We're kind of all over the map today but that's not a bad thing

We’re kind of all over the map today; quiet day yesterday as the first of two off-days between games are.

So …

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So how about this ownership thing, eh?

Teachers are getting out of the sports business it appears and to that I have only one thing to say:

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Now, I have nothing against pension funds or teachers or any combination of both. In fact, I have friends in both industries and wish them nothing but the best.

But, at its very heart, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment exists to satisfy the fiduciary concerns of a billion-dollar pension plan and that has to run at cross-purposes with fielding winning sports teams.

I don't know if the next “owner” will have the same responsibilities but I do know they won’t be as cast in stone as they are now, where strict financial goals have to be achieved.

The debate will continue, and I’m sure I’ll weigh in on it soonish, about whether a sole proprietor or a corporation of some sort is best but I honestly think anything will be better than a pension fund.

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So much for Jay Triano, Mr. Nice Guy.

It was totally inadvertent, and most of us have done something like it before, but he got a little, um, colourful during a post-practice scrum Monday afternoon.

I will tell you this without doubt, since it’s been relayed to me by coaches and players a lot over the years: They really don’t like re-living the game from the day before; they’d much prefer to talk about what’s coming and don’t feel the media’s really doing a good job if all it can do is look back and rehash stuff that’s already been discussed.

Anyway …

Jay’s being asked about the so-so shooting on Sunday, when no one really got it going and – even for them – a winnable game got away.

“Listen, we’re the seventh or eighth best shooting team in the NBA without being able to make a three-point shot. We have one game where we don’t really get it going from a variety of guys so let’s just (bleeping) relax a little bit.”

Yes, I believe the cameras were still running. Oops.

Trust me, I know how that can happen, I know how you just start talking and things pop out and I guess it says where we are as a society that no one gasped or shook their head disgustedly.

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Oh yeah, as the great man once wrote of today:

Beware.

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All right, all right, all right.

Yes, I should have had Leonard Cohen on the list.

Silly me.

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Let’s get back to the Teachers thing for a minute. Here’s a question a lot of you have been asking:

Q: Hey Doug. Just have a quick question. With the Teachers Pension Plan wanting to sell their share, what impact does that have on the contract talks with BC? Does it hinder the talks/negotiations or is it still going to happen without any hurdles?

Thanks!

 

 

 

Dave R, Markham

A: I think it’s probably a bit of a factor, people I talk to say it’s not the biggest one but it has to figure into the mix, doesn’t it?

Yes, I saw Dave’s excellent column on the issue on the weekend but I think this point needs to be taken into consideration:

I don’t have the greatest knowledge of the inner workings of big business or high finance (or even low finance, for that matter) but it strikes me as virtually impossible that a deal of this size (and we’re talking something valued at more than $1 billion) can be consummated before the end of June so if it’s even a minor issue, they better deal with it quickly.

I still think the right thing for them to do is bring Bryan back, and I think the sooner they do it the better. If I’m buying something of this size, I’d like to know what I’m getting; I wouldn’t want a huge front office vacancy staring me in the face.

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I had heard briefly about this on Sunday but had no idea it was coming so quickly as NBA ref Bill Spooner has filed suit against an AP reporter for a tweet the reporter put out.

Read all about it here.

Now, I’m going to tell you this as straight truth: Bill Spooner is an honourable man who loves his job and does it well. To think that, in this day and age, with all the scrutiny of refs and the willingness for people to impart “information” immediately and without checking or asking a follow-up question, I find it virtually impossible to believe that things would unfold as they allegedly did.

Sorry if that’s bit Pollyanna-ish but I know the guy, I know how careful everyone tries to be and, things like this just go to a huge problem I have with “social media.”

And that’s the fact that in a rush to “publish” questions that need to be asked seldom are.

It’s one thing to make a snarky comment, another to offer opinion, another to just be having some fun; when issues of this magnitude arise, no one ever takes the time to check things.

