Pacer Nation caught off guard by visiting Raptors

Tags

basketball, Indiana Pacers, NBA, Toronto Raptors

Photo from NBA.com.

The last time that I went to an NBA game was when the Grizzlies were based in Vancouver. That was way back in the mid-1990′s. I don’t remember who I was with or what year I went to the game, but I do remember sitting court-side (within the first 10 rows) and seeing the intense look on Patrick Ewing’s face as he led the Knicks to a win. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies franchise did not last long and the team relocated to Tennessee. The other Canadian team that started at the same time as the Vancouver Grizzlies, but managed to remain stable is the Toronto Raptors, the only Canadian team in the NBA today.

I thought that Friday night would be a good opportunity to go to an Indianapolis Pacers game to watch them play on home turf against the visiting Toronto Raptors. To tell you the truth, I do not follow the NBA, especially since Vancouver does not have a team, but I have an appreciation for the game.

Based on some stats, I really thought that the Pacers were going to have an easy win. The Pacers had a record of 31 wins and 19 losses and the Raptors had a nearly opposite record of 17 and 32. The Pacers were on a winning streak of 15 games on home turf while the Raptors were on a 3-game losing streak. Plus there was the support from Pacer Nation–I think that I was the only person who was (secretly) cheering for the Raptors (I was surrounded by Pacers fans, including B.B.). It looked like it was going to be a cake-walk. B.B. was pretty confident that the Pacers were going to win. I was rooting for the Raptors, the Canadian team and the seemingly underdogs of the NBA, possibly one of the worst teams in the league. The Pacers pretty much led the game, and B.B. would tease me and say, “Are you nervous, yet?” but things started to change in the fourth quarter.

Although the Pacers led throughout the game, and at one point had a 9-point lead, the Raptors came back, caught up, and managed to close the gap. With 10.7 seconds left in the final quarter, the Pacers led 90-86 and it looked like they had it in the bag. However, the Raptors managed to score another basket after Rudy Gay missed a layup but his teammate, Amir Johnson backed him up by tipping it in to make the score 90-88 with 6.1 seconds left on the clock. Rudy Gay also made a critical steal and Amir Johnson cleared the shot before the buzzer went off to force the game into overtime (officials reviewed the play for about 5 minutes before determining that the ball indeed left Amir’s hand before the clock hit zero).

In overtime, the Raptors started out strong and took the lead. In the last 30 seconds, the game was tied at 98. As demonstrated by the Raptors, a lot can happen in the dying seconds of a game. The Pacers were obviously nervous and so were the fans. There were 5 time outs in the remaining 30 seconds. In the few seconds of the game, Rudy Gay made a 15-foot shot and put the Raptors ahead 100-98. The Pacers had a chance to tie the game with Paul George attempting a 17-foot shot. It was like a scene from a movie. The fans were hopeful, the ball circled around the rim, but never made it through the hoop. The Raptors won the game and the crowd was stunned.

It was a great win for the Raptors! (Although to tell you the truth, if the Pacers had won, I would have been happy for them, too). But the Raptors played a more consistent game and played strong when it counted. The recently traded forward, Rudy Gay, made the difference in the game (ironically, he started his NBA career with the Memphis Grizzlies). The Raptors are the only team to beat the Pacers twice on their home court during the season. Blame it on their grueling schedule (4 games in 5 nights), but the Pacers really should have had this game. They just couldn’t seal the deal.

It was the best $38 that I have ever spent on a game!

Related articles

• Rudy Gay’s Overtime Heroics Prove Toronto Raptors Won Trade with Grizzlies (bleacherreport.com)
• Raptors rally late, surprise Pacers 100-98 in OT (metronews.ca)
• Did You See That? Wild finish for Raptors in Indiana (cbc.ca)
• Rudy Gay Game-Winner Lifts Raptors Past Pacers 100-98 In Overtime (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)

I’m back…I was never gone

Tags

2013, 2013; luck; grocery store; karma, grocery store, karma, luck, rude people, store; line=up; rude people

It’s been a while since I last blogged, but here I am. I need to get back into the swing of things. I just posted about my 2012 blog stats that I just discovered. Thanks for checking out my blog everyone! I have a bit more time on my hands so I am going to get back to posting on a more regular basis.

