Greetings and salutations from Berlin. I’ve been here for a few days and am now just sitting down to get some stuff up on the site. Sorry for the delay, it’s just been a tad busy.

Anyways. Great article in yesterdays Wall Street Journal on Toronto, the hot attraction to Athletes. Here are some highlights:

“Toronto is a road trip just about every pro athlete looks forward to. Some say the city has a cool, international vibe that increasingly stands out. Some like the plentitude of cheap concert tickets—a boon for athletes with big posses—or the convenience of the must-be-19 drinking law. (Rookie guard DeMar DeRozan of the Raptors, who is 20, was ordering chocolate milk at dinner before his teammates told him the good news).”

Party town USA, I mean Canada! Yes, it is funny to be out on the town some late evenings to do nothing more than people watch. A good friend ran into Isiah Thomas one night, just BEFORE he found out his fate in a NY courtroom and, let’s just say that Isiah was being Isiah.

“Athletes get a warm welcome at the city’s relatively libertine gentlemen’s clubs which, according to a spokeswoman for the Toronto Convention and Visitors Bureau, tend to “clear out the champagne room” for visiting athletes. And it helps that the tentacles of the tabloids and gossip Web sites rarely extend this far into the frozen north. “People like to come here to party,” says Raptors power forward Chris Bosh.”

Damn! We got libertine gentleman’s clubs?????????? How nice that our CVB is telling the press that the champagne rooms are cleared out for athletes too….

“Since the Buffalo Bills began playing annual games at Toronto’s Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome) in 2008, an increasing number of NFL players have started passing through “the 416,” which is the city’s area code. Baseball players, who’ve been coming here since 1977 to play the Blue Jays, have good memories.”

Wait, wait wait… you mean the athletes aren’t hanging in the 647 or passing through the 905?????

“Jarrett Jack, a Raptors guard, says the “mix of people” in Toronto is far more interesting than he sees in most NBA towns. “One girl told me she’s from Hungary and Chile—I’m like, how does that happen?” says Mr. Jack. “You kind of go outside the box here.”

See, now I think Jarret Jack’s got it all wrong. I think she said she was hungry for some chili!

“At the center of much of the city’s athlete nightlife is an event planner and promoter named Mona Halem, a former employee of the Air Canada Centre, which is home to the Raptors. Ms. Halem has become “notorious” throughout the sports world, says Raptors forward Antoine Wright, for assembling attractive party guests to fete nearly every franchise that comes to town.

Last week, around midnight, not long after they’d checked into their hotel, several members of the New York Knicks put on expensive sweaters and hailed cabs to Tattoo Rock Parlour, a club in the city’s “Queen West” neighborhood.

Knicks rookie Toney Douglas, who was descending the hotel elevator in a sparkling diamond necklace and a puffy vest, said he never goes out before games and isn’t a fan of cold weather, but had heard from friends that Toronto, “party-wise,” was one city worth making an exception for. “It’s something different – it’s another country,” he said.”

OK, now raise your hand if your wondering if Ms. Halem is familiar with one Tiger Woods?

“Darren Sanders, the director of security for the Baltimore Ravens—a team that hasn’t even played in Toronto—says his team was told recently about the growing popularity of Toronto among athletes, and about her role in making it so. “She is definitely on the radar,” he says.”

Now that’s funny. Can you imagine that the Baltimore Ravens who never come here have a Toronto party girl on their “radar”????? Paging Mr. Woods, anyone???? Mr. Tiger Woods….

Sorry I don’t have the link to the article, reader Neil sent it to me via email, if you want to read the rest, and it’s pretty damn funny, it’s entitled “Why Pro Athletes Love Toronto Chic, Discreet and Increasingly Party-Filled, Canada’s Sports Hub Permits Jocks to Cut Loose”

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

I know, I’m an idiot for listening. It’s my own fault, I am, to a degree addicted to sports radio. I’ve said it before (get ready, you may see that a few times again) but I know it isn’t keeping sports talk fresh and interesting day in and night out. A member of my family has been banned from talking about sports because that’s all he does talk about- he has had to sit silently at meals cause he can’t talk sports. So I get that it’s hard and I respect the jobs that those in the biz do. I just wish that there were certain things that were done better. I am, I hope, the first to admit a screw up too by the way… I know I am not perfect either.

