A special day that sometimes doesn't feel too special

Know what I wish, among many things?

That Christmas didn’t have the feel of “just another day” to it.

Not sure precisely why but there seems to have been a societal move away from it being a major holiday.

Remember when nothing was open? Oh, maybe one mom and pop corner store would open in the afternoon so you could run out and get batteries or milk or whatever but other than that, you couldn’t go sit in the coffee shop, you couldn’t get gas, you couldn’t do very much at all.

And you certainly couldn’t sit like a zombie and watch five – FIVE! – basketball games in a noon-to-midnight marathon that is so much overkill, it’s not even funny.

I kind of agree with Stan Van Gundy, who once famously tweaked the NBA for its determination to try to make Christmas at least a little bit about the sport when it shouldn’t be. He was – and I am – a bit miffed that families have be a bit disrupted if Dad or Mom have to go work at the arena selling concessions or taking tickets or whatever. I think the players would, if truth be told entirely, enjoy the day off rather than have to play and having watched more than a few Christmas Day games, it shows in the level of performance.

I understand, a bit, the need to worship at the altar of the almighty television dollar and the networks want programming that at least has a chance to take away from what could be family time, or at least private time.

But overdoing it so much has turned what could be a special day into just another in my little life. No way in the world I’d watch all that basketball, even if I could.

Shouldn’t tomorrow be a day to hang with the family and the loved ones, play a bit for the new toys you discovered in the morning?

I want it to be a “nice” day, not “another” day.

I’m not looking forward to my own afternoon’s Toronto-Houston-San Antonio flight; I’m not looking forward to dinner in a hotel lobby bar (wonder if they have turkey tacos at the RiverCenter?) and I’m not looking forward to disrupting Super Family’s life by rushing through what should be a relaxing morning to pack and get shuttled off to Pearson.

But those quiet days when you couldn’t do anything are gone; not sure they should be forgotten.

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A little CanCon Christmas?

You can have The Hockey Song all you want; Stompin’ Tom does the holidays and it’s cool.

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So it’s come to this in the idiocy that is junk food giveaways at NBA games?

Doug Collins goes into his own pocket rather than have his team disrespect the game so fans can eat something they probably shouldn’t?

Seriously, we see this so often in so many cities over the course of a season that I think the league should step in, tell its teams to stop this across the board.

I can’t imagine the money the teams get for these silly promotions is substantial enough that they’d miss it if it’s gone. And with a mandate from the marketing gurus in New York – and, trust me, they have to approve everything from in-game antics to music selections to the decibel level of PA announcements – teams could easily say they’ve love to do something like cheap food giveaways but they can’t.

Seems an easy solution, doesn’t it?

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A question for the ages:

Why do people behind the wheels of cars become total driving idiots at this time of year?

Was watching by a mall here on Sunday and saw four cars stopping traffic each way by floating into intersections and blocking traffic like seldom seen, saw one doofus go careening around a corner screeching tires and almost knocking over a pedestrian and then saw close to a fistfight over a parking spot when there was another one open not 30 metres away.

Isn’t this supposed to be the time of peace and joy and caring for your fellow humans? I understand impatience like the best of them – it is the one trait I’d love to change in myself – but this time of year seems to bring out the worst in too many of us.

It’s not like the mall is going to disappear or anything, it’s not like blocking traffic should make anyone feel any better.

Dopes.

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Obligatory Raptors note, just to keep some of you happy:

No, there’s been no update on Jonas Valanciunas. There were going to get him to a hand specialist on the weekend and, perhaps, seek a second opinion after that.

Doubt we’ll get anything today, either. I’ll catch up with them Christmas night in San Antonio and should have something then.

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Okay, here’s one?

Best part of Christmas dinner?

A true confession: I’m not big on turkey at all.

So …

Garlic mashed potatoes?

Sweet potato casserole?

Stuffing?

Dessert?

Me? I’m all about stuffing and gravy, the taste of savoury (an integral part of any good stuffing) and gravy made from the bottom of the roasting pan.

Doesn’t get much better than that does it?

We’ve never been what you’d call an adventuresome dining family at the holidays and that’s quite fine with me. No deep-fried turkey (pretty much a guarantee of a four-alarm, holiday-ruining blaze I’d suspect) and nothing out of the ordinary.

Just quiet times with loved ones, you know what to expect and it seldom varies too much and I’m all for that.

How about you?

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All right.

One more quick trip to Niagara Falls for a visit, a very little bit of last-minute running around to do, wrapping, packing for the road trip and then a search for It’s A Wonderful Life somewhere on the dial to watch this evening.

 

 

 

The end of the weekend mail

Told you there was more. Probably too much but once I got rolling answering, it just took off.

Enjoy this if you can this evening, I’m taking the night off to chill with Super Son and Super Wife and coast a wee bit now that the shopping is – I think – over.

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Q: Merry Christmas Doug and the best to you and your family. NO ONE makes me chuckle more during the year than you do. This being the season of joy, love, friendship and so on and since I know you love lists can you give us a list-any length you like-of the real good sports world people you've dealt with over the years. Not the best or most entertaining interviews but just real good people that you've been happy to meet and know. They can be fellow journalists, athletes, front office types, the odd "chicken" etc.

Richard B, St. Williams

A: You know, I am a bit loathe to do this simply because I know so many truly good and admirable people that no matter what length of list I give, I’ll leave someone off entirely by mistake.

But there are few players I appreciate more as men and people than Alvin Williams, Morris Peterson, Dell Curry and Charles Oakley. They are genuinely good people. And I truly believe Jose Calderon and Ed Davis should be on that list. Good, good guys.

My life is better for having known Glen Grunwald, who is least disingenuous and genuinely nice people I know and you’d have to be an idiot not to like him. Same with Jim Todd and Jay Triano and Doug Collins and Brian James.