While I’m here, I might as well tell you about a random incident from yesterday. I went to the store to pick up some items (I think that we were low on OJ and parsley for piggie Teemu). As I was walking to the till to pay for my groceries, a woman breezed past me in a race to get to the nearest open cash register. I thought about running (after all, I did complete a half marathon less than a year ago and I am in decent shape) but my adult voice said, “You’re not in a hurry and you are also not 10 years-old.” So, I just moseyed over to the line and stood behind her. I couldn’t help but notice that she had a satisfied smirk on her face. Even though I didn’t care that she was in line first, I was rather irked that she was proud of herself about being rude.

All of a sudden, I hear a voice from another register and the cashier said, “I can help you over here.” So I went to that line and was assisted by a young cashier who was very fast and I walked out of the store before the other woman (she was still waiting for her turn and she no longer had a satisfied smirk on her face). This incident could have happened anywhere in the world, and is not isolated to Indiana. You can call it karma or call it whatever, but sometimes, things just work out for the better.

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 4,000 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 7 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Beautiful weather in Indy

Tags

2012, temperature, weather, winter

This morning, I just looked out the window and saw the grey clouds and threw on two shirts, a sweatshirt, winter coat, long johns, jeans, wool socks and off Francis and I went for our daily walk. About ten minutes into my walk, I started sweating and realized that it was a lot warmer than I thought. It kind of reminded me of a warm winter day in Vancouver (it rained the night before and was a tad humid out). It’s December, and the temperature here was a high of 62° F (that’s 16.6° C!!). I have to admit, I added a temperature report to my cell phone–in Celsius–so I have a better understanding of the temperature. I’m getting used to reading and hearing Fahrenheit, but I’m not quite there yet. This morning, I forgot to check the temperature before I went out.

Whenever I talk to my parents on the phone, no matter where in the world I am, they always ask me about the weather. Today, I can report that it was one of those unseasonable warm winter days. For those people who don’t believe in global warming, perhaps this crazy warm weather will help change some minds. The average highs and lows for Indiana are 38° F and 23° F (3.3° C and -5° C).

Despite my multi-layers, I did find it to be a very enjoyable walk. Francis enjoyed it a lot, too. I think I’ll call my parents now.

update in tidbits

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve posted, but it’s nice to see that people are still reading my blog despite this. So, here’s a brief update off the top of my head.

• Elections are coming up here in the U.S. (and in Canada, too. but quite frankly, the US elections are always a little more exciting–I think that most Canadians would agree with my opinion on this). If I had the opportunity to vote (which I do not–at least not right now) I would most likely lean towards the Democrats. I think that religion really does not have a place in politics, particularly when Christianity is seen as the only religion to consider. I see a lot of Romney/Ryan signs on lawns. Unfortunately, Indiana is typically a red state.
• Francis has been doing well. He has the occasional outburst and shows his displeasure when he is left behind at home (he tips the garbage bin over and makes a mess).
• Teemu is still doing well. He’s been a little more affectionate lately. I’m not sure if it’s because he’s still a little jealous of the dog. However, he is still as demanding and ornery as ever. If I could attach a celebrity voice to Teemu, it would probably be Joe Pesci. (Francis would be Jeff Daniels).
• I’m making dinner. We’re having pork roast, roasted potatoes and broccoli (normally, I have another vegetable that’s not so starchy, but I think I’ll make a juice smoothy later and sneak in some veggies).
• The leaves have changed colours. It’s very pretty. I was never really a fan of fall, growing up in the west because it was just a reminder that the weather was going to get cold. But here with all of the deciduous trees, it’s quite nice.
• I’m working a lot. I’ve taken over some extra duties from someone at work and it’s been crazy busy. Enough said about that.
• B.B. is working a lot.
• My stomach just growled at me. I think that I’ll go and eat dinner. 
• Stay tuned….

