Now it's time for the fun to begin for real

So here we go.

But before we get into the silliness and the angst, I want to say this:

Folks, it’s fun.

I don’t know whether the Heroes of the Hardcourt will win 22 games or 34 games or 41 games and I don’t care and, you know what? I don’t know whether you should, either.

Sports is supposed to be about fun, isn’t it? Isn’t supposed to be a couple of hours of escape, from the boss and the bills and life? A diversion, a thing to entertain you and make you smile.

Yes, being a passionate fan is nice but to live and die with possessions, to dissect every nuance of every game? That’s too much.

Yes, this team will get absolutely drilled some nights and it will win some games out of nowhere. And in every game you watch – win or lose – there will be a moment, a play, a shot, a dunk, a move that makes you say “holy crap” and that’s what it’s all about.

Who cares whether this guy or that guy says they’ll win 20 games or 25 games or whatever? Does anyone really need to obsess about the predictions of others, or seek validation for their opinions all that much?

I think we all need to take a deep breath and maybe a step back and realize what it is:

A game.

It will be nice, indeed, when they win; it will be a tad less nice when they lose but at the end of the day, it’s entertainment.

Please, enjoy the good moments and quickly forget the bad. There’s enough in each of our lives that we don’t need to feel anger and angst and dismay over a bunch of guys playing a kid’s game.

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Now, that said, let’s dissect them, in a good and bad kind of way:

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Good: They will be more athletic, it seems. Tempo will be a word heavily used this year when chatter gets around to the Raptors because a lot of them like to get out and go. But to think they’ll place racehorse basketball as if Paul Westhead were coaching them is wrong, look for them to try and score in transition but they won’t try to put up 120 points a night. A controlled break is more like it

Bad: Leandro Barbosa is likely to play tonight but he’s got a bad wrist that, according to him and Bryan Colangelo, may eventually need surgery. It’s not imminent but if it gets worse and he needs to be cut mid-season, it’ll be a big blow. It may not affect his shot, though. Someone asked the other day if he had hurt his shooting hand and it was pointed out that he really doesn’t have a “shooting hand” since he releases the ball with both of them.

Good: You’ll never really know who’s going to be the No. 1 guy each night. Might be trouble on the nights no one plays well but you have to admit it’s going to be more fun that knowing one guy’s going to get 25 shots and the ball at every significant moment.

Bad: There will be nights when no one plays well and they get killed. Be prepared, it might happen more than a few times.

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And some more stuff

The East is loaded with bad teams. You’ve got three very good ones in Orlando, Boston and Miami, you’ve got Chicago, Milwaukee and Atlanta in a second tier and then what?

A bunch of teams with holes and question marks and hope.

Toronto’s season is going to be determined by how it does against the New Yorks, New Jerseys, Charlottes, Detroits, Washingtons and Indianas of the world, not the others.

Best thing that can happen for this group:

The Magic, Heat and Celtics each win about 68 games, sweeping every team in the East while Toronto holds its own against the other dregs and steals a couple at home against those middle three. That should keep the Raptors around the periphery of the race at least; and add some juice to the second half of the season.

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The one guy I’m most interested in watching this season is Jay.

He’s got a chance to really coach this time around, to be creative rather than “forced” to feed the ball to his top player. I think at times last year he felt he had to satisfy Bosh and wasn’t sure how to handle Turkolgu and it killed them.

This season? Not an issue and when I asked him the other day whether he was excited about having a chance to experiment, he quickly said yes.

“Absolutely. More creative and less predictable.

“Last year, if … if we didn’t run a certain play late in the game, it was like, ‘why would you pay this guy this much money and not give the basketball.’

 

“Now, it’s an opportunity that we can disguise a lot of things and we can change up who we go to when the game’s on the line.” And that might be fun to watch.

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A number?

I don’t really have one, to tell you the truth.

I can see them winning 25 games, I can see them winning 33 games, I can see them doing a lot of different things.

But, I’ll go back to what I said at the top, it should be entertainment and if it’s a fun night out and something good happens to take your mind off the real world, that really should be good enough.

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Torn, folks. I’m torn.

Rangers? Giants? Giants? Rangers? Do I care? Don’t I care?

And I’ve come to the realization that, yes, I care.

And I’m all about the Rangers, for a couple of reasons.

First, one of the best memories I have of watching baseball with Super Son – and those are the memories that count – is sitting out one night watching Josh Hamilton hit homer after homer at the all-star game in New York and it was a great night for a dad and a kid.

