Posted on 04/25/2002 9:07:18 AM PDT by GulliverSwift
Raptors stand on guard for Canadian anthem
By LORI EWING -- Canadian Press
TORONTO -- Childish. Stupid. Lacking in class.
The Toronto Raptors, every one an American, had nothing good to say about fans who booed O Canada in Detroit on Sunday night.
Game 1 of the opening playoff round between the Raptors and the Detroit Pistons took a nasty turn before the game had even begun on Sunday, when the capacity crowd at the The Palace of Auburn Hills booed O Canada.
"That was pretty sad," Raptor forward Jerome Williams said after practice Monday. "That was something I wouldn't expected from a city like Detroit. It was disheartening.
"It was a total lack of respect, and I was just disappointed we didn't get a win after," added the former Piston.
The Pistons hammered the Raptors 85-63. Game 2 is Wednesday night at the same venue.
The crowd booed lustily from beginning to end as singer Stephanie Bollinger sang the Canadian anthem Sunday. Bruce Hornsby performed the Star-Spangled Banner.
The timing of the display was especially poor, coming on the day funerals began for the four Canadian soldiers killed when an American F-16 mistakenly bombed Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
Angry sports fans lit up local radio call-in shows, voicing their displeasure.
The timing wasn't lost on Raptor Antonio Davis.
"In dealing with what everybody's been through, it's hard to understand why they would do something like that," said Davis. "It was stupidity on their part, so we'll let them deal with it."
Added Raptor forward Keon Clark: "I'm American, but I think that was kind of childish. You should never disrespect anybody's national song. But that's people for you, that's the kind of world we live in nowadays."
The worst way Raptors fans could respond, Davis warned, is by booing U.S. anthem when Detroit comes to the Air Canada Centre for Game 3 on Saturday.
"I don't expect our fans to boo anybody's national anthem, we're here to show we have a little bit more class than that, and we're here to enjoy a game of basketball," said Davis. "It should never overstep that, and it's unfortunate that they did it, but hopefully we'll show a little more class and deal with it that way."
There was some thought the booing was the product of frustration over a pair of Detroit Red Wings' first-round playoff losses to the Vancouver Canucks, or perhaps the fact Canada won the gold in both men's and women's hockey at the Olympics.
The Raptors, however, said they were the intended target of the crowd's wrath.
"I don't think they were booing the anthem, I think they were booing us," said guard Chris Childs.
"I think they were more booing the Raptors than they were booing Canada," added Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens. "The mob is easily led."
Pistons star Jerry Stackhouse stuck up for Pistons fans, whose team hasn't made it out of the first round of playoffs since 1991.
"I think they were booing Toronto," Stackhouse said after the game. "It was just a way to boo the team. It was a little distasteful. I don't think anybody enjoyed that. But the fans have been sticking up for us all year. So, I'll just stick up for them and say they were booing the team."
I read a report that says Canada is eventually going to collapse under the weight of all it's socialist spending, and that it will no longer be able to support a military, and will have to depend on Washington for defense. Boooooo!!!!
There was some thought the booing was the product of frustration over… the fact Canada won the gold in both men's and women's hockey at the Olympics.
As if anybody even remembers that.
(Boo France, not Canada.)
It CANNOT be changed via the political system because the socialists have and will continue to rig every election with moneys directed to all the hungry special interest groups.
I cannot wait for Canada to implode!
Playoff game #5 tonight at the Joe. GO WINGS!!!!
Do you have a link for a report on this? It would put a new light on this
Your remark reminded me of the Arabs on Sep 11: "Yes, the Towers were brought down, but you should understand the causes." There are no causes to justify that.
And there are no causes --- economic or other --- to justify rudeness to our good firends and neighbors.
Shame on all of us, who permitted the culture to deteriorate to this point.
Yep...back to normal and noted by the media up here this morning. As for the Vancouver fans booing, yep...idiots too.
I kind of doubt the Toronto fans will behave in kind when the Pistons come to town. Not this city's style. After the World Series game in Atlanta where the Marines accidentally walked on the field for the anthems with the Canuck flag upside down a bunch of guys tried to pass out uside down American flags outside Skydome prior to the next game. People practically spat on them.
This whole incident would have amounted to nothing more than one line in a news story about boorish fan behavior if the timing hadn't been so crappy. Keep in mind the country was awaiting the arrival of our 4 soldiers killed in Trashcanistan during the friendly fire accident while on live fire exercises. Perhaps a bit more sensitive than would have otherwise been the case.
BTW, thanks to all for the apologies. Appreciated but not really necessary. Canadians know Americans are better than that. If anything, the close bonds between Windsor and Detroit may have actually had a hand in this, as the friendship between the two cities and their people probably made some feel that it would simply be seen as a harmless extension of the hot rivalry that exists between Toronto and Detroit teams. Booze and sports hype can make the brain think funny things, I guess.
Frankly, the big sports story up here this morning is what effect losing Sundein will have on the Leafs. This and that bizarre penalty shot call in last night's New Jersey/Toronto game.
I wonder if any of the Detroit-bashing Freepers who have been commenting on this story have any idea of the relationship between Detroit sports fans and Canada.
Detroit sports fans are probably the most pro-Canadaian sports fans in the country. Even non-hockey fans are familiar with Hockey Night in Canada, and how popular the show always was in Detroit. During the Olympics, the Canadian tv coverage was easily considered better than the US coverage. What I'm saying is that Detroit sports fans have probably heard "O Canada" as much as anyone living across the river in Windsor, Ontario. They would never even *think* about booing the song.
I wasn't at the Palace, but from what I've heard, this is my guess at what happened:
During "O Canada", the Canadian fans (there were a lot there) started standing up and waving their Maple Leaf flags. Some idiots decided they had to respond to this by booing, probably not even thinking of what they were doing. People do stupid things - that's all this is.
True, but Detroit is a crime-ridden toilet. Detroit booing Canada is like a crack whore booing the Avon lady.
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