Ok, so when I say this, I want to make it clear that I am not in anyway comparing sports to the tragedy of September 11. So for those who are going to go there, just stop.

I remember the time when a major news event happened when I used to stay up until 11:35 to see what Ted Koppel was going to say on Nightline. I knew Koppel would have the best guests and that was the way to get the best info. Fast forward x number of years to that dreaded day in September. There was no longer a need to wait up for nightline. CNN, MSNBC and whomever else covered the events of the day around the clock. The way we ingested and demanded news certainly has changed. Twitter has moved things to the news on demand realm.

The world of sports is no different. We used to have to wait for the morning paper to arrive (or for us to arrive at the subway station) to pick up the papers to get the facts and opinions we needed. Even as late as the last year we had to wait for the opinions from our favorite (or favorite to hate) to get memorialized in ink. Locally speaking, that has finally changed.

Consider that tonight at 10:01 Steve Simmons tweeted “Bryan Colangelo says – If you want to blame somebody for the Raptors, blame me – Read my column in Tuesday’s Sun …”

Or, you can read it now online at 10:02.

Dave Feschuk’s excellent opinion piece on the Raptors season was posted just moments before Simmons piece. Bruce Arthur’s Chris Bosh article that was in Monday’s paper similarly appeared Sunday night.

Point your browser over to search.twitter.com and enter the words Ovechkin suspended. You will find that before the suspension was made “public” by the league the Washington Post tweeted it, then published it and then the entire hockey world followed. Damien Cox first tweeted the news (a retweet of the Washington Post author Tarik El-Bashir post) and a little while later tweeted again that his opinion piece was now available on the Toronto Star’s website.

Thanks to twitter, RSS readers and feeds and incredible wesbites like Kuklas Korner the ability of fans to keep up to date in near real time is spectacular. For those of you who read this site on a regular basis are aware, I constantly say the NHL should buy twitter- I think it was made for the league. (yes I am saying it tongue in cheek). Consider that while the technology eyes are on SXSW this week, Twitter, during it’s presentation talked about, the little league that could:

“Twitter CEO Evan Williams showed off new technology Monday that lets content partners cleanly pull Twitter links and streams onto their Web site through JavaScript, instead of an API, but keep hush on advertising plans…..
…..Some features demonstrated by Williams at SXSW already exist. The National Hockey League (NHL) has been using a similar technology for months. In fact, the league attributes the technology to keeping fans glued to its site during the recent NHL draft picks.”

Don’t believe me yet…. Remember that little hockey game a few weeks ago between Canada and the USA?:

“Between 2:29 and 2:54 p.m. Pacific time, more than 3.5 million status updates were posted, which is twice the pace of the rest of the day.”

Back when I started this blog, the Globe and Mail was the leader in this new age era. They used to update their site nightly around 10 or 11pm with their feature stories for the next day. They, and the National Post left the Sun and Star behind. Now it appears that the tables have been turned. The Toronto Star has fully embraced the technology era. Their website, at least in the sports section is ever evolving. Not only do their writer write, they blog, live blog and tweet. The National Post and as evidenced by tonight’s Simmons column, Toronto Sun are slightly behind the Star. The Globe and Mail seems to have changed tactics, delaying the articles by their columnists a tad.

It’s funny that the Roy MacGregor writes a column this week that contains this gem:

“When newspapers start confusing “hits” with “circulation,” there is an undeniable danger to journalism.”

MacGregor is a legend. I am not sure there is a more well respected sports writer in the country. However, it says here that his column is off base.

“If, as increasingly appears to be the case in the uncertain world of Web publishing, traffic is what matters most – and may one day be the basis for figuring out how finally to make money out of Web content – then it only stands to reason that those working in the business will chase traffic harder than stories.

Why, given that traffic often increases when celebrity is involved, would a journalist risk a low-traffic day by introducing readers to someone they do not already know – regardless of how important that person’s story might be? ”

Is this any different in the electronic world as it was in the paper world?

