“What? The train got cancelled twice?! Back to the van!”
That was the beginning of our adventure, when we were at the GO train station waiting for the train to arrive. We were an hour early for the train as well, but the train got cancelled TWICE for engine problems! The one time we decided to use the GO train, it gets cancelled twice in a row! Ouch. So what did we do then? We went to yet another station to catch the GO bus. That was quite a hectic drive. Between cursing at other drivers we were laughing our heads off since my bro wanted to drive downtown in the first place and we would have probably made it there and been in the ACC by the time we reached the second GO station! So we were out in the cold waiting for a bus that would inevitably make us late for the opening tip and starting line-ups for sure.
After relaxing on the GO bus for the trip to the ACC we rushed out in the cold, jumped some construction fences, passed some scalpers, and went searching for the box office. While my mom was picking up the tickets my bro and I chilled out away from the crowd.
After getting our tickets we made our way to our seats which were close to the entrance and not bad seats at all. Here’s where the game was at when we got there:
After some good gameplay, some nice shots, and bad calls it was halftime.
This is when the action really started to pick up. The lead must have exchanged hands at least five times in the second half. It was great to see the difference in the level of play between the teams in the East and the teams in the West. Just simple inbound plays showed the difference in discipline and execution.
And now the good news: “Raptors win! Raptors win! Raptors win!” -Chuck Swirsky
The game went down to the wire and it was a great game! At times there were some shaky spots like when Garnett started getting hot and making three unanswered field goals, but the Raptors kept their composure and made some crucial plays when they needed it.
So after rushing out back to the street amongst the beggars and crowd we managed to catch our GO bus back home just in time. It was an awfully quiet ride home as the majority of GO bus rides are in my experience, and we were back to the GO station before we knew it.
On the drive home there were much more laughs, teasing, and commentary of the game that just transpired. Lots of fun and good times to remember on the ride home. Here are a few photos of the gas station we stopped off at to fill up and saw more ridiculous B-town drivers.
Overall, it was a very fun night despite the slow start at the GO train station. I do hope I can do that again sometime and maybe in the platinum section next time! Then I could get close-up shots of the Raptors Dance Pack and the players. How sweet would that be!
