Off the Chain: Skip and the Mix Tape Tour don’t disappoint
by Matt Somers

Had Marv Albert been present to see “50” bounce a ball off the shot clock to himself and then slam it home with authority he would have said something like “Yeeeesss! What a play!” Instead the task was left to the thousands on hand, who thundered their appreciation for such an awesome display.

This stupefying skill was commonplace at the Air Canada Centre on Friday, July 11. The AND 1 Mix Tape Tour had made its first ever stop in Toronto.

The entire night was an exhibition that would have made even the world-renowned Harlem Globetrotters stand up and applaud. The crazy off-the-head hi-jinx of big man “Escalade,” the giant leaps of “50,” the crowd-pumping enthusiastic antics of “Main Event,” the between the legs dribbling clinic put on by “Skip to My Lou”-all of it brought the crowd jumping to their feet. People pumped fists, some hooted and hollered, and others just let their jaws hit the floor in disbelief.

The AND 1 squad, cream of the American crop, took on local talent, picked out from members of Toronto youth. With players as young as fifteen on the floor, the home team was surprisingly able to keep up with the tour veterans. The final score of the game was 75-69 for the AND 1 boys.

But there was much more to this day-long event than the final showdown. It started with streetball tournaments outside the ACC entrance and continued with games of spot-the-celebrity as the day wore on. In attendance at the front row centre court VIP table were rappers the Rascals, Kardinall Offishall, Choclair, Brass Munk, and In Essence. Five members of the Toronto Argos also came out to watch the streetball stars.

The concept of the AND 1 tour was given life by streetballers with unconventional talents on neighbourhood basketball courts all over North America, most notably the famed Rucker Park in New York City. This is the court that spawned Toronto Raptors star Rafer “Skip to My Lou” Alston, who, before being drafted, was the first non-NBA star to have his own shoe endorsement.

In fact, Rafer was the first player signed by the AND 1 Mix Tape team, and it was a tape of his acrobatics in 1998 that got the AND 1 brass thinking about a Globetrotter-esque travelling exhibition that has become an annual event across the continent.

As a brief aside, Alston all but confirmed he wishes to stay with the Raptors in the near future. He is a free agent this summer but declared “I hope to see all of you fans out here at games during the season.” That Alston wants to make Toronto his home for another year elicited the largest round of cheers from the over 8,000 at the ACC.

Copycat Nike looking to keep it real
by Kit Scotchmer

There were two battles on Sunday, July 13. The first was the inaugural Canadian Nike Battlegrounds one-on-one tournament, which took place at Trinity Bellwoods Park. The second was waged between the biggest athletics corporation in the world and a tiny sneaker company called AND 1, whose Mix Tape tour took place the preceding Friday. It was AND 1 who started targeting streetballers as part of their marketing strategy, and now Nike is trying to do much the same thing.

Unlike the AND 1 tour, Nike’s tournament featured only Toronto players. In an effort to obtain those lacking in street credentials, local players were invited to participate in the initial elimination rounds held several weeks ago. The field was then boiled down to the eight best.

For Nike, it was a chance to hype their hip-hop, “playground-inflected” battleground brand products (shoes, shirts, hats, etc.). For the players, it was a rare chance to make their mark.

In the entertaining final, crowd favourite Phil Dixon picked apart opponent Kevin Shand from the three-point line. Shand’s size couldn’t help him down the stretch, and he missed three easy dunks from inside.

Dixon won three rounds to earn the crown “King of Toronto,” and he walked away with $10,000, a one-year Nike shoe contract, and a medallion. Nike Canada will also refurbish a local court in the winner’s name. “The chance to give my neighbourhood a refurbished court is the best way to thank the people who supported me,” said an ecstatic Dixon.

For Nike, the success of the campaign was victory enough. “This event has been embraced by ballers and Toronto’s urban community as an authentic streetball battle,” urged Nike brand initiatives manager John Harper. Spectator Kevin Jones disagrees with a shrug. “Naw man, it’s just advertising. But we get to see some great streetball.”

Mr. Dixon, the new “King of Toronto,” now heads to New York City to battle other cities’ champions in the King of Kings tournament on August 9, 2003.