7 Reasons Why 7-0 means something (and 7 why it doesn't)

So the Raptors are 7-0 in the preseason. Here's seven reasons why this means something (and thanks to petroleum-product based colleague Doug Smith for a couple of these):

David Cooper/Toronto Star

"Il più definitivamente."

Since the draft lottery, Bryan Colangelo hasn't lost. Except for John Salmons.

They're going to finish October ahead of the Leafs in W's.

Morris Peterson has learned to say "most definitely" in four new languages.

It'll be a hell of a lot easier to sell tickets next October with that Maccabi monkey off their back.

Eight more wardrobe changes for Sam Mitchell.

They went 3-5 last year, and look what happened in November.

Raptors Hardwood Classics needs something to show other than Game 7 against Philly.

And here's seven reasons why it doesn't:

Zach Randolph is leading the league in scoring (Troy Murphy is top rebounder).

It's the preseason.

It's the preseason.

It's the preseason.

It's the preseason.

It's the preseason.

It's the preseason.

Into the weekend: From Pro-Line to No-Line

Time to wrap things up, looking ahead to the annual exercise in masochism known around JABS Mansion as Browns Weekend. It's even supposed to rain. Joy.

But first, with all this idiocy at Queen's Park about outlawing online gaming advertising, a word about the province-run sports lottery, which ought to be sued for false advertising after they played chicken (again) last Sunday, taking the Bengals game off the board. In other words, it's not such a bad weekend to be away after all.

On to the usual . . .

One last read. The New York Times' Vincent Mallozzi caught up with Joe Frazier in Philadelphia this week:

Ten pounds heavier, but millions of dollars lighter, according to Frazier and the marketing people who work with him. Over the years, Frazier has lost a fortune through a combination of his own generosity and naïveté, his carousing, failed business opportunities and a deep hatred for his former chief boxing rival, Muhammad Ali. The other headliners from his fighting days — Ali, George Foreman and Larry Holmes — are millionaires.
But while Ali has benefited from lucrative licensing agreements and remains one the world’s most recognized and celebrated athletes, Frazier lives alone in an apartment one staircase above the gym where he and others train young fighters in a run-down part of town.
“This is my primary residence,” he said. “Don’t matter much. I’m on the road most of the time, anyway.”

One last e-mail. Monday's Notes from a Weekend post wondering where the hell all the hats were when Mats Sundin completed his hat trick brought this one to raise hopes that there is some life in the old ACC-mausoleum-on-Leaf-nights after all, from Aunt Wendy:

My two nephews, Steven, 19, and Matt, 23, were at the game, sitting in the Gold section (I might add that this was a once in a lifetime ticket for them, to celebrate a 19th birthday) behind the Flames bench and when Mats scored his 500th and third of the game in overtime, both of them, along with several others, threw their hats on the ice!
Steven, the 19 year old, had just bought his hat a couple of weeks before (camaflouged Leafs hat, of course!!) and hesitated for only a second in throwing it, sure that he would be able to buy another one after the game, only to be disappointed in finding out that particular hat was no longer available!
So there's at least one hat in a pile of them, that truly was thrown in the best of moments, with no regrets afterward, although a little disappointment.

One last salute. To Eric McErlain, whose Off Wing Opinion is one of the best hockey-centric sports blogs around. Eric has been picked up by NBC Sports, so check him out.

One last view. Joe (Jellybean) Bryant, otherwise known as Kobe's dad, dunks on Kareem (thanks to the TBJ's J.E. Skeets).

Sports around town.  The Pattison Canadian International has a field of 10 at Woodbine on Sunday, along with the E.P. Taylor as good as it gets for major-league thoroughbred racing in these parts - although according to Jennifer Morrison, the heavy rain of this week isn't exactly what International favourite Go Deputy likes.

Watching. Well, whatever comes up in front of me - I'm away, right? But Real Madrid-Barcelona is one of those matchups that carries some potential for fireworks, Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. on GOLTV.

Pooch punts. Jinks the Viszla went 0-5 last week. Which is, frankly, amazing. I mean, 2-3 or 1-4 is just crappy. But 0-5? That's perfection. This weekend he's scarfing down: KANSAS CITY +5, Denver -4 1/2 (BAD Dawg!), New England -5 1/2, HOUSTON +9 1/2 and the NY JETS -3 1/2.

Great moments in postgame press conferences

After last night's Dennis Green standup, the subject of ranking coach's postgame press tirades came up.
Okay, I'm game.
Jim Mora's "Playoffs?" riffage has to go up there. Anything from Bobby Knight. Tommy Lasorda on Dave Kingman. Hal McRae and Herm Edwards - on and on.
As for local colour, for years, an audiotape of a John Brophy rant was making the rounds - if Brophy was still coaching in the NHL, he'd be good for three or four of these bombs a season - but try as I might I can't find it anywhere. Any other candidates you can think of, send 'em on in.
Green's bit belongs, but it was piker's stuff next to the top of the class. The leader in the clubhouse for the past 23 years? Lee Elia, Cubs manager, saluting his Wrigley Field fans on April 29, 1983: "They're really, really behind you around here - my (bleepin') ass ... 85 per cent of the world's working. The rest of 'em come out here." (Quicktime audio, NSFW, PG, and every other rating you can think of. A classic).

