By Pepper Parr
May 29th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
For a city that basically drove the amateur baseball team out of town and into the welcoming arms of the city of Welland – hearing that the Mayor is agog at the plans to cheer on the Toronto Raptors as they begin their run for the NBA championship.
Amateur baseball team in a league with a 100 year history wasn’t able to get the support it needed from the city – they moved to Welland.
The Burlington HERD just couldn’t make it work with what they saw as a dismal level of support from the city.
Folks are invited to Civic Square for a free viewing party for Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals.
The public space on the south side of City Hall by Brant Street will come alive as residents are invited to join in the fun and together watch the Toronto Raptors take on the Golden State Warriors for Game 1 Thursday, May 30.
Viewing party for Game 1 starts at 8:30 p.m. The City will also host a Game 2 viewing at ‘Burlassic Park’ on Sunday, June 2 starting at 7:30 p.m. Game viewings will be held rain or shine.
Civic Square to be turned into an outdoor theatre with big screens and perhaps pop corn – while the city cheers on the Raptors as they make a run for the NBA championship.
Mayor Meed Ward thinks this is “awesome! Thank you to our amazing city staff who was able to pull this together in such a very short time. The Toronto Raptors playing in it’s first-ever NBA Finals is our generation’s moment. It’s Canada’s moment. I’m so glad we’re able to bring this free, all ages, national celebration to our city.
Bringing our community together to celebrate sports, arts and culture is just as important as the other things we do at the City of Burlington. Very exciting.”
Raptors in six?
Councillor Rory Nisan maintains: “The entire country is on board for the Raptors drive to the championship with over three million Canadians watching the team win the conference finals. There are a lot of fans in our city so I knew we had to do our own Jurassic Park to show the team we’re behind them and to make the most of our first finals appearance. Raps in six.”
It’s my understanding that these viewing parties being held in Burlington and other cities are sanctioned by MLSE and strict guidelines must be followed. But good on City Hall for getting behind this.
I hardly think the City “drove the amateur team out of Burlington” though. You can hardly compare Intercounty baseball to the NBA.