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Raptors Road Diary: Part 3 of a month-long conversation with Steve from PUP

Finally back off the road!

View from a plane above Tenerife. Photo by Steve Sladkowski.

Steve Sladkowski (@sladkow) is the guitarist for the Toronto-based punk band PUP. They are awesome, and Steve is among the best guitarists in the world. He’s also among the biggest Toronto Raptors fans, to the extent that PUP’s touring schedule finds Steve watching Raptors games at all hours of the night, in whatever venue will have him (or give him Wifi). With PUP on the road for an entire month – a pivotal month in the Raptors’ chase for the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed – Steve has decided to kind-of journal his trip and his attempts to keep up with the Raptors from Europe.

To facilitate, we’re exchanging emails with him throughout his travels and publishing them here, unedited except in the case of the F word or egregious typos, which the 3am timestamp on some of these emails have opened the window for. You can check out Part 1 of the email exchange here and Part 2 here.

Steve Sladkowski (Feb. 21, 11:33 a.m.)

Hello from France!

We’re off and running on the headline portion of the tour. Last night in Paris was very very fun and now we’re headed south to Lyon and then on to Spain.

Does it make me a bad fan if I say I missed all of All-Star Weekend? It was a bit of an emotionally and physically exhausting week, hah. Skills on Saturday in Hamburg didn’t start until way late at night and Sunday was Zack’s birthday. I feel for all of my friends over here who love hoops but man I am impressed by their dedication to watching games. It is a STRUGGLE.

All that to say, I of course saw Twitter’s reaction to Fergie’s national anthem. I have to say… anytime an artist takes a shot at experimenting with something like a national anthem, the risk for failure is so high that it’s almost not worth it. National anthems are meant to be sung pretty straight up and I don’t know why anyone tries to do otherwise. I mean, how many times can you think of people doing an experimental version of an anthem and actually pulling it off? It’s a select few to be sure.

Other than that, Donovan Mitchell cemented himself as the Rookie of the Year in my books. The few highlights I saw… wowee! And as for the 3PT contest, I’ve seen some of NBA Twitter talk about this — maybe on the Lowe Post too — but why don’t they try it as a catch-and-shoot competition?

I saw a Bleacher Report headline saying that the Raptors won’t pursue Vince. Alas, the dream…. is over….Ready for basketball to begin again and to bear down for the home stretch. No sleep ‘til April, baby!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj_Cixp3CKA

Blake Murphy

“The headline portion of the tour.” This is the PUP equivalent of “The Raptors now enter their top-of-the-Eastern Conference portion of the schedule.” No disrespect to The Menzingers, who don’t deserve this, but they’re playing the part of the Celtics for this comparison. Cold, I realize.

I do not think you’re a bad fan for missing All-Star stuff, no. I know a lot of writers who just unplug form it, too. It’s not particularly relevant, and if you need a break or have other stuff going on, it’s the right part of the schedule to drop. That said, I’m a sucker for ANY dunk contest and usually enjoy the All-Star Game, and you happened to miss a really fun game in this case. (Also a game Lowry, DeRozan, and Casey all got moments to shine in, which was cool.) As for the anthem, I feel for her and thought the memeing was a bit much for what it was. I didn’t NOT laugh, but, ykno. (My guess for the 3-point suggestion: It puts too much of the competition in the hands of the passer. But it’s worth experimenting.)

I told you not to get too excited about Vince! It always kind of seemed to me like it was a big experiment, putting feelers out to see what the reaction would be and prime the fanbase for the eventual reunion. Consider me unenthused with a potential Arron Afflalo addition, but short of Ersan Ilyaosva, I’m not sure anyone is going to hit the market who would actually threaten to play for the Raptors.