Sort of related: Well, it's rankings. Hollinger's 06-07 projections are in. Chris Bosh is No. 20, the rest of the Raptors are triple digits.

Notes from a weekend

Around the world in a post, even if I haven't had much time to link anywhere but the most nearby places:

The Raptors are invisible no more. This may or may not be good news, depending on how you view preseason games on triple-digit TV - or if you view them or that region of the binary universe at all. The Raptors added yesterday's preseason game (boxscore), while advertising their final two home preseason games -- against Maccabi on Thursday, and against the Cleveland LeBron's on Sunday night. It's the scoreboard feed, mind you, but it is the local team, Chuck and Jack and Norma and the rest. An improvement, that, on the dark screens in the offing last week.

LUCAS OLENIUK/TORONTO STAR

Bosh, Nesterovic: Just add Bargnani and serve hot, Sam.

As for yesterday, a couple of little items from said broadcast. Anthony Parker looks like a poor (and slightly smaller) man's Shane Battier. And Andrea Bargnani does have a lovely shooting stroke, as Jack Armstrong noted between fouls, and wasn't shy to go down in the post and demand the ball - this kid just oozes hoops class. Otherwise, no real surprises, to me, anyway. One thing I'd love to see before this exhibition season is out, as a preview to what we should be seeing later on: Mitchell to give a frontline of Nesterovic, Bosh and Bargnani some minutes together.

Other stuff:

Mats Sundin's tour de force Saturday night was the latest display of shoot-first, ask-later excellence from the revitalized captain. But correct me if I'm wrong here - I didn't see a single hat on the ice after Sundin's game-winner. If any hat trick deserved it, this one was it. Are we too cool for that, too, Toronto? Best pressure performance of the night, though, may have been the relief pitching of Cassie Campbell, stepping in for snowbound Harry Neale on Hockey Night in Canada and handling it pretty smoothly.

Argos DB Byron Parker had another superb afternoon on Saturday and is putting together a pretty remarkable stretch of football -- seven interceptions in nine games, and four of them returned for TDs, since signing on Aug. 6.

Petr Cech is still in hospital after that awful collision Saturday, with a fractured skull. The accident, and an ensuing injury to backup Carlo Cudicini, has touched off a debate about goalkeepers' vulnerability.

Blog fave Neate Sager weighs in on How Detroit Built their Miracle Team. Not even knowing who they're going to play in the World Series, the books already have them favoured pretty handily.

The Raptors' invisible preseason

A couple of weeks ago, old pal Charley Rosen was on the other end of the phone.

LUCAS OLENIUK/TORONTO STAR

Andrea Bargnani: At least he's not ignoring the preseason.

“You’re not watching hockey, are you?” he cackled, overhearing the TV in the background. “Preseason hockey?”
Apparently I was. (Funny, but I didn’t notice.) And apparently, I’d broken one of Rosen’s Dictums. “Ignore the preseason,” he advised.
Ordinarily I’d agree (and in a way, I was ignoring the preseason there). There are few issues to settle in the typical preseason – on an established, reasonably successful team. It goes on too long, and there’s not a whole lot at stake.
This year’s Raptors, though, are an exception. There are jobs up for grabs, a rotation to settle on, new faces from exotic lands, and expectations that all this turnover is for the better.
But sadly, it’s all going on far, far away. The house organ, Raptors TV, isn’t broadcasting any of the team’s preseason games (They did show last night’s home exhibition opener, but it was a pickup of the Celtics’ broadcast). As of this writing, the house website hasn’t got around to posting the television schedule for the upcoming season (for that, keep reading).
For a team anxious to establish an identity and woo fans disenchanted by their steady six-year slide to the sub-regions of the conference, this is pretty lame stuff. One of the reasons rumoured behind John Shannon’s departure was that he was spending too much money on the Raptors, with their tiny ratings and immediate-family-only subscriber base, and there’s nothing on display now to refute the notion. Until they get better – if they can get better – none of that will change.
Sadly, ignoring the preseason isn’t an option. It’s the rule.

Over the jump, the TV schedule (from a press release dated Oct. 2):

Into the (long) weekend: Banner night

Wednesday night's pregame ceremony raising banners for Salming, Kelly and the late Hap Day provoked this from one e-mailer:

FRANK LENNON/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

Baun: Deserving of a banner?

The fact they chose #21 in honor of Salming and overlooked Bobby Baun, who also wore the number and played on (four) Stanley Cup winners and scored one of the most famous Stanley Cup goals ever. Baun was there, invited I believe by the Leafs, but why not twin the honor with Salming like they did with Kelly and Hap Day?