The writers? Too many to mention, actually. KC Johnson in Chicago is a great guy I value as a friend as is Stumpy from the Sun. But that’s doing disservice to the likes of Dave D in Newark or Steve Ashburner at NBA.com and dozens and dozens of others.

I’m just lucky, actually, that I’ve met so many good people; and have been able to avoid, or get away from the knuckleheads.

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Q: Doug, a HWSNBN question. What if Carter had stayed with the Raptors way back when? What would it have meant for his personal career and for the Raptors fortunes? With his then-team mates could they have been contenders? Cheers.

Ron F, Toronto

A: It being the season and all, if ifs and buts were candies and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas.

No clue what would have happened but it would have probably been fun to watch.

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Q: Season's Greetings, Doug! (It's not too early this time!!!)

Your gentle poke at the joy some of us experience at World Junior Hockey time is acknowledged and accepted - but I will counter by saying that the watching and enjoying of it has become part of our family Christmas Tradition. Heck. We love all the season's tourneys - we even watch Spengler from Davos! But these traditions are special to me as the kids grow up and move away and then return home for the holidays.

Now, one other kind of wacky tradition we have is that after the gifts have been opened, one of the daughters will haul out the Die Hard Box Set and we watch 'em all. Yup. That's a whole lot of Bruce Willis on a Christmas Morning. And we do this because for some reason over the years, these movies have become Christmas movies for my family. (And one of the few things all three of the kids have ever agreed on is that Die Hard 3 is their favourite...so we watch that one twice.) So, I guess all families have them...those quirky unique-to-them traditions that are part of their celebrations.

How about you, Doug: something from now or perhaps from when you were a kid that was a special part of your own Christmas Celebrations? Thank you. And thank you for all you do, all the time. And Best Wishes for a Very Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.

Lorie P, London

A: We weren’t all that traditional, to tell you the truth. Certainly not to the Die Hard level! Die Hard??? Cool, I guess. Hope you and the daughters enjoy them this year, too.

But Super Wife and Super Son and I generally try to fire up It’s A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve and a nice big greasy bacon and eggs breakfast while admiring new toys is there. And then I think about seven of the last nine years or so, I’ve had to go to the airport.

As a wee lad, the folks would often have people over on Christmas Eve for a bit of an open house; we’d go crash early and try to figure out what toys or games they were getting frustrated to trying to put together.

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Q: Hi Doug. I'm surprised to hear you call the NCAA an "arbitrary evil organization that pays lip service to education while making billions of dollars off the backs of these kids." I agree, but I'm surprised because I believe you've also stated you support the NBA's policy of not drafting 18-year-olds. That policy ensures that this arbitrary, evil organization gets a great chance to exploit the most talented basketball players for at least a year. Sure, they could go to the D-league or play in Europe for a year, but how realistic are those options? Whatever else the age limit does, it delivers 18-year-olds to the NCAA.

The best thing, I think, would be for the NBA to draft players at 18 and then have a real minor league system where they could develop, but I think that'll never happen. It's too easy for the NBA to farm out their development to the NCAA, and of course, the NCAA has every reason to fight to keep the next generation of Lebrons, Durants, and Daviss in their orbit.

Best.

Tim M, Kingston

A: I do support the policy and it has nothing to do with denying kids access to employment, there are leagues all over the world they can go play in and I wish they did: They’d be making a salary and learning to be independent adults, which in some cases is the most significant flaw in kids coming out of college.

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Q: Being tired of hearing players being slagged for "not living up to expectations", I ask myself who sets these expectations. If it is the coach and/or GM that’s fine. If it is the fans expectations, then those are expectations that are being set by people who were never good enough to play the game at this level. Bargnani is a case in point. Everyone wants him to go inside and rebound. You have said it so many times its pitiful. That is not his game and never will be. He played well last year before he was injured, and if DC stays with stressing defense the same way this year he will likely play well again.

I just think that for the first part of this year he just did not know what his role was supposed to be, and he was lost. Fans have to accept that he does best when coaches use him in a role that fits him rather than trying to fit him into a role he is not comfortable with. Of coarse I may well be wrong as I know as little about the game as anyone else here and less than most. I do however know people, and how easy it is to screw someone up by trying to get him to do things he just cannot do.

Gerry T, Halifax

A: I think too often “expectations” come from fans who equate draft position and salary to levels of predicted success. It’s unfair but, sadly, the way it is. And far, far, far too often – and I heard my man Sam Mitchell say this on TV Saturday night – people focus on what a player can’t do, rather than what he can.

I do think GMs are sometimes exaggerate a bit when it comes to what a player they’ve drafted or signed should be able to do but that’s a lot of covering one’s bum.

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Q: Hi Doug. Merry Christmas to you, superson, superwife, superdog, and the rest of the superfamily! I don't know if this has been asked before so please forgive me if it is a repeat but could you please elaborate on how NBA referees work?

Often teams rush to the airport to catch their charter plane right after a game but I believe referees fly commercial albeit first class (or what passes for one in North America). Who arranges their tickets? Do they carry spare uniforms as I am sure the one they just used has not had a chance to be laundered yet. What happens if there is a flight delay?

Thanks!

Patrick A, Mississauga

A: Referees do fly commercial, I’ve seen hundreds over the years schlepping through airport check-in and security lines right behind or in front of me. They do most of their own booking, much of it on-line like I do, but there is assistance at the league office if they need or want it.

And I tell you, it’s my experience that refs are the greatest packers in the history of travel, they rarely check bags and always seem to have spare stuff with them if needed.

As for delays, they are inevitable but rarely do refs work back-to-back nights so it’s not that huge an issue.

I remember sitting with three refs after a playoff game in Oklahoma City last year, it was late – like 1 a.m. or so – and a couple of them, and me, had 6 a.m. flights and the accompanying 3:45 a.m. wake up calls. We headed to our rooms to have “night naps” as one of the officials termed our sleeps.

