Seriously, there's a little bit of news in here today

Man, a guy gets invited to a little Canada Basketball reception at a cool downtown saloon and all kinds of nuggets drop his way.

Maybe nothing earth-shattering but given the dearth of news around these parts for the last couple of days, this is a treasure trove of information you’re not going to get anywhere else.

To wit:

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It’s going to be a rather boring season on RaptorsTV this year; or so I’m hearing from a variety of insiders.

If you’re a fan of Double Dribble (kind of PTI Lite), or Full Court Press (formerly known as the Norma Wick Goodtime Hour until they tinkered with the format and whacked guys like, well, guys like me) or the TV simulcast of the H oops radio show (kind of like McCown with a single focus), you’re in deep doo-doo.

All three are getting the axe, the spies report, in what has to be a cost-cutting measure. No idea what they’ll be replaced with but whatever it is will come from the vault or NBA-TV, not from some self-produced Raptors-specific programming.

Kinda sucks, doesn’t it? Not that I watched those shows religiously, or even agnostically, but someone had to and that’s two hours a week of Raptors programming gone out the window.

Oh, one more, now that I think of it.

Word circulating around the bar equivalent of the water cooler last night was that the pre- and post-game Raptor game-night shows are being cut back from 60 minutes to half an hour.

Anyway, you wanted some dribs and drabs of news, you got ‘em.

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Another accomplishment for the young Canadian programs at the international level.

The under-16 girls, Cadettes in the parlance of FIBA, knocked off Argentina last night down in Mexico and have qualified for the world championships next year.

They get a shot at the Americans tonight for gold at the tournament but have already joined the Cadet men (like how FIBA does the politically-correct spelling thingy?) in getting to the inaugural worlds next summer.

So, two teams have qualified, the under-19 women were fourth in the world and the under-19 men were seventh.

Over to you, senior teams. Let’s see if you can match the success of the youngsters.

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Oh yeah, when I was at this men’s team bun-toss last night (and I can highly recommend St. Louis Bar and Grill on King Street by the King Eddy as a nice place to hang your hat and meet nice people), of course some of the chatter got around to the games in Italy and that minor fracas in the last game.

No one was at all worked up about it; they felt as I did that, as international incidents go, it was tres minor and, trust me, there are guys on the team who figure they gave as good as they got before, during and after the melee.

And in a crowd that included a few oldsters like myself, most of the talk about Italy was in comparison to a little dustup way back in 2000 in Montreal. On their way to the Sydney Olympics, or maybe it was before the qualifier (the mind’s sharp but it has its dull spots), Canada hosted Brazil in a “friendly” at the arena by the Big Owe that included a helluva argument replete with tossed chairs and much, much menacing behaviour.

That was relatively serious; the one in Italy, all concur, was really nothing.

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Oh, no.

The dream dies for the Lions.

Maybe 2014 in Spain.

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Speaking of old friends, I hear Garbo’s blowing off Khimki this coming season and signing back in his homeland with Real Madrid.

No word on the money or the years but it’s a good move; I always thought Garbo was far more Spain than he was Russia.

And, no, there is no chance – zero, nada, zip, ain’t gonna happen – that he could come back here.

Please. That ship has sailed.

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In the time it took me to type those last three items, Quentin Richardson had not been traded.

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So, the Raptors play four pre-season games here, trips to London, Minneapolis, Sioux Falls and Hartford and I’m thinking, how boring is this?

One thing, though, and it seems to be a tradition over at the Air Canada Centre.

Somehow, they’ve once again scheduled a home exhibition game on Thanksgiving Sunday, this time an afternoon affair Oct. 11 against Washington. I know they have to jam four home games into a relatively short period but don’t you think they could take the Canadian sensitivities into consideration and have the one holiday off?

Noooooo.

So, with that rather humdrum pre-season sked this year, I’m hoping next year they really take care of us.

I’m voting for a game in London (the big one, over the ocean) and then a quick side trip to Turkey to play in front of Hedo’s peeps. Whaddya say, Bryan, can you make that work? And if you wanted to get us back to Spain, I’m all for that, too.

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Oh yeah, back to that Canada trip to Italy and the fallout.

How’s this:

I’m told both Jesse Young, who apparently played his head off over there; and Aaron Doornekamp both came away from the exhibition tour with contracts in the top Italian league for this coming season.

