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fossil

Saturday June 15, 2019

June 22, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday June 15, 2019

Basketball gets an energy infusion from the Raptors

Today, at basketball courts across Canada, the squeak of sneakers on hardwood and the thump of dribbling balls is a little more energetic thanks to the Toronto Raptors.

June 11, 2019

Twenty-four years ago, when they first took to the court, subject to jeers from around the National Basketball Association due to their purple jerseys and cartoon-like logo, few people held out much hope the Raptors would become the best team in the world. In fact, there was skepticism that NBA basketball would even catch on in hockey-mad Canada.

And in Vancouver, home of the only other Canadian franchise, it didn’t. After a few years of struggling the Grizzlies were moved to Memphis.

But Toronto was different. They played second or even third fiddle to the Maple Leafs and Blue Jays, but the Raps got a claw-hold in Toronto early. They didn’t get a lot of respect from the league or NBA stars largely disinterested in playing in our comparatively frigid climate, but they did draw fans.

They didn’t have a lot of talent overall, but they were able to draw some all-star calibre players like Damon Stoudamire, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Chris Bosh. Sometimes, when the team overall wasn’t much fun to watch, those players were worth the price of admission.

Then, along came Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozen. The team moved up a notch in terms of respect and credibility. But they got stuck, caught between their own limitations and an indomitable force named LeBron James.

Here’s where the Raptors story takes on the characteristics of a Hollywood script. The organization hires as president Masai Ujiri, an elegant, eloquent man from Nigeria with a great basketball mind. He makes a tough decision and trades team and fan favourite DeRozen and gets in exchange from the San Antonio Spurs a puzzle piece by the name of Kawhi Leonard. Painfully soft-spoken, injured for most of the previous year, but recognized as a potentially great player, Leonard was widely seen as a smart but risky acquisition.

Turns out Ujiri wasn’t just smart, he was a genius. The Raptors carefully nursed Leonard back to full health and Thursday night he hoisted the NBA trophy, quite possibly the best basketball player on the planet.

There is a lot to like about this edition of the Raptors, aside from the fact that they are now NBA champions. There’s Ujiri, who leads a nonprofit group called Giants of Africa, which aims to create pathways to success through basketball for African youth. There’s head coach Nick Nurse, an assistant until this season who took over from the popular Dwane Casey and turns out to be a brilliant head coach. There’s Kyle Lowry, blue collar guard saddled with a reputation of underperformance in the playoffs. Not any more. There’s Cameroonian player Pascal Siakam, who didn’t even take up basketball until he was 15. There’s Marc Gasol, who in the off season has worked to help migrants and refugees.

There’s the team’s overall diversity, with players from around the world coming together to adopt Leonard’s steely, unperturbable, never-too-high, never-too-low approach to the game. And they defeated the dynastic Golden State Warriors, led by future Hall of Fame guard Steph Curry, who played in Southern Ontario during his school years while his father, Dell, played for the Raptors.

Professional athletes are not heroes. That honour is reserved for people who dedicate themselves to helping others and not getting paid millions while doing it. But pro athletes can be admirable, collectively and individually. And they can bring welcome joy and fun into the lives of fans, which the Raptors have most certainly done. Thanks for that. (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: 2019-22, basketball, Canada, championship, Dinosaurs, fossil, Museum, NBA, Raptors, Sports

Monday September 14, 2015

September 14, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Monday September 14, 2015 Trudeau enlists ChretienÕs support to attack Mulcair during Hamilton rally Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has enlisted the support of former prime minister Jean ChrŽtien to accuse the NDP of wanting to make it easier to break up the country. Trudeau told a rally Sunday in Hamilton that NDP Leader Tom Mulcair would put the possibility of Quebec separation back on the table. Standing alongside ChrŽtien, Trudeau said Mulcair would repeal the Clarity Act, which says any referendum requires a clear majority for separation. Trudeau said Mulcair believes a single vote Ñ 50 per cent plus one Ñ should decide whether Canada remains united, accusing the NDP leader of playing politics for the sake of gaining a few separatist votes. Mulcair has dismissed such criticism, saying he has fought for a united Canada his whole life but that the Clarity Act doesn't spell out what constitutes a majority. "I'll let Justin Trudeau continue with his golden oldies tour and bring out Jean ChrŽtien today and start talking about the quarrels of the past," Mulcair said earlier Sunday after making a senior health-care announcement in Vancouver. "We are talking about solving the problems for the future." (Source: Hamilton Spectator) http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5840348-trudeau-enlists-chretien-s-support-to-attack-mulcair-during-hamilton-rally/ Hamilton, Jean Chretien, Justin Trudeau, Liberal, #elxn42, relic, fossil, shadow, history, Canada, election, campaign

