We just returned from a five day family trip that started in New York City and ended with a couple days in Toronto. In December of 2022 we took our first trip to The Big Apple to watch Kentucky play in the CBS Sports Classic against UCLA at Madison Square Garden. Watching the Cats play in a city I always wanted to see and having it be the week before Christmas in New York seemed like the perfect time to visit. A good trip that would’ve been great if the weather would’ve cooperated (and we could’ve beaten the Bruins). Instead of the cold sideways rain we encountered in December, we dealt with temps in the 90s and the high humidity that comes with it in July. It made for some energy draining walks, but we were able to make it to some of the spots that we weren’t able to see on our first visit. Going up to the observation deck in the Empire State Building is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time so I was able to scratch that off of the bucket list. Since this getaway was going to end with watching UK Basketball in Toronto, I thought it was quite ironic, and totally random, that we ran into former Wildcat Jacob Toppin in Times Square. I mentioned that we were season ticket holders at UK and wished him good luck as he had recently been picked up by the New York Knicks.
After 3 days of crowds and heat in Manhattan we were ready to move on to Toronto. I had us booked at the Intercontinental downtown to make it a short walk to Rogers Center where we had tickets to the Blue Jays game that night. I could do an entire post about the crowd and energy at the Blue Jays game but there was one thing that I didn’t understand and not sure that I ever will. We had lower level seats on the first base side about midway between first and right field. After doing some pregame exploring of the stadium we headed towards our seats for the first inning. From the concourse I noticed a gathering of 40 to 50 fans at the top of our aisle. I had assumed there was someone needing medical attention or something of that nature and they were just clearing the aisle. It turns out that the usher holds everyone back from walking to their seats until the batter is done with his at bat. How ridiculous is this? Did they not want fans to distract the hitter? Nevermind the fact that there is a DJ playing, a giant video scoreboard showing whatever, and 50,000 fans screaming nearly nonstop. It’s quite a raucous atmosphere but somehow me walking back from the concession stand is going to disrupt the batter. This concept bugged me throughout the game(still does) as I would watch the aisles fill with fans when the next batter was announced. Other than that, I enjoyed our experience at Rogers Center including our pregame meal where we could watch batting practice from an enclosed restaurant in the adjoining hotel in left field.
Saturday was the event we had built our trip around. We had courtside seats to watch the University of Kentucky basketball team take on Team Africa in the Globl Jam at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. It was about a 10 minute Lyft ride from our hotel near the CN Tower. As we were being dropped off , I noticed the UK team bus on it’s way just around the corner. We stood outside with a group of about 25 WIldcat fans and greeted the coaches and players as they walked by. The last player off of the bus was Ugonna Uneyenso. This was the guy I probably had looked forward to seeing play more than anyone. Unfortunately, we had learned earlier in the week they he was doubtful to play due to a suspected ankle injury sustained in a pre Globl Jam scrimmage. When the big guy finally emerged from the bus I knew immediately that he wasn’t playing anytime soon. We held the door open for him as he entered the building on crutches and he was moving very slowly and appeared to be in a high level of discomfort.
As for the game, I found it to be very entertaining and competitive. We were expecting a much less competitive game considering the reports I had seen about UK’s first two games of the event. The courtside seats were great and gave us a good look at the physical nature of this particular game. I really liked the way our guys moved the ball as it never sat in one spot and always seemed to find the open shooter. Reed Sheppard and Tre Mitchell really stood out as far as guys moving the ball and finding the right guy. The Cats eventually held off Team Africa and pulled away late winning 104-92. The Wildcats topped off their Toronto trip on Sunday by beating Canada in the gold medal game. We will see if this fun style of ball movement will carry over into the season, or if it was just a product of playing without a big man in the post due to our injuries.
We were glad to get back home to our own beds on Sunday. We enjoyed both of our stops but may have found that three days of crowds in New York City was approaching our limit. All in all, it was good vacation for little family of three and a nice diversion from our typical beach vacation. I’m looking forward to getting back to more writing on the site and that some of that writing is about big wins for Kentucky football and basketball this upcoming season. Thanks for reading until then.