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Q: Since you have been around the team from the beginning and you saw Vince in his Rookie days, how does Ross compare? I know it is difficult to compare players, but do you think Ross can be a highlight reel as Vince was? Does he have similar hops? Can he excite the fans the same way? I really like what I see so far.

Dave B, Cornwall

A: I’m trying to recall Vince’s lockout-shortened rookie year – it was a looooooooong time ago – and it strikes me that he was more powerful and had a more varied game than Ross does in his first year.

But I don’t remember, really, a more potentially electrifying Raptors rookie since Vince; even DeMar wasn’t at this level, I don’t think.

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Q: Merry Christmas Doug! Do ever hear / sense any negativity when a player like AA who has been a significant contributor with small contract is out performing others on the roster who say make 3 or 5 or 10! times his salary? I don't hear a lot of complaining at least publicly from players in the NBA regarding salary. Has any player complained to you privately? There also seems to not be very many "hold outs" in the NBA vs NFL - do you think there is a reason for this? Are you going to be not blogging for any days over the holidays? As much as we want you to have some quality super family time we irregulars are a selfish bunch and need a daily read while WE are on holidays! Thanks again Mr Smith.

M C, Winnipeg

A: Here’s the thing about NBA players that I’ve found quite interesting: Rather than begrudging teammates who might produce less for making more money, they are happy when “guys get paid.” Honestly, I’ve never had one even privately complain about the disparity in salary. Now, I’ve had some privately worry about “not getting paid” but never in terms of what they’re teammates are making.

And I have yet to totally figure out the next couple of days but, trust me, I’ll get some down time and I appreciate the kind words.

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Q: Merry Christmas Doug. Hope you have a deserved break - and enjoyment with family. There is a little dissension tho - no question A Wonderful Life is in the top two - my lovely wife ( 39 yrs- got an early start ) - and I agree that Miracle on 34th might be the second.

Basketball Q as well. I am sure many are asking - if you were the coach - with things seeming to go well ( based on wins - not on the way they have played - likely played as well in some earlier losses) - how would you get AB and Lowry (who might have to adjust to being the second best pt. guard?) back in the games when they get healthy - is there a bit of positive dynamic with the current crew?

BTW - if you know of someone who likes good beer - the Hockley tester pack is a good try out for another small Ontario brewer - you could suggest starting with the black and tan Ymmmm.

Bill W, Dresden

A: If it’s me – and I’m waaaaaaay below Dwane’s paygrade – I wouldn’t start either and I would have them on entirely short leashes when I did use them. They would have to show they are capable of playing with the same team goals this group has and that Kyle has changed some of his defensive gambling ways and that Andrea is more “engaged” at each end he has been.

I think the team could be better with them both playing a different role and style but it would be up to them to prove it to me.

The start of the weekend mail

You people have done it again.

Here I was thinking there wasn’t all that much mail as I futzed around on it and all of sudden there’s 3,500 words or so here and probably this many questions still to get to.

No way I expect you to sit and look at it all in one fell swoop so have this now and I’ll get the rest out tonight.

(Besides, I don’t have them all answered and I could this afternoon to finish).

Have fun.

Happy shopping.

If you see in me a mall, direct me to a stool; I’ll need it.

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Q: Hey Doug. I know we are all giddy with excitement with the changes that AA has wrought with the TOD. I'm excited as well and looking forward to the next few years. However I'm wondering how different this is from the Heat and the big 3 from a couple of years ago and how we all felt about that? Yes, there was a trade involved along with some free agent signings but regardless of how it happened, the TOD is now seen as a stacked team. Are the Jays now the Heat of baseball and how do we feel now that the shoe is on our foot?

Another question if you don't mind. Landry Fields appears to be on the way back. Big if, but what if his nerve problem was what led to his poor second year in the league, could we now expect him to be more like the player he was when he first came into the league? If so, with the emergence of Anderson, how is he going to get into the rotation?

All the best to you and Super Family for the holidays?

Dave M, Puslinch

A: I don’t see any correlation between the Jays and Heat; all the Toronto moves were trades orchestrated by a general manager who had obtained enough desireable assets to make them possible and there was no collusion among players to all descend on one franchise.

I have no clue what Fields will be like if and when he cracks the current rotation. And I don’t even know when that will be, Dwane said Friday morning that he’s not about to disrupt what’s going so well. But I do know that, if he plays, Fields will play more freely without having to worry about the oddity that the hand “twitch” was before the surgery and we all know how much confidence can do to boost a player’s production.

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Q: Hey Doug. My 8-year-old is really into basketball (I know, go figure!). He wasn't around when the Grizzlies were here but he knows of them. I told him I was sure I had some TV games of them playing the Raptors and he was excited to see them. So I went down and rooted through the old VHFs and found one. It was from the 1999-2000 season, a game in Toronto the mighty Grizzlies won. In my memory, the Grizzlies were horrible always, and yes, their record that year was 22-60, while the Raptors were 45-37.

But check out their rosters. Both teams seem better (on paper, anyway) than many teams today. The Grizzlies had Shareef, Bibby, Antoine Carr, Michael Dickerson, Grant Long, Dennis Scott, Milt Palacio, Country, Doug West, Brent Price, and Felipe Lopez among others. And the Raptors were positively stacked with Vince, Oakley, Antonio Davis, Alvin Williams, Muggsy Bogues, Dee Brown, Doug Christie, Dell Curry, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Willis, Yogi Stewart and Haywoode Workman, among others.

Do you think either of those teams' records would be much improved if they were playing in today's league? It just seems like there are more crap teams now, roster-wise. Or am I glorifying the past?

G M, Vancouver

A: Even knowing that my default position is to glorify the past, I agree with you. And there are more crap teams now, I think, because the disparity in the talent deployment. It’s my opinion, solely, that there are more far better teams now which means there are more far worse teams, if you know what I mean.