I mean all that has really changed is that things are much more trackable. Do you think that what sells is different today then it was before? Rush Limbaugh didn’t need to track hits to know what would light up his switchboard did he? Al Strachan, John Robertson didn’t have the benefit of analytics to tell them what to write. I mean do we really need to watch Don Cherry to hear what he is going to say? Simmons Sunday column hasn’t changed one bit since the advent of the most modern technologies.

“An American friend who now does a daily blog for a major U.S. newspaper says he came to realize there were certain tricks to Web journalism that did not apply during his many years as a hard-copy reporter.

The key to increased traffic, he says, lies in striking the hot buttons almost immediately – if possible, right in the headline.

If you can get as high up as possible those magic names and phrases that incite the American public – Sarah Palin, the Clintons, Tiger Woods, global warming, anything to do with sex – then the thousands upon thousands who have signed up for alerts on anything to do with Ms. Palin, Mr. Clinton, Mr. Woods, climate change, sex will come flooding to your page.”

None of that is new. What’s new is that idiots like me now, if we are willing to take the time can publish our own opinions. What has changed is the reach. Mr. MacGregor’s friend the blogger hard copy days never got beamed out to the world. With the exception of a few publications, very few stories in local papers ever got national let alone international attention. The pallet has changed and the audience size has changed, the game hasn’t. How many articles in tomorrow’s papers will be good news stories? Do we watch adoringly at the smooth pace of traffic along the 400 northbound on a Friday evening? No, we rubberneck at the poor guy who has wrapped his car around a pole. All the same things sell. The difference is that clicks and hits have replaced the physical sale of a tangible piece of paper. People used to buy the paper for what they could expect to find inside. We knew what our certain reporters were going to say on a subject and we were prepared to pay for it. Now we point our browser to our favourite outlets and we pay by having our eyeballs scan leaderboards and skyscrapers on a page.

So, no matter your poison, you can now have access to it sooner. That’s a good thing. Even better, there are more people writing on subjects we care about every day who never had a voice now do. I have 92 feeds in my rss reader. The vast majority are blogs. Of those, almost all are written by people who never before had a voice. Those who write for clicks will find that eventually the cream rises to the top and the quick buck will in fact end. The good writers, professional or blogger will survive and remain relevant.

As for me, my brain is in about 4 different time zones right now, as Tomas Kaberle says, I need a maintenance day.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Bruce Arthur’s Bosh story is here
Dave Feschuk’s Raptors story is here
Steve Simmons’ Toronto Raptors story is here
Roy MacGregor’s technology/journalism article is here

Here’s your bikini of the day from GetABikini.com

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- Bob McCown’s co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Brunt
- Lester Munson from ESPN on NHL lawsuit vs. Phoenix Coyotes
- Bryan Colangelo
- Guy from Frameworth on popularity of Sidney Crosby memorabilia
- Dan Shulman
- 2 Members of the Arkells- Juno nominated band

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

Brian Lawton, GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning
- Jolly Jonas Siegel from the ACC to preview tonight’s Leafs-Lightning game
- hockey insider Pierre McGuire at 6:10
- show ends at 6:30 to make way for the Leafs pre-game show

Here’s your bikini of the day from getabikini.com:

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- Bob McCown’s co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Brunt
- Robbie Alomar
- Mike Keenan
-Other Conn Smythe dinner guests

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:
- Bryan Colangelo, GM of the Raptors
- Rob Higgins, fantasy hockey expert
- hockey insider Pierre McGuire at 6:10
- Lana Duke, owner of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse Toronto and a lifelong New Orleans Saints fan

Funny how winning takes the mind off of other issues. The Toronto Raptors who had nearly as brutal a start to their season as their sister franchise, Toronto Maple Leafs, have made a nice recovery. So to those of us who are little “f” fans the talk of Chris Bosh’s future in Toronto seems to have quieted down. Bryan Colangelo’s team has made it back from the near dead to the heat of the playoff race and one would think that given Cloangelo’s mantra of the best way to keep Bosh happy it to get him on a winning franchise, that there would be little chance of dealing Bosh now.

“What we did hear, though, is that the Houston Rockets have made it known that they would be willing to trade for Bosh immediately … even if they don’t get a guarantee they can re-sign him this summer.