And way back in the day, and I’m talking way back in the day, I was hooked up with a great, great bunch of Tillsonburg Red Sox, glorious OBA Senior D champions in 1984 believe it was, a spectacular come-from-behind win in a double-knockout provincial finals in some tiny town out east of Whitby as I recall) and our replica hats were the Texas model, with the ‘T’ emblem on the front. It may have been conflicting fashion – Boston replica jerseys, Texas hats – but it provided me with some of the top baseball moments I’ve had.

So, go Rangers.

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We’re here at 1 p.m. East, right? Questions. Answers. Fun. Frivolity. And then again for the game? You’re going to get sick of me.

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Total aside:

It shocks me every time I see Erik Spoelstra as head coach of the Miami Heat to think about the kid I used to talk to in various Marriott concierge lounges when he was an advanced scout making it so big.

Very cool.

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This quote from Chris Bosh dismays me. A lot.

“Really, it’s all about being on TV at the end of the day. Seriously. A guy can average 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds), and nobody really cares. If you don’t see it (on U.S. national TV), then it doesn’t really happen.”

Doesn’t that sort of sum up what’s wrong with so many of our athletes today?

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Comments

[Kelsey]

I will have more fun as Im in 2 fantasy leagues, so its not only about the Raptors and I may actually get use of of Bargnani

Honestly we need that full context of that Bosh quote, as everyone seems that Chris Bosh is looking to be TV's

#1...I dont think we put ourselves in the athletes shoes enough...How would you feel if you were an All Star, but majority of people never ever see your body of work, Remember Raptors get 0 National coverage in the USA. Your hard pressed to see highlights on a regular unless they are playing a top team and ESPN (for example) is featuring that team in highlight.

Nobody can say that Bosh didnt give it his all when he was on this team, thats what we should remember. Look at the so called face of this franchise now. He rather fly under the radar and not be a leader or be seen at all.

[CARLoS M.]

Doug, do you think Bosh will make the all-star team this year?

Blogger's note: Yes

[The J]

How annoyed do you thinks Lebron was after last night. He ditched his home team, and threw himself under the bus to become one of the most hated men in America (which is kinda silly when you think about it realistically), and all that was to play with some talent and not have to do it himself. Next thing you know, D.Wade is MIA (missing not Miami) and CB1 is 3 for 11 and non-existent, and Bron has to put the team on his back like he was still in Cleveland. Just when he thought he was out they pulled him back in! Definetly a team that hasn't found out how to work together. When was the last time CBx went 3-11 and had only 8 points when he wasn't hurt?
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Anyone else think Bosh was looking smaller like before he added the weight last season?

[GM]

No, no, no you don't, Adrian! You said you were *never* coming back to this blog if Bosh didn't re-sign. "Never" doesn't mean the off-season. Never means never. Be true to your word.

Kelsey, Raps got 0 national coverage in the States because they were lousy. As someone else mentioned, if Bosh were able to lead his team to the playoffs as one of the better teams in the league, they'd get coverage. The Raps got coverage when Vince was a star.

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

So Bosh wants more attention. I hope he understands that "more attention" means websites analyzing his poor "usage rate:"

http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2010/10/27/heat-check-bosh-comes-up-short-in-game-1/

I know basketball nerds are used to reading this stuff, but I'm not. Especially on the Sports Illustrated website, in an article that calls Bosh the
"big loser" of the game last night.

Big time indeed.

AG, Toronto

[Ted S.]

Re: fun

The pro teams that I followed or the amateur teams I played for growing-up that won championships WERE the most fun. So I'm hoping for a lot of "fun" too. Yes, a championship is out of reach, but is competitive too high an expectation for "fun"? Or should we be satisfied with just participation? I hope the players care about wins and take pride in their work no matter what the result.
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I agree with your long held opinion that the Raptors have been a better story than a team. But wouldn't it be nice for beat grunts and fans alike if one day the Raptors were both?
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Here's to new beginnings and the hope of lots of fun to come. Let's Go Raptors!

[Les]

Hmmm... Tough without TV? I guess someone should ask Bosh how Vince managed to be the top All-star vote getter on the East squad and for the whole league multiple times. Seem he managed to get known.
Maybe it's not the team, or the city. Maybe it's the player. Bosh was/is a good player, he's just not all that exciting.

[Ben]

Vote for the raptors in the poll. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/index.html

[John Park]

cb4 was the leader here.

However.....

He seems to be a still young, very young player. Now mature at all.

[Owen]

Should we be a bit concerned about the #1 draft pick from Miami? It is protected, is it not - given that they are, for the moment, one of the lottery teams?

[sjwilliams12]

I have no qualms with Bosh's comment. More power to him.

His point is hammered home by the fact that I can't even watch the Raptors home opener tonight because I don't pay for TSN2...

What a joke.

[J]

@ Adrian:

Back so soon, and with the same rhetoric, I see? (And dammit, GM beat me!)