Sportsfeld Storytime

We're looking back to 2011 and the absolute pinnacle of Brett Lawrie Mania in Toronto. After a sparkling first 30 games where he hit triples by the handful and smashed 7 home runs, Brett Lawrie is front and centre on a holiday Monday in front of 27,000 fans at the Rogers Centre against the Boston Red Sox. Relive a Labour Day classic, Brett Lawrie's 1-0 11th inning walk-off way back in September 20...

This week on Sportsfeld Storytime, we continue our look back at the arrival and ascension of Brett Lawrie. This episode finds us diving into Lawrie's MLB debut as a member of your Toronto Blue Jays and how he became appointment viewing extremely quickly. Plus, we talk about our personal memories of 2011 Brett Lawrie and how for a little while there, Lawrie was all anyone in Toronto could talk abou...

If you weren't watching the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011, it would be next to impossible to explain what it was like for Brett Lawrie to pop up overnight and become one of the biggest names in the whole city. This month we're revisiting the Brett Lawrie Experience, culminating in his first game-winning home run against the Boston Red Sox. In this episode, we examine the year before the Lawrie trade,...

It is Sportsfeld Storytime! This week, we're finishing our look back at the 2019 Toronto Raptors, one of the best teams we ever did see. This week, we're recapping the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks and the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. The fact that there were NBA Finals games played in Toronto still seems wild. Remember when Obama showed up? As the kids say...

Is this the dagger?? We've arrived at the fireworks factory of the 2019 Toronto Raptors run. Kawhi Leonard puts on a performance for the ages in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers, culminating in the greatest single moment in Raptors history and one of the most iconic shots ever seen in the NBA Playoffs. Relive all the nerves, the battles, and the back-and-forth action of an instant classic in...

It iissssssss Sportsfeld Storytime. This week, we're continuing our look back at The Shot. You know the one. In this episode, we recap the trade that brought Marc Gasol and his wonderful passing to Toronto, get excited about reliving Raptors playoff memories, and get upset about remembering Raptors playoff memories. Hey remember when Kyle Lowry scored 0 points in a Game 1 and the Raptors got beat...

This month on Storytime we're looking back into the not-so-distant past, now that the dust has settled and a large part of the 2019 Raptors have moved on, we remember the incredible Raptors championship run punctuated by The Shot. In episode one we set the scene, starting with the unbelievable middle-of-the-night trade for Kawhi Leonard that Jake found out about while sitting on the toilet. Nobody...

This week on Sportsfeld Storytime, we wrap up our look back at the 2014 Blue Jays and their epic 19-inning win over the Detroit Tigers. This week we look at what came after those 19 innings and it was... nothing good. As the Blue Jays limped to the finish, another peak Jose Bautista year wasted, the Blue Jays knew something had to change. And something did, all sparked by trading beloved Brett Law...

Our look back at the 2014 Blue Jays, the team that didn't go all in when they could've, hits its pinnacle with the last good moment of the Jays season. A marathon six and a half hour, 19-inning game that ends with a walk off bases loaded single from Jose Bautista. This win, which probably should've kicked off a streak, actually started them down the path of falling out of contention, and is probab...

This week on Sportsfeld Storytime we continue our look back at the 2014 Blue Jays and their momentous 19 inning win over the Tigers in August, as well as their inevitable collapse. In Part 2, we take you to April of 2014, optimism is in the air, the Blue Jays are playing great despite not really having an infield, and then action at the trade deadline, or lack thereof, sends the season off the rai...

The question about which is the most frustrating Blue Jays season we can remember has come up recently, and we've got to give it up for the 2014 Blue Jays team that frustrated all of us and the entire clubhouse by refusing to make a major move at the deadline. To get there, we start by looking at the big transaction that made us believe in the first place, a massive off-season deal with the Miami...

It iiiiiissss Sportsfeld Storytime. On the final episode of our look back at Game 7 of the 2014 Raptors-Nets series, we look at the aftermath of the Raptors' crushing loss at the buzzer. We discuss why this loss was the beginning of something for the Raptors, and how the 2014 season and playoff run laid the groundwork for what would become the eventual NBA Champions just five years later. All that...

