Sunday, November 30, 2008 - Gift of Gab

-Sorry for the lack of content, it's that time of year again for college students, so expect a decrease in attendance from yours truly.
-Even after being stuck in an elevator for 50 minutes, Chris Bosh had another all-world performance, scoring 30 points, pulling down 10 rebounds and dishing out 7 assists, in the Raptors win over the Hawks.
-Lebron James' response to Sir Charles, "He's Stupid." Weak.
-Someone send the Pittsburgh (AP) a memo to follow their team a tad more closely, and particularly, their heralded saviour.
-Idiot of the week: none other than the Giants' Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg in a Manhattan nightclub, and his teammate hid the weapon afterwards...there goes the Giants' dream season.
-It's been while since I've made a Blue Jays comment, so here it is, a typical Riccardi move - it's AJ Burnett or bust this offseason, apparently, likely meaning it could be Jesse Litsch of Burnett as the #2, neither of which is exactly music to my, and I'm sure any fan's ears.
-Strange that free-agent Ben Sheets has received little mention in the busiest time of the year with regards to baseball and even sports in general, the off-season. How AJ Burnett is garnering so much attention is beyond me - I mean, he's older and just as injury prone, yet demanding more of the green paper.
-Seeing as the Brian Burke situation is semi-official, you can expect a lot of unnecessary anti-Euro gab coming from Don Cherry in due time...
-If this doesn't say something about the Warriors defence, or lack thereof, I don't know what does.
-Don Garber says that the next expansion franchise in the MLS will cost $40 million, which is 4 times the amount Toronto FC (now worth $44M) was, and that now the average value of a team has risen to $37 mill.
-The Raptors visit LA tonight to entertain Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, who are 12 point favs according to Vegas. Good way to pick up some spare change just in time for Christmas.

Moving onto videos unrelated to sports, an oldie but a classic, Aries Spears doing a medley of your favourite hip-hop artists:

Thursday, November 27th, 2008 - Just Another Day at the Office

-The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed two pitchers from India, Dinesh Patel and Rinky Singh, neither of whom played baseball a year ago. There's a franchise headed in the right direction...
-Just another day at the office for Chris Bosh.
-I just love Lunchtime Laughs, here's a classic line by them recently: "The trade between the Knicks and Clippers is on hold after New York had some concerns with the physical given to Cuttino Mobley. Apparently doctors found that Mobley isn’t really LeBron James, the guy Knicks fans seem to think they traded for."
-The NFL will broadcast the Chargers-Raiders game live in 3-D next week in theaters in LA, Beantown and NY. Who would pay to see this? Only a fool...
-Doug Flutie has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the Argos' quarterba...head coaching job.
-Early this week, Michael Vick pleaded guilty in a move that would put his release date from the pound as July 20th, 2009 or potentially earlier. How Roger Goodell handles this and Vick's status is up in the air.
-The Anaheim Ducks have have just five players signed on for the coming year, meaning a tonne of cap space, also that you can expect at least a couple of Brian's "boys" coming to the Leafs.
-In an attempt to stay remotely relevant, the Pro Bowl is going to be now scheduled before the Superbowl rather than after...
-For those who missed it, the Globe and Mail's Michael Grange on the inevitable Sam Mitchell axing. When the time does come, I just hope that the Raptors reserve the rights to his tailor. See image to the right.

I think Ryan O'Byrne might have been confused when his coach said, "A good defense is a strong offense."

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - Beat a Dead Horse

-Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon, Jermaine O'Neal and Anthony Parker are on the All-Star ballot this year. As per usual, yours truly will also be sending in a write-in for the Shimmy - a telling sign of how meaningful this game is to myself and any true fan of the game.
-Mats Sundin has sold his home for $5.7 million dollars. You can now scratch the Leafs off of the list of potential teams.
-Tim Lincecum picks up the NL CY Young award after his 18-5, 2.62 ERA and league best 265 strike-outs. I would have preferred a winning pitcher from a winning team, but still well-deserved.
-Sam Mitchell's reasoning of not utilizing Bosh more in the game against the Celtics was that they were using their best player as a "decoy" for others to score. Brilliant and flawless X and O's once again Smitch. By the way, time is definitely not your friend, my "friend".
-Quiz time. Which of the following athletes has a Barack Obama inspired tattoo on their left hand? A. Chad Ocho Cinco; B. Gilbert Arenas; C. Terrell Owens; D. Ron Artest. The answer: Agent Zero.
-A soccer fan by the name of Shaun Allen, has been banned from attending games for three years after hitting a police horse. In court he was said to have "struck the horse and ran off", right in front of police after a confrontation with the fuzz. Real smart. Hard to decide who to give the idiot of the day award to, this tool or Sam Mitchell...
-The Atlanta Hawks have continued from where they left off after taking the Celtics to 7 games in the playoffs, they're now 6-0...while the Lake Show improve to 6-0 as well, after beating the Mavs.

