Time to get back to normal

Man, it’s late.

Sorry, folks, long night of typing and chatting. Stuff happens.

I’m sure you’ve all been waiting breathlessly, so …

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Someone was asking me Sunday night about the feasibility of an all-star game in Toronto.

Simple answer?

No.

Yes, the city’s great and has lots of hotel space and convention floor space and clubs and restaurants and there’d be every chance it’d be warmer there than it was in Dallas.

The issue is the Air Canada Centre.

It’s a good building, with good seats for fans in a nice downtown location and most things work well in it.

But it’s too small. No back-of-house space.

Heck, there aren’t even enough dressing rooms for the folks who sing and dance, let alone all the stuff they bring with.

Honestly, the scope of this all-star thing is huge; people, props, stuffed animals, more people and props. The Air Canada Centre, for all its charms, simply doesn’t have the facilities to handle everything smoothly.

Heck, when the Raptors get into the playoffs, they have to feed the media in a hallway – single tables stretched out along a wall – because the joint can’t handle the extra people.

I can’t even guess what it’d be like with an all-star game and, if they apply, I bet the league would have some concerns.

Sorry.

Besides, we keep hearing that after Los Angeles next year, the new arena in Orlando might be a host and so, too, might New Orleans be so you could be looking 2014 at the earliest anyway.

Maybe Maple Leaf Sports applies and gets it for a long-off year and, who knows, maybe they do the Saturday at the ACC and the game at the dome but I’d be surprised.

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Yes, I voted for Chris Bosh for MVP. Was the only one, too.

I figured 23 and 10 and the game-winning free throws for a hometown kid might be good enough.

Silly me.

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Was checking in with Bryan on the weekend about trades – let’s just say he says things are pretty slow – and talk turns to him and the whole mess that was the alleged interest from him in Jersey.

Now, I never thought it was real anyway but I also thought they were hanging Rod Thorn out to dry pretty quickly. Here’s a guy who’s been a good GM (he put the team together that got to two NBA Finals) and a cheapskate owner more interested in Brooklyn than basketball kind of forced his hand on a couple of things.

Anyway, Bryan had this to say about that:

"I guess it's flattering to be mentioned for other jobs in such a limited space, but I also find it unfortunate for both my good friend Rod and my organization for anyone to speculate freely and erroneously that there's interest from either side."

That’s pretty well put.

And now, we can make that issue go away forever, right?

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So what’s up for the Heroes Of The Hardcourt this week?

Well, if all of ‘em get back (and I’m constantly surprised that they can handle the rigours of commercial travel well enough to get back sometimes) they practice Monday night and Tuesday, host Memphis on Wednesday, go to Jersey on Friday and get back home for the Wizards on Saturday to finish three games in four nights.

I was talking to Chris after Sunday night’s game (you’ll read a lot more about it overnight here and in the paper) and he said his biggest worried is that they’ve lost the “edge” they had pre-break.

But I have to tell you, the kid’s got this attitude about him these days that means I don’t think he’ll “let” anyone take a step back.

He seems to be on some kind of mission to assert himself and I think they could run the table behind Bosh.

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I’m trying to find a way to accurately describe that stadium we were in Sunday night.

And I can’t.

Really. Take whatever adjective you like – big, gargantuan, gigantic, over-the-top, monstrous – and it probably doesn’t do it justice.

Cavernous might be suitable.

The TV screen at midfield? You can’t imagine how big it is and how clear the picture is.

Here’s the thing: We went up one of the highest parts of the building to the football press box to have dinner before the game. The view of the field from there is pretty bad, actually, it’s a long, long, long way away but it doesn’t matter: You cannot divert your eyes from the screen. It simply dominates your vision and it’s like sitting in your living room watching stuff on the tube.

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General consensus of the boys and girls I hang with at things like all-star weekend?

Average to below average, saved only because of the facility on Sunday.

Saturday was mind-numbing, Friday was typically without charm or substance and even the Sunday, close as it turned out to be, was pretty ho-hum.

Usually, there’s enough moments in the first three quarters to make you go ‘wow’ and then things get serious.

But even the first three quarters were dull in long stretches and the closeness of the game was sort of diminished by the fact that the only shots made down the stretch, it seemed, were free throws.

Which brings us to

List time

Three favourite moments, in reverse order:

Walking onto the field for the first time and being a bit awestruck.

Halftime listening to Alicia Keys.

Listening to Steve Nash talk about being Canadian.

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The over-riding sense I got about impending league-wide trades – and I saw a few people but not an awful lot – is that Amar’e Stoudemire is on his way out of Phoenix but no one knows where.

What’s happening, I’m told, is that teams are trying to make sure they make their best offers since there’s a few of them in play and I bet Steve Kerr’s just sitting back and waiting.

Might make the middle of the week more interesting and I’m just glad none of this stuff has a direct impact on me.

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Okay, late flight today – which lets me get all my typing done at a reasonable hour --

Comments

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Morning, Doug,
Nice job on the CB4 vote. He had just a couple too many turnovers, and if only he'd made that go-ahead half-alley-oop toward the end there... still, it was a HUGE All Star night for the home town kid. Huge enough that MSNBC Sports ran a separate headline story on his game, and that NEVER happens for anything Raptors (or Jays or Canada) related. Save travels to you, and go Raps!! Cheers.

[Mark L]

Doug, I missed the first part of the game. When Kobe was being interviewed (I forget his name, the guy with the funky suits) they mentioned something about a women asking him something and that she probably got kicked out...any idea what happened?

