Of relationships, good and bad, and some real estate news

Anybody else got this crappy head cold that’s going around, making one feel like there’s an anvil inside your cranium? Just wondering.

And I believe it makes you hallucinate a bit ‘cause this piece of paper in front of me with all kinds of numbers on it says something about the Torontos winning another basketball game.

ANDREW WALLACE/TORONTO STAR

As if he hasn't had enough trouble with injuries. Calderon shrugged off a dislocated finger last nigh to lead Raps past Bucks.

Back to the Nyquil, I guess.

But first …

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Action: Jose’s game

Reaction: What if …

I know it’s a silly idea to even think about it but what if Calderon doesn’t strain his hamstring in November and hurt it again in January and doesn’t miss 14 complete games and be hobbled in probably a dozen others?

Does it mean 10 more wins out of those 26? Eight? Twelve?

I can’t, won’t, put a number on it but, believe me, there are people around that locker room who think it’s a double-digit and truly believe they’d be getting ready for the playoffs now if he hadn’t been injured and seeing last night, it’s hard to argue against them.

But as my man Sam used to say:

“If ifs were fifths we’d all be drunk.”

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If you’re trying to figure out a good way to explain some of the antics of this team this year, Jose probably summed it up as well as anyone yesterday morning after shootaround.

“We lost so many stupid games or something like that.”

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Someone over in the comments section yesterday asked me to elaborate a little bit – without getting into specifics – on the general relationship between beat grunts and columnist at newspapers.

Why not.

Generally, and this holds true for your favourite grunt, it’s a really good working relationship; guys will talk about what angle they’re going to take after games or on off-days to make sure there’s no duplication and the readers are better served.

They sometimes share information, but that’s not always the case, especially if it’s just run-of-the-mill stuff that comes up in the course of a day.

Generally, they let their personalities dictate the “tone” of their copy, one may be more conversational in style, the other more reportorial, it’s not something done of conscience where one will say: “I’m going to be funny today, you be harsh.”

It’s just like you and the other widget salesman in the other cubicle. You work together, grab a beer together after work’s done every now and then, whine about the bosses and the company (that’s you widget folks, not us newspapermen, of course) and live your merry lives.

It is not always that way, though.

There have been writers and columnists at the same newspaper who’ve hated each other with such passion they didn’t speak. One would be sitting at one of a press box, for instance, and call the desk to find out what the other was writing about when the other was sitting about 25 feet away.

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Action: Two Jason shots

Reaction: Two teammates reactions

Some people gasp when a shooter gets ready to shoot (remember that Moon fellow?), some people don’t.

It’s late in the third quarter and Shawn Marion has the ball in front of the Milwaukee bench when he sees a wide open Jason Kapono on the other side of the court. And after he makes the pass and Kapono gets ready to release the shot, Marion starts walking back down the court, his hand up, his back to the basket, confident the shot would be good.

It was.

A couple of quarters earlier, after Kapono had drilled a couple of shots in a row, he’s got the ball relatively uncovered right in front of the Toronto bench. Just as he’s about to release another shot, we hear, clear as day, AP yelling “he’s on fire.”

Shot misses.

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T. Enlund, man of the people and an equally-popular but not nearly as frequent habitant of the Harbour Sports Grille, summed up last night’s affair thusly.

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If we’re talking overweight, often out-of-shape, shoot-first, non-defending, chemistry-killing, lazy ball hog, Zach Randolph may be right in his assessment of his talents compared to Chris Bosh.

But since I’m reading one of the better blogs out there done by beat grunts and it appears Randolph is talking about legitimate basketball skill, I can come to only one conclusion.

Dude’s on crack.

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This is super secret code only a few will get. But you know who you are.

The Chicken talked to Bango and the Stuffed Animal is feeling all right.

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Another request from a commenter yesterday was to chat about physical or verbal confrontations between players and writers and broadcasters here in the centre of sports universe (bad teams division).

Sadly, on the basketball side, there have been precious few, at least that I can summon from the dark recesses of my mind at the moment.

