180!!

Let me preface this post by saying I know little to nothing about basketball. I'm pretty much a pylon when I play, and when I watch, I get angry that guys don’t use the backboard as much as they should. That being said, I haven’t been to a Raptors game for a few years, so I was jacked when I got two tickets to last night’s game against the Mavs. I don’t know if it was the two hour notice I gave people or a sign of the Raps’ current appeal (or, indeed, the prospect of two hours with me asking why every free-throw deserves a round of high fives), but I couldn’t find anyone to come along. Rather than go solo, I opted to stay at home and watch the game from the comfort of my couch (leather).

As I said earlier, I’m not exactly Spike Lee in terms of being able to watch basketball, so before long I was channel surfing and came across Darts on Sportsnet.

Now, I’m not sure if it’s because I have just recently started playing darts and appreciate the game, or because the cast of characters is like the WWF in its heyday, with the crowd going fucking mental with each personalized introduction, but I got hooked. Finely tuned athletes like Andy “The Viking” Fordham (pictured), Phil “The Power” Taylor, and current world champion –gunning to defend his title this weekend at the World Darts Championship in the UK – is Canadian John “Darth Maple” Part (seriously). The commentators treat every throw like over time of game seven and the crowd seems to be on a non-stop supply of high-octane lager. Classic stuff. And while I’m all about darts at the moment, my lack of math skills really hampers my dream of becoming the announcer that gets to yell “Ooooone hundred and EIGHTY!!!” and send the crowd into a hops-fueled frenzy.

Anyway, after I calmed down a little, I went back to the Raptors game to see their early lead completely squandered and the crowd getting negative.

Bosh came out after saying that if he wanted to get booed, he’d play away from home, as if he’d never had his own fans get down on him before. This coming soon after the discussion of home support was brought up in soccer with Arsenal’s Emmanuel Eboue being mercilessly booed off the pitch by 50000 home fans.

I know it doesn’t help a team that’s already off their game to have their own supporters give them shit, but I’m not in favour of blindly cheering a poor, substandard effort. In my opinion, singling out one of your own players during the game and booing or even screaming, “Just pass!” every time he touches the ball is over the line. Coaches and teammates know a whole lot more than fans about what's behind a guy’s performance, and if he warrants it, you know the guy will get what’s coming to him. However, for me, booing is totally acceptable after a game when the team’s performance as a whole –players and coach - simply hasn’t been good enough. What does anyone else think about booing your own team?