Bringing something Canadian to the party

Tags

2012, disc, fricket, party games

No, I’m not talking about myself, although I do enjoy a good party and 99.9% of the time, I am typically the only Canadian at these mid-west parties. I’m talking about fricket, considered, a some-what new Canadian past-time, a popular party game at Canadian ultimate (Frisbee) events. I’ve come to realize that it is not a popular activity here, so when I suggested it, I got a lot of questions about it.

I think that the name fricket is a combination of the words “Frisbee” and “cricket” (or possibly “wicket”). Although this game is nothing like cricket, you do need 4 posts, 4 Solo cups, 4 players and a disc.

Basically, you need to set up the game as illustrated in the above diagram. The object of the game is go reach 7 points first (although, you can play to whatever score that you choose). Points are scored by:

• passing the disc between the opponents poles = 2 points
• knocking over a cup = 1 point
• catching a cup knocked over by the opposing team’s throw (one-handed catch*) = 1 point

*note: this is a the perfect game for drinking a beer while you play because you only need one hand to throw the disc and to catch a cup

For complete rules and possible game scenarios, visit the official Fricket website.

It was a fun activity and I think that everyone enjoyed playing and watching. On an interesting side-note, the topics of other Canadian sports came up and curling and lacrosse were mentioned–perhaps activities for another party?

The Canadian has been busy this summer

Tags

Francis; animals; dog; obedience

Francis and Mr. Squirrel face off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I haven’t written for a while because I’ve been busy with a lot of things including volleyball, softball, playing cards and taking Francis to obedience school. This week Francis graduated from his 8-week course. But to tell you the truth, it was probably more for me than for Francis. Although, Francis did pick up a few habits. At first, I thought that he didn’t want to go to class. He was one of the worst behaved dogs in class. Actually, it just looked like he was the worst behaved. He barked at dogs across the room who he didn’t like. While we were walking around in a circle (we were practicing heeling) he snapped at a dog passing by us. Other times, it was other dogs snapping at Francis and Francis was the one who got sprayed with water. Anyway, Francis graduated! Yay!

Fireworks Ban a Damper on Celebration?

Tags

2012, ban, fires, fireworks, safety

Because it’s been such a hot and dry summer (little rain for weeks), many of the 92 counties in Indiana have put a hold on the 4th of July celebrations, some even postponing public firework displays. This ban has also affected personal fireworks, a popular way of celebrating the 4th.

Purchasing fireworks for personal use has always been a bit of a bewilderment to me. Until arriving in Indiana, I had no idea that people could walk into a store to buy fireworks. It’s quite different from B.C., we don’t have firework stores (and we definitely cannot purchase fireworks at the local Wal-Mart). One reason for this is the risk of starting forest fires, a major natural resource. However, with a combination of dry, hot weather and lightning strikes, forest fires in B.C. are to be expected (according to the B.C. government, forest fires in B.C. average about 2000 per year, half of which are started by lightning strikes and half by people).

Despite the ban, the fireworks are still being set off. I can’t help but wonder if some people in Indiana are not taking the ban seriously because they don’t believe (or don’t care) that there is a serious risk of starting a fire that can quickly get out of control. For the past few days, I’ve been hearing the occasional pop and screech of fireworks (even if the sun hasn’t yet set). However, with this ban, people ares still lighting fireworks and sometimes, it’s not so secret. When B.B. and I went to the to Drive In a few weeks ago, someone actually let off a firework in the parking lot during the movie.