I’m definitely ready for more ball again. So much so that tonight I’m covering an NBL game to do a story on the St. John’s Edge and then doubling home later to recap the 905’s return from the break. I have a problem, Steve. Anything in particular you’re looking for from the Raptors out of the gate? Milwaukee is always a good test, and without Jason Kidd’s rampant inflexibility, they might pose a new challenge to the New Offense TM.

https://twitter.com/puptheband/status/966741809476132865

Steve Sladkowski (Feb. 24, 7:48 p.m.)

Yo! Sorry for the radio silence — the allure of Spain and our whirlwind first visit to this amazing country has been very demanding — we’ve landed on our last show day of the tour in La Laguna-Tenerife in the Spanish Canary Islands. Dude, I think this is the most beautiful place I’ve ever physically been in.

You know what? I like last night’s loss. I wasn’t able to actually watch the game — we went onstage in Madrid at 12:30 AM (an hour before tip), got out of the venue and back to the hotel by 3 AM, and were up at 6:15 AM to catch the flight to Tenerife — so I only got the highlights. But I think it’s good to face a little adversity. Milwaukee are clearly starting to figure things out and by all accounts the Raps probably didn’t deserve to win that game anyway, right? I think that the word is finally out on this basketball team and teams are going to be coming for them. I welcome that challenge because I think the Raps are up to it & it’ll be a good series of tests to get them playoff ready.

How are you? Was there anything about last night’s loss that really bothered you? I am still all about that JV dunk to tie the game. And sorry you’re still hearing about the refereeing from the Twitterverse.

Off to see CD Tenerife, currently 13th in La Liga’s Segunda División, tomorrow night. Believe it or not, for all the times we’ve been over here and with the seemingly-never-ending football seasons over here, it’ll be my first time seeing any European sides. Very excited!

Blake Murphy

Man, Tenerife sounds incredible. When I went to Spain last year, I was trying to decide between there and Seville and opted for the latter because of my deep affinity for Bostjan Nachbar. I’ve also always wanted to do Gran Canaria, strictly because I knew what it was because Carl English played there. All of this is to say…I do not blame you for radio silence. You have an incredibly cool gig that’s taking you to amazing places, and I’m glad you’re enjoying it to the fullest. Shouts to Sergio Rodriguez.

Some of the Raptors agree with you on last night in terms of facing adversity early. They really haven’t faced much of it, and it’s probably worth hoping they get a little more so they either avoid getting a Game 1 punch in the mouth or at least know how to respond. Of course, it would also be great if they faced in-game adversity and showed some growth with the late-game offense, but I’ll take the small “process” improvements the last few clutch scenarios, even if the results haven’t followed yet. The Bucks are…dangerous, man. I know the Raptors are still 6-3 against them between last playoffs and this season, and it says a lot that the Raptors played pretty poorly, Milwaukee shot well, and the Bucks STILL needed overtime, but if these defensive changes are legitimate and not just the dead-coach-bounce, and if Jabari looks good come playoffs…this would be a very interesting rematch as the 1-4 in the second round.

Not much else stuck with me from that one. The refereeing is what it is. Valanciunas was absolutely fouled on one dunk and maybe on the other, but what can you do? Buzzer-beater foul calls are rare. Plus, it’s hard to call a foul on John Henson when his soul had already left his body. I’m alright otherwise. Got almost no downtime during the “break,” so I’m pretty worn out and need to find some ways to rest myself down the stretch so I don’t burn out in the playoffs. No word from Dwane Casey if he plans to give me nights off though.

That’s awesome about catching a football match. Enjoy! And let me know what that environment is like. (Semi-related: The ACC was nuts on Friday. I have a theory that poor officiating is closely related to crowd involvement, at least in Toronto.)

Steve Sladkowski (Feb. 27, 12:47 a.m.)

There’s something about the Bucks that still feels incomplete whereas the Raptors are a totally different team than last year. That’s straight eye-test of course — but they struggled against New Orleans last(?) night and I just don’t know if I’m there with them yet — but who knows. I don’t want to encourage Giannis.

