Perhaps country music fan Mike Babcock is not familiar with Drake’s rap genre. Or he thought the subject was former Maple Leaf Drake Berehowsky.
Whatever, the coach was confused by a Toronto TV station’s question during Thursday’s conference call about the ‘Curse of Drake,’ specifically the singer’s losing record when he attends a Scotiabank Arena game as he did in his Leaf sweater Wednesday night.
As the Raptors’ global ambassador he’s often court side, especially around playoff time, but the Los Angeles Times extrapolated the angle with several instances in other sports — NCAA football, tennis and European soccer — where the Toronto native’s presence coincided with a loss by the team or player he was there to support.
And Italian soccer club AS Roma on Monday even banned players from socializing with the Toronto rapper as it tries to qualify for a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League competition.
It was all news to Babcock.
“I’ve heard lots of things since I’ve come here, but that’s one of the craziest things,” the Leafs coach said when asked his thoughts on the curse. “The game is played on the ice by us. There’s no curse whatsoever.
“Anytime anybody wants to come and support us, we’re all in.”
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