And wrapping up the weekend ... Heeeeeere's Johnny!

Another day, another bunch of good ones.

You go through these while I go wrestle with more leaves.

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Q: Hey Doug: In your long and illustrious career, what is the single best event you ever covered, and what was the single worst event you covered? I imagine you've hard more than a few good and bad, but I'm hoping you can narrow it down to the absolute best and worst.

Thanks!

Tim H, Windsor

A: I’m sure you’re not talking about mundane regular season affairs, or even one-off playoff games, are you?

So I’ll give you a good and a bad with the proviso that there have been a lot of both.

Good

Raptors-Sixers, NBA East semifinal, 2001

Remember it? The drama of dueling 50-point games by Vince Carter and Allen Iverson, sidebar of Oak and Tyrone Hill, back and forth and back and forth. An awful lot of work for a grunt but, man, was it a lot of fun.

Bad

1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Three weeks of misery. Terrible housing in a dorm with a cement courtyard in a sketchy part of town, citizenry didn’t care, infrastructure sucked beyond comprehension. Oh, and the bomb.

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Q: Hey Doug. Your comments about 'classics' got me pondering. Could we possibly have a list of your top 5 classic games/matches/events of all time?

Dell V, London

A: Of all time? Wow. Nearly impossible, isn’t it?

But here’s a starter, am sure Irregulars will add and perhaps, like another question soon to follow, we can do this more thoroughly over the passage of time.

So what I’ll do is give you five, each from a different sport, that I recall:

Borg-McEnroe, 1980 Wimbledon final.

Some see it as the greatest tennis match ever; must be close if I remember it.

Boston-Phoenix, Game 5, 1976 NBA Final

Triple-overtime, ref gets punched by a fan, more drama than you can imagine.

Montreal Canadiens-Soviet Red Army, New Year’s Eve, 1975

If I remember a pucks game from more than 35 years ago, it must have been pretty special.

Boston-Cincinnati, Game 6, 1975 World Series.

Forget Carlton Fisk, go look at Bernie Carbo’s three-run shot in the eighth as the big play.

Tom Waston-Jack Nicklaus, British Open 1982

The Duel In The Sun, I believe they call it, virtual match play with a major at stake and two of the all-time greats.

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Q: Hello Doug. So, as this You-Know-What drags on and I'm really struggling to find the tiniest of nuggets of NBA-related news to keep this thing going...And this little corner of the Interweb is apparently still called "Raptors Questions"...do you think The Tall Foreheads are going to rename this and make it more all-encompassing? So we aren't limited to Raptors stuff? Ha! Like I ever was!!! But this is sort of basketball-related: I saw on Twitter (so it was undoubtedly accurate!) that some expensive meal or something for the NBA reporters stuck in the lobby was being "charged" to your "account" as President of the PBWA! Is this true? Is this part of the gig? You get "accounts"? Where? All the best restaurants, hotels and shops in North America? Or do you have "accounts" worldwide??? And are they, you know, "unlimited"? And is one of them for Holt-Renfrew? 'Cause they've got this Great Pre-Christmas thingy coming up...:) Cheers! (And thank you for the Remembrance Day thoughts on the blog! We must never, ever forget to remember. And give thanks.

Lorie P, London

A: Oh, how I with I had accounts all over world – yes, even Holt-Renfrew, which I understand is some high-falutlin’ store somewhere – but, alas, it’s not the case.

What we did, and Twitter was indeed true was suggest the PBWA spring for a meal for those held hostage to the talks, many of whom are/were illustrious members of our little cabal.

The fellow members of the Small But Mighty Three-Man Executive PBWA Board agreed, one of our leaders (VP For Life Asch) was stuck in the lobby so we had some pizza, I believe, delivered. And it wasn’t so much on my account but my suggestion that Steve got done, to be dutifully reimbursed from our coffers.

We’re not a rich little group, but we don’t mind feeding the hungry among us.

Others, like CBA Guru L. Coon, sprung for meals, too, can’t have grumbly stomachs of those waiting out hours of meetings.

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Q: Oh all knowing seer...Since it is now a pop culture thingy...

What happened to Sara Lee's Banana Cake?

Did they run out of bananas? They have not offered this delight for years.

How about a list of who to watch in the CIS?

How about your dream threesome to be trapped in a cell phone free elevator?

Stay off Funk and Wagnall's front porch!

Bob E, Kanata

A: Never having had Sara Lee’s Banana Cake, I can’t give you an answer but now I wish I’d tried it, although I truly despise bananas.