That’s the problem with any sort of Bosh deal at midseason. Even if the Raps do decide they want to make Bosh available now and avoid the threat of losing him without compensation in free agency after July 1, there’s an overwhelming majority of teams that wouldn’t dare consider trading for Bosh in February without some sort of assurance they could keep him.

But Houston is different.”

So if the Raptors aren’t sure what to do, could they be convinced to deal him by the offer you can’t refuse? I have no intention of selling my house right now, however if someone rang my bell and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse I would call the good folks at AMJ Cambell to make me the move of the game PDQ.

“Sources say the ever-aggressive Rockets are sure a half-season in Houston could convince the native Texan to pledge his long-term future to a city players love as well as a team that sits four games over .500 without the injured Yao Ming and the exiled Tracy McGrady. The Rockets also have the requisite stash of young assets, as evidenced by their success this season without marquee names, to assemble a legit deal for Toronto to consider … and without insisting that McGrady’s mammoth $22.5 million salary has to be part of it. ”

So NBA Fanatics, what would it take from the rockets to deal Bosh? Shouldn’t Colagnelo be willing to listen to an offer on Bosh even if he hasn’t decided to deal him?

“You figure Chicago, Miami and New York also are on the short list of teams that would be willing to risk trading for Bosh before we get to the summer. Those are the teams thought to have the best shot at signing him in free agency and could inherit Bosh’s Larry Bird rights with a deal before the deadline. None of them, though, can offer a better talent deal than Houston. The Heat and Knicks — with their heavily stripped-down rosters as the countdown continues to July 1 — can’t come close.”

This is not an easy game of chess facing Colangelo. Bosh is his one trump card. Screwing this one up will set the franchise back for years. Being proactive and establishing the market early could be a huge advantage to Colangelo.

“I nonetheless was advised this week to expect Houston to make a hard Bosh push during these next 40 days if the Raptors invite it. Or perhaps even if they don’t invite it.”

I like Marc Stein and I think he is as credible an NBA writer as there is out there. He isn’t saying Bosh is going to be traded rather that Colangelo’s door bell could ring, question is, will he answer the door?

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Espn’s Marc Stein is here

Here’s your bikini of the day from bikinibeat.org:

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- Bob McCown’s co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Brunt
4:10-4:50 David Branch IN STUDIO
5:25 Bryan Colangelo, Raptors President & GM
5:42 Dave Van Horne, Former Voice of the Expos
6:06 Eddie Olczyk, NBC & Versus
6:30 Darren Rovell, CNBC
6:45 Bob Elliott, Toronto Sun

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

- Hockey Hall of Fame member Bobby Clarke

- Rob Higgins, fantasy hockey expert

- Jolly Jonas Siegel from Philadelphia to preview tonight’s Leafs-Flyers game

- hockey insider Scott Morrison at 6:10

- show ends at 6:30 to make way for the Leafs pre-game show

28 games in, 11 and 17. 11 games from the top, yet only 1 game out of a playoff spot. 9 games from the bottom. 4 and 6 in their last 10. Losers of their past 2. The one thing that we have learned from our ice friends is that teams with new components can take a while to mesh. Michael Grange in the Globe and mail has a good article looking at the Toronto Raptors and the tipping point they are quickly approaching. Grange points out that, “Through 28 games the Raptors have been blown out nine times already. Their average margin of defeat is 16 points. ”

This, as it sits today isn’t a good basketball team. I who know nothing about basketball now that. Grange goes on to talk about the difficult schedule the Raptors have faced and the necessity to give them time to prove themselves- coach included.

Here’s the question I have Raptors fans. They have changed the coach, they have changed most of the parts. The result appears to be the same. Am I wrong? Does Bryan Colangelo get another shot at another coach? Does he get another shot at changing the deck chairs? The guy totally rebuilt the team this past offseason, to the delight of most who cover and root for the team. What are the 2 constants in this every changing franchise? Colangelo and Bosch. Really, what else am I missing? BC said that the best way to keep Bosh was to build a winner around him. So much for that plan, at least so far right? What’s the next option? Should Triano go? Those who cover the team have been very very polite. Those who go to the games have been very very loyal.

