then.

Nothing serious, of course, and blowups blow over very rapidly but when it’s time for some “alone time” it really, really feels good.

So the hours-long trek from was unusual but necessary.

It went hotel to British Museum – Rosetta Stone is pretty cool – to Piccadilly Circus and the gigantic Lillywhite’s sports store.

Then off to Trafalgar Square for a wee bit just to see it one last time and then over to Covent Gardens and finally back home to the Russell Square area.

Or, right, forgot the other stops:

How does The Ship and Shovell (their spelling, not mine), the Coal House and the Round House sound as a series of one-pint resting stops along the way.

I tell you, a quiet day alone is truly an outstanding way to end a journey.

And where’s the final resting place:

Why, of course.

-

So someone catch me up, please.

What’s been going on back home?

I hear TOD are in the toilet thanks to more injuries than anyone could have possibly imagined and the Argos just whacked their best running back for reasons that seem quite convoluted.

Anything else?

And that is going to be the hardest part about the next couple of weeks, trying to get back to some semblance of norm here and in other work pursuits.

There will be inevitable let-down coming off something on such a grand scale of this, I imagine it’s going to be a bit boring getting back to the relative humdrum existence of Raptors games and practices whenever they start.

The good thing? I’ve got at least a few weeks before anything really comes up Raptors-wise and the national team camp will be fun for a couple of days.

The bad thing? We need to figure out how to write the regular daily stuff in a different way, if it’s at all possible.

These last three weeks have been a hoot telling stories more about people than sports, I’m not sure how that translates back into a daily beat existence. Got any ideas?

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Know what we should do?

A mail bag.

Maybe for Friday if I really feel like loafing and taking a full weekend off, maybe for Saturday if other stuff comes up.

But let’s try to do one.

Do you remember the drill?

Thanks.

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Things I have to do as soon as I get back:

Watch Super Son drive. Yikes!

Walk Super Dog. Probably six or seven times tonight, that’s the kind of energetic little animal she is.

Hug Super Wife. When she gets me at the airport, Air Canada-willing.

Check in with Mighty Red Tigers. I think the regular season winds up Thursday, post-season might start Saturday. Kind of been out of touch.

Watch TV. Haven’t turned the one in my room on the entire journey.

Plop on couch. I need some sedentary time, big time.

Avoid work. Yeah, boss? I’m a ghost for the next few days.

That’s not a bad list, is it?

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All right, kids.

I’m out.

Thanks for all the kind words since we landed, it’s been a gas telling stories here that I couldn’t get in the paper in a million years. Think we’ve done a pretty good job having some fun, we’ll figure out how to keep it going when life returns to normal.

See ya.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Joe]

Have a safe trip home.

[Striker 77]

Hi Doug,

Some news I just read this morning... Triano is poised to be hired as the men's National team coach.. did you hear about this? Do you know if its true? (hope Im not starting a rumour)

Great work in London, Doug. Safe travel home!

Blogger's note: Since I wrote it Monday or Tuesday, I think there's a good chance of it happening, as I mentioned

[Matt]

Doug just so you are aware most of your readers follow you for basketball related news/stories. Sorry to hear about your disinterest in covering the team that is your reason d'être, but some enthusiasm for the upcoming season would be a welcome change. While its been a real treat to hear about which pubs in London you frequented the past three weeks, life has gone on in the NBA in what has been one of the most compelling off seasons in recent memory. I recognize that you might be tired of the Dwight Howard saga and other off season moves,however that's your bread and butter and what your readership is actually tuning in for. Excellent job on covering the semi finals but all in all the blog has been truly lacking any basketball related insight over the past 3 weeks. If you are soliciting suggestions for content.... well how about some more round ball please! I work in an office and get paid to draft reports, policy, etc. My true passion in life is surfing. While its more personally interesting to me what I don't do is turn my business reports into surfing reports as this isn't what is expected of me in my role.

Thanks and lets please get back to basketball related stories.

Blogger's note: If there were some, we would; there are few and we've done them. No apologies here and please don't ever put words like "disinterest" in my mouth. But thanks for reading, even if you've missed the stuff I did on Howard, the Canadian senior men's team, Jose, Valanciunas, the state of global basketball vis a vis the Olympics. And that was just in the last week

[Colin K]

Did you ever make it to Portobello road? Wonder if you wold have run into Bookman or Mrs. Price?

Blogger's note: I didn't

[Tim H.]

Welcome home, Doug!

[doug]

save trip and your blog has been enlightening, refreshing, and personable..that to em is the key as it is a window on your daily travels and travails..maybe the rules are different or the expectations different from your fellow scribes on your Raptor beat but my suggestion is keep it personable such as giving us pics of what you you don't like about Sacramento or a bar in Boston you do...the onus isn't on us..the onus is on you, make your NBA travels a informative travelogue with pics and insights....you have nailed it, you need to continue it and not give in to the usual NBA media scrum type stuff that went out years ago...as we all know the scores the results instantaneously the stuff you did during the Olympics we don't...ok safe travels and thanks for the wonderful Olympic blog...cheers

[doug]

sorry for the typos and spelling errors ....proof reading really is a necessity....ok cheers

[J]

@Matt:

"While its more personally interesting to me what I don't do is turn my business reports into surfing reports as this isn't what is expected of me in my role."

Such a poor analogy, but more importantly, I thought you said your role was to draft reports, policy, etc.; did I miss the bit where you mentioned you are in charge of Toronto Star blog content?

[Matt]

Hey Doug no disrespect intended. I wouldn't follow your blog if I didn't appreciate the insight and humour you expound. I was almost in tears of laughter from the 'Carter is a wanker story'

My point was simply that ESPN, Bleacher Report, etc has no shortage of NBA and other Basketball related content during the regular and off season.

It could be perceived that comments such as "I imagine it’s going to be a bit boring getting back to the relative humdrum existence of Raptors games and practices whenever they start" indicates some sort of a general displeasure with covering the team. To a lot of us die hard Raptors fans the job of a beat grunt would be a dream come true. Some food for thought and keep up the good work.