The CIS stuff is something I do have to get cracking on; maybe this week. I’ve been tardy.

What if I got in an elevator with Hemingway, Red Smith and Scott Young? Think that’d be a story-tellers storytelling time?

But you’ve sparked a great series of lists that I’ve now stored in my cluttered little mind. Different “categories” for different foursomes. Good idea.

And Funk and Wagnall’s front porch isn’t too bad, isn’t everything on it hermetically sealed?

Speaking of …

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Q: Hi Doug. Let's assume the Players and Owners solve their differences next week. Will you celebrate? What will you look forward to the most? Which one of the current crop of Raptors will you look forward to seeing the most? How long till the PG debate kicks in?

Cheers

Mike D, Barrie

A: Celebrate? Don’t think that’s a word I’d use at all. It’ll be nice to have some certainty to my next few months and a schedule to digest and games to look forward to but I think “celebrate” is a stretch. How about “accept?”

I presume I’d most look forward to the games, they’re far more interesting than the practices or the travels and I guess if there was one kid I’m interested in seeing – given that Valanciunas won’t be here – it might be Ed Davis, just to see what he’s been working on in the extended summer.

The PG debate? Never really went away, just dormant I presume.

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Q: I was thinking about your bit about Frazier and Ali earlier this week and what constitutes a "rivalry". And it got me thinking about team sports. Specifically, have there ever been any cases where a player has refused a trade or turned down a free agent contract because the team in question had a player already on their roster that they had too strong of a rivalry with? Any cases where two players had gone head-to-head and come out with ill feelings so many times that they would refuse to play together? And since the answer there might be "nope, none", are there any cases of players who started off as teammates, then got split up and became great rivals? (And for that definition, I'd have to say that they competed against each other in playoffs multiple times.)

Chris C, Toronto

A: I certainly can’t think of a specific incident where a guy refused a trade or anything like that, but I imagine there have been free agents in all sports who’ve taken teams off lists of possibilities because of some personal issues with either players or management there. Trouble is, if that happens, it seldom becomes public knowledge. And I think it might have been more prevalent in the past when players did develop a distaste of opponents, there’s far too much “kinship” in a lot of pro sports for my tastes today but that’s just the way it is.

I will give you a couple, although they don’t meet your criteria of multiple playoff matchups, and don’t include the pucks because I’m not as familiar with the recent history or player movement.

But there was something to watching Roger Clemens as he flitted from one team to the next deal with the teams he had left. Think of him as a Yankee or with the Red Sox facing the other, that was pretty special in the context of that rivalry.

Oh, and Kobe and Shaq may have only played each other a couple of times in a regular season after they had won multiple championships together but there’s no denying there was an edge to those games.

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Q: Hey Doug. Last summer there was a lot of hype surrounding Sonny Weems (perhaps more than Derozan). He had had a breakthrough season of sorts, and showed a lot of potential. Moreover, with the SF spot up for grabs, last year should've been a big year for him. Do you think fans just got too hyped up about him, or did he genuinely regress this year. If so, why?

Thanks again for keeping us Raps fans going through the lockout.

Jeremy S, Toronto

A: I think the fans absolutely got too hyped, he was a pretty good rotation player on a pretty bad team; a bit part, but we do love our bit parts around here.

And he regressed in the respect that he got a wee bit self-absorbed, I think. Imagined himself with more skills and a greater role than he maybe should have.

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Q: Hi Doug. I was reading the latest on the NBA's proposal to the players … one item stood out for me:

There was proposal to raise the age limit for the draft to 20 from 19 by the owners.

Having seen a lot of young players come into the league, what are your thoughts on this proposal? Would it be better for a young player to spend two years in college or overseas in a pro league or is this simply the owners trying to cut back another year of salary for a rookie and getting the colleges/overseas pro leagues to do more of the ground work in preparing a young player for a professional career.

Thank you, Doug.

Joe D, Mississauga

A: I’ve never had a problem with the idea of them raising the age limit, I think there are far too many kids who aren’t ready to handle the trappings of the NBA, the money, the fame, the work needed to succeed who’d benefit from another year or two of maturity. For every Kobe, LeBron, Garnett, there are more failures of either high schoolers or one-and-done college kids to validate my point.

And before anyone goes all “they can’t deny these kids a chance to make a living” on me, it’s a bogus point. Kids who are 18, 19, even 20 have all kinds of opportunities to play basketball professionally and make a living, if they like and can handle it. As you mentioned, there’s Europe, the D League and a handful of other minor pro leagues where they can make money if school’s not their thing.