Blogger's note: No clue

[Ricky]

Hello Doug,

Why do you think the Suns want to trade Amare? He is a top 5 PF and the Suns are still a pretty good team.

[Striker77]

Thanks for your coverage, Doug..

I also would have voted for Bosh... I know it was a long shot, but he looked amazing out there (minus the couple of to's)... He probably had not shot against guys like Wade, and James... and Anthony (if the west had won it, he probably would have won it too..)

My question is about the dunking contest...There was a time when the elite of the league (Wilkings, Jordan etc..) would participate in the dunk contests and they would be incredible.. Why do you think the elite of the league nowadays do not want to take part? are they afraid of losing to another elite player? do they think its beneath them? What do you think?

Cheers,

Blogger's note: Really can't say, think it might have to with the fact it's more fun to have a Saturday night off to watch rather than have to participate

[jim]

It'd be real interesting to get Steve's true impressions of the two events he was involved in. It appears that the Canadian-produced Winter Games kicked the American-produced-All-Star-Game's butt. Was the timing of the NBA All-Star weekend, (up against the opening weekend of the Olympics) stupidity, ignorance, or just typical american arrogance of "it's not within our borders so it probably doesn't matter"? Whatever the reason, the NBA's numbers north of the border will suck, and you and the bawler media will continue whining about the perceived disrespect towards your game. The Canadian media gave their audience what the majority of them wanted, and it appears that Canadians made the right choice.

[Hope Caper]

Hi Doug great job for a less than thrilling weekend. I didn't watch the whole game as I turn into a pumkin some where around midnight. However early on in the game it was pretty evident that Dwayne, Lebron, and the rest were getting theirs before anyone did. Really it was hard to argue since all of them on a nightly basis are used to carrying their respective teams. I know Dwayne got some assists going but really in that kind of game he could have had double what he got. For forwards like Bosh though they need someone to feed them the ball and that wasn't happening a lot. Maybe when Jose makes it that will change.

[Kevin A.]

What about he Dome - er, Rogers Centre - for the ASG? I'm sure they could jury-rig that place up like they did in Dallas to hold an ASG?

[jlongs]

i was kinda hoping for the three-man tie mvp for lebron,wade and bosh. but wade had better stats across the sheet than lebron, and chris missed too many shots late. but it should be noted that had he not knocked down those freethrows to give the east the win, wade wouldn't have been mvp.

[SkyJ]

I think Bosh was a couple of missed gimmes and free-throws away from possible MVP. Too bad. Woulda been nice.
As for the dunk contest, *IF* they have to keep going with it, can we at least do away with the dunk-in's and qualifying rounds? Just let everyone have their three or four best dunks and be done with it. Instead, all we see are everyone's weakest dunks since they're all saving their best stuff for the finals, only to get eliminated before they even get to use them. That, or add man-eating sharks. I'm easy.

[Joe]

Hi Doug,

I hope Toronto does get the All-Star game. I'm tired of the American media thinking of Toronto as some type obscure town. Perhaps holding the game will allow them to see how nice the city is, despite our problems. Using the ACC for the rookie/sophmore game and skills contest plus filling up the Rogers Centre for basketball might allow us to showcase our love for basketball. Doug, in your opinion, why is Toronto held in such low regard by the American media? Do the players feel the same way?

Blogger's note: Every member of the media I talk to raves about Toronto; don't know about all the players but this inferiority complex is tiring. And mean from far more than just you.

[Ian]

Doug, I know you want to put the Colangelo to New Jersey/Brooklyn matter to rest, but I read an article on SI.com that said Bryan wasn't the Colangelo they were looking at... it was Jerry. I don't know if there is any truth to this (and I really don't care either way), but it does show how things can get out of hand when someone runs with a rumour before doing their research.

[mando]

I can't believe that people would even bother to comment on this All-star BS, I'm sorry that you even had to cover it when you could have spent the weekend with your family.

[JT]

Doug, with some of the details of the proposed collective agreement presented to the players union being leaked, what do you think about it? I know its a first proposal but it seems ridiculous that the cuts to salaries are so dramatic. The most reasonable thing is knocking down the salaries of rookies because no way do I think a rookie in the league, however highly touted they are, should be making over $4 million a year to start. But at the same time, I'm not endorsing that players should make $18mil a season or anything like that.

[Earl]

I haven't watched an All-Star weekend in many years.
I thought I'd give it another chance.
I'm sure the next All-Star game I watch will feature that crafty old vet Brandon Jennings throwing an alley-oop to a creaky DeJuan Blair in the twilight of his career as coach Wade looks on.

[George Norman]

I just about threw up at all the "I'm just sooo humble to be here", and "I'm just here for the fans" (eyes rolling to the left as he sez it). Chris Bosh was a class act, on and off the court. His comment "Wow!' said it all. A true Canadian.

[GM]

I'm not a huge fan of the dunk-off, but it's okay. However, I think they have to do away with the fan voting. It becomes just a popularity contest, so long as the dunks are close. Just have the judges pick someone and that's it. But overall, I thought the weekend was great. I even liked the awful celebrity game and that shooting game. I'm not so sure you needed to be there, though, Doug. Maybe if there were deals going down, it would have been helpful, but even so I'm sure you could have handled that by phone.

[Wilber]

"Yes, I voted for Chris Bosh for MVP. Was the only one, too."

Can we call this your "Swirsky moment", Doug?