So here’s what has me peeved. Leading off tonight is the Bill Watters show. Actually, it’s Bill Watters. I’ve said it before (I warned you), but the guy is so full of bias on so many issues that he should be disallowed from talking about certain subjects(like that family member of mine!). Bill Watters can’t speak about the owners of any team in this town without spewing his bias. His arguments get more and more insane and annoying every time he goes there. Doesn’t matter if it’s MLSE- the Argos boys or Rogers. He just shouldn’t go there. He sounds like a bitter, bitter ex-employee or father of a terminated son. No one wants to hear that AND it makes the old guy so much less credible on other issues.

I’m not defending the Argos by the way, that franchise has dug such a hole and the league’s solution sounds much like filling it in with quick sand. How does anyone take anything that the team is doing seriously while the ownership issue is hanging out there? Seriously, why or how could anyone spend 2 cents on a single game ticket for this team let alone a package or season tickets? There is supposed to be a level of trust between ownership and it’s fanbase, that trust has been totally abused by the Argos.

Down the dial at the Fan things weren’t any better tonight. Kevin Allen was on Twitter around 7pm predicting that a deal with Kovalchuk was imminent. Then around 7:30 the actual deal started to circulate on Twitter. As late of 7:55 the night shift guys at the Fan590 were asking callers whether or not Canada would win Olympic gold????? IF they mentioned twitter, Kevin Allen or the trade I certainly didn’t hear it. Now, if you are going to be talking sports all day, at the very least they should be up on this type of thing. No Toronto team played tonight. It’s not like there was a bigger story tonight. I don’t understand why our only all sports station wasn’t all over this.

As Mike S. pointed out, I was wrong on my facts with the Edwards interview from the day before. I would love to blame the pain medicine, but I am not on any! In any event, take a read at this great article by the Bruins (perhaps homer) play by play guy- I think it’s great.

Sooooooo, Tampa Bay appears to be sold. Who’s next? Reports are rampant that the Dallas Stars couldn’t make payroll and the league was having do so for them. WOW- Where does it end? For more on that story read this excellent review. Does anyone know if the sale of the Lighning pays of the folks with the Detroit Pistons? Hmmmmmmm.

While on the topic of bias on the radio, did anyone listen to Richie Rich MacLean today? His chatting about a new mercedes was annoying enough but to listen to him go on about his old team??????? I kept praying for a transformer to go out at the Rogers campus.

Meanwhile, if you want to feel sorry for someone today, it should be those who are fans of the Atlanta Thrashers. Talk about an abused fan base! How many time does management allow high quality guys to walk for near nothing? Have these guys never thought about being proactive, dealing from a position of strength??????? Man oh man. There is a group of folks who have been loyal to that team and there doesn’t seem like there has been a lot of reciprocity. Check out this article- it tells it like it is.

That’s all I got….

Happy Friday…

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Many of you have emailed me about a twitter dialogue I had with Greg Brady a couple of days ago. As you know, I have been riding the local print media to shine the light a little brighter on the Toronto Raptors. Last Monday, after their big home win vs. the LA Lakers the Toronto Sun buried the Raptors on page 6. Mr. Brady’s point was, to summarize, that this is a Leafs town first, it’s suicide to cover the Raptors ahead of the Leafs until the Raptors win a playoff round and that regular season NBA game of a mediocre team didn’t demand more attention than the AFC/NFC title games.

All that Brady has said is in fact true. When he says that the Raptors haven’t won a playoff round in 15 years, he’s right. Their road record sucks, as he says it does. This was just one game in January. All true, and he is in fact entitled to his opinion.

Personally, I like Michael Grange’s take this morning:

“Regardless of what happens the rest of season, the Toronto Raptors have accomplished something vital by pulling themselves off the NBA scrap heap in the space of six crisp weeks.