Antonio Davis went off yelling at Perk one day in the doorway of the practice gym over something Perk had written about AD’s betrothed but, other than, I can remember only one of note.

Victor Alexander got all pissy at then-Sun columnist Craig Daniels way back in Year 1, I think it was, probably because Craig had pointed out that Victor was, um, not so good; more Zach Randolph than Chris Bosh, you may say.

Well, Victor approached us courtside the next day or so with malice aforethought and we really wondered if he might do something stupid.

Craig, to his everlasting credit, came up with one of the best lines of the first few years. It went something like this:

“Hang on. If you’re going to hit me, let me get a photographer over here so we have a story.”

Of course, Sam used to threaten Stumpy all the time (was gonna put him in a barrel along with various embarrassing items and toss him over Niagara Falls, if I recall) but he was just joking.

We think.

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Action: Real estate values

Reaction: Looks like they’re dropping

The Newbie Douby (hey! A rhythme!) got some prime chunk of Raptor turf to call his own.

Because they seem to have so many players now that Nate’s back and Quincy’s here, Douby got the locker right next to Chris Bosh just inside the room.

Don’t think anyone’s had that spot for at least a couple of years.

One thing, though. Bosh, despite his status as, you know, best player and all, has never expanded his empire to take over the other stall.

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All right, Nyquil or NeoCitran? Or a journey for a triple vente non-fat latte? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Comments

[Jamie]

...with you on the head cold....ughh

[RapsGirl]

if you can get your hands on some Buckley's cold syrup........you should be good to go by morning. i know it tastes disgustingly horrible.....but it works. trust me.

[scott]

water doug, water and then some water and then blow your nose and then drink some water. hope you feel better and don't have to curl up and watch dwts on the dvr all day. oh yeah i always eat my face off with a cold...don't know if it works but i like to eat so hey!

[Matt from Oakville]

I think Zach Randolph gets some unfair criticisms skill-wise - offensively he may be near or surpass Bosh within 5 feet of the rim. Basketball IQ-wise its a no brainier though, there is a reason he is continually dumped to other teams for 'scraps'.

It seems like Bosh is not getting much love around the league this year...

[Kelsie]

Jose being healthy for the year might have given us a few more wins but I don't think it would have righted the ship. We still had other major problems, perimeter defence, too many jumpers, not enough depth so we shouldn't be looking for excuses cause you're what your record says you are.

I am very impressed with Andrea's offensive arsenal. He's looking like he has a mismatch whenever he is on the court. If he's guarded by a big (take them outside), a wing (take them inside).

Do you think the Raps would be better served next year to maybe give him some more offensive reposnsiblities and let Chris focus on rebounding and defence a little more? Chris has always had to shoulder that offensive load and I think that more looks for Andrea might let Chris improve on his rebounding numbers and defend a little better with some of the offensive load taken off him.

Blogger's note: It's not so much that they'll give him more responsibility, I think you'll see him more confident in taking more offensive responsiblity. And everyone will be better off

[Tim]

hey Doug, I was at the Clippers game on Sunday and noticed the PA announcer sounded a little funny, like he had a cold or something. While watching the game last night it sounded like a completely different guy, no "Jose for uno, dose, tres" calls. Could you shed some light?

I was also thinking the other day, before you were talking about the lack of grumpy old vets in the league and I was wondering if Rasheed Walace was one of the few remaing. He's a FA this summer and could be a great mentor to the Raps young bigs if we signed him. Can you see him or does he have a reputation of helping younger players(Maxiell looks pretty good) or just a guy that gets t'ed up a lot?

Blogger's note: Usual PA guy sick last night, fill-in did the job admirably

[James]

Doug, Thanks for taking the time to explain some of the inner workings at the paper. A follow-on question, especially in light of the Bosh response story in the The Globe & Mail this morning - is how the "voice" of one reporter at a paper affects your interactions with the team. Do you find that your association with the paper that 'breaks' a negative story affects your interactions? Do you have a chance to speak with the editor on the voice of another reporters piece or is that purely a management decision?

