If and when the CEBL picks out its game of the year
for its inaugural season, it won’t have to look far beyond the August 9th tilt between the Saskatchewan Rattlers and the Edmonton Stingers. The dominant Stingers
were dead-set on buzzing back after losing to the Saskatchewan side just the night
before in Edmonton, and ending their 9 game winning streak in the process. This return match-up, the second half of the prairie teams’ late-season home-and-home series, went back and forth in the fourth quarter, coming right down to the final shot.
Tonight was “Heroes Night” at the Snake Pit, a.k.a.
the SaskTel Centre. This involved a pregame ceremony in which affiliates from local
police and fire services, as well as the uber-competent STARS helicopter rescue
team, were brought out to centre court. With so many first responders in the
crowded Snake Pit on this evening, fans could rest assured that most of the
bases were covered should a mass shooting occur. The police and fire chiefs, as
well as the one STARS guy, undertook the ceremonial tip-off between the
captains from both teams.
Then the real tip happened, and the Rattlers jumped
out to an early lead. DJ Charly Hustle started strong as well, spinning “My
Sharona” early on in the first. If the Rattlers had had the touch of the
younger kind, they couldn’t get it up to the top for very long. Soon enough,
the powerful Stingers pulled ahead, taking a 14-7 lead. The Rattlers bounced
back, however, buoyed by an increasingly raucous crowd. Once it had got into its cups, the Friday-night crowd was loud for the Rattlers' successes and failures. For instance, the hometown faithful
brayed in tipsy disapproval when Shaquille Keith failed to convert an intrepid
steal into points, awkwardly putting a dunk off the rim. Had he made the
bucket, the Rattlers might have ended the first with a lead. Instead, they
trailed 20-19 after one.
Between quarters came the obligatory promotional free-throw, in which someone from the crowd is given a chance to take two shots for some kind of prize.
Through 8 Rattlers' home games, no fan has ever been able to sink one. On this
night, however, the promotional team didn’t pick just any old ham-and-egger.
Instead, they plucked Brayden McNabb, defenseman for the Vegas Golden Knights,
from his courtside seat. The 6’4 inch McNabb put the first shot off the rim, and
all the NHL diehards and assorted rink rats in attendance collaborated on a pronounced
whoosh of disappointment. However, with his second shot, McNabb made history,
sinking the first ever promotional fan shot in Rattlers’ history. Personally,
however, your correspondent thinks that the history-making shot deserves an
asterisk—McNabb is a high-level professional athlete, and promotional shots are
expressly designed for the overweight, geriatric, and/or working class. And so McNabb, the fit young millionaire, goes home with the Rattlers' jersey or whatever the prize was. Nobody ever said capitalism is fair.
In the second quarter, the Rattlers pulled ahead
early, but their lead didn’t last long. Edmonton sustained a lengthy run, while
the Rattlers fell into the kind of chronic shot-missing that has typified many
of their home performances throughout the season. DJ Charly Hustle also missed the mark,
spinning 2002 one-hit wonder “In the Middle” by Jimmy Eat World. Karaoke Cam
was once again met with an overall reluctance from the fans, though it did give
the cameraperson a chance to give some screen time to the Rattlers’ first-ever
fan-of-the-game—that is, the heavy-set man from way back in May. On this night
he had traded his trademark green hockey mask for a bulging-eyed skull mask. He
nodded along coolly to “Take on Me”; one can only assume he was singing along passionately underneath the mask.
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| So Ssswish, you think you're god's gift to women, huh? |
As the smell of grain alcohol hovered heavy and sour
over the hometown crowd, the Stingers built up a 44-30 lead, which they took
into the half.
The halftime show involved mascots from various local
outfits engaging in a pickup game of hoops. The roster was as follows: Topper,
anthropomorphic lion affiliated with the Saskatoon Hilltops junior football
team; Howler, anthropomorphic huskie from the University of Saskatchewan;
Sarge, anthropomorphic canine from the Saskatoon police service; an unnamed
anthropomorphic sun that apparently represents the city of Saskatoon; and of
course Ssswish, our accustomed anthropomorphic snake. The game was ostensibly
three-on-two, though it was not outwardly stated who was playing against whom.
These ever-smiling cartoon furries fought, scrambled, and clawed awkwardly
for the ball, the Benny Hill theme playing all the while. Ssswish managed to
sink a bucket, which occasioned a lively cheer from the supporters who’d stayed
seated for the halftime. The fans were eating it all up, at least for the first
three or four minutes. After that, the mascots showed obvious signs of wear—certainly
physical and possibly even psychological. The score ended up 2-2, in that a
basket was scored at either end, though the matter of which anthropomorphic
spokes-creature was on what team (if there even were teams) remained a mystery.
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| The grinning, anthropomorphic sun representing the city of Saskatoon charges to the basket. |
The Rattlers had apparently been watching the all-mascot
tilt, because they too fought, scrambled, and clawed throughout the third
quarter. The two MJs—Maurice Jones and Marlon Johnson—hooked up on a few
crucial scores, including an electrifying Jones-to-Johnson alley-oop. After
three, the Rattlers had cut the lead to 58-54.
The Rattlers kept pace with the Stingers in the fourth, and
with 3:05 remaining, had tied things up at 69. By now the crowd was really into
it, roiling with merriment. The Rattlers took the lead with just minutes
remaining, and the Snake Pit was absolutely cacophonous with bliss. With 22.8
seconds remaining, the Rattlers led 72-71, but Edmonton had possession. The
Stingers worked the clock down to just 10 and made their bucket to take the one
point lead. With ten seconds left, the Rattlers called a time-out. Whatever it was that Coach Jockims told his team in the huddle, it summoned up something super-effective
in the Saskatchewan squad. They stormed up the court and captain Alex Campbell hurled the ball toward the net with four seconds left on the clock. It went down, and the crowd went up in
cheers.
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| Fans rise from their seats to see the winning bucket go down |
They never stopped cheering. Edmonton couldn’t answer
back, getting rejected at the hoop by Marlon Johnson, among others, as time ran out, and the
Rattlers had a 74-73 win.
The SaskTel Centre was rapturous. Fans danced in the aisles,
the Rattlers’ players embraced, and the Venom Girls slalomed smilingly between
them. The Rattlers hadn’t just won the game—they had won a good game. You
could see it in their faces—all of them bearing beaming slit-eyed grills to a
man. And thanks to that revivifying power that comes from even just being
at a good game, the fans filed out into the cool August night in a boisterous ecstasy.
It was a fitting end to an evening on which so much good had happened. Between
honoring the first responders, having an NHLer sink a promotional basket,
letting the mascots attempt basketball, and then seeing the home side win on
their final shot to stretch their winning streak to five games, everything went
right in the Snake Pit on this night.
