Of schedule quirks and the far distant future

Okay, I’m ArgoBoy later on this morning, which is always a treat because it’s a home game and it’s going to be a nice day. And sitting around watching football plays I really don’t understand affords me all kinds of time to think about nuggets to put in this space the following morning

Lucky you!

Sort of like the spare time I had yesterday glancing at the schedule to get this:

-

The irregulars here will know that the summer of 2010 still quite bores me, there’s a lot of water still to flow under the bridge, lots of games to be played and I honestly think it’ll be like basketball’s version of Y2K.

So, you can imagine the level of disinterest I have at the moment for the summer of 2011.

But, because we need things to bring up here and because the level of angst among basketball fans knows no bounds, how about this story from my good friend and social convener C. Sheridan about the opening of contract negotiations.

Yes, we’re already thinking about a possible work stoppage 24 months from now.

I guess it’s a good thing that they’re already talking and there’s no doubt there are serious economic issues that are impacting every level of the game. I do, however, have great faith in David Stern’s ability to make the players give up something – like they have every single contract negotiation for all of time it seems – so I’m wondering if all this hand-wringing will ultimately be misguided.

Look at what the players have caved on already: The top wage earners have their salaries capped, the bottom wage earners have their salaries capped, the rookies have been sold down the river at every opportunity, the maximum length of contracts have been shortened every time they talk.

Think that trend’s going to continue? Yeah, so do I.

-

Schedule tidbits, Part I:

You’ll notice a home game on March 17, right? Well, you just know they’re trotting out the green jerseys for that one, that’s for sure. It’s the first time they’ve actually been at home and playing on St. Patrick’s Day, finally it’ll make sense to wear green. I imagine they don’t trot out the Celtic logo again.

As about the lone Toronto Star sports staffer who won’t be in Vancouver – the kajillion we’ve got going can probably cover off the Olympics quite well – I notice four home games and two one-game road trips during the Games. Oh, and one of the home games is a Saturday night date; figured there was a reason there were no pucks.

-

The Gangster is back.

Check out Phil’s news story here to get all the gory details about Primoz Brezec’s triumphant return to the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers.

But then go check out Phil’s little blog post that went up before the news story and read the comments. And then you’ll know why Philly fans are known for their, um, edge.

Seriously, I know the Sixers are going to get Elton Brand back – and I guess that’s a good thing although history would suggest otherwise – and they have Jason Kapono but to think that’s a playoff team in the East today is a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?

-

Schedule tidbits, redux

A year ago, we spent Martin Luther King Day in Atlanta, the home of the civil rights museum, a day before the Obama inauguration and it was a compelling time around the NBA. This year? They’ve got Jan. 20 off.

They also have American Thanksgiving off, on a off-day that’s part of a Charlotte-Boston road trip. Wonder where a guy can get a good turkey dinner in Boston?

Read into this what you will: On Grey Cup Sunday, when I presume the game starts just after 6 p.m. East, the Raptors will play Phoenix at 3:30 p.m. On Super Bowl Sunday, when I presume the game starts just after 6 p.m. East, the Raptors play Sacramento in a noon start.

-

Digression time.

You know how there’s not really anything good on TV over the summer (and wouldn’t a nice Dancing With The Stars go good right about now)?

Well, after watching the Evil Empire beat Your Jays, the click-around (sort of a couch-potato’s shootaround) landed on some upper channel and a very interesting 90 minutes.

The original Richard Nixon-David Frost interview from May, 1977.

Fascinating viewing for a guy who can remember it happening in real time. If you’re ever clicking by some PBS station from the States and you find it, watch. It struck me as less confrontational in retrospect but what I can’t fathom – and really couldn’t from start – is how a nation could elect someone to its highest office who seemed to hate public speaking with a passion and who was obviously uncomfortable in front of a camera.

Digression over.

-

Schedule tidbits, double redux

Know how they had all those different start times for Sunday games last year? Well, some things never change. They’ve got 15 home games on Sundays this year, five start at 1 p.m., five start at 6 p.m., two go at noon, two go at 12:30 p.m. and one goes at 3:30 p.m. Plan accordingly.

I know they’re planning to trot out some Huskies jerseys sometime this year in a throwback game and, no, I have no idea when it’ll be. I know when it should be, though. It should be March 31 against the Clippers and the Clips should wear throwback Buffalo Braves jerseys, a plan long proposed by E Smith, Radio Raconteur. However, I bet that’s too late in the season.

One road day game and it’s in April in Philly? That bites.

