lefty
10-07-2010, 10:40 AM
VANCOUVER — In his own inimitable, stream-of-consciousness way, Reggie Evans was declaring his love.
With the Toronto Raptors training in Vancouver, the gruff power forward turned his heart a few hundred kilometres to the south, across the border.
“The fans were cool. The city was nice. The city was real clean. They gave me an opportunity. God, I just miss a lot of stuff about Seattle,” said Evans, who played his first four seasons in the league with the Sonics. “The nightlife was cool. My teammates were real good. Catching the train: I didn’t even have a car.
“Hell, yeah, I miss Seattle. I’ve been thinking about that a lot, like damn, I wish Seattle had a team. I hope and pray to God Seattle can get a team. I’d like to see Vancouver with a team, too.”
That is not currently a reality. A region once thought to be big enough for three teams is now home to just one. The Portland Trail Blazers are on an island in the Pacific Northwest, abandoned by the Grizzlies, who bolted Vancouver for Memphis in 2001, and the Sonics, who moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008.
The area is a popular one among players, coaches and just about everybody associated with the league.
“A couple days don’t go by in the league when someone doesn’t say, ‘Too bad we’re not playing in Seattle anymore. Too bad Vancouver doesn’t have a franchise,’” said Raptors assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo, who coached in both Portland and Seattle. “Everybody feels that way. Everybody loved these cities. Everybody enjoyed playing here.”
Kevin Durant, two full years removed from his time in Seattle, still has not forgotten the city. He recently confessed that “I still have a thing for Seattle,” which caused a minor stir before he clarified that he was perfectly happy where he was. Commissioner David Stern, meanwhile, told ESPN’s Bill Simmons on a 2008 podcast that his treatment of Vancouver was his biggest regret on the job.
Both cities still sit without a team, though. Seattle lost its team because Key Arena was deemed unsuitable for NBA play, and the city was unwilling to supply cash for a new arena. Vancouver was a different situation.
“I think even in the last days, there were 13,000 people coming for a franchise that was leaving,” said Raptors head coach Jay Triano, who served as a community ambassador and announcer for the Grizzlies when they were in Vancouver. “Those people kept coming and supporting the team. That was a lot better than the attendance was in a lot of places. But again, the dollar wasn’t very strong at the time, the Canadian dollar. I think that was the issue.”
Indeed, Vancouver proved capable of supporting the team. The club averaged 13,737 fans per game in its last season in the city — more than Memphis has managed in any of the last three seasons.
While Seattle will perpetually be mentioned as a possible destination for struggling teams — Sacramento is seen as the most likely team to move right now — Vancouver is more of an unknown. There have been rumours Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini is looking for a partner to bring an NBA team back to the city. The arena is NBA ready, but the Grizzlies have hardly left an impact.
By holding training camp in Vancouver this year, the Raptors tried to re-ignite that spark, to mixed results. The Raptors’ open scrimmage could not fill the 3,000-seat War Memorial Gymnasium at the University of British Columbia. There were few signs around town that the team was even here.
The exhibition game at Rogers Arena on Wednesday was sold out, but that had the lure of local icon Steve Nash. There is not much evidence that there is a real hunger for the league to return here.
“I don’t know what people in Vancouver feel,” Triano said. “I don’t know if it’s the Toronto-Vancouver love-hate relationship we have, whether that plays into effect, if they’re going not to cheer for a Toronto-based team. Or maybe it’s just that the NBA isn’t here so I’m not going to be interested in it. When it’s not in the news every day, it’s difficult to be a fan.”
That is the rub: Fans are not stupid, and they have a right to feel jilted.
Both cities supported their teams reasonably well. It was politics or economics or both that cost the cities their teams.
And it is too bad.
“This is real laid-back,” Evans said of Vancouver, grinning. “This is extremely laid back. I like it like this. Not too outgoing. Just right. It’s perfect for me.”
Lamentably, that just does not matter, not even a bit.