Blogger's note: Nah, that's nothing I would do; just keep my head down, do the job, speak when spoken to.

[Rob]

Doug, for your head cold I can't recommend strongly enough a nice tall glass of Mike's Hard Lemonade heated in the microwave for 60 seconds. Might not do an inch with the headcold, but you fill feel better. Of course, I'm not doctor...

[Peter]

Hi Doug,

Speaking of the Chicken and Bango. Any chance that a particular grunt could do a sit down with a certain prehistoric Chicken at the end of the season? I know that it's been the same guy since inception, and since you've both been around since prehistoric days... er... pre-first season days... we'd love to hear from him how his job has changed, and as we see the likes of a Damon Stoudamire and Marcus Camby heading towards the twilights of their careers, we begin to realize that our ageless Chicken might not be so ageless after all.

Since we don't have a post season to read about, I for one would love to have a decent length interview with the Chicken himself, maybe including some of the things he does when he has an "out of body" experience... like his real life, and the training that he goes through to come up with some of his stunts and gags.

Thanks Doug!

[Uncle Zeke]

Zach Randolph might be alot of things, and might be missing alot of things, but talent is not one of them... This guy isn't being paid a near-max deal because he's a great teammate or outstanding citizen- offensively he's one of the more talented big-men in the entire league... In comparison to Bosh- he's put up better numbers (plus he actually rebounds!) and has actually had an impact on a playoff series- Bosh has wilted more than produced in the playoffs...

Would I take him over Bosh- definitely not... but to claim it's ludicrous to say that Randolph has as much talent (or even more...) than Bosh isn't that much out of the realm of possibility and is at least arguable... Zach falls into the category of guys like Derrick Coleman- all the talent in the world but not real motivation to use it...

[Dan W]

I would say Zach is probabaly skill wise more talented than Bosh. I would also say the same thing about Charlie V or Andrea. The difference is Chris has learned how to maximize his skills. Obviously Chris Bosh is talented but I think he has done more with less when compared to other players and that is a testament to his hard work. Imagine how good Carter could have been if he had the work ethic to match his natural talent level. It's similar to Dougs point a few weeks ago that Joey and Shawn skill wise are probably not that much different.

[Nick]

Exactly what I wrote to you a few weeks ago. Bosh gets no love/respect from the fellow NBAers. Honestly, if Bosh was so established and respected from people around NBA, no one would have guts to say "I'm better than you". Do you hear LeBron saying "I'm better than Dwayne Wade"?. Even though he probably is, he doesn't say that because Dwayne Wade is respected.
I wouldn't have Bosh is superior over Randolph but he isn't that much better; and just the fact that Randolph has the guts to say "I'm better than Bosh"... that just shows a lot about what people think about Bosh around the league.

Blogger's note: No, as a matter of fact, it doesn't. It shows what one guy who runs his mouth a lot thinks about Chris Bosh. The Shaq thing was a joke.
I don't really care whether you believe me or not but what I'm telling you is right. NBA players, almost to man, respect Bosh's game.

[RD]

As a former Starbucks employee turned CA (aka avid coffee drinker), I'm quite impressed with the drink order Doug...that $0.55 for an extra shot of espresso is well worth it.

[Pharaoh]

I was going to write something about Feschuk's article but Kelsie has already summed up my thoughts quite nicely. Bosh doesn't "owe" an explanation to the media. This is a private affair, period. Calling him a "deadbeat dad" was uncalled for and Chris deserves an apology. Let him deal with his personal issues outside of the media spotlight.

And the best thing to get over your cold is plenty of rest. None of that other junk actually works.

[jimmie]

Hey Doug -- this is a long one and you likely won't like my assessment, but that story this morning by Feschuk does nothing to make any of his detractors think differently in the wake of his handling of the Bosh situation. I had some time on my hands this morning, which is the only half-decent excuse I can think of for still harping on this, but here goes... From Feschuk's article today:

"It's at this point that you respectfully question the tight-lipped strategy of Chris Bosh and his advisors."