I’m not sure what went on with that Grizzlies team but it sure strikes me as one with more than 22-win talent.

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Q: Doug, just wondering as a writer how many hours a week do you tend to work? Do you get normal vacation - I can't remember the last time you didn’t write something in a given week.

George B, Kitchener

A: How many hours are there? I keed, actually. Yeah, I work a lot but it’s not “real” work if I’m sitting on the couch watching TV and working on mail or if I’m on a stool chatting with the barkeeps and doing mail or if I’m laying on the couch watching an episode of Criminal Minds for the fourth time while every now and then checking blog comments.

Besides, I have no life and on those rare occasions where I have things to do, I do them.

And, no, I haven’t shut things down for a week in a while; I’m figuring with all the vacation I’m saving I can retire about … HEY, I CAN RETIRE ABOUT NOW!!!!!

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Q: Last night on the Pistons broadcast, their colour man said, "What do TJ Ford, Jarrod Jack, Bayless, and Lowry have in common? They all came here to take this man's (Jose Calderon) job and couldn't.

Why is Jose consistently underrated and undervalued? Jose with Kobe and Howard on the Lakers would be an all-star.

I think Calderon is one of the best veteran point guards in the league with the likes of Kidd and Nash.

Why not lock up Calderon and have him here as the team continues to add young players? He seems like just the kind of unselfish experienced point guard you'd want for a rebuilding team.

Oliver N Toronto

A: I’m going to take this as representative of the dozens of Jose Calderon questions I got this week because it will allow me to hit on all the salient points.

First, the only place Jose Calderon is “consistently underrated and undervalued” is – as I’ve said too many times to count over the years – among the team’s fans.

He has a stellar reputation as a man and a player among teammates, coaches, opponents and opposing team’s coaches and management. I’ve said that so many times, I’m almost done hitting my head against a proverbial wall put up by disgruntled Raptors fans. It’s tiring, actually.

The dude has been on teams that have won two Olympic silver medals and a world championship gold, he can play and everyone involved in the game closely knows this.

As for locking up? I think they will – and I think they unquestionably should – do everything in their power this coming summer to re-sign him. They should not trade him this year, they should look to keep him as a valuable veteran on a team that’s starved for “old heads” and as someone who has never spoken a disparaging word about the franchise or the city and someone who considers Toronto a second home.

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Q: Hi Doug. A winning streak is always fun, but I wonder if this is due to the quality of the opponents or the improvements of HOTH. Will we see an apparent reversion to old habits when facing better teams?

Colin K, Ann Arbor

A: I can’t really say except anecdotal evidence would suggest they will play hard and well. And I would also suggest that Dallas and Houston are not chopped liver and could be seen as “quality” opponents.

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Q: Hi Doug. James Johnson was traded to Sacramento for a second round draft pick for 2013. Yet, when I look at the draft sites, Sac still is listed for the pick. Could you please clarify?

Thanks,

Frank B, Toronto

A: It’s because there is a “protection” on the draft pick depending on where it falls. I believe it’s protected into the 50s so until we see the final standings and where it lands, it will remain, technically, Sacramento’s.

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Q: So the world didn't end (or at least hasn't yet, as of this writing), but imagine you're composing your final grunt meal. The dishes or chefs will be flown in at no expense to you. What will you cobble together, some gumbo from the Big Easy, Texas barbecue, or some pasta from that place down a back alley in Italy? Feel free to add as many refreshments as you like.

Jonathan M, Toronto

A: The thing with me is that it’s often about the company as much as the food but since you asked …

I’m pretty sure I’d have a nice well-marbled ribeye from The Palm in Philly, I really like the Gator bites as this little dump called the Cajun Cabin in New Orleans, that might be a nice appetizer. The fish dish would absolutely come from that place just off the Vatican Wall in Rome and I will never remember the name of the joint but there’s a tapas place just up the road from the Westin Prince in Madrid that had the best thinly sliced ham and sausage I’ve ever had.

Oh, and the ribs at Blues City Café in Memphis, I like them a bit more than Rendezvous, to tell you the truth.

But as long as it’s a big table with good friends, some spirits and fun stories, the food is almost secondary.

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Q: Hi Doug. What do players think of the Christmas day games? It seems to be the same teams every year with a few additions/subtractions depending on "rivals.”

Does the league approach teams to see who is interested in playing on Christmas or is it just another game on the schedule and teams have no say?

I don't believe the Raptors have ever played on Christmas day.

Thanks Doug!

Martin H, Kingston

A: I’ll probably get into this a bit more Monday but I think there are too many games on Christmas; five seems to me to be ridiculous. I can understand one as a way to give people who don’t celebrate the holiday – and even those who do – a distraction but they’ve overdone it, as all leagues and teams do.

There are no “invites” per se, teams get the schedule from the league and have very little say; they could ask to host but it might not be a wish granted. I do like the tradition of the previous year’s finalists meeting, though, and think that should probably be the only game.

As for the Raptors, they have played once, on Dec. 25, 2001, in New York. They got drilled and it was one of the worst games ever, no life, no enthusiasm, just a flat afternoon all around.

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Q: Doug. I infer that questions of firing and trades increase as the team does poorly. Personally, when the Raptor's struggle I tend to read less about them. I was wondering whether the blog and your articles' readership/hits tend to fluctuate in a similar manner (and if so - hope hits are off the charts riding a 4, hoping for 5 game winning streak). To add a question to this - do they fluctuate with the teams fortunes?

Geoff H, Toronto

A: It actually doesn’t, it tends to hold pretty much to average however the team is doing. In fact, we saw a little spike this year when things were at their worst, likely because the doomsayers wanted to have a place to vent at a guy who had the temerity to suggest calm at one point early in the season.

Now, as I recall, we get a bit more traffic if things are going very, very well, but we haven’t been there in a while.

