Kyle Lowry—He The North (Published in Sports Illustrated July 15, 2019)

Although I’ve had content featured on TV and online several times, there’s something special about seeing one’s name in print. I’m proud to say that I accomplished that for the first time this week, as my letter to the editor was included in this week’s Sports Illustrated! 🙌

After I read Chris Mannix’s phenomenal feature on Kyle Lowry, I was inspired to write a response to articulate my appreciation. For the piece, the player, the person.

Here's the version they published:

And for your reading enjoyment, here's the original, unedited version:

Celebrating 1 Year of Blogging at Just Droll With It! 🎉

Time flies!
It’s already been a year since I started blogging here at Just Droll With It.

Whether you’ve been reading since the beginning, or if it’s your first time visiting—thank you! 🙏

To commemorate the occasion, and to help new readers catch up, here are the Top 3 Posts you should read:


La Rocca-ing Around the Christmas Tree 🎄
 

Why You Should Read It:
✅ Reviews and rates three distinctly different desserts from La Rocca’s Christmas collection
✅ Pairs each rating with an amusing “Christmas Comparison Verdict” to help get you in a festive mood
✅ Contains some of the most dazzling desserts you’ll ever see


Sportsnet Slays with Provocative Pregame Raptors Hype Video 😮


Why You Should Read It:
✅ Deconstructs what made this provocative promo video about the Raptors so effective
✅ Makes the Raptors’ championship even more satisfying after understanding the demons they exorcised
✅ Incorporates Kawhi’s (in)famous laugh into the closing line


SanRemo's Stellar Donuts 🍩


Why You Should Read It:
✅ Spotlights SanRemo Bakery, which blogTO ranked as having some of the Best Donuts in Toronto
✅ Reviews three donuts, including one of their most popular ones: Nutella
✅ Employs an alternate rhyming structure for a more unique and entertaining experience


To ensure you don’t miss any future posts, you can subscribe by submitting your email address at the top right of this page (option available on desktop).

Thank you for reading!

Cheers,
Kevin

We The Champs! 🏆 I Am Happy. 😊

From my previous piece at the beginning of this remarkable Raptors season:

We should believe in ourselves, our team, our city,

Instead of dwelling on supposed inferiorities.

As Masai also wisely preached, “We should move past that.”

Kawhi had the first, let’s hope he also has the last laugh.

So, let's check how we did. Well, not only did our city believe in the Toronto Raptors, our country did too:

✅ Record price paid for an NBA Finals game 🎟️
StubHub's average price for Game 5 in Toronto was $2,223 per ticket.

✅ Record TV ratings 📺
For the clinching Game 6, 15.9 million unique viewers, or almost half of Canada tuned in.

✅ Over 50 Jurassic Parks across the country! 🙌
And one down south too in Rockford, Illinois, the home of Fred VanVleet.


As for Kawhi "Fun Guy" Leonard:
✅ Brought the Toronto Raptors its first championship, or as he calls it, "The Larry O-B!" 🏆
✅ Became one of only three players to win NBA Finals MVP for multiple franchises 🐐
✅ Lived up to his self-given "Fun Guy" moniker 😂
✅ Had the last laugh! From yesterday's parade:

The Finals Countdown ⏳

Somehow, waiting for the NBA Finals to start for the last four days have felt almost more excruciating than the last 24 years of being a Raptors fan!

Game 1's Giveaway Shirt (Photo via @Raptors on Twitter)

It's safe to say that one fan has been waiting with even greater anticipation. The Raptors reached the NBA Finals the first time. Based on an exorbitant exchange on the ticket resale market, this fan backed up the Brinks truck like this might be the Raptors' last time!

The average Canadian salary is $51,000. A fan paid a pulse-stopping $76,477.50 CAD ($56,876.77 USD) on StubHub for a pair of courtside seats for Game 1 tonight in Toronto.

People are (fairly) freaking out about this stratospheric sum of money, but I get it. There are scores of reasons why basketball is incredible. One of them is the opportunity for fans to be so close to the action. Most sports have some barrier between the fans and the game. For instance, there is glass (hockey), netting (baseball) and personnel (both types of football).

Basketball places fans so close to the court that they are practically rubbing shoulders with the teams. Or in Drake's case—literally!

On that note, here's hoping for a Finals free of incident and full of excitement! (And hopefully, a storybook ending to this magical season for the Team in the North! LET'S G🏀 RAP🍁ORS!!!)

Loving Longo's Copywriting 📝

A question I've been asked in an application and interview recently is "What brands inspire you (as a copywriter)?"

My answer? Longo's.