And that sucks.

End o’ rant.

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So, March Madness.

Despite the fact these kids should be off working on getting their ecology degrees or something like that, I guess basketball is on everyone’s lips.

But I do have to say this:

All these silly play-in games (two tonight, two tomorrow) kind of bug me. I guess it’s good for the schools and gives TV two more nights of programming but what’s next? Every school with a team gets in?

I remember, back in the day, watching conference tournament finals and knowing that only the winner was going to the big dance.

Those were the days.

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Oh, and life kind of got in the way last night so I have to wake Super Son from his slumber soon to do a bracket. Guess it’s better this way, none of you can cheat off me.

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He was at it again and if Reggie Evans hasn’t climbed on the Mt. Rushmore of Raptors quotes now, he’s close.

“It’s definitely a good position to be (in uniform) in besides being in a suit all the time and stuff. On the court, sometimes I can push some guys and get them in the right spot, or tell them to go in to the right spot or even dap them up, good job and stuff like that.”

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And, with stuff like that, I’m out.

If you see a Smelly Ford Focus on 403, 401, 402 any time late this afternoon/early this evening, give a wave and a holler. I’ll be the guy drinking the coffee.

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Comments

[Shannon]

Hey Doug,

What do you think of Triano's comments on The Tim and Sid Uncut Podcast yesterday? If you missed it he said something along the lines of "Then why'd you leave?" with regards to Chris Bosh's complaints in Miami. It was refreshing to see him voicing a question that many fans were thinking.

Blogger's note: I imagine a few people would agree

[Mike D.]

Um....not that it's up to me to second-guess someone's choice of leisure activities, but why are you apparently planning to spend this afternoon driving randomly on the western 400-series highways drinking coffee?

Blogger's note: Because the dopes who did the NBA schedule insist I be in Auburn Hills for shootaround tomorrow morning

[Joe]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for your take on the Teachers Pension Fund sell off. What I wanted to ask is your thoughts on the possibility of Larry Tannebaum taking over. You don't hear much from him but what would you think of him as an owner? The players seem to like him. I recall Bosh specifically taking the time during his interviews after he left to thank Tannebaum for being a great owner. I think Tie Domi was also quite close with him. I'm not sure if you've had time to deal with him, but would he make a good owner if he succeeds in gaining controlling interest?

As for the NCAA pool, my sleeper pick is Texas. Our Canadian kids, Joseph and Thompson, might have a break out party and lead Texas to the top.

Blogger's note: I think he'd probably be good

[DannyFromFreddy]

I believe that it was Homer who wrote "Beware the eyes of Marge."

Blogger's note: Right after the Iliad

[doug]

one sport I have lost total interest in or rather I should say organization, and I was a huge fan at one time is anything to do with the NCAA....Jay Bilas who I admire and respect immensely said yesterday that in all the years he has watched and covered the Final Four this years tournament is the least talented, and I agree...he said it may be exciting but in terms of skill it's just not good b-ball and not to confuse that excitement for quality, he said it's not that far above high school ball anymore and again I agree.., I wonder how the old Houston Cougars, or UCLA Bruins teams would do against these teams this year, it may be the only sport where the old teams pummel the new ones.....speaking of where we are as a society I am watching CNN in regards to this Japanese situation and this catches my eye, main caption is Breaking News "Radioactivity Is increasing at Japan Nuclear plant", along the bottom scroller runs this line, "Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel break-up" I just shake my head and sigh...