Unfortunately we were rained out for any La Liga soccer on Sunday as there were torrential downpours all day. I spent most of the day in a four-star hotel — booked for us by our lovely new Canary Island-based tourmates & wicked hardcore band This Drama — reading and napping. I can’t tell you how badly my body needed it. As proof, I basically never napped and I took three naps while we were in Tenerife. The touring… it gets you.

We’re back in Madrid now and are packed to fly back to Toronto in the morning; I love being on tour, and I am so grateful for how much I’ve learned about myself & the growth that came from it, but f*** me I’m ready to go home. I miss Brooke, I miss the dog, I miss smoking weed regularly (not gonna catch me slippin’ with the various EU country fascist cops), and I miss my bed.

However I’m happy to say that this tour is ending much as it began: sitting in a hotel room with some whiskey, watching the first-place Toronto Raptors and The New Offense TM get ready to take care of business against the Detroit Griffins.

See you at home, my dude!!!

Blake Murphy

And the tour ended opposite how it began, with a ludicrous victory fueled by the bench, with good games from the starters, and nary a negative to complain about. Nice progress from the Utah game, if we’re looking for a story arc, though the Raptors continually pasting even decent teams remains a “problem” in terms of figuring out how to close games. I’ve tweeted as such, but the Raptors should really sign me to a 10-day and put me in whenever they get up 20 so they can play in more clutch scenarios. Malcolm Miller is too good for that role. Heck, BRUNO had a plus-79 net rating or something like that in that role. (And shouts to Bruno getting run with the Kings last night).

Are you back now? Hope you and Brooke and Jane and narcotics all got some nice time together. Perhaps it makes sense to wrap this all up with your thoughts on your first game back home (Orlando on Wednesday, such a certain bludgeoning that I have Phoebe Bridgers tickets and intend to juggle both without much concern). We haven’t learned a ton about the Raptors – they’re still very good! – but I’m glad you’ve learned so much about yourself the last month. (Now play a goddam Toronto show.)

When’s your next game with tickets? Sunday?

There are no words in the English language I could scream to drown you out.

A post shared by Blake Murphy (@eblakemurphy) on

Steve Sladkowski (March 1, 3:45 p.m.)

Sunday is my next game with tickets indeed! I’ll be there with Exclaim! Eminence James Keast and it’ll be my second time seeing Charlotte this year. I joined a gym a few days ago and had my first workout today… maybe they sign both of us to a 10 day and I can really drag my ass up and down the court to help the opposing team get back into the game…

I am indeed home now, as you know, since we hungout last night on the couch at the back of the Velvet Underground and watched the fourth quarter of the Orlando game together before that incredible Phoebe Bridgers show. The game was obviously a little bit closer than it needed to be but it was nice to see a little bit of We The Fourth action to put the game away. God damn, that show was too good eh? Very interested to see where Ms. Bridgers career goes from this juncture. I doubt we’ll be seeing her in a room that small anytime soon. As far as PUP in Toronto… let us write some new music, will ya?

I hear what you’re saying about getting some more high-pressure situations to prep the team for the playoffs but, man, perhaps we’re selling the Raptors a bit short? Like maybe they are really so good that Casey won’t have to shorten the bench as much as one usually does in the playoffs. Is that crazy? It’s funny because I was listening to the Ringer NBA show today & a few of the hosts were talking about the Rockets in a way that we seem to be talking about the Raptors: the culture change is real, the team seems different, and, even though there are previous examples of playoff collapse, this year feels different. Now obviously the team would do well to have some adversity regardless of whether or not it feels different than years previous (it does); however as you said last night, there are still four games remaining against Boston and Cleveland, plus some good tests against the aforementioned Rockets and OKC. I think it’ll be good for the Raptors to perhaps be a little more focused on those games? Teams are going to keep coming at them, which can’t be as easy as they’re making it look, so they’ll be getting tested every night and I’m looking forward to them just continuing to handle business by committee.

The New Offense TM: Handling Business by Committee.

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