I love (copy)writing. <Waves while typing this 👋.> And I love food (I mean, you've seen my blog, right? 😛). So it’s easy to see why I love Longo’s flyers. Longo’s does a phenomenal job of being informative, entertaining and captivating with its copy, specifically its headlines. 

My favourite flyer from Longo's uses the headline “Now Here's A Daily Grind You'll Love” with multiple meanings to tremendous effect:

The primary meaning, of course, is to promote their certified Angus lean ground beef. The second, subtler meaning references the Labour Day holiday around which it was advertised. And the third, even subtler meaning: students about to go back to school embark on a grind of their own.

I have also adopted the phrase “a daily grind I love” as a mantra for why I changed careers — I truly love copywriting! Ultimately, when I see a Longo’s flyer, I know there’s a great chance that it will both interest and inspire me.

Jumped Through Hoops For These Froot Loops ⭕

(The title is in reference my two and a half hour commute (!!!) home from SanRemo Bakery.)

Froot Loops Donut +
Apple Fritters

You’ll notice there are only two different donuts in the box. That’s because at 3:38 pm on a Friday, that’s all that’s left. To wit, this was the second last Froot Loops donut.

(I decided not to review the Fritters because mine contained considerably fewer apple pieces than usual.)

The Froot Loops donut was one of the new items that I was dying to try. (The other was Zeppole but all the good flavours were sold out.) Along with Corn Pops, Honeycomb and Honey Nut Cheerios, Froot Loops formed the foundation of my childhood cereal consumption.

This colourful creation takes the same signature stellar SanRemo donut and garnishes it with a generous helping of Froot Loops. I went in expecting the donut to have a generic glazed icing. So it was a shock to my system to discover that it was Froot Loops flavoured!

It is also possible the shock was actually a result of the icing’s intensity because it was super sweet! Its potency was equivalent to the endmilk of a bowl of cereal comprised of 80% Froot Loops and 20% milk. In fact, it was so sweet that half a donut was more than sufficient for a single sitting.

I did enjoy how the crunchiness of the cereal pieces brought an added dimension to the donut. On a related note, I think that’s probably the source of sugar overload. Having both the cereal and the icing likely led to its loopy levels of sweetness.

So as the title of this post ponders: was it worth it?

For the Froot Loops donut alone, no.

However, when you factor in the fritters (still superb), cannoli and cookies which are not pictured (excellent and good), and the opportunity to catch up with an old friend (invaluable), then yes it was well worth the two and a half hour commute home.

Froot Loops Donut:

3.5 Added Dimensions out of 5

What's Wrong With Just Right 🤔

To commemorate National Cereal Day, I figured I would spotlight one of the most underrated cereals I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating — Just Right.

I still remember the first time I tried it. My first-year university floormate had kindly offered me some. After growing up on a steady diet of super sugary cereals, I have to admit that I was rather unimpressed by its appearance. One had to squint to see the sugared sheen on the glazed flakes. Plus, the presence of oat nuggets almost scared me off outright, as I conflated those to mean that it was “healthy.” (At that point in my life, a healthy cereal was about as appealing as an 8:30 am lecture!)

I voiced my concerns to him but he urged me to just give Just Right a shot. And am I glad I did! To say that I was pleasantly surprised would be an enormous understatement. Propelled by my below-the-floor expectations (inside joke — our floor was halfway underground), it immediately shot up my list of favourite cereals.

Although Just Right did not offer the overload of sugar I was accustomed to, this was a good thing. It occupies the sweet spot on the cereal sugar spectrum: it is neither bland nor super(fluously) sugary. Here is the sugar content per 100 grams to help put it into perspective:

Cereal                Sugar/100g
Plain Cheerios                4g
Corn Flakes                  10g
JUST RIGHT                  17g
Life                              20g
Honey Nut Cheerios      31g 

In terms of texture, there is an assortment of different shapes and sizes. The crispy corn flakes are by far the largest, while there are also much smaller flakes made of rice. Then, there are little crunchy oat nuggets too. This helps ensure that every bite is different.

Mixing with milk has both benefits and drawbacks. As with many cereals, it can quickly become soggy and compromise its terrific texture. On the bright side, Just Right's aforementioned optimal sweetness helps ensure an equally enjoyable endmilk.

So since Kellogg’s got all the key aspects of this cereal Just Right 🙃, what’s wrong with it then, as the title of this blog post questions? Well, no one has ever heard of it, let alone tried it! And after doing some quick research (including consulting the preeminent voice in cereal reviews), Just Right does seem to be universally under-consumed. To wit, to this very day, my floormate and roommate are the only ones I know who have eaten it!

So now it’s my turn to do some urging. You can help right this wrong by getting Just Right!

4.5 Pleasant Surprises out of 5

(images from Kellogg's Canada)