They’ve made themselves relevant.”

Well, if the Raptors totally crumble and return to their earlier ways then it’s all for not. Having said that, in a town where our hockey team is so bad that Brady and Watters debated why people would even go to a home game, at the very least the Raptors are still playing meaningful games. Does that mean a whole lot? NO. Does it mean that I may actually follow their games- YES. We citizens of Loserville only want a team that we can actually watch around the midpoint of the season. Our iced prodcut hasn’t really been to that level in years. Their hardwood brothers are there right now.

“Last night, the Air Canada Centre was rocking again as an energized crowd of 18,265 came out to see the Raptors duel Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat, three days after the home team defeated Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in front of one of the biggest crowds in franchise history. ”

Look, their is a buzz starting to be generated about this team. If this were, I don’t know a lesser team, would the ACC have been filled tonight????? Good question. Let’s see what happens over the next little while. It is a nice change to see a team in this town put together a string of wins though.

“And while any basketball fan would be entertained watching Wade weave, slither and explode for 35 points and 10 assists, a Raptors fan could take heart that – as they have almost every night since early December – their club competed and for the most part had answers.

The result was a 111-103 win that improved Toronto to 17-9 since their season-low point last Dec. 4. ”

Ya see, people say Leafs fans are pulling their hair out over the teams performance therefore a real rebuild wouldn’t be tolerated. That’s utter nonsense. It’s not the losing that bothers me. It’s the way in which the team is losing. The Leafs haven’t for the most part competed. If the Leafs were comprised of younger players who busted their butts night in and out and lost, that would at least be hope. We get none of the that right now.

“You want to become part of the conversation in your local sports market? How about winning 11 of your last 12 games on home court?

Last night, Toronto (24-22) did it in pleasing fashion. ”

I agree, it is something to take note of. In Brady’s defence, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and pat ourselves on the back yet. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it while it lasts. It’s a hell of a lot more interesting to watch and talk about than which Leaf player floated the night before isn’t it. The Leafs these days are like a part of the Festivus ritual, the one where we tell someone all the ways they have disappointed us in the past year. Except with the Leafs we can do it about the previous night’s game.

By the way, most of the Toronto Sports Media personalities who are on twitter have really embraced it. They are not only commentating on twitter, they are part of the conversation. As a fan, I think that’s awesome. Guys like Brady do a phenomenal job on twitter.

So we here at TSM had a chance to speak with a very deep pocketed individual who happens to own a part of a professional sports team in one of the professional leagues (not NHL). We suggested to this person that they look hard at the Tampa Bay Lightning as it could be a good acquisition for this person, who has the wherewithal to pay cash for the team if it were for sale. The response was very telling. Basically, we were told that this person loves hockey, one of their favorite sports and at one time they considered buying a team. However, it won’t happen. The NHL, according to this person has “the worst TV deal and leadership (commissioners) in professional sports. Until both of those things change, “I have no interest”.

So, the Argos owners are looking to David Braley to buy them out, or so says the Globe and Mail’s David Naylor. I remember when I was younger having to explain to my American friend that there were other teams in the CFL than those named Roughriders. How the hell do you explain that own guy can own 2 teams in the same league when there are only 8 teams? Say this for Braley, 1/4 are great odds when it comes to winning isn’t it.

I love that Jamal Mayers and Exelby have asked to be traded. Don’t ya think that if Brian Burke could have he would have already?????

From Montreal

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Grange is here

If I were in a US market where the non traditional hockey team was making strides and the traditional basketball team were down in the dumps again, I would hope that the local press would shine the light where it is deserved.

We consumers in this town let the sellers of information off to light. Our beloved Toronto Maple Leafs lost there last three games to bad teams in Atlanta, Tampa and sunrise. Our basketball team won it’s last 2. yesterdays game was fantastic, a nail biter down to last shot against the league best LA Lakers. The ACC was buzzing like a Mapl Leas playoff game. The Toronto Sun had the Raptors on page 6 of the sports page! Page freaking 6!