It iiiiiiiiis Sportsfeld Storytime. In part 3 of our 2014 Raptors vs Nets Game 7 lookback, we deal with the final game of the Fuck Brooklyn series. Joe Johnson continues his neverending run of games dominating the Raptors, Drake beefs with KG courtside, Terrence Ross comes up huge in the clutch and Paul Pierce has the last laugh on a big block. But it isn't the ending, it's just the start of the g...

It iiiiiiiiisss Sportsfeld Storytime. In Part Two of our look back at Game 7 of the 2014 Raptors/Nets series, we dig into the first six games of a wild series. Today, we remember DeMar Derozan and Kyle Lowry being actually good in the playoffs, the birth of JV Hive, an absolutely crazy basketball game overshadowed by the Rob Ford crack tape, and the two words that changed everything for the Raptor...

It iiiiiiisss Sportsfeld Storytime. It's October and the Raptors aren't playing, so let's look back at an original Raptors heartbreak that also marks the beginning of the Champion Raptors as we know them today. This month, we're looking back at the 2014 first round series against Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and the Brooklyn Nets. In Episode 1 we look back at the arrival of Masai Ujiri, the farewell...

The fall of 2016 was a time when all were wondering who the Blue Jays were and what exactly they could do. The previous year had brought the city to a high that hadn't been witnessed since 1993, but this was a new year and a team that had undergone much change. It took the Jays until game 162 to earn their Wild Card slot and the only thing standing in the way of a second straight divisional series...

The fall of 2016 was a time when all were wondering who the Blue Jays were and what exactly they could do. The previous year had brought the city to a high that hadn't been witnessed since 1993, but this was a new year and a team that had undergone much change. It took the Jays until game 162 to earn their Wild Card slot and the only thing standing in the way of a second straight divisional series...

The fall of 2016 was a time when all were wondering who the Blue Jays were and what exactly they could do. The previous year had brought the city to a high that hadn't been witnessed since 1993, but this was a new year and a team that had undergone much change. It took the Jays until game 162 to earn their Wild Card slot and the only thing standing in the way of a second straight divisional series...

The fall of 2016 was a time when all were wondering who the Blue Jays were and what exactly they could do. The previous year had brought the city to a high that hadn't been witnessed since 1993, but this was a new year and a team that had undergone much change. It took the Jays until game 162 to earn their Wild Card slot and the only thing standing in the way of a second straight divisional series...

This week on Sportsfeld Storytime, we finish our look back at the 2007 Toronto Raptors and their defeat at the hand of the New Jersey Nets. This week, we dive into the aftermath of Jose Calderon not throwing a bounce pass and jump ahead to the 2008 playoffs, where the Raptors would fall to the Orlando Magic. Plus we discuss the legacy of Chris Bosh, close the book on the Brian Colangelo era, and w...

All the focus in the series was on Vincent Lamar Carter (three names, like a serial killer) but it ended up being Richard Jefferson who put the dagger through the heart of the Toronto Raptors and their fans. An unexpected playoff run with a young team ended with a six game loss to the New Jersey Nets, and the big question is... Did the Raptors learn anything or grow or really build anything out of...

This week on Sportsfeld Storytime we continue our look back at Game 6 of the 2007 NBA Playoff first round matchup between the Toronto Raptors and the New Jersey Nets. But first, we take a little detour and reminisce about the legend that is Chuck Swirsky and discuss his impact on Raptors fandom in the dark days of the mid-2000s. Then, we begin our look at Games 1 through 5 of the Raptors' first pl...

A franchise in search of direction after the departure of the only good thing that had ever happened to them, the 2006-07 Toronto Raptors entered the season with a clear leader in Bryan Colangelo, and had the 1st overall pick to boot. A surprise run to a division title and a season to remember, which came to a poetic end at the hands of Vincent Lamar Carter. Relive the beginning of the Bargnani Er...

It iiiiiis Sportsfeld Storytime. This month we are revisiting the end of one of our favourite teams ever, the 2015 Blue Jays. In part 4, we look at the fallout of the end of the playoff run, as the Jays have their general manager step down just a few days after the season ends. How could the Jays have loaded up for 2016 and made a better run than the one they had? And does the team building strate...

It iiiiiis Sportsfeld Storytime. This month we are revisiting the end of one of our favourite teams ever, the 2015 Blue Jays. In episode three, the Jays play their final game of the season, a crazy loss to the Kansas City Royals that had just about everything. Jake and Zubes remember the Amish kid that cheated and stole a home run, two mammoth near-forgotten Jose Bautista home runs, a giant rain d...