Who questions it? I don't – he’s involved in a legal proceeding, was asked for comment by a reporter who he well knows chooses the negative side of a story first, and he declined to answer.

"That would have been more than three days after the Star, in seeking a balanced picture of a court case filed in Maryland that paint Bosh as a deadbeat dad, began seeking comment from no less than Bosh, Bosh's agent, Bosh's manager-cousin and Bosh's teams, legal and basketball, and got almost exclusively silence."

No, the reporter was told that a response would be forthcoming within a week. He chose not to wait on the story, despite the fact that there had been no news on it since November.

"Bosh wouldn’t talk much, except to give a hit-and-miss press scrum on Tuesday. ('I love my daughter ... I respect her mother,' was an unequivocal home run. 'I love myself,' was straight off the bat of Barry Bonds)."

Classy. Write the initial damning story, and follow up by representing Bosh’s comment on it as a PR move. Go even further by comparing it to (guilty) Barry Bonds.

"Bosh's agent wouldn't talk. Bosh's lawyer wouldn't talk but to offer a blanket denial, the latter of which seemed disingenuous..."

Huh? How so, "disingenuous"? Sounds like artistic license with the straight "facts" of what the lawyer said.

"The lack of initial response was both mind-boggling and potentially crushing to Bosh's good name. If a legal proceeding amounts to a public theatre – and in cases as high-profile as this, it most certainly is a stage – it's as though Bosh and the people he pays to take care of him have finally been roused from their on-stage sleep with a shout from the furious director. Line!"

Except that a legal proceeding is NOT "public theatre", even if the reporter did his best to make it so. The representation of this issue by Feschuk is what was “crushing to Bosh’s good name”, since there has not yet been closure to the case. Only at that point should we be judging the impact to Bosh’s "good name".

"... and interpretation is generally in the side of the beholder."

If only the reporter left it that way instead of writing as if Bosh were already guilty of something, whether he’s a deadbeat dad or just irresponsible in his actions – neither of which is proven yet. (aside: "in the side of the beholder"???)

"Combing through the 76-page legal file that makes up the case, you can find notification ... that Bosh or his representatives also arranged for health-care coverage for his baby daughter not long after she was born. In those documents, Bosh is a good guy stepping up to the plate."

So I guess "combing through the 76-page legal file" was too much effort for Feschuk at the outset. It wasn’t too much effort even for one of the commenters on Doug Smith’s blog not 24 hours later. A reporter might want to read the entire thing before publishing an article.

"On Wednesday night, when Bosh was approached by this scribe with some essential questions that still probably needed to be answered, Bosh's business manager summoned Bosh's entourage to exit the premises and Bosh, taking orders, turned his back before the question could be asked... Before he exited the Air Canada Centre, he spoke with another reporter."

Duh. Big surprise there. Feschuk got the "scoop", but is it a big shock that he didn’t get the followup, given the tone of the initial story? And again with the tone -- "entourage", "taking orders"? Makes him sound like some Hollywood star with handlers etc...

[jimt]

hey doug your aches are due to seasons changing,the cure is to have your bosses charter out m.cubans jet and ship you out to hawaii for a scouting trip of future raps dance pakers and since super son is prob not old enough yet do stop by and grab me on the way :)
in regards to bosh,ev1 needs to respect his privacy so he can focus on the real issues in craptorland which are 1.more pizza for the fans 2.more pizza for the fans and finally 3.more pizza for the fans.

[Kevin]

To further Kelsie's point above, Bosh is currently involved in a legal matter, and "talking" to the media about the specifics of the case would not help him in any way... nor is it any of our business. Further, turning this into a media-driven "he-said, she-said" would only drag down his character. Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valour. Bosh made his statement, and that's all he needs to say.

One article might be newsworthy, but three on the same subject seems like overkill, a little trashy, and almost like the author has a personal issue with the Bosh and/or the Raptors. Sorry to comment here, but there is no comment section for today's story.