-

Just read somewhere that Carlos Delfino isn’t going to play for Argentina in the world championships qualifier later this month in Puerto Rico because his future is unsettled.

Not sure what that means except that it might indicate a return to Russia is not a done deal.

And there are those around the Raptors who would know who tell me that Carlos, after having some financial issues with Khimki and some issues with the coach, got almost every dime he was owed and was quite okay with a mid-season coaching change so it looked like a return was possible.

-

Oh yeah, Yankee update. My Yankees.

We did finish third, 10-5-1 in the regular season, got ourselves a well-deserved first-round bye in the double-knockout playoffs and we’re supposed to start the post-season on Thursday, weather-willing.

We got accomplished what we needed to in the season – the urchins had fun and are better ball players today than they were when we got them in May, I believe – and that’s what it’s all about, right?

Now it’s time for a big finish and if you want to come out and cheer, let me know (I keed, I keed).

Comments

[Nick]

Hey Doug, I know how you said summer TV is dead..but have you given Hells Kitchen a chance? It gets pretty heated and provides a decent amount of entertainment..Good luck to the Yankees in the playoffs..and just a question about sources as well..do you have any good websites that you reccomend to use (besides your blog ahahaha)?

Blogger's note: I've seen snippets of that show; it looks cool. Read Truehoop at espn.com, I always do

[Tim W.]

Two things I can see Stern getting, which I hope he does, is shortening contracts to a maximum 5 years (4 for extensions and free agent signings), and raising the age level to 20, although I don't know how much pressure there is now for the latter.

I've heard a US high school player is skipping grade 12 and heading to Europe to play. I have mixed feelings about this. I think it's great for American kids to be exposed to anything foreign, especially actually living outside of their own country, but are these kids forgoing any type of education for a shot at the big leagues?

Part 1 of a Colangelo/Raptors retrospective...
http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/

[aditya]

isnt bellinelli going to be starting his third year? says on the mid-summer report he is in his second year....

Blogger's note: A minor error, should be third

[cb]

Hey Doug,

With all this hype being put on the 2010 free agency, would you consider this factor? Bosh, Wade and Lebron being so hush hush about their future could very well be in part of an agreement with their respective teams. Hypothesis: Bosh(w/agent)and Colangelo have a verbal agreement to keep the speculation rampant about next years free agency. BC has promised to max out Bosh's contract for next season and Bosh will receive the maximum deal that is available to him. This will keep teams like New York/New Jersey/Detroit from filling up their roster/cap space in the hopes of luring one or more of the free agents. The benefit for the team will be to have an easier time signing free agents in the current off season and securing a playoff spot due to the lack of action by teams preserving cap space and not involved in an arms race.

It could be completely wrong but could also be quite a possibility between at least one of the big three free agents and their current teams.

Your thought?

Blogger's note: The last time teams wanted to monkey with a free agent, it cost Minnesota five first-round draft picks

[aditya]

how the hell do washington get 8 nationally televised games? and knicks get 5? and raptors get 1 (same # as indiana and memphis)...

[Chris]

Are there ever any under the table deals in the NBA? For example, if the Raps were wanting to bring in, lets says, Kleiza, but they didnt have the money that he wanted, could they pay him the rest under the table? Might be a stupid question, but I was curious!

Blogger's note: Research Smith, Joe, and Timberwovles, Minnesota, for an answer

[LeeZ]

"the worse period of presidency in the States was from Nov.22 1963-1974, 11 years of complete incompetent leadership from Johnson to Nixon a utter disaster...."

Yeah. Utter disaster indeed. Ever hear of a little thing called the Civil Rights Act? Only the single most important, far-reaching, seminal piece of legislation to ever pass through Congress. The bill was introduced by JFK, but when he died, Johnson -- a southerner -- showed tremendous courage by making it his top priority and somewhow managed to ram it through. Tellingly and prophetically, he noted that its passage would consign the Democratic party in the South to electoral oblivion for decades to come. And even Nixon went to China in an amazing feat of leadership. Yes, both LBJ and Nixon have a LOT to be ashamed of, but leadership is not one of these things. Which leads me to my question: Doug, do you think the Raps should sign Pops?

Blogger's note: A tremendous point that's bang on. Except for the one about Pops

[Jamie]

Scheduling Note - Advanced Class for Lunatics aka It's Never to Early to Plan Department:

Before anyone visits their local ticket tout to drop big money on what will no doubt appear to be a huge draw ... Raps/Cavs on Friday February 26th ... it's worth noting that this game conflicts with the Olympic men's hockey semi-final timeslot that is pre-allocated to Canada (provided the Canuckpucks make it that far). Same issue with the Portland game on February 24th and Canada's men's hockey quarterfinal timeslot.