Practice?

Wesnesday, November 5th, 2008 - Congratulations, Mr. Obama.

-Thus begins Barack Obama's legacy as the first African-American president of the U.S of A. How he'll do in the Oval Office remains to be seen, however the bar is set pretty low.
-Will Barack Obama be good for the NHL?
-Allen Iverson to the Pistons for Chauncey Billups and Dice. The first blockbuster trade of the season, although the timing is strange - just a couple of games into.
-Tony Romo is back practicing with the Cowboys and is optimistic about returning for their next game.
-Warning: completely disturbing topic. This is where I would 100% endorse Capital Punishment. Creeps like this don't deserve to live.
-Chris Bosh and Chris Paul were named NBA Player of the Week for their respective conferences. Both well deserved, putting up monster numbers in the first week, and leading their teams to wins.
-Mats Sundin will make his NHL comeback in one month...
-After losing to the Mavericks, the San Antonio Spurs are 0-3 for the first time since 1973.
-Winners of the NL Golden Gloves were announced today: seen here. 42 year old Greg Maddux notched his 18th. Surprisingly, not one Houston Astros player received one.
-Juicy rumour: the Angels planning on signing both Mark Texeira AND C.C Sabathia? Now that would be something, especially teamed up with Vlad and co.

07/08 End of Season Grades - Toronto Raptors

End of season grades for the 07/08 Toronto Raptors...

Sam Mitchell - C+
-With an upgraded roster, the Smitch somehow managed to do worse this season, than last year. A few losses here and there, and the Raptors realistically could have missed the playoffs. Poor play-calling, misuse of players (see: Jason Kapono), unorthodox coaching tactics (Bargnani and the silent treatment), inconsistent and often perplexing line-up changes, need I say more?

Rasho Nesterovic - B
-The team's best low-post defender but isn't getting any younger. Played awesome basketball when Bosh was out.

Chris Bosh - A
-The guy needs help. Period.

T.J Ford - B-
-Lost his job due to injury (Al Horford incident), and struggled in his return. Gets unwarranted slack for his PR and overall demeanor, mainly due to the media and typical fairweather internet fans.

Jamario Moon - B
-improved his shooting % and shot-selection greatly in the second half of the season. Needs to utilize his athleticism much, much more in the areas of slashing (went to the charity stripe once in a blue "Moon") and offensive rebounding.

Anthony Parker - C+
-Has clearly lost a step, and unfortunately, isn't the same Anthony Parker from last year. He should not be a regular starter, however; coming off the bench, he could serve as a solid rotation player.

Jose Calderon - B+
-The "Derek Jeter" to Ford's "A-Rod" personality. Improved in a lot of areas of his game, but still, a defensive liability. His A/TO Ratio is impressive, but at times, he needs to be more aggressive offensively on fast-break opportunities - whether it is 3-on-3, 2-on-2, whatever. In layman's terms, he needs to take more risks and not let the assist:turnover ratio impact his decisions.

Carlos Delfino - C+
-This year's Morris Peterson, in terms of consistency. When things were going well for him, he looked like a superstar, but when his shots weren't falling, he looked like a D-Leauger. Fell in love with the 3-pointer way too often but for what it's worth, for 2 second rounders, he was a steal.

Andrea Bargnani - C
-Struggled all season long (minus the first few games). Here's hoping for a "Brandon Roy" type break-out season next year for Il Mago. He's got the skills, and just needs the PT. Fans need to be patient with the kid, he's only what, 22? Call it cliche but big men DO take some time to develop.

Jason Kapono - B
-Underutilized due to Moon playing 30 minutes a night...

Primoz Brezec - D
-Picked up on the trade deadline day, for Juan Dixon. Not much of a need to resign him, other than for entertainment purposes in garbage time. The guy learned English through conversations with Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest (in his time as a Pacer) as well as Hip-Hop. Enough said.

Kris Humphries - D
-Another garbage time player. Needs to stop taking shots like he's Kobe Bryant. You're a role-player Kris, your job is to rebound, block-shots and do the dirty work for the other Chris, you know, our true franchise player. So get it through your head, you hack.

Joey Graham - D
-Has about as much confidence as a girl with a zit on prom-night, as well as a very low basketball I.Q. At this point, I've lost all faith in Joey. His brother Stephen Graham could probably outplay the guy. No doubt, he'll be cut this off-season.

Darrick Martin - D-
-D-Mart was done, plain and simple - it was about time he retired. Chucking is not an NBA skill.