On to bigger and better things, I've been pleasantly surprised by Bargnani keeping up his improvement since he was inserted as a starter. It's nice to see it wasn't a flash in the pan this year. I've held out hope for the guy, and it's nice to see it rewarded. I've had a theory about Bargnani's down year last year... That 82 games in his rookie year was more than he'd ever played before in his career, he then played for a good chunk of the summer with Italy trying to qualify for the Olympics, then came back to another, long grueling sophomore year. Couple that with typical second year growing pains. I've told friends that I was sure he was burned out last year, and it showed in his footwork, hustle and stiff-legged shots. Is this anywhere close?

Thanks for the blog.

[chris]

Doug -- eat some raw garlic or onions....the sulfur in them stimulates the immune system somehow. (sulfur is also what gives you stinky breath after eating it...but to accelerate getting over a cold, its worth it).

Great insight on Jose....he just hasn't been himself all year. How often do we see him slip around the corner and cut to the hoop? That was his bread and butter last year.

btw -- how embarrassed is Feschuk today?

[James C.]

Doug, I think you've discounted too lightly Nick's comments about Bosh's standing around the league. While I agree with you that Zach Randolph is one of the worst players to have on your team (based on salary cap and team chemistry terms), there's still something about his and Shaq's demonstrative comments about Bosh this year. Other players do watch each other and when they see someone who often goes through the motions and take plays off (especially on the defensive end), they find it incredulous that Bosh is lumped together with the true "stars" of the league. Its not a crime for Zach and Shaq to enlighten us with their running off their mouths. In fact we need them (a la Charles Barkley) to counter the gross distortions of homerism.

[Steve]

the last thing we need is more talk about Chris Bosh's legal issues but like some of the earlier posters I could not help but notice the resentment in Feschuks article today.

He can't really be suprised that after botching the break of a huge story (implying Bosh to be a dead-beat dad before doing due diligence) that the Bosh camp is now shunning him and instead giving the news to another reporter.

[Jenuwine]

Doug,

Do you think it's possible that Bosh will stay in 2010? As a fan of the game and as a fan of the Raptors since their inaugural season, I can't tell you how upset I will be if we let Bosh go. In the last two games, you look at our team, you see that their chemistry is now gelling together and you see that all the players are now understanding how to play with one another. Aside from that, I still believe that by adding depth to the bench with veterans and a solid 2-guard would bring this team back to contender status. I just can't bear to see Bosh go and the Raptors turn into the Clippers.

[ad]

You have to remember that Calderon seemed to struggle in the second half. He had 17 and 7 in the first half but only had 2 points and 4 assists in the second half. That has to be a concern because it possibly shows he cant handle a lot of minutes.

Blogger's note: And you have to remember that he played about five fewer minutes in the second half because the game was so much in hand.

[robguy]

I completely disagree with most of the negative assessment being laid on Feschuk. He did his job and got the no comment. Blame rests on Bosh's "entourage." They are paid to handle his image, legal affairs, etc. These circumstances did not materializer last week, but months ago. A competent legal/advisory team would have been prepared months ago - anyone could have broken the story at any time and these guys were not prepared to handle the media when the story broke. The people around Bosh failed him in my opinion and have contributed to damaging Bosh' reputation unnecessarily.

[Joe T.]

I fully agree with what jimmie j posted above. I would just like to add that I wonder how many people associated with the team will soon or already do just walk away when Mr. Feschuk is approaching with questions? And what value he will have to the Star when that number approaches a majority?...

[Kelsie]

Doug, why the edit?

Was it Alexander analogy?

I apologize if I went over the top but I've complained to the editor at the Star about Mr. Feschuck in the past, but this was too much for me to sit on this morning. Very disturbing slants on his stories the past few days.

If Bosh hasn't "ruined" his good name like Feschuck suggests, than your colleague is certainly doing everything in his power to assure that it is.

Blogger's note: Editor's asked it be edited to take out some the personal comments.