I’m glad that we have this ban in effect, I find it a little tiresome hearing all of the fireworks going off every night. Even though I can hear the loud booms outside, it’s still a little less noisy than last year when there wasn’t a ban. Francis, and pretty much all other doggies, are also happy for this relief in noise as well. I hope that everyone celebrates this holiday safely. Happy 4th!

Marengo Caves

Tags

2012, Marengo Caves, southern Indiana, tours

The other day, I mentioned that B.B. and I were in French Lick, Indiana. The real reason why we were in southern Indiana was to go and visit Marengo Caves, a U.S. National Landmark. This cave was originally discovered by two children named Orris and Blanche Hiestand in 1883. Accounts vary slightly, but one version is that they stumbled upon the cave when chasing a rabbit who ran into a hole that turned out to be a large cave. Marengo Caves is an impressive cave that has different layers formed from underground flowing water.

B.B. and I decided to go on both tours and started off with the 1 hour Dripstone Trail Tour followed by the Crystal Palace Tour (although it’s all part of the same cave system, if you are only looking to do one tour, I would recommend sticking with the Dripstone Tour, even though the staff tell you that it’s a different experience, it’s a longer tour and you see a lot of different things. If you decide to do both tours, I would recommend going on the Crystal Palace tour first). When you enter the cave, one of the first things that you notice is the temperature. The average cave temperature is 52 degrees F (or about 11 degrees C) — a welcome change in temperature considering that the outside temperature was muggy 104 degrees F (40 degrees C); I brought a sweater as suggested on the website — and I was glad that I did. The cave was quite dark and no natural light was visible in the cave other than from the entrance. All of the lighting in the cave came from small flood lights that have been set to run through the cave.

The cave tour was really interesting with all of the visible stalactite and stalagmite formations. We learned a lot of interesting geological facts. For example, on average, it takes about 100 years for a stalactite to grow one inch; we were not allowed to touch any of the formations because the natural oils from the human body can stunt the growth of these formations. There were also helictites, which are formations that grow in different directions and defy the laws of gravity. We did not see any animals, but we were told that there are bats and a species of fish that is naturally blind.

Another interesting part about the tour was the large cavernous areas that was enough space for several dozens of people. I couldn’t help thinking that it would be a great place to have a live concert of some sort. The tour guide did say that at one point, people convened in the cave for town hall style meetings and the occasional square dance. The other interesting part of the tour was the penny ceiling where we were allowed to throw some pennies onto the mud ceiling, where it would stick (the money is collected every once in a while and donated to a local charity. The tour guide said that the last time the collected the money, it totaled over $3,700 and it was mostly pennies. I also found the century-old graffiti interesting (no one writes graffiti in cursive these days!). It was a good tour and B.B. and I had a great day.

I’m livin’ it up in French Lick

Tags

2012, French Lick, French Lick Resort, hotels, traveling

I’ve always wanted to check out French Lick, Indiana…mostly because I had always wondered why a town with a strange name is often mentioned as a destination.

So, here we are (B.B. and I) in southern Indiana in a town called, French Lick, so named because the town was originally a French trading post built near a spring and a salt lick. We’re staying at the French Lick Resort originally built in 1845. It’s an impressive building that takes up most of the town. With 443 rooms, fitness center, bowling alley, several conference centers and a walkway to the 24 hour casino building, 3 golf courses, 15 dining venues, one could easily be entertained for hours. There are also indoor and outdoor swimming pools and indoor tennis and basketball courts and stables nearby.

The neighbouring West Baden Springs Hotel, is part of the same company and shares many of the same facilities, is a National Historic Landmark built-in 1901 and has an impressive atrium spanning 200 feet that was once the largest in the world but is still quite impressive, once dubbed the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”

I really like our room, it’s an octoganal shape with a king bed, lounge area, desk and bathroom with shower stall. It has a historic feel to it, the wallpaper is tasteful and muted, the carpet has the leaf swirls and the bed has tall posts on either side of the headboard.

We’re about to check out, so I’ll have to post photos later (I forgot to bring my camera cord).