issue 01 / volume 41

Hoop dreams

» The rise of basketball in Canada

Casey Dulson,
The Concordian

n the last couple of years,

Canada has become a
basketball factory. In sucha
hockey-dominated country,
Canada has seen many of its
basketball players succeed in
the time leading up to their
NBA draft year.

The hype actually reached
its height over the past two
years. Last year marked a
historic year for Canadian
basketball as the Cleveland
Cavaliers selected Canadian

the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas with the first pick at
the NBA draft. Toronto-native
Andrew Wiggins was also a
high draft pick in this year’s
draft, after playing only one
season at the University of
Kansas.

In the Canadian
Interuniversity Sports (CIS)
league, the Carleton Ravens
won their fourth consecutive
national championship and
10th overall. The Ravens
started their season in late
August as they took on the
Syracuse Orange, one of the
top university teams in the US.

: The next day, they beat the
: Wisconsin Badgers, a team that :
: made NCAA's March Madness’
: Final Four this year.

In this year’s NCAA

: tournament, there was a record
: 25 Canadians participating in

: the annual event. In the first

: round of the tournament,

: universities which had

: Canadians playing for them

: went 14-2.

Some of the Canadian

: stars who participated in

: this year’s March Madness

: were Syracuse’s point guard
: Tyler Ennis, who has a good
: shot at being a top 10 pick
forward Anthony Bennett from in this year's NB - draft, and
: Michigan Wolverines’ shooting
: guard, Nik Stauskas, who led

: his Wolverines to the Elite

: Eight where they lost to the

: Kentucky Wildcats. Stauskas

: finished the game with 24

: points.

The surprising team

of the tournament was the

: underdog Dayton Flyers, who

: marched to the Elite Eight in

: the tournament before losing

: to Florida. The Flyers were led
: by forward Dyshawn Pierre,

: a native of Whitby, Ontario.

: Pierre established that he can
: bea star in the near future.

Many people have been

: questioning the rise in interest

in Canadian basketball. Dwight

: Walton, a former member of
: the Canadian national team
: said that it is in part due to the

Internet establishing a role in

: Canadian players getting more
: notice south of the border.

“Being able to show off

: your talent to coaches and

: scouts via YouTube is much

: quicker than sending a

: videotape via the mail service,”
: Walton said.

Walton also believes that

a certain NBA team had an
: impact on kids wanting to play.

“The Toronto Raptors

: are the major reason that

: basketball has taken off in this
: country,” he said. “They’ve

: exposed the game to our

: youth.”

Sites like Basketball Buzz

: and On Point Basketball have
: been doing a good job raising
: awareness for CIS and NCAA
: basketball to Canadians.

Canada now must continue

: on to build on their success.

: The development of recent

: Canadian stars, like Wiggins
: and Bennett, is a step in the

: right direction, in order fora
: chance at a berth in the 2016
: Summer Olympics.

sports // 19

 

— — —

 

Sport/Schmort: Croquet

» Croq’ of shit?

 
  

Natalie Serafini
B, Editor-in-Chief
Py) © editor

Fs @theotherpress.ca

( ‘roquet isa gentleman’s
game: a game of the elite,

the wealthy, the bourgeoisie,
and the drunk (in the case
of “beerquet,” the drinking
version). Many profess croquet
to bea sport, and one requiring
great skill and dexterity to
shoot a ball through a wicket.
It’s also a tremendously old
game, believed to have been
played in the 13th century by
French peasants. From there
it was popularized as one
of the preferred pursuits of
the British leisure class and
beer-slugging youths. So,
it’s got longevity, popularity,
anda certain amount of
aim and skill behind it—but
does it qualify as a sport?
One Netherlands site
created in “total and utter

tribute to the lord of lawn sport: former Other Press Editor-in-

Chief Jacey Gibb, has a few rule
: additions. Players must always

croquet” reports that the nine-
wicket version of croquet is the

: most popular in backyards,

: as well as competitions. This

: version can be played with two
: to six players, either in teams

: or individually, with four or six
: balls. The court should follow
: a“double-diamond” configu-

: ration—think two diamonds,

: set up like argyle—using the

: wickets as guidelines. Players

: hit the ball, aiming to shoot

: it through the wicket; each

: ball shot through a wicket in

: order amounts to one point.

: Stakes at either end of the

: double-diamond configuration
: must be hit once the ball has

: passed through each of the

: wickets, also amounting to

: one point. Because there are

: several balls in one game, each
: ball must pass through the

: wickets and hit the stakes.

Several other rules further

: complicate the game, but the

: basics of the game are to shoot
: the ball through the hoops; i
: think a mix of golf and billiards. :

Beerquet, invented by

: havea drinkin hand. Ifyou

: miss the wicket you have to

: drink, and if you get through

: the wicket, you give a drink to
: someone else. If you hit some-
: one else’s ball, you both have to
: drink. Cheating in beerquet is
: encouraged; however, if you're
: caught in the act you must

: finish your drink. Drinking

: must also be done with cans,

: so when you polish one offyou
: throw the can at an opponent.

Immediately counting

: against croquet’s definition as
: asport is the fact that it was

: popular amongst the British

: leisure class—seriously?

: The leisure class? This fact

: alone gives croquet an air of

: anti-athleticism. Sure, “leisure
: class” refers to an economically
: defined group, but they were

: clearly known for enjoying

: relaxed recreation. Cana

: calm, verging on idle game be

: considered a “sport” outside

of the cringe-quotes sense?
This game also doesn’t lend

itself terrifically well to view-
: able competition—including
: the Olympics. In fact, there has

: only been one croquet compe-
: titionin Olympic history, back
: in1goo Paris, and it’s reported
: that only a single spectator

: came to watch the event. The

: un-watchability ofthe game

: was likely behind its being

: discontinued in international

: competition; that, and the fact
: that only two nations entered

: the competition: France and

: Belgium. The game may be

: popular in backyards the world
: over, but watching and partic-
: ipating ona larger scale seems
: to put the “sport” on snooze.

Let’s be honest, the game

: also doesn’t inspire any sort of
: intense physical training, or use :
: of illicit performance enhanc-

: ers. Even that Netherlands

: website dedicated to detailing

: the value of croquet must

: acknowledge that “Because

: croquet can be played by every-
: one, it isa very social game. :
: Divisions exist only among skill !
: levelsandmost tournaments
: offer competition for beginners :
: and seasoned players alike.”

: Asocial game, for all ages and
: skill levels—do I need to dig

: more ofa grave for this “sport”?

Still, I can’t discount the

: difficulty of shooting a ball

: through a wicket, particularly

: if one introduces beer to the

: game in the incarnation known
: as beerquet. Much like when

: largued for the athleticism of

: beer pong, the introduction of

: alcohol in any sport makes it

: considerably more difficult—

: and inthis case makes a gamea
: sport. Ifyou include booze with
: your balls, the game is increas-
: ingly challenging, and instantly
: more watchable. Competitive

: fuels are also fanned through

: liberal libations, making

the gentleman’s game more

: cutthroat. If you're soberly

: knocking balls through wickets
: witha mallet, you're playing a

: game. If you're tipsily trying to

: maintain balance while aiming
: a ballon bumpy, unkempt

: terrain, youre an athlete.

Croquet: schmort

Beerquet: sport