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday September 14, 2015

Trudeau enlists Chretien’s support to attack Mulcair during Hamilton rally

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has enlisted the support of former prime minister Jean Chrétien to accuse the NDP of wanting to make it easier to break up the country.

Neil Young / Gordon Lightfoot – 2013

Trudeau told a rally Sunday in Hamilton that NDP Leader Tom Mulcair would put the possibility of Quebec separation back on the table.

Standing alongside Chrétien, Trudeau said Mulcair would repeal the Clarity Act, which says any referendum requires a clear majority for separation.

Ed Schreyer – 2005

Trudeau said Mulcair believes a single vote — 50 per cent plus one — should decide whether Canada remains united, accusing the NDP leader of playing politics for the sake of gaining a few separatist votes.

Mulcair has dismissed such criticism, saying he has fought for a united Canada his whole life but that the Clarity Act doesn’t spell out what constitutes a majority.

John Munro - 2000

John Munro – 2000

“I’ll let Justin Trudeau continue with his golden oldies tour and bring out Jean Chrétien today and start talking about the quarrels of the past,” Mulcair said earlier Sunday after making a senior health-care announcement in Vancouver.

“We are talking about solving the problems for the future.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Posted in: Canada Tagged: #elxn42, campaign, Canada, election, election2015, fossil, Hamilton, history, Jean Chretien, Justin Trudeau, Liberal, relic, shadow

Saturday August 24, 2013

August 24, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

 

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Saturday August 24, 2013

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday August 24, 2013

Lightfoot added to Greenbelt lineup

Neil Young’s out, but Gordon Lightfoot’s in.

Lightfoot, a Canadian folk-music legend, has been added to the Greenbelt Harvest Picnic lineup, organizers announced late Thursday.

The Orillia, Ont. native rose to fame with such hits as Sundown, If you Could Read My Mind, Early Morning Rain and Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald.

“We are very excited by the addition of Mr. Lightfoot and will be making more announcements in the coming days,” Jean-Paul Gauthier, producer of the Greenbelt Harvest Picnic, said in a press release.

The daylong festival at Christie Lake Conservation Area on Aug. 31 was to be Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s first stop on a four-city North American tour.

But Young pulled out of the third annual show because of an injury to guitarist Frank Sampedro’s hand.

This week, organizers offered a partial refund of $40 to concert goers, reducing ticket prices to $99.50.

Buyers of tickets from consignment locations can pick up their refund beginning Saturday, Aug. 24 at 10 a.m. They must produce photo ID and their tickets to do so.

The concert also features Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois, Pegi Young and the Survivors, Trixie Whitley, Rocco DeLuca, the Arkells, Harlan Pepper, Basia Bulat, Whitehorse and Harrison Kennedy.  (Source: The Hamilton Spectator)

NEIL YOUNG CARTOON from wes tyrell on Vimeo.

 

 

Posted in: Canada, Entertainment, Hamilton Tagged: aging, concert, dundas, Entertainment, folk, fossil, Gordon Lightfoot, greenbelt, harvest festival, Neil; Young, video, Vimeo

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This website contains satirical commentaries of current events going back several decades. Some readers may not share this sense of humour nor the opinions expressed by the artist. To understand editorial cartoons it is important to understand their effectiveness as a counterweight to power. It is presumed readers approach satire with a broad minded foundation and healthy knowledge of objective facts of the subjects depicted.

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