It's ugly now but in the end, it's just another victory

Well, this might be a first. It’s not that I slept through the alarm as much as it is I forgot to set it in the first place so we’re way tardy here.

Sorry.

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There had to be times during that one on Friday night that you considered gouging your eyes out, wasn’t there? Sue felt like it courtside.

But it’ll look like a smooth, pretty victory in the history books, won’t it? Guess that’s all that matters.

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THREE POINTERS

Do wrong, make it right

As the game story indicates, the Raptors botched just about every significant offensive possession in the last four or five minutes – and one key defensive one.

And while I was watching them try their best to post up Alan Anderson against JJ Redick, I kind of figured that might not have been the best offensive plan. Seems it wasn’t, as Dwane told us after the game.

“We didn’t want to do that. Again, that was not executing down the stretch. We said let’s stay away from that; we wanted to use clock, space the floor, make them chase us, get to the free throw line.

“I had just told Jose to go do that and again, between the timeout and the court, there was a lost in translatlon moment.”

Those “lost in translation” moments (Anyone figure out what Bill Murray whispered to Scarlett Johansson?) happen and teams that have things going their way seem to overcome them.

Maybe those basketball Gods who’d looked down so much on the HOTH early in the season were evening things up.

No, the Raptors didn’t “think” the game all that well at the end but they still made enough plays to win. They were worn down mentally and beaten up physically and mistakes are going to happen in those circumstances.

Teams playing well tend to get away with them.

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Staying aggressive

Give DeMar DeRozan a little credit.

He was awful most of the night but he didn’t get discouraged and hang his head. He kept working.

And the fact he shot five of his seven free throws in the final quarter shows that. Aaron Afflalo was in his grill all night, giving him no space to operate and DeRozan – who has a tendency to shrink in those situations – didn’t.

The seven free throws he shot marked just the third time this month he’d been to the line that many times in a game.

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Get used to small

We don’t know what’s up with Jonas Valanciunas – and it wouldn’t surprise me if we don’t find out until Christmas night since everyone’s scattering for the holidays – so it’s going to be time for a lot of small.

Yes, Dwane did invoke the names Aaron Gray and even Quincy Acy as possible fill-ins but the small lineup has worked well enough that I imagine he stays with it an awful lot.

What I’d do if I was him – and if you’re reading this, DC, feel free to borrow and credit – would be to start Gray and let him play about six minutes at the start of the game and the start of the third quarter and then get into your regular rotation with Amir the first guy off the bench and then maybe Kleiza for Davis a minute or so into the second quarter.

That’s the least disruptive and lets everything flow as close to normal as possible.

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The rest? Quickly, sure.

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You knew I was going to get to this, didn’t you?

Best. Carol. Ever.

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Couple of stories to write, some major Christmas cleaning to do, a quick trip to Niagara Falls to make, some mail to do and the day’s getting pretty full.

Guess the mall will have to wait. They won’t be too busy tomorrow, will they?

Speaking of mail, I’ve got more than you can imagine but there’s always room for more.

You know the drill.

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Okay, if the two “must-see” movies at this time of year are It’s A Wonderful Life and White Christmas (and I will not entertain any discussion that suggests those are not the two best Christmas movies of all time) what else have you got?

There’s been a lot of chatter among my circle of friends that Elf needs to be in there (The First Lady Of The Beat was pretty adamant about it last night) and there are those with a darker bent on the holidays who gave me Bad Santa.

How about you?

Where does what rank?

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I refuse to think the NCAA is being at all magnanimous in reducing the suspension of Myck Kabongo from a reported season to just 23 games.

I still say it’s an arbitrary evil organization that pays lip service to education while making billions of dollars off the backs of these kids.

And perhaps if the poobahs dragged themselves in the 1990s with respect to what kids need and can get and should have, these situations wouldn’t arise.

But they do, the NCAA’s somewhat selective enforcement works in wondrous ways but at least Kabongo can play a little bit in what could very well be his draft year.

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It was 10 years ago today that Joe Strummer passed away.

Tough not to think of London Calling, isn’t it?

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The Goods On The Game, Magic at Raptors

Welcome, again.

It's not the what but the why that's most intriguing

I offer this story not to titillate or to even speak to the stunningly complex issue of escorting or prostitution or the social dilemmas either may cause.

I offer it because at some level it fascinates me.

And it fascinates me because I think, in some way perhaps small, it’s indicative of the issues that plague athletes at the end of their careers.

I will not pass judgement on this woman, I cannot and will not speak to her personal issues or life or what drove her to do what she did, but I wonder what role simply not having athletics played in the decision.

Most – not all, but a lot – of athletes I’ve known miss the simple “rush” they get from competing or living the live of being a professional. Not the coddling or the first-class travel or the adulation as much as the challenge it brings, physically and mentally and the adrenaline that courses through you when you’re preparing for an event and competing in a game or what have you.

It’s why it’s so hard for so many to give it up when the time comes. They like everything about what they do and I think too many, once they leave, find too big a void in their lives.

All of a sudden they have time and no “rush” to keep them up and interested.

I am sure some are bored to some degree and underfoot of family and friends to some degree and the things that got them through the days, challenged, during years of competition are no longer there.

They turn their mental and physical focus to some other endeavour eventually, it’s interesting which way some go.

We’ve heard too many tales about families breaking up post-retirement because of the let-down the comes with not having a routine to follow, or a lifestyle that pushes you mentally and physically every single day.

You wonder where the energy they’ve used to make them among the worlds greatest athletes can be channeled and how frustrating it must be not to have a place to use it.

Again, I don’t think today or here is the time or the place to discuss what she did; the why is quite intriguing to me.

You?

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The Pogues!!!

Christmas!!!

Cool, no?

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Hey!!!!

We’re here?

Whew!

Guess the world didn’t end. That’s good, I think there’s a bit more to accomplish around here.

Hope it’s not just here in Hazelville that we survived and that you’re all okay, too.

