I love basketball. Some time in my pre-teens, it overtook baseball as my favorite sport and was a big part of my youth. #14 PG for Charles P. Allen High School 1998-2000. Opting my music career over a shot at the NBA, I’ve always kept it close: pick-up games wherever I can find them and I get riled up over just about any close match I watch.

Today I will be playing in a charity basketball game with a handful of other Canadian athletes and music-types. Some info from the official Juno Website…

Juno Hoops 2011 is the first-ever celebrity basketball game in support of MusiCounts – Canada’s national music education charity associated with CARAS. Featuring three-time World champion and Olympic double gold medalist sprinter, Donovan Bailey; Max Kerman, lead singer of The Arkells; J.E. Skeets & Tas Melas, co-hosts of The Basketball Jones Show on The Score; DJ Future the Prince (Drake’s official tour DJ); and Skratch Bastid, first-ever DJ to be nominated for a Juno Award (Producer of the Year, 2008).

Tanya Kim, etalk Anchor, is one of two honourary guest coaches for Juno Hoops, and she’ll be paired with either Roy Rana or Charles Kissi, head coaches of the Ryerson Rams men’s and women’s varsity basketball teams.

Other celebrities on board include Toronto Raptors game-day host and hype man, Mark Strong, and renowned urban music producer/promoter Kid Kut. DJ Garrick Estwick (Roots Canada) will provide the game-day beats throughout the event.

Other participants: R&B star Ray Robinson; former professional player and UMAC president, Will Strickland; 2007 Juno Reggae Award nominee, Trinity Chris; award-winning spoken word poet, Dwayne Morgan; DJ D.O.C.; media personality Devo Brown; Michael Grange, and mas band leader Dwayne Pitt.

Twenty players on two teams will compete for the inaugural Juno Hoops Trophy, with an MVP award given out to one player on each team. More participants will be announced prior to tipoff.

Right after the game, a special exhibition contest between two of Ontario’s top midget boy’s teams takes place between Toronto Triple Threat and the Mississauga Monarchs.

It’s today at 7pm at the Kerr Hall Gymnasium on Ryerson University Campus. If you’re looking for something to do on a Monday night, come on out and support a great cause! I’ll follow up with some pictures later this week.

After 9 shows in 10 days, it will be at least good exercise to burn off a few road calories. Wish me luck!

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