Scott Radley: Hamilton Honey Badgers win first game and probably some fans
New basketball team makes its case for a place on Hamilton's sporting landscape.
Generations from now when lecture halls full of historians gather to recount the glorious story of the Hamilton Honey Badgers — optimism is always good — they will tell of the team's monumental victory in its opening game.
On Sunday afternoon in a chilly FirstOntario Centre, the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) team in the cool black-and-gold uniforms beat the Edmonton Stingers 106-83 to launch a new era in local hoops. In doing so, pro basketball's first female coach-GM, Chantal Vallee, earned her first win.
"I was aware and I understand the significance of this," she says. "What really hit me is the amount of women who came to me and said, 'I came to the game to support you.'"
That's a big part of the story, for sure. Yet only part of it. Because leading up to the game, league CEO Mike Morreale and team president John Lashway had promised basketball was only going to be half of the show. They were true to their word.
There were drummers, there was an energetic mascot, there was a live band in the concourse, the championship trophy was on display, a whack-a-mole game was available, kids could get their caricature drawn and two Disney princesses were even wandering around.
The mayor was there to throw the first jump ball, Canada Basketball CEO Glen Grunwald was sitting courtside, and Ward 2 Coun. Jason Farr was back to his roots growling out the names on public address. An aerialist put on a show high above centre court at halftime, there were contests, prizes, Thundersticks and T-shirts being chucked into the crowd. There was even a singalong accompanied by swaying cellphone lights.
This didn't look like a first game. That's a compliment. FirstOntario Centre looked like a basketball arena. And but for a few tiny audio issues early on, the entire event was well-organized and went off smoothly, like it had been done dozens of times before. Backing it all was a constant soundtrack of pulsating music throughout the entire game making it sound more like a party than a sporting event.
So no, this wasn't all about basketball. But there was basketball. Which is ultimately what's going to determine whether this team — and this league — lives or dies. On that scale, this got solid marks.
Hamilton jumped out to an 11-0 lead (let the record show that guard Justin Edwards scored the Honey Badgers' first basket), built the gap to 19 before the first quarter was half done, saw the lead evaporate and then built a big new one. It was score-first, defend sometimes. Which is great. Because with apologies to the purists in the crowd, offence is way more entertaining.
"It's about sport and entertainment," Vallee says. "So we need to compete and we also need to perform."
They did both in this one.
If there was a cup of cold water to be splashed on any part of the afternoon, it came in a predictable place.
It's fair to say the Honey Badgers couldn't have picked a worse day to launch this thing. It was Mother's Day, the atrocious weather was enough to discourage anyone from leaving the house, and the Raptors had a Game 7, in the evening so someone with a basketball itch could scratch it from the couch.
As a result, while the crowd of a couple thousand or so was decent, it was surely less than hoped for. Especially with the chance to see a bit of local sports history at play.
Add to those challenges the difficulty of the arena. As is the case with the Bulldogs, FirstOntario Centre is too big for this. Despite efforts to make things more intimate — a standing area at one end, a VIP area at the other and the top-level curtained off — a gathering that would look impressive in St. Catharines, Guelph or Abbotsford looked sparse in a 17,000-seat arena. Creating atmosphere is going to take extra work here.
That said, take away some of those unique obstacles this one day presented and drop another few hundred or more people into the seats and you'll have something from which to build. Not a full house, but a good house.
So what's the verdict?
One game doesn't provide nearly enough evidence for that. It's too small a sample size to determine whether the home side is as good as it showed early on. Or as defensively porous as it showed at points. But Hamilton can clearly shoot the three, is happy to run the fast break and can play an entertaining style. And the other goings-on show promise.
The other day, Morreale said he guaranteed folks who came out would be impressed. The suggestion being that if they were, they'll surely come back again for another taste of this and bring someone with them.
There's reason to think there's something here. Now we'll see if he was right about the response.
sradley@thespec.com
905-526-2440 | @radleyatthespec
Spectator columnist Scott Radley hosts The Scott Radley Show weeknights from 6-8 on 900CHML
905-526-2440 | @radleyatthespec
Spectator columnist Scott Radley hosts The Scott Radley Show weeknights from 6-8 on 900CHML