You might want to check out our End Of The World blog sometime today, see what’s going on in the rest of the world. If indeed the rest of the world is here.

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Mail?

Since every other question seems to revolve around Kyle Lowry or Andrea Bargnani or Jose Calderon there’s a sameness to the mailbag that I can’t quite handle.

Up to you good folks to make a bit different, please.

Click. Write. Send.

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So I’m on the couch watching the Thunder-Timberwolves game and it hits me like a ton of bricks.

Andrei Kirilenko looks an awful lot like Shaggy of Scoobie Doo fame, doesn’t he?

And speaking of the Thunder, the old Smith Jinx got ‘em again. File a laudatory Nothin’ But Net main piece on them and their 12-game winning streak and how good they’re going and, bam!, not six hours later, they lose.

I have that magic touch, no?

And the quote of the night? Kevin Durant after the loss:

“A lot of people said the world was going to end tomorrow but it’s not the end of the world.”

Gold!

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Raptors?

A day off, which was nice of them because I didn’t have wander downtown and could have a Mighty Red Tigers coaches holiday meeting.

But they do have a rather big week coming since the turnaround began – Orlando twice, San Antonio and New Orleans – and I refuse to say any game is a must-win or a should-win but you know they’re looking at three of four, at least.

That’s what confidence does to you.

(Speaking of, my man Josh Robbins reports there’ll be no Glen Davis tonight in this Orlando Sentinel missive)

The Raptors off-day Thursday was just part of a rather relaxing week, as a matter of fact. They’ll play tonight, work early and quickly tomorrow so everyone who wants to can flee the city to see family for Christmas and reconvene in San Antonio for a night practice on Dec. 25.

And that’ll leave us to our usual job on the post-Christmas, post-all star nights: Finding out which one of them had “travel problems” and couldn’t get back.

Always a fun game to play.

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Yeah, I’m sooooo likely to get up in the middle of the night to watch junior pucks.

That’s about the only good part of having to travel on Christmas and be away the week in between; one is not inundated with the breathless reports about teenage hockey in what’s legitimately a four- or maybe five-team tournament.

And, trust me, Canadians are alone in their love for this event; it draws flies around the globe and having been in the United States countless times at this point in the year, I can tell you that you cannot find stuff on the tournament with a search warrant.

But if you like it, you like it; just don’t think that everyone does.

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Yes, we are here with the final pre-Christmas IGBT tonight about 7; come one, come all. It’s a fun way to spend a Friday night if there aren’t any holiday party plans.

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This is becoming a rather good story, isn't it?

I don’t think I’ve had an e-mail or a comment with the word “fired” in it for about a week.

Funny, eh?

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THREE POINTERS

Time to bulk up

There is no doubt in my mind that Jonas Valanciunas is going to a fine, fine basketball player and he had moments last night – the first quarter especially – where he showed that.

But he’s also 20 years old, he’s tall but relatively slight and job No. 1 this coming summer will be to hit the weight room and try to get stronger, a lot stronger.

He got pushed around too much by the likes of Greg Monroe last night and it hit home just what he has to do.

I don’t think his game is ever going to be based on finesse so it’s time to find some power and strength for that 7-foot frame.

If he is to become anything of a low post presence – defensively and offensively – he’s got to be able to better hold is ground in the wrestling matches that take place in the paint.

We saw some power against the Pistons, a couple of nice dunks; and we saw some of his speed, finishing on the break and rolling to the rim.

He’s got the disposition to be tougher, no question, and once he gets that, the sky truly is the limit.

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Mr. Fourth Quarter?

Alan Anderson is really turning into the find of the season, isn’t he?

He’s one of those guys who just knows how to play, seldom out of position, a far better shooter than many had anticipating, and the kind of leader teams need.

I think it was on that dreadful trip that I mentioned how he’d make sure to be up in someone’s ear during every timeout and even during play. Now that he’s back on the court, his contribution has increased exponentially.

I’d say he’s being used perfectly, toughness off the bench defensively, a closer who can make shots and plays down the stretch of close games.

He is precisely the kind of unheralded player that just helps a team in so many different ways, it’s hard to quantify his value.

This is how Dwane put it:

“He’s our voice of reason right now, a veteran guy. He’s hungry, the young man’s been to China, Europe, got cut, his back’s been against the wall. That’s why I like him, he’s an underdog and he plays like an underdog, he’s hungry and I think that’s way you have to play in league, like nobody owes you anything. You have to play hungry, you have to play desperate … be the first one to hit.”

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An apt comparison?

It’s awfully early and we have no idea how the season will unfold but you know who Jose Calderon has reminded me of this week?

Antonio Davis.

No, not because he’s strong and tough or anything like that. Because when things were their darkest he simply got determined to turn things around, just like AD did way back in 2002 when he put an injury-ravaged team on his back and led it to 10 wins in the final 12 games and a playoff berth.

I don’t know where this season will ultimately end up but if it gets good, you’re going to look back at this week and marvel at what he did to help turn things around.

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What’s up for the rest of today?

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Hey, notice anything about these three wins at home?

No confetti at the final buzzer!

Good call by whoever made it.

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Mail?

Yes, please. Kind of dry over there, need an entertaining missive or two; figure I’ll be sitting somewhere this afternoon waiting for a friend to celebrate the holidays with he’s been known to be tardy so I’ll need to kill time.

Thanks.

Click. Write. Send.

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Okay, nothing may say Christmas like Twisted Sister.

And nothing really says Christmas like The Ramones.

But nothing really, really says Christmas like The Kinks.

Honest.

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It would appear from this story that it’s going to be tough year – and a devastating penalty – for Toronto’s Myck Kabongo of the University of Texas.

He’s apparently going to be suspended for the entire season for receiving “illegal benefits” during a summer trip to Cleveland to work out.

It’s murky and it gets to the heart of all that’s wrong with the NCAA, in my opinion.