Kind of a bummer that a couple of the better games on the home sched will get washed away by the hockey hoopla. Hopefully water under the bridge by the time the second round of the playoffs roll around these parts. I can dream.

[cb]

I read up on the Smith incident on wiki. So how are things like this regulated? Do all conversations between Bryan Colangelo and CB4 take place with an NBA chaperon? Could you elaborate on this a little more? It seems interesting and I'm quite bored at work. What is deemed an illegal contact negotiation and what is not?

Blogger's note: Sorry you're bored. But anything that's in circumvention of the cap is illegal and unless the circle is very small, it's found out.

[Chris]

What if Bargnani and Hedo told Kleiza that if he signed a min contract with the Raps than they would both write him a cheque for 2 mill each? Would it be suspicious?

Blogger's note: Preposterous, yes; ridiculous, without a question; suspcicious, no question

[aditya]

remember when isiah thomas got a contract extension as a knicks coach and GM when his team was under .500....(like 5 games under .500 or something like that)

please tell me you are laughing

[Scott]

Doug, I thought "The (Serbian) Gangster" was actually Darko Milicic.

[AJR]

Doug, with all this talk of a gap at the back-up SF spot, my take is that they really need another back-up in the 4-5 spot instead.

If Hedo were to go down to injury you have DeRozan and Wright to slide to the 3 and a number of options at the 2.

If Bosh were to go down for a while (as he has done every year) we move Bargnani to the 4 and have a choice of O'Bryant, Rasho and Reggie Evans as starters.... none of which excite me as much as our options at the 2-3.

Shouldn't they be targeting a big with that remaining roster spot?

Blogger's note: I'm sure that's something on their minds

[Michel G]

"Following the 1999–2000 season, it was discovered that (Joe) Smith was involved in a salary cap-tampering scandal involving Timberwolves executive Kevin McHale. Smith was allegedly promised a future multi-million dollar deal if he signed with the team for below market value, allowing the team to make some additional player moves in the short term. The league later found out about this violation and voided the last year of the contract, also severely punishing the Timberwolves by taking away five first-round draft picks (though two of the picks were ultimately returned) and fining the team $3.5 million."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Smith_(basketball)

[Richard Yun]

Hey maybe we should go to Doug's Yankees game and add some fan support. Whatever we do though, it will not compare to something the group Improv Everywhere did when they showed up at a little league baseball game and made there day. Video link below:
http://improveverywhere.com/2008/04/07/best-game-ever/

[aditya]

just thinking, its weird how BC always goes for good character guys...

but he did make overtures for jr smith offering kapono to denver a while ago...(at last year's trading deadline)

colangelo must have thunk that jr smith was a steal (albeit his character issues) or he was real desperate to salvage last season somehow... i think the latter

[Tim W.]

aditya: "how the hell do washington get 8 nationally televised games? and knicks get 5? and raptors get 1 (same # as indiana and memphis)..."

Actually, I'm pretty sure MOST of the Raptor games are nationally televised. I live in Vancouver and could see nearly every one. Oh, you mean televised nationally in the US. Well, thankfully, most Raptor fans don't live there.

[matt]

but more importantly wouldnt joe smith be a great fit on this roster?

[doug]

"LeeZ" excellent point about the Civil Rights Act a landmark bill that indeed Johnson did push through but really it wasn't Johson that pushed it through al all or championed it, it was Bobby Kennedy that pushed it through and Johnson could not even if he wanted to put the stop to it...He Kennedy demanded that every area of government begin recruiting realistic levels of black and other ethnic workers, going so far as to criticize Johnson for his failure to desegregate his own office staff....The Office of Civil Rights also hired its first African-American lawyer and began to work cautiously with leaders of the civil rights movement. Robert Kennedy saw voting as the key to racial justice, and collaborated with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson to create the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which helped bring an end to Jim Crow laws.