That’s after the leafs and the NFL. Now, you know I love the NFL. I want a team here. The same paper that editorializes on the failure of the games that have been here now puts a league that in their own words can’t make it here ahead of the NBA Toronto raptors???? When they are finally making noise!!!!!!

That’s messed up. Again, I love the leafs, I’m a huge NFL fan, but our one hope for any type of success may be on the brink and page 6??????

It’s unacceptable.

I love that the Vancouver Canucks aren’t talking to HNIC over pompus Ron gate. I’d love to see the Raptors do the same to the Sun, but the Raps need the attention.

We fans have to demand better quality.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

I am not well enough versed in NBA to tell you the how or the why or to wax eloquently about the nuances of the game. I can tell you this, I sat and watched the entire Toronto Raptors/ LA Lakers tilt and for the first time in a LONG time I can say that those who spent their bucks on tickets at the ACC got every pennies worth. What a game!

I am pretty sure the Raptors didn’t lead until late in the 4th quarter and then Kobe had the final shot at the buzzer to win it all. What more do you want? Is it a title game? No. Is it a championship? No. It’s not even a playoff round win. What it is, I hope is the start of some mainstream coverage and perhaps, a little more attention.

Let’s allow swallow hard and realize there isn’t anything remotely interesting about the Maple Leafs right now. The game in Florida, like the one in Tampa and Atlanta were painful. Baring a major shift, there will be no intrigue until the deadline. Sure Brian Burke may wish someone would deal with him now or before the Olympics, but let’s get real. Would you pull the trigger to get any of these guys early? I certainly doubt there are too many GM’s out there saying if we only had a Poni on our team…..

The day after the deadline in Toronto will likely be the last time before the end of the season there is much to talk about of any real significance. I mean they may play a good game here or there, maybe there will be a new face from time to time to talk about. Why don’t we all get behind a team that could be on the verge of something. No gurantees, but hell I like their odds better than the Leafs especially when it comes to providing value for the hard earned cash we’ve all been wasting on the buds.

No one game doesn’t mean a whole lot. This team is exciting to watch, and for the most part they are at least in most games they play with a good shot at winning. Something we haven’t been able to say about the other teams in this town for a LONG time. Way to go Raps!

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

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

On FAN 590 Tonight:

4:10 Michael Grange

4:25 Elliotte Friedman

5:25 Eugene Melnyk

5:45 Dan Shulman

6:06 Don Banks

6:30 Sean Cullen, Comedian in studio

6:45 Tom Tebbutt from Australia

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

- Tom Kurvers

- Rob Higgins, fantasy hockey expert

- Jay Triano, head coach of the Raptors

- Jolly Jonas Siegel from Florida 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

What a difference a day makes. Bruce Arthur takes the seat from John Shannon and voila, you have a co-host with some depth. Hell, the show was listenable again. Prime Time Sports was much improved tonight. Shannon and Kelley were replaced with Arthur and Blair and suddenly their was some humor, some insight and well a show worth listening to.

I have had the debate with others as to the value of the hosts vs. guests when it comes to sports radio. I’ll say this, If the hosts aren’t good I don’t care who they are interviewing the show is going to suck. A good host can save a bad guest, but the inverse isn’t true. I, and I am pretty sure I am the minority here do turn in for the guest over the host. I prefer listening to Brady and Wilbur as a choice. However, if their guests don’t interest me, I am done. Similarly, if Kelley is the co-host, it’s unlikely I am going to be listening to Mccown. This isn’t news I know, but the battle between the shows will come down to the guest. It’s not over the local guest either. Burke, AO and Colangelo all appear on both shows. There is no real race for getting the guest first, it’s the interview that matters. I don’t care who has Paul Kelly first, I care who gets him to say the most.

Speaking of Jeff Blair, did you catch his latest column on the Maple Leafs? It’s a dandy!