It’s a rather high-handed organization, that seems to be to be quite selective in its investigations and penalties and now it may have taken away the most significant year of Kabongo’s life since he was seen in some circles as a possible first-round NBA draft pick.

I don’t presume to know all the details, just what I read; if an agent – who actually isn’t an agent but a recruiter of some sort – was involved in the paying for a training trip for Kabongo, I wonder what the repercussions are for the agent, or the agency?

Likely nothing and that sucks.

I don’t know what recourse Kabongo has – should he leave school and try to hook up in the D League or Europe, should he stick it out and take his chances on the draft without playing a game for a year? – but this could be a devastating blow.

Again, I don’t know who was right or who was wrong or which rules were contravened, I just know this seems awful harsh to me and I wonder if the NCAA would devote other reasons to other cases that are sure to be out there?

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So the Buffalo Bills centre slags Toronto, the ‘dome, the fact his team has to come up here to play once a year and …

Well, yawn.

Everything he says is right; compared to Ralph Wilson Stadium the Rogers Centre is a mausoleum, no player wants to play a “home” game a long bus ride away from home and there really is no benefit to anyone in uniform to having come to Toronto to play once a year.

But, and this is where the conflict comes in, it’s a business opportunity for ownership and players actually have no say in the matter; nor should they, really.

So even if everything he said on some radio show as true, it’s tough noogies, he’s got to suck it up and play.

Of course, it’d be way easier for people here to at least have marginal interest if the Bills weren’t putting on butt-ugly demonstrations up here and maybe concentrating on that rather than whining might help.

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Okay, the lads are off, gives me most of today to do Nothin’ But Net and I presume I should start thinking about some Christmas shopping, no?

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The Goods On The Game, Pistons at Raptors

Good evening.

Everything seems to be working out just as they planned

Oh yeah, the big sports department bash kind of petered out for one of us, who had to get home to hang with Super Son, who finds himself in a sling after an unfortunate gym class spill.

Kicks the hell out of his holiday sax playing ideas – to say nothing of the assistance he needs for the mundane every day chores you use a shoulder for -- but I’m still glad they still make gym classes available to students.

So I saw enough of the game while paying attention for …

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THREE POINTERS

A solid contribution

You know who’s been kind of impressive in this little run the lads are on?

John Lucas III.

Yes, he’s still out of control a bit too much offensively (Dwane told us last week he need Lucas to throttle it back one gear) but he’s been making shots and doing admirable job defensively and the trickle down effect is that Jose doesn’t have to play 40 minutes a night, which is a very good thing.

Lucas is proving to be just what you want in a third point guard – dependability, skills good enough that the team can at least tread water while he’s in there and a lack of ego that allows him to do what he does without trying or wanting to do more.

He had, what, six straight points to pretty much break open the game late Tuesday night? A huge bonus.

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Just feeling good

Now, I wasn’t courtside Tuesday night, of course, but the sense I’ve got over the two games I did see up close and the third win is that this team’s level of confidence has never been higher.

I’m not sure if it’s a feeling of validation in what the coaches have been preaching – as opposed the incessant beatings they took previously that had to have them questioning everything – but you can just sense they believe now.

Not sure they did fully before and if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s that confidence in huge. The talent disparity among teams isn’t all the big, to tell you the truth, everyone can make shots and plays. It’s when you have in your mind that you’re going to win and play well that makes the difference.

And that’s what we’re seeing now.

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Making others pay

There’s been a couple of subtle things that Dwane has done the last little while they have really paid off and turned out just as he planned.

We know about the solid inbounds play the other day that was new and worked to perfection.

But how about his use of a smallish lineup the last couple of games, a move that’s been pre-emptive rather than reactive.

He’s had Kleiza at the four a little bit, there were times when Anderson has played the four some and even Pietrus has had a minute or two there.

And because he’s initiated it, opponents have had to react. Last night, at least in the parts where I was paying rapt attention, it pretty much took Tristan Thompson out of the game.

It did the same against Houston on Sunday and the Rockets couldn’t match Toronto’s version of small ball.

I’m not suggesting it’ll work every night and it was kind of forced on him by the absence of one of his four bigs but instead of just rotating Valanciunas, Davis and Johnson through the frontcourt or even giving Aaron Gray some time, Casey’s forced other teams to react to him. And it’s worked.

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Let’s wrap this up, shall we?

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Okay, nothing may say Christmas like Twisted Sister.

But nothing really says Christmas like The Ramones.

(And how would they have fit in at that 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief?)

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Hang on a sec.

Air Canada, which can barely run its own airline, let alone its own airline along with Jazz, is now opening a third airline?

And Porter’s doing a new one, too?

And you wonder why so many of them are in dire financial straits.

I’d rather they get things running consistently smoothly on their primary carriers before doing anything silly.

Of course, the only complaint I have about Porter is that it doesn’t fly to enough U.S. cities for me – I swear, I’d fly it everywhere if I could – but Air Canada?

Interminable delays, usually 20 minutes at a time with no real explanation, and far too often unco-operative gate agents.

I like the TV screens in the seatbacks, though. Be nice if they changed the shows up weekly instead of monthly but that’s just me.

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Yes, the IGBT thing returns tonight about 7 and, yes, we’ll start looking for mail. You folks did great last week but without Andrea to bust on this week, I wonder what you can come up with that’s interesting.

Say hello here, if you feel like it. There’s no shootaround today so if you’re quick like bunnies and have something to say, I might get a leg up on the weekend later this morning.

Thanks.

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I knew it was sometime around now (how I knew that I will never know, the stuff rattling around in this head sometimes troubles me greatly) but a quick check and it turns out today is the day, in 1843 so I wasn’t there to get a first edition, that the original A Christmas Carol was published.

Best Christmas movie? Have to be on the short list, wouldn’t it?