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Q: Rumours from the CBA offer states that "The minimum team salary would be 85 percent of the salary cap in the first two years and increase to 90 percent in the third year of the new collective bargaining agreement. This figure was 70 percent under the last CBA."

Does this mean that every team must spend 90 percent of the salary cap on salaries? For example if the salary cap was 100 million every team would have to spend at least $90 million on salaries and couldn't keep salaries down to free up salary cap space for a super free agent?

Dave B, Cornwall

A: If that is indeed part of any final new CBA – and I believe it will be – that’s precisely what it means. Teams would be forced to add some payroll to meet a “floor” of a new salary cap.

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Q: Hi Doug. I keep hearing how the small market teams will not be losing money even if games are not played. I'm assuming that gate receipts are such a small factor in the NBA money pile that this is an acceptable loss for most teams. Can you shed some light on this for most teams in general and specifically for the DNP Heroes of the Hardcourt?

Thanks.

Kevin M, Maple

A: I caution you not to believe everything you read about the financial shenanigans of pro sports teams. But, there is this to consider: Sometimes the income from games – tickets, concessions, etc. – don’t add up to the total outlay in various salaries and other expenses so, with TV money still coming in at some point, it could very well be less financially troublesome for owners. It isn’t, of course, to arena workers and the others the owners don’t care about.

Now, for the Raptors specifically, their financial picture is so clouded in the morass of privately-held MLSE it’s impossible to determine where they sit on the spectrum. Sorry.

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Comments

[coachd]

Hi Doug,
I miss Johnny Carson. That has to be one of the funniest things I've ever watched. Thanks for reliving it. What a brilliant comedian he was.

[doug]

those carnac bits were truly comedic gold, in fact Johnny was the man, and the thing I liked or respected most about him was how secure he was with himself to allow guest hosts to do the show when he was absent, not done anymore......to me this is a example of something we do really well in Canada but some look south of the border and want us to emulate what they do which to me would be a total mistake...and that is university sports, I watched a bit of the Yates Cup yesterday (sorry Lori about UWO) and the stadium was 90% full on a perfect fall day for football, so how can that be a positive?, well to me and I lived in London for 35 years UWO and London are proud of the Stangs, and supportive, but also the football team doesn't or never will define the university, it is seamless in that it is part of the culture, and the overall university experience whereas in the States, as we have seen recently, coaches and teams become far larger then the universities , and take on this almost mythical state, sports is not what university is about, it is or should be just a part of the whole experience, so I hope we never change or adapt a U.S. mentality in regards to collegiate sports as what were doing now is to me the right way to do it...ok happy raking...

[Dave T (Ottawa)]

I've always thought the age limit was a good thing, but perhaps there is a different sort of clause: players can declare for the draft out of high school in the year they turn 18, but if they go undrafted, then there must be at least 2 years between the time they graduate high school until they can be signed. This means that Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant still get drafted as kids and then if you're going to go to college you're going to stay there and if not you've got to cut your teeth somewhere else for a while.

It's not fool-proof. You might have a lot of kids getting bad advice declaring for the NBA, not making it, and then not being allowed to play in school. But at some point you have to allow that a (hopefully) small percentage of people will make those bad decisions and fail.

I do a lot of teaching, and you find that the lack of ever having tasted even the potential of failure (in school, or otherwise) is really hurting kids coming up these days. There's nothing wrong with allowing there to be consequences to actions; it's just unfortunate that it WILL happen to some.

[Boko]

Doug,

I want to add four rivalries that I would love to watch again ...
1) Any game from the 70s that featured the Steelers and the Cowboys. Staubach vs Bradshaw, etc. .
2) Any game from the 80s that featured Bird vs Magic.
3) Any game from the 60s that featured Russell vs Chamberlain.
4) Any game from the 90s that featured the Blue Jay wins in the two World Series.
I'm sure that your memory would do a better job than mine regarding which game specifically ... in each case.

I've always wondered why the NBA doesn't set the system up so that an 18, 19 & 20 year old would be encouraged to play on a team below the NBA as an active member, rather than sit on the end of a bench as an inactive member on an NBA team. I think that the NHL and MLB do that better than the NFL and the NBA, even though I prefer the latter two sports.

