As the club moves beyond the 20 year mark, past its sports franchise infancy and into adolescence, there is a newer generation of fan that may not exactly be in touch with history. Yes, the Raptors actually have a history to speak of, it’s not gloried or famed, and filled with more moments of despair than joy, but history nonetheless.
There is a scarcity of documentation when it comes to this history for someone who’d like to travel down memory lane. There are grainy clips shown in the middle of broadcasts, where faces which cause pause are seen as we try to remember if that was Carlos Rogers or Walt Williams positioning (unsuccessfully) for that offensive rebound as Damon crossed and fired that lethal mid-range jumper.
There are games, signings, departures, and moments that every Raptor fan should know by heart. Dave Mendonca’s book, 100 Things Raptors Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, fills that gap.
A huge Raptors fan himself, Mendonca takes us through Raptors history as we revisit moments long forgotten or purposefully suppressed, all the while illustrating to today’s fans what they can do to revisit moments past and increase their Raptor fandom.
Teenage Raptor fans weren’t even born when Vince Carter did his thing, or when Isiah Thomas blasted through a Raptors logo at a 1994 team press conference, or when we started out 1-15. Mendonca relives, often times humorously and sometimes wistfully, of days that whether good or bad, need to be remembered so that we appreciate what we have today.
Next time someone asks you who Keon Clark was, and what his defining moment was, or if you get stumped at a party on which rapper almost made the Raptors team (no, not Drake), fear not, the book has you covered. It’s an engaging read with a foreword by Jerome “JYD” Williams that’s going to make a pretty solid Christmas gift for any Raptors fan.