[Rob.V]

Whew!, been out for a couple of weeks... but I've been keeping my eye on all you irregulars to make sure we were keeping things straight here.
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Dude, the London chronicles were just great!... some of your best work here. London seemed to give you some juice, good for you.
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Doug (I believe it was), the story about your newphew was a great one as well... special kid!
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Re: Kent - Irregulars may not seem to agree with him however what he writes does make sense. Listen, someone a long time ago once told me that if it looks like poop, and smells like poop... it's most likely poop!!!
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We can talk all we want about development however outside of DeRozan and Ed Davis who are we developing exactly?... 50% of this team will be new next year. When you're 18-and 100 or so losses... there's nothing left to call it other than "development".
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But this so called development may be nothing more than a smoke an mirrors act for the fact that the board was telling Colangelo... not to bring on any more large contracts until we know more about ownership. Anyone selling a business will tell you this is how it works.
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... and speaking of ownership: One can only hope that someone like a Mark Cuban swoops in (Mr. Tannenbaum?) and says... I want to win (and I'm prepared to lose money to do so). I'm not so certain that selling to a corporation like Rogers would be any better than the teachers pension.
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Someone please correct me if I'm wrong (because I do not follow Baseball) however haven't the Blue Jays dramatically cut payroll over the past couple of seasons... are they owned by Rogers (or does Rogers only own the dome?).

[dribbles]

On the Bill Spooner issue, anyone who has watched enough games has heard commentators talk about “make-up” calls by refs. Maybe they’re somewhat tongue in cheek, but I’ve always assumed refs do this on a regular basis. I have a lot of problems with the way games are often called, but this isn’t near the top of the list. If a ref knows he screwed up a call that cost one team points, it doesn’t seem like such a sin to try and correct that. There are ways to do that (e.g. you don’t call a nonsense foul on the other team’s best player), and it’s probably best not to be public about it, but come on…is this really a surprise?

[Rob.V]

Oh, and lastly:
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I believe Amir may have to be sacraficed this off season. Now, let me preface this by saying (I love Amir Johnson)... but before you all go... WTF! this guy is crazy... hear me out on this.
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If the Raptors return with a 4 big rotation of Bargnani, Amir, Ed Davis, and Reggie we will see a lot of the same results nexxt season... so get that out of your mind, there is NO WAY our bigs are the same next season. Amir is too lean and lacks the height to be starting, he's a great 3rd big off the bench.
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Knowing this, and assuming that Colangelo's priority will be to go out and sign say a Tyson Chandler (who he already traded for - who's a defensive anchor at 7'1) that immediately pushes everyone back a peg.
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Now, theres no way we are going to stunt the growth of Ed Davis for Amir so unless we are going to keep Amir as the 4th big off the bench he and Ed Davis are a duplication. If they are a duplication, Amir then becomes a wonderful trade chip that many teams around the league would want.
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The only other scenario that comes to mind in an effort to save Amir would be to move Andrea, however unless the big Italian (Colangelo that is) changes his mind about paring his #1 pick with a defensive minded center next season... it simply makes no sense to pay Amir the money he will be earning to play him behind Ed Davis 8 minutes a night.
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If I'm the GM I (reluctantly) look to move Amir this off season and try to sign Reggie as a big off the bench.
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I love Amir...however I would not be surprised if this is his last season in T.O.

[Dave]

Here's one for people to pick apart - Who says no to this trade? Bargnani and Calderon + 2012 pick to Phoenix for Gortat and Nash + 2012 pick (picks protected so that PHX gets the higher of the two).

Does PHX laugh at that deal?

[Mike D.]

@Dave, you are overlooking the Curse of the Raptors. If we traded for Nash his back would immediately give out on him (see Olajuwon, Hakeem). Anyway, bad D rotations or not, I would rather have Bargnani and his rare offensive talent for another 7-10 years than Nash for another two.

[511]

I don’t know who’s right or wrong with the Bill Spooner lawsuit against the AP reporter ... but I’m always glad to see another round of hard focus on refereeing in the NBA. I know it’s a hard job and all-that-noise ... but there just shouldn’t be the room for bias that there so often seems to be ... more so, I think, than in any other sport that I've seen. If they have to change the rules to make it easier to make the call - or to not make the call - then, that’s what they should probably do. Whether Jon Krawczynski actually witnessed Bill Spooner say or do what he tweeted, matters not, to me. What does matter is knowing that few - if any - NBA fans would actually be surprised by such a thing. That says a lot, to me.