So, the season isn’t over yet. There is time to salvage things. What should BC do? What can be done? What does a fan think?

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Grange is here

From the Toronto Sun’s Mike Ganter:

“As part of the club’s 15th anniversary celebrations, the Raptors are hoping to honour, of all people, Vince Carter on Nov. 22 when Orlando returns.

”Everybody wants to know how we can do it, but Vince is part of the history here,” GM Bryan Colangelo told the Orlando Sentinel. “Most of the people that he had problems with here are gone.”

Fans who love to bash Vinsanity may differ.”

Personally, I think they should do something, but I’m not certain the fans will really allow it. But seriously, people, can we really not celebrate the best player (by far) in our franchise history? At some point, just let it go. The majority of my best basketball memories involve Vince, and he took the team farther than it’s ever gone.

If it happens, people will boo… But should they?

What’s the right thing to do here?

And will you boo? Or cheer?

-DL

The Toronto Raptors announced today that Reggie Evans will miss the rest of the preseason with a left foot sprain. There is no specific target for his return – Hopefully he’s back for opening night.

In the meantime, the already soft Raps get a little softer. As outlined today by Scott Carefoot of RaptorBlog, teams rarely succeed when outrebounded on a nightly basis. Evans was one of the guys brought in by Bryan Colangelo to remedy that problem, but he’s headed to the sideline for a while. It’s bad news, but it also opens the door for another newcomer in Amir Johnson to step up.

Yes, technically Rasho Nesterovic and Johnson could both gain playing time, but in an ideal world, most of the minutes would go to Amir.

I say this because while Rasho will play a ton of minutes against big, lumbering centres, Johnson plays a more similar game to Evans. He makes hustle plays, he rebounds, and he even blocks shots (something Evans doesn’t do). Nesterovic will continue to play his expected role, but Johnson will have an opportunity to grab some of Reggie’s. As it stood before, I wondered how Evans and Johnson could possibly play enough – there just didn’t seem to be enough minutes to go around…But now, Amir will have his chance.

So far, Johnson has played better in extended minutes. He often takes some time to get going – a luxury I assumed he wouldn’t have during the season. Johnson still won’t play a ton of minutes, but he should have plenty more with Evans out. At the very least, he’ll have more than enough chances to prove himself throughout the rest of the preseason.

-DL

Things had gotten pretty stale around the Raptors lately. Once Bryan Colangelo finished with his offseason makeover, all we could do was speculate and look forward to the start of training camp. Well, it’s here, and two days in there are plenty of fresh stories in each local paper. At this point, nobody really knows what the team will look like on the floor, or how the new group of players will perform. Still, the local media has given the team plenty of love this week, and that’s an understatement.

Put it this way – After reading the stories from the start of training camp, I can’t find anything negative about anyone. From what I’ve read, every single guy is ready for a huge year, while Bosh and Turkoglu’s injuries are being glossed over. And now before anyone accuses me of being a “hater,” (a term I can’t stand), I should add that I expect good things from the Raps. This is more of a commentary on the media than on the players themselves – Again, nobody really knows how this team will play.

But check out the coverage:

From Doug Smith, this piece is yet another article raving about Marco Belinelli’s upside, while ignoring any and every fault in his game…. “General manager Bryan Colangelo raves about the kid, coach Jay Triano thinks he might be one of the big surprises of training camp, executive vice-president and Italian compatriot Maurizio Gherardini said “there’s something about him that’s different.”

Or this article from Frank Zicarelli on Antoine Wright. In case nobody realized, Wright was brought in for his defense. And he hopes to do a good job…mind blowing stuff.

Or this, from the National Post’s Eric Koreen, on Andrea Bargnani… “All signs point to continued maturation for the Italian seven-footer, whom the Raptors selected first overall in the 2006 NBA draft. In the off-season, Bargnani signed a five-year, $50-million US contract, so his mind should be at ease.” Well, I’m sure Bargnani’s mind will be at ease, but he sure as hell better perform. In case nobody realizes, the rest of the league has questioned Bargnani’s extension to no end, considering very good restricted free agents like David Lee have found the market pretty tough this year. In Toronto, though, everything is gravy.