The Civil Rights Act was JFK'S passion and if Johnson wanted a political leg to stand on within the democratic party he had to champion Bobby's cause...so "bang-on" is not actually accurate, in fact the escaltion of the Vietnam War The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave the President the exclusive right to use military force without consulting the Senate, was based on a false pretext, as Johnson later admitted, he and he alone escalated the Vietnam War ...I could go on and on, he was deemed a cinch to win a second nomination but he had fractured the democratic party so much that he in fact resigned as he knew he wouldn't win the Democratic nomination...so this "great leader' was a one term president that in effect had managed to not only alienate a country, but also lose the support of his party if this is a "great leader" then so be it, but ask the veterans and 58,148 Americans who were killed and I thnk they would use a different term... but bang-on is not it, nor is a "great leader" the phrase I would use...and Watergate aside and his own paranoid personality aside the one act that in my mind forever tarnishes Nixon is the Kent State University shootings...a absolute travesty, and he as "Leader" gave the order....so think what you will, Johnson had little to do with the Civil rights act he in fact had no choice and Nixon was just a neurotic, paranoid individual that oversaw one heinous act and was the the main criminal in the other...so cheers...I may love Hoops but history is my passion...

[Raps Fan]

Buy out Marcus Banks, who would you replace him with?

Brezec agrees to contract with Sixers ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!

[doug]

you want to know what a great leader is...read this book if you want Hitler and Churchill Secrets of Leadership by Andrew Roberts a fascinating read...Churchill was begging for the States assistance during the Blitz but the States wouldn't assist them, the Germans were carpet bombing them, the British were at wits end , and the German had amassed thousands to do a "ground" attack across the chanel...Churchill knew all was lost, thats when he went to the nation and said his "we will never surrender" speech afterwards he acknowledged, I knew we were done for but as a leader I couldn't acknowledge that...Hitler against the strong proddings of his own generals decided against a ground force attack as he felt the "Blitz" had weakened the British enough...Churchill later acknowledged that was the first blessing, the second blessing was Japan bombing Pearl Harbour and the 3rd Blessing was those "dam tough stubborn Russians" in there battles against the Germans.....so if you want a great leader look at a man whose country was getting bombed endlessly, thousands of German troops at the doorstep and he goes and gives one of the greatest speeeches in history, it not only galvanized a nation, it resonated throughout the world...that is a leader, Johnson and Nixon are not, not even close...know its a b-ball blog, but what the hell it's August .....

[AJR]

Doug, following up my earlier comment about the Raps need for another 4-5, is Brian Skinner at all on the radar? He's not exactly a young gun, but he works cheap ($1.3MM last year) and has put up decent numbers when pressed into a starting role.

Playing armchair-GM, I'd be happy to see them signing a guy like Skinner (over Delfino)if they can't deal Roko/Douby/Banks for a decent 4/5.

Are there any mediocre PF's with contracts as ugly as Bank's that might make a Roko-Banks deal remotely possible?

[willy]

Read into this what you will: On Grey Cup Sunday, when I presume the game starts just after 6 p.m. East, the Raptors will play Phoenix at 3:30 p.m. On Super Bowl Sunday, when I presume the game starts just after 6 p.m. East, the Raptors play Sacramento in a noon start.

doug not sure what the significance off this is would you mind explaining

thanks

Blogger's note: I don't know if there is any, perhaps they think people will stay at the basketball game right up until kickoff of the Grey Cup but need hours to get home to the kickoff of the Super Bowl. Or maybe they don't; read into it what you will

[LeeZ]

Poster Doug (as opposed to blogger Doug), you make a lot of excellent points; couldn't agree more about the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, etc. But I never used the words "great leader", and LBJ does, in fact, deserve major props for getting the Civil Rights Act through. Believe me, that was no slam dunk (ahhhh, a basketball reference, finally!). He begged, brow-beated, cajoled, busted testicles, basically, he went to the mat on that one, and this from a southerner to boot. He was DESPISED for that south of the Mason Dixon line. Was he a great leader? No. For all the good he did in implementing JFK's vision, he made horrible, even criminal mistakes costing tens of thousands of American and Vietnamese lives, as did Nixon. But each can be credited with acts of leadership.

[aditya]

quick question: do you know why troy murphy seems to have big games whenever he plays the raptors...he has like 17 pts and 17 boards against the raptors virtually everytime he plays the raptors. do you know why?

answer: chris bosh is guarding him....

raptors game in an hour: raptors vs pacers --> if murphy gives a pump fake to bosh, as bosh is recovering from the pass from someone else, murphy takes a couple of dribbles, goes to the hoop (makes a play or scores most of the time)...

murphy hits 2 threes in a row, the reason is bosh is recovering or playing so close to the basket paying no attention to murphy.... (i rewinded all this, played this a couple of times).... the only stiff we have on our team (i guess stiff is a harsh word) at this point is bosh....defensively that is (what the hell were the americans talking about bosh's defence being outstanding)