[CARLoS M.]

Why hasn't anyone mentioned Jim Balsillie in this MLSE situation? Doesn't he have wheels barrows full of money and wants to own a hockey team? Sounds like a good fit to me.

[Penguin]

Dave, I'd never make that trade. It's not that I love Bargs or Calderon; I don't. But you're not getting enough in return. We all love Steve Nash, but he's, what 37 or about to be? If the Raps were one Steve Nash from being a possible NBA champion, yeah, get him for a year or so. But, they're not even close and that trade doesn't make them closer. Gortat is okay, but hardly outstanding or even necessarily an upgrade. Oh, and re. Nash, why would he leave a team where he can't win a championship to go to another that's at least as far away or further? If Bargs, Calderon, and a draft pick are trading chips, we need a lot more for them than this.

[Arthur A]

"I guess it says where we are as a society that no one gasped or shook their head disgustedly."

We're not as anal-retentive as we once were? RIP George Carlin.

[marc in panama]

Hola Doug,

Lemme get his straight...the guy that posted the exchange he over heard is the AP accredited beat writer Jon Krawczynski. Do you know him? Is he an honourable man? Are you an accredited AP writer? What does it take to get said accreditation?

Why has this become a story about Twitter? Is it because the writer didn't run it by his editor first? Would your editor have allowed you to post this story if you had been the one to over hear said alleged discussion? Would you have posted it, either in the paper if you had heard the discussion? If no, why not?

Did you know Tim Donaghy before he got pinched for being a crooked ref? Was he an "honourable guy who loves his job" again before he got busted? Now of course he's a lying sack of excrement...after the fact.

I understand your love of all things NBA, it pays the bills right? But in light of what did happen with Tim Donaghy, doesn't this story deserve more than your take of "I know the guy, he wouldn't do this" ?

marc in panama

Blogger's note: No one would have edited a Tweet, which is part of the problem when you do something as inflammatory without having to answer to anyone

[GM]

* I like the lawsuit Bill Spooner is filing. Why? Because he'll have to come clean under oath that make-up calls do, in fact, exist. It has nothing to do with being honourable. In fact, maybe making up for a bad call is the honourable thing to do. But Doug, tweeting is the equivalent of your IGBT. You've written things you've overheard. If you heard a ref saying that to a coach, you'd probably post it and then you'd be hit with a lawsuit. What's there to check? If you're a ref, and a reporter comes up to you and asks, "Did you just say you'd get two points for Minnesota?", many thoughts are flashing through your mind and there's no way you admit it. If you're the coach, and the same reporter approaches you with that question about the ref, you're thinking about the fine you're going to get from Stern. I really hope this thing goes to trial. I'm glad the AP is standing behind the reporter.

* Funny, yesterday you had a Spooner story, too. He made a call from a bad angle and the big-eared ref answered a fan that he could make such a call because of his skill and talent. Uh, right.

* I agree, Leonard Cohen deserves to be on anyone's list. But I'm a little saddened that Canadian Music Week seems to just be about pop music. I don't know much about classical, but here is my top five for jazz: Oscar Peterson, Rob McConnell, Moe Koffman, Sonny Greenwich, Fraser MacPherson... and so many more I've probably forgotten.

[joeu]

@Dave, Phoenix would lose ticket sales, and why would they disrespect Nash's stated wishes to stay in Pho - The owner doesn't get enough lynching threats aleady ?

[joeu]

@RobV

Interesting analysis, but I don't see Amir getting the short straw in that situation.

Most importantly Amir is the only consistent scorer from the paint that the raptors have, especially rolling to the basket

Ed Davis will get increasing responsibilities, but until he shows that he can handle consistent minutes in all game situations, BC is not going to trade away the players in front of him, and risk losing games, just to hand him that role.