Baun was one of 11 Leafs to play on their four Stanley Cup winners of the 1960s. He played with Toronto from 1956 to '67, went away in the expansion draft (to the California Seals) and came back for a last hurrah from 1970 to '73. That's a lot of meritorious service, and that goal in the 1964 Cup finals will always be recalled by fans of a certain vintage. On the other hand, it's not like Baun was anything other than an rugged, stay at home defender. That goal was his combination Henderson/Willis Reed Moment - Baun never made an all-star team. Does he belong up there with Bower, Mahovlich et al? Sounds like a (long) weekend assignment (for anyone over 40, that is).

One last read. Dave Feschuk's column on the NBA's shorter training-camp practice regimen got this rejoinder from Mark Cuban: I wish I was allowed to write this.

One last letter to Gary Bettman. Aaron Reynolds, part of the JABS Baseball Roundtable, sounds off in Batter's Box on the advertising links on the NHL's redesigned website, including scam survey offers and pirated streaming TV:

Gary, someone who works for you is approving this junk and allowing it to be put on the NHL's website. It's a serious disservice to your fans, and a major embarassment for the NHL -- this is the league's flagship site, supposedly the number one place to go on the internet to read about hockey. Why are your people tarnishing the reputation of the NHL for a relatively miniscule amount of money?

One last story. In the current (October issue) When Saturday Comes, a look into the uncertainty surrounding the age of Newcastle's recent signing Oba Martins, reported to be six years older than what was listed on the website of his former club, Inter Milan. Apparently the discrepancy was not a result of a doctored birth certificate, but had its roots in the Nigerian Football Association's website, where the webmaster was in a dispute over being paid and hadn't bothered to update erroneous information:

Suddenly the webmaster was public enemy number one in Nigeria. The culprit was traced and theatrically arrested, with police staging a dawn raid at his house. He was put in jail until he'd agree to cooperate by revealing the password needed to change the site.

One last appeal. ArmchairGM, a wiki-type blog, is looking for contributors, especially on the CFL. Any blog with a posting on Irish Road Bowling is pretty fine in my books.

Sports around town. Up at York, it's the final women's hockey tuneup before another season starts next week - U of T meets York. And oh, but we have to mention it - the 0-5 U of T football Blues, minus their suspended coach, meet Western at Birchmount Stadium.

Watching. Yankees at Tigers, Friday, 8 p.m., Sportsnet. You mean the playoffs are on? And the Tigers are in them?

Punters' corner. I'm giving Jinks the long weekend off from the arduous task of handicapping. Happy Thanksgiving.

Photo of the day

FRANCO DEBERNARDI/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Another NBA MVP moment.

Butch is back

First, we get the news that Glen Grunwald is headed back to the NBA.

Now comes this news, just a day or two later: Butch Carter is returning. Well, he's coming back in a sense: Grunwald's old friend turned former friend is joining up with Scott Carefoot over at Raptorblog:

Starting today, RaptorBlog.com begins a partnership with former Raptors coach Butch Carter to provide exclusive content and commentary to you - the readers of RaptorBlog.com. He's been away from basketball for a few years, but from talking to him, I discovered that he's never truly left the game. He's got a lot to say about the Raptors organization and about the NBA in general, and I guarantee you're going to want to hear it.

Not sure how this is going to work, but it certainly should be entertaining. With Butch Carter, wasn't that always the way?

Grunwald to the Knicks

Just in, former Raptors GM Glen Grunwald announces he's on his way to the Knicks:

Believe me, this was not an easy decision. Among other things, I have had a really rewarding and fulfilling time here at the Board of Trade. It’s not often in life that you get to do a job where you know you are contributing to something so important.

However, I just could not pass up this opportunity to get back to the sport that I love and to rejoin my old friend Isiah Thomas in the NBA.

More on this as the day goes on, on the website, I'm sure.

Nash and Straw go back to school

A couple of links hanging over from yesterday's e-mail box around the theme of Back to School:

First, there was Steve Nash's return to his Santa Clara alma mater over the weekend for a ceremony retiring his No. 11 with the Broncos -- and his, er, speech, which True Hoop's Henry Abbott has a problem with:

When PR professionals are making their pitch to Nash, vying to represent him, they will show him the video of that performance and explain how they could have helped him make it so much better without hampering his personality or honesty in any way. I'm no fan of slick, packaged, BS, PR-centric presentations, but I'm prepared to believe Steve might benefit from seeking out some kind of happy medium.

On one level, it's just Nash being the usual retiring, it's-not-about-me Canadian -- "but enough about me, let's talk about me -- I guess." But Henry makes a solid point. A few thought-out remarks would've been better than this lame effort.

And oh, there's this one, sent along from a reader -- Darryl Strawberry, available for school visits (bidding at $260 this morning). With his rap sheet, there would certainly be lots to talk about in the way of "valubable life lessons."