[doug]

I am opposed to the age limit in b-ball for 2 reasons, one that only leaves the NCAA as a reasonable alternative for many of these kids, and to me it isn't a fair situation to put them in and the NBA proposing it is directly tied into television and feeding the hand of the networks...but to me the bigger point is that these players that make the NBA and succeed such as the James,Kobe's,Garnett's etc are protege's no different then a 15 year old concert pianist who is a protege, or a young scientific genius etc., they aren't curtailed from jumping ahead as they shouldn't be, so to me to do it to potential NBA players is wrong and it is naive to think that Stern and the owners are doing it for the good of those young men, think about it, ESPN has college ball wrapped up and the NBA, it's all business, Stern and the owners know no different...to me no age limit as the cream always rises, without or without imposed limits...

[Alan C.]

Here's a pretty good summary article on Jonas Valanciunas' latest exploits overseas: http://torontosportsmedia.com/toronto-raptors-basketball/jonas-valanciunas-update-how-is-the-future-toronto-raptor-faring-overseas/11923

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Thanks, Doug! TV comedy really hasn't been the same since Johnny Carson retired. Or since political correctness came into vogue. Could it be time for it to start to politely cycle its way out of here again, at least for a little while? Wouldn't that be kind of fun?
A couple more from back when comics were king and the boundaries were generous:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfTgzZb-VVs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to3zMfQee_c
Cheers!

[Tim H.]

A couple of people (including Doug) have used LeBron James as an example of how a 'young' player was OK in the NBA. Really? Do you really think he has shown the level of maturity to really succeed in the NBA? Might not two more years of maturity make him realize how self-serving and egotistical "The Decision" was? I think that he actually is an example of why 17, 18, 19 year olds should NOT be allowed in the NBA!

[LeeZ]

@Bob E: forget the Sarah Lee banana cake. Whither Hagen & Daz honey vanilla??? I've looked high and low for years. Anyone have any idea what happened to it?
And that triple O.T. game was truly amazing. Still remember former Buffalo Brave Gar Heard hitting that improbable turn-around.

[Lorie]

Hi Doug!
The best way to end a day used to be Johnny Carson, and it turns out that after all these years that Carnac bit was the funniest thing I've see in a while - what a fun way to start a Sunday. And @doug, thanks for the sentiments about the Stangs loss yesterday; erratic placekicking and a still-injured quarterback made it too difficult to overcome the performance of a solid Maurader team. (But with one of the daughters still a student at Mac, it was really a win-win situation for my family.) And it's true what you say about UWO's relationship with London: we appreciate how the university enhances city life, but I don't think the interests of the university have ever superseded - nor transcended - those of the city. And, @D-Mac: generous boundaries indeed; protest was everywhere - do you remember when the Smothers Brothers got their show yanked for content like this?
http://youtu.be/ak_hQ9luKds

[doug]

@Tim H do you actually think or believe that 2 years of uni ball would have allowed LeBron to "grow up", come on, he is what he is and it would be no different then if he attended uni...those NCAA coaches ego's far surpass his, just gggle Bruce Pearl as a example... I am surprised as you seem to be a intelligent man but please don't use James as a example as to why a player should attend NCAA ball, there was and is no need for him to do so, except for the NCAA to benefit and the NBA to have a marketing phenom on their hands (which they had anyways),,,he is a protege', NCAA ball for him was and is ludicrous to force him to play, why shouldn't he have the right to make the money he did as a young kid, it's his to earn not the NCAA's or ESPN'S....

[Alan C.]

Re the recent discussion of classics and 'instant classics', the recently concluded Ticat/Alouette playoff game may eventually qualify, particularly if you are a fan of offence, and of Hamilton (52-44 in overtime).

[doug]

to those that say coaching doesn't make a difference...look at the 2 examples that just concluded...Pete Carroll can coach and more importantly his players like playing for him,he'd be the first to admit he doesn't have the talent he wants but he never,ever throws his players under the bus...then in the 49'er's game the last camera shot shows Harbaugh tapping his players on the helmet, and showing his appreciation for a hard fought victory...mirror that with Chan Gailey throwing his players under the bus a few weeks ago, what have they done since?, reminds me of Sam Mitchell and Jay in this last season where he sat Barg's for defensive indifference, are you kidding me, when it ws his defensive "system" that was a joke...they are where they belong, along with Singletary, plus another added point what did Gibson do with a Diamondbacks team when no one gave a chance to achieve anything??...make the playoffs...you either get it or you don't...and the proof is right there in front of us week after week...just saying...

[biletul zilei]

Nice blog...

[JonathanN]

I appreciate that you taking the time to write this article , it has valuable information.