And that’s one of the huge benefits for getting the national team out there on the road, where scouts and other coaches and other teams can see these guys. Finding a good-paying gig in a good league in Europe isn’t easy, but it’s huge for the development of the Canadian players and there’s no doubt in my mind that these two guys wouldn’t be getting the deals they got had Basketball Canada not found some way to get the money to send the team on that trip.

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All right, we’ll stop back sometime on the weekend with a mailbag. Not sure when since there’s a Mighty Yankees playoff game at the gawdawful hour of 10 a.m. Saturday and then a Stumpy Turns Half A Century fete Saturday night at this joint I know downtown, but we’ll get to it sometime.

Have a nice weekend.

Comments

[chili]

Hey Doug,
Where does your son's Yankees play, Erindale?

Blogger's note: No, no. Not any more. Mississauga North

[Pharaoh]

Doug, this is a day late, but you forgot "The Basketball Diaries", one of L.Dicaprio's early (and one of his best) works. Okay, so maybe it's more about drugs than basketball, but it was a good move nonetheless.

[Don]

Why would Raptors TV do this? I could understand if it was the FAN as they try to brainwash you that hockey is the only sport people are interested in. These programs are fantastic and a nice fix for those who are interested in basketball and the Raps. Very disappointing

[Travis]

You jest, but trade #4 just happened:

"Richardson traded to Heat for Blount"

[TJ]

Morning Doug
hope you're enjoying some of this lovely weather?
My question to you could be considered un-news worthy but I am just curious if you have heard the rumours that Huston and Toronto are in a bidding war for the services of Pops? Can you pit this to rest or let us know if this bias legs?
I like pops, as the 13th man ( POB, banks are behind anyone they sign I'd say), but a bidding war? Lmao.
Hope you can clear the air Doug, cause I trust your sources over many others.
Cheers

Blogger's note: Bidding war? Um, I don't think so. If Toronto goes a dollar over a minimum-value contract,it'll be a huge shock. And no source I've ever spoken to has given a hint that that's a possibility

[Dave]

Hey Doug, just wanted to say I TA'd Aaron Doornekamp a number of years back for his first year math class and have seen him around campus a lot and he's one of the nice guys, so I'm glad to see he got some love over the pond. He had a rough go with injuries for a while but was a big cornerstone of the Carleton (I think it's appropriate to use this word:) dynasty over the past few years.

[David Sidhu]

That's horrible, Double Dribble and Hoops were two of my favourite shows on TV!! And two years ago the old Full Court Press was my favourite as well. Can't they get rid of that awful NBA XL? That seems to have a much larger budget than those three combined.

[Caleb]

Wow, sounds like they are absolutely gutting Raptors TV. I assume all these shows will be replaced by those silly NBA Fantasy league ones that have me begging to switch to the weather network? Is there a point in keeping the name "Raptors TV" or would "NBA TV with a light touch of Canadian content" be a better name for them now?

It's too bad really, as Hoops was a great show where (E) Smith and Jonsey did some great interviews and covered a lot of over the phone questions, similar to the ones that appear in the mailbag on this blog. I know it may stay on the radio, but for us fans not in the GTA, that's a major blow. Also the one hour post game shows were great, especially after big wins (rare last season, I know!), as it seemed to take the crew most of that hour to get interviews with all the major players, but it was worth it (Calderon describing his "spanish fly dance" last season was a personal favorite). Any word on if some of these shows may have new replacements or is it strictly cut backs?

Blogger's note: Oh, no, there'll be no replacements

[Mike..]

WHAT.....You've got to be joking.

Not only did we get screwed last year with Rogers and the TSN2 heist, but their doing it again with original Raptor programing. I know our Raptor TV content isn't ground breaking, but shows like HOOPS and DOUBLE DRIBBLE were at least entertaining. Who the hell makes these bone-headed decisions.
It's no wonder why we have difficulty showing the world or the NBA community that Toronto Basketball is (or can be) a thriving commodity in Toronto. If we truly want to grow the game of basketball in Toronto then we need to grow our Canadian programing content.

Doug, if what you say is true than what's the point of paying extra for TV channels like Raptors TV.
..... On a side note, do you think we'll ever get back Chuck Swirsky. No offense to Develen, but he's boring as hell and I'd love to see us inject more "life and entertainment" into our broadcasts. (sorry if I've offend you or your circle of friends). This business can be brutal at times.

Blogger's note: No, Chuck is not coming back.

[Simmer]

So when can we expect them to just scrap Raps TV in its entirety?