(And yes, a list of personal favourites will get here sometime between now and next Tuesday and it’ll open the floodgates for discussion)

But wasn’t Alastair Sim the best? Yeah, thought so.

And that Dickens fellow could write a wee bit, couldn’t he?

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Quick question:

Does anyone really miss the pucks?

Gonna flock to the TVs and arenas when they come back, if they come back?

Just wondering because in my circle of friends there is absolutely no chatter about it, no one seems to miss it too much, life goes on and while we have seen fans flock back to sports that have gone through a work stoppage before, I am getting the sense this might be the sea change to boredom and apathy and disinterest everyone connected with the game fears more than anything.

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Using assets in the proper way

Oh, boy.

Know how I’ve wanted to be a fan of some team and was quite enamoured of the TOD?

Well, whoopee! This has been a Blue Jays fall to remember. Thanks, Alex.

On the R.A. Dickey deal, which has to be the culmination of the best fall in franchise history:

Here’s the thing about prospects:

They’re PROSPECTS!

No one has any real idea how they’ll turn out, for every “can’t-miss” there’s a “didn’t-make-it” and every general manager worth his corner office knows this.

And that’s why the TOD deal makes more sense that you can ever imagine.

It was great of AA to turn around the Jays farm system to stock it with what everybody seems to term blue-chip talent because it’s all about stockpiling assets in today’s sports world.

And then you can use those assets in one of two ways:

You can wait until they mature – or hope they mature – and stock your major league club with them; it’s painstaking, of course, and there are no guarantees but at least it affords your fans some sense of promise and that – eventually – you’ll be all right.

Or, and this is what I like most, you can use those assets and turn them into bigger, more proven assets, which is precisely what Alex Anthopoulos did in the R.A. Dickey deal.

The GM spent enough time making sure he had sufficient organizational depth that he could pull off two deals this winter to absolutely energize his team and its fan base.

Good on him.

Now, I hope Travis D’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard go on to have long and illustrious careers and there suggestions from people whose opinions I respect that they will.

But I’d much rather be a fan of a team whose GM seizes the moment, goes for home run instead of bunting the runner over as long as he has the assets to pull it off. He did, good on him, glad he got something for them, my patience was wearing thing.

(Of course, I’m leery about knuckleballers for a lot of reasons but that’s for another day)

I was trying to think of the last time sports fans in Toronto were more looking forward to a season than they are today about the Blue Jays.

Maybe back in the early-2000s with the Vince-led Raptors? And that was more than a decade ago.

Cannot for the life of me thing of a legitimate off-season when pucks fans were as pumped; don’t recall an Argo winter this active in eons; and I have no clue what the TFCs do since they seem to play almost 12 months a year.

A special time, indeed.

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Seriously.

Nothing says Christmas better than a little Twisted Sister.

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I was just a kid dealing with mono – which is a perfect way to just laze around on a couch for few weeks – about the time of the Watergate hearings back in the day and they were, as Those Of Us Of A Certain Vintage will recall – quite compelling.

And one of my all-time favourites in that whole sordid affair was Sen. Daniel Inouye, who was something of the conscience, as I recall.

Sam Ervin was another favourite but Inouye was cool.

Turns out he was far, far more than just that, as we found out yesterday when he passed away.

RIP, sir.

And I know there are other oldsters around here, did you have a favourite in those hearings?

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It’s the annual Sports Department Christmas Party and Buntoss tonight (yes, you can fully imagine the carnage that might occur at one of those) so it’s a night off from the IGBT; be back tomorrow.

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I’ve been on the road so much I’d forgotten that Tuesdays mean Super Son has to be in school at 7 a.m. and, trust me, Super Wife didn’t let me forget.

Sorry I’m a bit late; had a wee drive to make.

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Hey, check out Not Grace Kelly’s tome on Tristan Thompson, glad he used his time in Cleveland to good purpose.

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The Raptors?

Yeah, they practiced yesterday, was no compelling news at all; a quick workout setting up the three games in four days that starts tonight and, as you might expect, lots of chatter about the contribution of Jose Calderon of late.

The money quote came from Alan Anderson:

“He's like the glue. He does everything, man. Without Jose I don't even know if we could win any of these games. He's amazing to us. Rebounding, passing, vocally leads everybody, talking, gets everybody in their positions. He's just like our calm, poised leader on the floor. It's great to have him.”

Not much more to say than that, is there?

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You know me and the Canadian women’s basketball team, right?

Have been on that bandwagon for quite a while, trying to encourage a lot of you to join me because I’ve seen the program go from nothing, really, to top eight at the Olympics and I’ve been saying since the mid-2000s that they were going to have more global success before the men ever would. I was proven right, I’d say, with two trips to the worlds and the London excursion.

(I’m not saying it’ll stay that way for the next five years because the men’s program is promising but we should have been paying far more attention to the women since about 2005)

And the news yesterday that Allison McNeill was stepping down as the team’s head coach was a bit sad – although I’m happy she’s happy with the decision – and truly the end of an era.

I don’t know how many conference calls I was on with her after her team got drilled at some tournament – and, no, there weren’t ever too many people on those calls – and she’d be telling me they were on the right track and that eventually they’d be talented enough and old enough and experienced enough that the journey would have been worth it. I believed her then and the that London experience proved it to be true.

I asked her yesterday about the journey and the memories and the highlights and she pointed to that final game in London; yes, it was an expected loss but it was, frankly, special.

“We realized what we had done as a group and how we had done it. It felt like we had done it right.”

She had. They had.

Now, I know my man Wayne Parrish will read this, or hear about it, and I’m sure some other folks at Canada Basketball (hello, Michele!) will pay attention so listen up:

You know how you put together that Council of Excellence back in the day to turn around the men’s program and I was always dogging you about doing something similar for the women but we could never come up with someone to lead it:

Give it a month or so, call Allison, make her something like you made Maurizio with the men. You won’t regret it.

You’re welcome. -