AS IT IS 2016-05-22 City of Immigrants Sees Itself in NBA’s Toronto Raptors

AS IT IS 2016-05-22 City of Immigrants Sees Itself in NBA’s Toronto Raptors

Are you following the National Basketball Association playoffs?

Only four teams are still playing for the NBA championship.

One of them is the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors are the only NBA team in Canada.

Of the 15 players on the team, six were not born in the United States. The team has one Canadian, two Brazilians, an Argentine, a Lithuanian and a player from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Its general manager is Masai Ujiri, a Nigerian. His job is to choose the players and negotiate their deals to play for the team.

The Raptors entered the NBA as an expansion team in 1995. This is their 21st season. In the early years, the Raptors normally stopped playing at the end of the NBA’s 82-game regular season. But this is the eighth time the team has earned the right to compete in the playoffs.

This is the first time the Raptors have reached the Eastern Conference Finals. To reach the NBA Finals, the team needs to win four games against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Toronto is one of the most diverse cities in the world. So it seems natural that the Raptors have a mix of players from different areas. Recent studies have shown that about half of Toronto’s population was not born in Canada.

Toronto is one of the country’s major sports centers. The National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple¹ Leafs are one of the most valuable sports teams in North America. The Toronto Blue Jays are the only Canadian team in Major League Baseball.

The Raptors are the city’s newest sports team. The sports franchise² is the same age as many of the young, foreign-born fans who follow the Raptors. Many people gather outside of the sports center where the team plays and enjoy watching the games on a big screen television.

Morgan Campbell writes about sports and business for The Toronto Star newspaper. He says the experience is important for people who may not have the money to see a Raptors’ game in person.

“They have a little pre-game entertainment and people will stand there and watch the game on this big screen, and they cheer as if they’re actually at the game. I personally have never done it. I don’t like crowds that much. But I know people that do it and they love it.”

Toronto Raptors' Cory Joseph (6) shoots against Cleveland Cavaliers' Kevin Love (0) during the second half of Game 2 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals Thursday, May 19, 2016, in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won 108-89.

The Star recently published an opinion piece on the Raptors. It said the team represents the best of Toronto. “The Raptors, in short, are the team of new Toronto, immigrant Toronto, emerging Toronto,” the story said. “The team of the city we dream of becoming, and on our best days, the city we like to think we already are.”

Campbell says one way the Raptors are unusual is the way in which local businesses seek out the players for endorsements⁵. In many cities, star players appear in advertising⁶ for stores or car dealerships. But in Toronto, Jonas Valanciunas of Lithuania stars in ads for a Middle Eastern restaurant called Paramount⁷.

“This is one of these only-in-Toronto moments. I don’t know if you would have this anywhere else. Where the Lithuanian guy signs an endorsement⁴ deal with the Middle Eastern food restaurant. But again, it speaks to the multiculturalism⁹ of the city, and the way the team has been able to reach out to all these different ethnic¹⁰ communities.”

Campbell says Toronto has many of the same problems as other large North American cities: big differences between rich and poor people; racial profiling; and problems between minorities and police. So the Raptors are not yet a sign of the city as it is, but something that Toronto wants to be.

“When you talk about the team symbolizing¹¹ something, yeah, it is a bit of an ideal. But all these things can coexist. Right? The city is multicultural⁸. The team enjoys support from a more diverse and a younger group of fans than the Maple Leafs and the Blue Jays do, but at the same time, to extrapolate that to the day-to-day life of the city? Is something different and it doesn’t quite fit.”

Words in This Story

root – v. to express or show support for (a person, a team, etc.)

diverse – adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other

original – adj. happening or existing first or at the beginning

franchise – n. a team that is a member of a professional sports league

emerging – adj. newly created or noticed and growing in strength or popularity : becoming widely known or established

endorse³ – v. to publicly say that you like or use (a product or service) in exchange for money

income inequality – n. the state of one group of people having more money or wealth than another group of people

racial profiling – v. to form an opinion about a person based on their skin color or ethnic background

symbolize¹² – v. a one person or a small group standing¹³ for a larger group or idea

extrapolate – v. to form an opinion or to make an estimate about something from known facts

1 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

2 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

3 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

4 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

5 endorsements   

n.背书( endorsement的名词复数 )；（驾驶执照上的）违章记录；（公开的）赞同；（通常为名人在广告中对某一产品的）宣传

参考例句：

• He must make much money on those tennis shoe endorsements he does. 他替那些网球鞋珍重广告，就赚了不少钱。 来自互联网
• But celebrity endorsements remain an important promotional tool for marketers. 尽管如此，邀明星助阵仍是营销人员重要的推广手段之一。 来自互联网

6 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

7 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

8 multicultural   

adj.融合多种文化的，多种文化的

参考例句：

• Children growing up in a multicultural society.在多元文化社会中长大的孩子们。
• The school has been attempting to bring a multicultural perspective to its curriculum.这所学校已经在尝试将一种多元文化视角引入其课程。

9 multiculturalism   

n.多元文化

参考例句：

• Switzerland is well known for cheese fondue, penguin parades and its multiculturalism. 瑞士一向以芝士火锅，企鹅游行和多元文化等特色闻名于世。
• That may be one reason why multiculturalism came easily to it. 这也是多元文化容易适应发展的原因之一。

10 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

11 symbolizing   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This symbol later evolved into a common hieroglyphic symbolizing victory. 这幕场景后来逐渐演化为象征胜利的普通象形文字。 来自时文部分
• Mooncakes reunion, is symbolizing the Mid-Autumn festival will feed. 月饼象征着团圆，是中秋佳节必食之品。 来自互联网

12 symbolize   

vt.作为...的象征，用符号代表

参考例句：

• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。
• Dolphins symbolize the breath of life.海豚象征着生命的气息。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。