“But losing to another bad team – and doing so in the manner in which they did last night, blowing a 2-0 lead to the Atlanta Thrashers in front of a crowd that was considerably less than the 10,208 announced – also reinforces something about this team. It is susceptible even to clubs with just one really good player. Whether it’s in-game coaching decisions or preparation, it is nights like last night that make it impossible to view the 2009-2010 season so far as being anything other than a step backward – or at least an uncertain step sideways. Can’t beat the best if you can’t handle your fellow dregs. ”

Come on now, doesn’t that echo what we all say most mornings after another Maple Leaf loss? Blair hit this one right on the head.

“No serious questions have been answered. Most people knew Vesa Toskala was at best a backup on a mediocre team; nothing’s changed. He is a rally-killer, wholly unreliable. Other than Phil Kessel, the Leafs are a collection of middling forwards and third and fourth defencemen. But, hell, you know all this, don’t you? The Leafs know all this, too. Nikolai Kulemin and Tyler Bozak have, along with Kessel, formed a decent first line but ask yourself this: Do you want that to be the Leafs’ No. 1 line next season? Really? Uh-huh. Thought so. ”

Therein lies the problem with our Maple Leafs. The question I have for you is, do you think Brian Burke knew this and expected it. Does he know for example, that for right now his biggest enemy is time. It’s going to take a lot of time to turn this around. He gets a long contract because he knows just how long it will take to get to meaningful hockey games.

“It’s time for a fresh voice to explain these losses, because players are tired of answering questions and reporters are tired of asking them. They can only say, “We suck,” so often. ”

It is refreshing to hear Wilson talk so candidly some time about the lack of talent. It certainly beats hearing the coach say that he has never been surrounded by a more talented group. Who should the voice of this team be? Right now there is no player. It’s why there is no captain They lack leadership and character.

Mike Danton, sports fans is holding a press conference tomorrow. Do us all a favor and ignore it. This guy is a total piece of crap and to no one should give a rats behind what he has to say. The odds of me every watching a CIS game just went from slim to none.

i know I know Jack about NBA basketball, but am I correct that when your best player puts up 44 points, you have to win?? While on the subject, riddle me this batman, have you ever seen a less interested athlete than Hedo Turkoglu. Seriously, look at the guy’s expression on the court- He looks more intense in those pizza pizza commercials! Am I wrong?

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Blair is here

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

It started as an innocent call to the Fan 590. A guy called in complaining about the coverage the Toronto Raptors get on the Fan590. The caller alleged that everything the Toronto Maple Leafs do is over-hyped and nothing the Toronto Raptors do is every hyped. His point was that the Leafs play of late has the media in a buzz, while no one talks about the Raptors except in a negative tone.

Taking the call was Eric Smith and Jack Armstrong. Part of Smith’s response was that, on a no name basis, there are those in the Toronto Sports Media who aren’t as big of fans of the Toronto teams as others.

Smith, in case you don’t know, is an active participant on Twitter (you can follow him at @eric_smith). So I, being the curious type, sent him a tweet asking him to, on a no name basis to expand upon his comment. Now, I have said this before but the one area, in my opinion anyway where Twitter is really useful is making guys like Eric Smith, (you can add in many sports media personalities here, especially on the local beat) accessible to us fans. Now I guess, prior to Twitter, I could have emailed Smith if I had his email address and maybe he would get it, and maybe he would have read it. Personal experience has shown that as long as you aren’t a total dink and are the least bit insightful most of the sports personalities in this town will indeed respond to you. In this case, what ensued was pretty cool, all things considering. Smith explained that in his opinion there are members of the local media (not on the Raptors beat) who don’t want other sports (hockey being the exception) like basketball and baseball to succeed here. He and I then went back and forth several times to the point where he invited his Raptors broadcast partner Paul Jones (@paul_jones) to the conversation.

The three of us discussed the issues for several tweets and the take away I got was that there is a genuine belief by those in the media, that other non-Raptors media types don’t respect basketball or the Raptors the same way that they do the Maple Leafs and hockey. Jones said that things are better today as opposed to the past, but still one gets the sense there is some bad blood in the media towards the dinos and those who cover them.

