Extraordinary Canadians by Peter Mansbridge

Author:Peter Mansbridge
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2020-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

Well, they weren’t alone. Things kept going right for the Raptors and their storybook run in the playoffs, and people were in the streets in big cities and small towns across the country the night the Raptors convincingly won the final playoff round against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. I was sitting in Oakland calling the game but was watching my monitors with pride as fans poured out into the streets across Canada to celebrate a historic victory.

But that night’s celebrations were nothing compared with what happened a few days later at the official welcome home in Toronto, when hundreds of thousands gathered and roared in and around City Hall square. The crowds had formed to celebrate the newly crowned champions, and I was in the middle of the incredible atmosphere.

I witnessed the first time the Larry O’Brien trophy would leave the United States for Canada. The Larry O’Brien trophy, you say? Okay, so the name doesn’t quite have the ring of history that the Stanley Cup carries in Canada, but our neighbours to the south love their former NBA commissioners just as much as we love our former governors general!

It was hard to beat the excitement in the air, but what happened next did. I was about to make the “call” of my life.

The crowd that day was huge. It’s estimated that one to three million people lined the parade route that wound its way through downtown Toronto to the last stop: Nathan Phillips Square at Toronto City Hall. It was a gorgeous day, hot but not sweltering, with a clear blue sky. The fans had been amazingly patient waiting for their heroes to arrive.

Finally, hours later than many had expected, the Raptor players were there and up on the stage in front of the crowd. First there were the politicians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with the team owners. I guess that was a necessary touch but they did look a little awkward, perhaps knowing full well they were not who the crowd was there to see. Then the players took their place on the stage, dressed casually and thoroughly enjoying the moment and the thunderous adulation it generated.

I was the emcee, and it was an easy job. Introduce the players and the officials with their prepared speeches. And that’s exactly the way it went—until it didn’t. It was during owner Larry Tannenbaum’s remarks that I first realized something wasn’t quite right. I was wearing a small earpiece receiving instructions about the lineup of the stage show when suddenly the person talking to me changed her tone. She said there was an emergency and we had to stop the speech. Then she repeated herself. I could see her across the other side of the stage, so I quickly raced behind those on stage to where she was standing.

I told her that I had to know what the emergency was because if I was to interrupt the speech, what I said would depend on what was going on.

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