National Post
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Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/back+Vancouver+realistic+option/3634039/story.html#ixzz11giPeasU
With the Toronto Raptors training in Vancouver, the gruff power forward turned his heart a few hundred kilometres to the south, across the border.
“The fans were cool. The city was nice. The city was real clean. They gave me an opportunity. God, I just miss a lot of stuff about Seattle,” said Evans, who played his first four seasons in the league with the Sonics. “The nightlife was cool. My teammates were real good. Catching the train: I didn’t even have a car.
“Hell, yeah, I miss Seattle. I’ve been thinking about that a lot, like damn, I wish Seattle had a team. I hope and pray to God Seattle can get a team. I’d like to see Vancouver with a team, too.”
That is not currently a reality. A region once thought to be big enough for three teams is now home to just one. The Portland Trail Blazers are on an island in the Pacific Northwest, abandoned by the Grizzlies, who bolted Vancouver for Memphis in 2001, and the Sonics, who moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008.
The area is a popular one among players, coaches and just about everybody associated with the league.
“A couple days don’t go by in the league when someone doesn’t say, ‘Too bad we’re not playing in Seattle anymore. Too bad Vancouver doesn’t have a franchise,’” said Raptors assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo, who coached in both Portland and Seattle. “Everybody feels that way. Everybody loved these cities. Everybody enjoyed playing here.”
Kevin Durant, two full years removed from his time in Seattle, still has not forgotten the city. He recently confessed that “I still have a thing for Seattle,” which caused a minor stir before he clarified that he was perfectly happy where he was. Commissioner David Stern, meanwhile, told ESPN’s Bill Simmons on a 2008 podcast that his treatment of Vancouver was his biggest regret on the job.
Both cities still sit without a team, though. Seattle lost its team because Key Arena was deemed unsuitable for NBA play, and the city was unwilling to supply cash for a new arena. Vancouver was a different situation.
“I think even in the last days, there were 13,000 people coming for a franchise that was leaving,” said Raptors head coach Jay Triano, who served as a community ambassador and announcer for the Grizzlies when they were in Vancouver. “Those people kept coming and supporting the team. That was a lot better than the attendance was in a lot of places. But again, the dollar wasn’t very strong at the time, the Canadian dollar. I think that was the issue.”
Indeed, Vancouver proved capable of supporting the team. The club averaged 13,737 fans per game in its last season in the city — more than Memphis has managed in any of the last three seasons.
While Seattle will perpetually be mentioned as a possible destination for struggling teams — Sacramento is seen as the most likely team to move right now — Vancouver is more of an unknown. There have been rumours Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini is looking for a partner to bring an NBA team back to the city. The arena is NBA ready, but the Grizzlies have hardly left an impact.
By holding training camp in Vancouver this year, the Raptors tried to re-ignite that spark, to mixed results. The Raptors’ open scrimmage could not fill the 3,000-seat War Memorial Gymnasium at the University of British Columbia. There were few signs around town that the team was even here.
The exhibition game at Rogers Arena on Wednesday was sold out, but that had the lure of local icon Steve Nash. There is not much evidence that there is a real hunger for the league to return here.
“I don’t know what people in Vancouver feel,” Triano said. “I don’t know if it’s the Toronto-Vancouver love-hate relationship we have, whether that plays into effect, if they’re going not to cheer for a Toronto-based team. Or maybe it’s just that the NBA isn’t here so I’m not going to be interested in it. When it’s not in the news every day, it’s difficult to be a fan.”
That is the rub: Fans are not stupid, and they have a right to feel jilted.
Both cities supported their teams reasonably well. It was politics or economics or both that cost the cities their teams.
And it is too bad.
“This is real laid-back,” Evans said of Vancouver, grinning. “This is extremely laid back. I like it like this. Not too outgoing. Just right. It’s perfect for me.”
Lamentably, that just does not matter, not even a bit.
National Post
ekoreennationalpost.com
© Copyright (c) National Post
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/back+Vancouver+realistic+option/3634039/story.html#ixzz11giPeasU