It got me to thinking, and who am I to suggest that these guys are wrong, they are living it, they know who their breathern are and who may have the hate out for what they do better than I. Are those in the media really anti-bball/Raptor or is there more at play? Are the Raptors getting a bad rap from the local media?

So here is what I think, and I am curious to know if I am on or off base.

The Raptors have been around since 1995. They have made the playoffs 5 times over those 15 years. They have advanced past the first round one time.

I would like to think that winning solves all problems. Not to point any fingers, but had this team been more successful then I think more people would be interested in covering them. This has been a team that has been all about the promise. There has been lots of hype, lots of enthusiasm but unfortunately for various reasons little in terms of wins.

Now, the Raptors do have an awesome fan base. The games are well attended and the Raptors blogs are some of the best around. There may not be as many Raptors fans as Maple Leaf fans, but man are the rabid. We have to remember that Jones and Smith were talking media not fans.

The second thing I have said many times about the MSM in this town is that they don’t talk basketball or Raptors because they don’t know it. How hard is it for us canucks to rip on Toskala for letting in a soft goal? Unless your real fan of the game it’s hard to make legitimate comments on what is or isn’t going on. Many who cover sports in this town don’t have that background. For them to start talking x’s and o’s in basketball when they don’t know what they are talking about would be, in a word bad.

Personally, what I think has happened is pretty interesting. When Colangelo arrived it was the first time a real NBA executive joined the team. It was like the Raptors became legitimate. I know Isiah was here early, but he had never done what he was doing in Toronto before. I know we had Lenny Wilkens, but a coach is different than a GM. Colangelo was viewed as the real deal. He has been given every benefit of the doubt since he arrived. Those who may have criticized him publicly or questioned his moves have been very quiet since he arrived.

Colangelo, arrived and was instantly successful. This early success added to the aura of BC. He almost became too successful too early. Expectations were too high. Imagine if after Brian Burke arrived last year the Leafs miraculously made the playoffs and won a round. Colangelo’s challenges since have, for the most part gone unmentioned in this town. The truth is, he has rebuilt this team, hired a coach, with little real result yet. His team this year has yet to find common middle ground. They are either at the top of their game or the absolute bottom. They are just never in the middle . That’s a tough nut to swallow for fans let alone the media. His team also seems to lack an identity. While Chris Bosh is the “the franchise” it isn’t like you see his face all over the city. This isn’t a knock on Bosh, more a reflection of this team… I think if they were in first or second place, going on 5-6 game winning streaks things would be different. If the team had more success, those in the media wouldn’t be able to ignore the success. The same way the Toronto Blue jays were the toast of the town jsut before and during their winning years.

So do the Raptors get a bad Rap? I don’t think so. I think that despite their 15 year history they are still a new team in search of their identity in the marketplace. If MSMers are balking at them, it’s because they don’t know the game, or they haven’t been forced to cover them as a result of winning. If the complaint is lack of coverage, isn’t that better than negative coverage? Yes, as Paul Jones said, silence is very telling, however, it is better than constant bashing or negativity. If the MSMers are doing that behind close doors, we wouldn’t know about it. I haven’t seen public evidence of what these guys speak.

To the fan who called in, I couldn’t disagree more. The Leafs, for as long as I can remember have been the whipping boy of the local media. The main reason I started TSM was that I felt and still do feel that man in the media are too negative about our teams all the time. The Leafs have been so bad for so long that any positives are magnified. The fact that they too have hired a proper GM for the first time in years is something to get excited about. When they couldn’t win a game early this year, I wouldn’t say the press was too positive (nor should they have been). The fact that the Leafs have fought back is remarkable. No one publicly predicted it. So is credit deserved for good play? Of course. The same way criticism was due during the first 20 games of the season.

Get the Raptors on a real winning streak, get them deep into the playoffs. Then let’s see what happens. Until then, at least publicly I think the jury is out.

Happy Saturday

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

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