And you don’t have to look far to find glowing first impressions of Reggie Evans and Jarrett Jack, along with pretty much everyone else.

Again, I’m not trying to say any of this is untrue. My point is that whatever you read during training camp needs to be taken with a grain of salt. This is the time when anything seems possible, when every team has playoff aspirations, and when new players are seemingly filled with unlimited potential – Remember the Jermaine O’Neal lovefest from last season?

With an entirely new roster, this was predictable, and a little enthusiasm never hurt anyone. Just remember to stay realistic – Until the team loses, nobody ever gets ripped.

-DL

Media Day is usually one for eternal optimism, and Toronto Raptors General Manager Bryan Colangelo simply couldn’t resist giving another confident prediction…

From the National Post’s Bruce Arthur:

“Bryan Colangelo cannot help himself. He’s a smart guy, and he knows that expectations can be dangerous. He knows that any words he speaks will be carved in stone, whether they’re definitive or not, and that anything less will be considered failure. He knows, because that’s what happened last year.

But the general manager of the Toronto Raptors is so excited he’s practically vibrating along with his ever-whirring BlackBerry. He’s proud of what he’s done. Go ahead, ask him what he expects from this team, nine new players and all. Then, sit back and watch.

“Expectations are obviously that we’re going to be much improved over a 33-win team last year. Beyond that, I’ve never been one to put a number on it,” Colangelo says. And you nod, sure.
“We clearly have an expectation and a desire to get back to the playoffs. But I want us to be in a position where we’re … challenging for advancing to the second round,” he adds. That’s a big goal for a team with nine new players and a first-time head coach, but Colangelo is rolling now, so you nod, sure.

“That means you’re probably putting yourself in a position for the fourth or fifth seed. How many wins does that take? The number doesn’t really matter, but I always want to beat something previously, and 47 wins is the franchise record, which we’ve done twice before now. I’d like to think there’s a way to beat that number,” he continues. OK, so he’s sort of putting a number on it now.

“If you look and say what’s it going to take to be a fourth or fifth seed, I think you’ve got to be at a minimum of 50 games,” Colangelo says, finally wrapping up. “So are you shooting for a target of 50 games? Yeah, I think that’s what we should be realistically looking at.”

Looking at the roster, and the flaws found within the improvements, this is certainly a bold, if not overconfident, prediction. The Raps might win 50 games – More likely, they won’t. Still, it’s not unreasonable, and Colangelo is clearly selling his revamped squad like a proud parent.

We won’t know about the win total for months – For now, I find Colangelo’s decision to make any sort of numbers-based prediction quite interesting. It’s a here-we-go-again statement from the GM, after telling fans that last year’s team was his best yet, “on paper.” If you’re Colangelo, why not talk about progress, optimism and future success without mentioning a win total? Will a 46-win team now qualify as a failure? For me, no. But for many fans, maybe.

On the other hand, many Raptors fans will remember hearing former GM Rob Babcock utter these words in 2005, after dealing Vince Carter and bringing a young, inexperienced roster to training camp:

“There will be growing pains, no doubt about it. Whether we win or lose more games than last year, I think if you look at us on paper, we probably will not win as many games as last year. We more or less have the same team back with the exception of Donyell Marshall, who was an integral part of our team last year. We’re replacing him with rookies.”

Babcock was ripped mercilessly for his honest answer. Was he supposed to spin the team as “solid on paper,” knowing full well he’d be lying?

Obviously, Colangelo finds himself in a totally different situation this year – The team is undoubtedly improved from last season and could easily have a win total in the high 40s. But there are still glaring flaws (rebounding and defense) that may hold the Raps back. I agree with Arthur that Colangelo truly believes in his prediction, but should he have made one?.

If Colangelo thought the Raps would only win 41, would you want him to say it? As a fan, would you rather hear talk of 50 wins, or of steady improvement?

-DL