If Tyson Chandler were to be signed to the Raptors team that exists today (huge if) I'd be really tempted to try him at SF, but joking aside, he would provide better shot blocking and not be a FT liability at the end of close games, and I think that would mean (sadly) taking minutes away from .... The Regend.

Mind you, I think the huge wild card will be the Draft, and what position and role(s) gets staffed from that.

[Ian]

Caesar:
Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue shriller than all the music
Cry "Caesar!" Speak, Caesar is turn'd to hear.

Soothsayer:
Beware the ides of March.

Caesar:
What man is that?

Brutus:
A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
Julius Caesar Act 1, scene 2, 15–19

[Lawrence]

Hmm...Doug. what is the difference between a Tweet and your IGBT? Is the IGBT moderated from you somehow when you make your comments. I've been following your chats every now and then and am sure you have made comments about refs, and some odd calls that have been made. For some reason, I can picture you typing down something similar, maybe not as blatant, as Krawczynski's if you witness something like that go down with a random ref. And I'd totally be on your side.

Blogger's note: No, not as blatant. There is a line

[g.t.]

Doug, are you saying people never made off the cuff remarks prior to this twitter hype?

In my opinion, Nothing is wrong with a beat reporter posting something about a ref that he allegedly overheard, on his own PERSONAL twitter page. Social media pages are mainly personal ramblings ( I had steak for dinner ) . Just a public diary for the self important. Best thing about it? It's easy to ignore once organized media doesn't re-print it in their next news story. I don't have twitter much less follow Lebron or anyone because it's not important. So what they do or type , I wouldn't know. but espn doesn't hesitate to make stories using tweets as it's source. Who is to blame?

People could always make public statements without an editors approval, he could have announced it on FAN 590, no editors there too. So really the only difference now is that they have a larger audience because of the internet. That audience includes the media. They also have greater control over the message.

Don't blame the medium blame the messenger. If he gets sued for Libel, so be it, next time he should watch his tongue or fingers.

If this didn't go to court, none of us in Raptor land would have known about the tweet since most people don't even know or care about the T-Wolves much less their beat writer.

[Smalahove]

All these folks touting Leonard Cohen couldn't name five of his songs beyond "Suzanne" and "First We Take Manhattan", which don't count. How often did you hear Leonard Cohen on the radio growing up? How often have you found yourself humming a Leonard Cohen song? How many of his LPs did you buy? Bah! I'd have left him off my list for sure. Now Neil Young, that's another story altogether.

[Dave]

Penguin, Mike D. - Gortat is really the sought after piece in this deal...a true C that can be a backbone, help defender, and is not inept offensively...I know Nash is almost done, and despite the love for him in PHX, there's still a chance he gets moved...offensively there are guys on this TO team that can carry the load without Bargnani - (with Nash, Amir and Ed would average at least 6 more ppg) - Nash and Borbosa can play well together, and you have to assume improvement from J. Johnson, and DeRozan. And the ACC is sold out every game because people care about Nash...I think the only thing wrong with this deal, is no team in the league would trade equal value for Bargnani...shame...I think he'll retire a Raptor. hopefully the next contract the Raps sign him to is closer to the $ Amir got this year...$10M/year is just too much.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Without corroboration, hearsay is just that. If Mr. Krawczynski doesn't come up with some solid corroborative help, Mr. Spooner will likely win that suit. If he does find credible back-up, this courtroom drama picks up some meaningful juice. As @GM suggests, such proceedings could help to cast a brighter light on an already rather glaring 'issue'. And I say bravo. "Respect for the game" should have been a two-way street from the get-go.
Cheers. Go Raps!

[Jerry]

I would like to see some refs under oath also where they would have to tell the truth about make up calls etc. I personally think games should be called as they are seen without preference to stars etc. As far as make up calls go , two wrongs do not make a right.