[charles]

that really sucks that full court press, Double dribble are getting the axe. But I can't say it suprises me, I must admit after things started to get ugly with the raptors play last year. and it did get real ugly for a while, I never really tuned in to watch those shows. and im guessing im not the only one that stopped watching.

[gabe]

I have a question about viewing the games this season. I'm living in Montreal and they're hard to find...

I have a friend who's signed up to MLB tv on the internet and can watch any baseball game he wants. I don't have cable, don't intend on getting it(avoiding a potential addiction.) but would like to perhaps find a web service that would stream the games for me.

Is there a service offered by the Raptors organization, Rogers, or the NBA for this?

thanks

Blogger's note: Check NBA.com closer to the season

[josh]

I remember the last season Norma Wick worked for the Raptors and she interviewed Mike James probably a thousand different times. I found it very odd how often she interviewed that guy. Maybe the other players just declined interview or something, anyone else think it was weird the way her and Mike James seemed to do an interview at every chance they got?

[norm]

Doug, why is it that a guy running and throwing a blindside punch in the NBA would involve a long suspension and detailed media coverage, while in the international game it's nothing more than a yawn?

Blogger's note: That's just the way it is.

[Sean H]

Wow, that's pretty upsetting. Those 3 shows were the ones I watched on Raptors TV. I'm not sure what the point is of having this station anymore except game in hour...

Also what really is the point of having Raptors TV HD? Hardly anything is broadcast in HD on that channel.

Seriously, can they screw fans over any more? First TSN 2 last year now this.

[Justin]

Richardson has been traded to Miami.
http://tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=287650

Is there something about him that your average fan doesn't know? This is the 4th time this summer he has been traded. Is he overpaid at 9 million?
It seems quite a few teams will trade for him, but don't want to keep him. I feel sorry for anyone if they bought his jersey this summer.

Blogger's note: Presume the value of his contract fit all the transactions

[Matt from Oakville]

So, there is basically no exclusive Raptors-programming on that channel... other than re televising the games/pre-post game conferences which appear on the other local sports channels... as well as the 'ticker' that still shows the Hedo trade as recent news.

Looks like I'm canceling that channel now, good to know.

[John Popalis]

Doug, I think we should trade TJ Ford for Kobe Bryant... wait what year is this?

[Caleb]

Any chance of the nickname "Hot Potato" sticking with Q-Rich? Seems like everyone is going to use him as trade ballast until they have run out of teams to use, the last one being the team stupid enough to get caught stuck with "Hot Potato"...

Is it wrong that I kinda feel sorry for the guy, even though he will probably make more money in the next week then I will my whole life?

[BrianV]

Hello Gabe,
Regarding watching Raptors games online.

Try this, once the season starts:

raptorsnation.net

[Sams Fan]

How about cancelling NBA XL, by far the stupidest show. Its not even about basketball, its more about new fashion trends by basketball players.

[Pharaoh]

"Seriously, can they screw fans over any more?"

Actually yes, they can. I got a letter in the mail from Rogers the other week. It said RapsTV will no longer be included in my standard programming package, and I will have to pay extra for it beginning this fall. Don't you just love Rogers?

[fg]

We need to put TEEN WOLF and PORKYS on the next all time great highschool BBall comedies.
We need a comedy only BBall list. Little more light hearted,
some of those serious BBallmovies(are good)but dont cut it for summer cottage viewing, we need some laughter.
hmmmm what other ones are great

[BrianV]

Hey Doug,
Maybe I just missed it. I see you spoke of Garbo in leaving the Spanish team, but in the same article I first heard about that, they also mentioned that Delfino will be leaving the team to. They mentioned that Real Madrid might be a possibility but gave no details.

I have not yet seem any blog questions about this.

What does this mean? Carlos seemed to be holding his contract with Khimki over the Raps head to get a better offer from BC.

Now he seems to be walking away from them.

Does this mean he has all but given up on the Raps having interest or might this mean the Raps can now offer him less than he was seeking before?

Do they even care about his services anymore?

Here's the story:

http://basket-spot.blogspot.com/2009/08/news-gabajosa-and-delfino-leave-khimki.html

Blogger's note: Means very little, actually. If they can come to terms on the money and the years, there's still some interest; just as there has been

[simon]

P.s. Doug Richardson has been traded for Raptors TV canceled shows, and a Vince carter knee brace. I am canceling my subscription today the chanel has been two years of disapointment.