So it seems the early word is that a number of Raps games (possibly as many as 23, though no confirmations yet) will be on the new “TSN2″ sports channel.

This channel can is currently only available on about half the cable providers in Canada, and only if you have a digital box.

I’m not going to go into a rant here - because I already ranted about this with the Raps games on Raptors TV two years ago. The same points stand - when you are building a market, you need to make your product available to as many people as possible and anything less is unacceptable. Actually this may be worse since I think most, if not all, cable networks could potentially get Raptors TV - although again you needed a digital box - and while it didn’t help in building the brand, it didn’t hurt the existing fans, most of whom would shell out for Raptors TV.

In this case, it doesn’t matter whether or not you are willing to shell out the extra dough for TSN2, if your cable provider doesn’t carry it, you’re outta luck.

And the worst thing of all - is that the station isn’t available on Rogers, the ONLY cable provider (unless you want satellite) in Toronto. Meaning the TORONTO Raptors have made the brilliant decision to suddenly remove games from the TV schedule in their own home town.

No, I’m not kidding. You’d think it was a joke, it’s such a boneheaded thing to do… but it’s not.

Just who the heck is making these decisions over there? Yikes.

Word is they’re working on getting it on Rogers, but why would Rogers care? The relatively small number of Raptors fans isn’t a blip to them. And even if they do, I doubt they’ll carry the HD version of the channel.

It’s an absolute disgrace that A) Rogers would not carry this channel; B) TSN would relegate the only NBA team in the entire country to some second-tier channel; and C) that MLSE would allow this to actually happen. I’m sorry, you don’t have some sort of power or words in the contract stating that the games can’t be relegated like this? You DEMAND that the games be shown nationally, ignoring whether or not most of the nation actually GETS the channel the games are on? Shame on all of you. You all suck, and I extend not one, but two, middle fingers at you all. And a nasty look. So there.

On TJ Ford
This originally started as a much longer piece but then it went on too long when a writer is getting bored writing something, you know it’s probably not very good. The point was I hope the crowd doesn’t boo TJ Ford when the Pacers come to town (Dec. 11 for those who want to know).

No, I didn’t like the way Ford handled things last year, and yes, I agree that Calderon is the better PG For this team.

But the thing is, Ford lost his job due to injury, when the unwritten sports rule is that you don’t lose your job to injury. He handled it poorly, sulking until he got his job back, although he never quit and always played hard (he just didn’t play the right way).

And then he was traded and it looks like both the Pacers and Raptors are (or at least should be) better for it.

So what is there to boo about? That he sulked for a half-dozen games? Come on. I don’t know about you, but I try not to lose sight of the fact that these guys are human beings too, and like all human beings, their emotions sometimes get the better of them. I don’t honestly think it would have made an ounce of difference either way in the final results of last season. Maybe they’d have won that game in March - was it against Orlando? - where he forced something like 8 shots in 11 possessions… but they still would have lost in round one. The problems with last year’s team ran much deeper than the Calderon/Ford debate.

Anyway, my point is, I think Ford is a good guy and a good player, and he’s worked his way back through a couple of serious injuries, was a major part of the second-most successful Raptors season ever (2006-2007) and he deservers better than boos. Not a standing O or anything, but at least the polite applause you give any respected opponent. So please don’t boo him.

PS Please still boo Vince Carter. And don’t ever stop.

On the election, or, “How to Waste $300 million in 60 days”
So, nothing changes except Stephane Dion is probably going to lose the Liberal leadership. Did we really need this election to tell us that? Heck, all we needed were the debates - where he could barely hold his own - to tell us he’d be a terrible leader. What was the point?

We have got to change the willy-nilly way we call elections here in Canada. Why can’t we stick to a regular schedule? At a time when the economy is struggling we just threw $300 million dollars away.

What a colossal waste.

On BC and Andrea Bargnani
I love how some people are ripping Bryan Colangelo for defending Andrea Bargnani, as if he’s got some blind devotion to him because he was Colangelo’s #1 pick, “Bryan’s guy.”

Because, apparently, it’s acceptable for a GM to rip his players in public.

Seriously. Do you ever, in a million years, think Colangelo is going to say “Yep, made a mistake with that Bargnani pick!” Of course not! He’s not an idiot - it’s clear, in hindsight, to anyone with eyes that Brandon Roy would have been perfect for this team and that LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay will likely have better careers than Bargnani. But BC isn’t going to admit that - he’d never throw one of his own players under the bus.

And it’s not because Bargnani is “Bryan’s guy.” It’s just because that’s the way a good GM operates.

It also doesn’t mean “Bryan won’t trade him because he’s Bryan’s guy.” Really, you think BC slagging Bargnani is going to make Bargnani valuable trade bait? All that does is decrease his value!

And hey, you know what, TJ Ford was a “Bryan’s guy” too - remember, he brought Ford in with the idea that this would be a Bosh-Ford-Bargnani triumvirate. Well that didn’t work so he swapped Ford for O’Neal and it’s now clearly a Bosh-Calderon-O’Neal triumvirate. If he was willing to trade Ford, he’ll be willing to trade Bargnani if the right deal comes along.

Colangelo has a brilliant basketball mind, and he knows more about basketball than me and every single Raptors fan out there. He’s smarter than all of us and if the opportunity arises, he’s pretty adept at turning negatives into positives.

On Stephon Marbury
He has a tattoo of his sneaker logo on his head. ‘Nuff said.

On the Wizards
Man, the Wiz caught a break that Antawn Jamison’s knee is OK. Imagine if they lost Gilbert Arenas, Brendon Haywood and Jamison? As it is, I think they’re in trouble - they could be in a big hole by January, when Arenas comes back, and even then, Haywood isn’t expected back for six months.

But let’s not forget that they were missing Arenas most of last year and still leapfrogged the Raps in the standings at the end - because Jamison is always solid and Caron Butler is really freakin’ good. You can never completely count a team out, no matter how many injuries they’ve got.

On the Tampa Bay Rays

Kudos to this good young team for making it to the big show. They’ve got a solid line-up that’s played well all season; they deserve it. But kudos also to the Sox for at least making it interesting! I checked the score Thursday night and it was 7-0. Turned off the TV and started reading.

Little while later I checked Sportacular on my iPhone. 7-4 now. Hmm.

Few minutes later, I check again. 7-6 in the bottom of eight! And since Sportacular is awesome enough to give me up-to-the minute details including count, I can see Coco Crisp is batting, with a runner on second, with a 3-2 count and two outs.

I could not turn the TV on fast enough! What a finish. It’s rare that I actually care about baseball but that finish, as well as game 6, were great. Game seven was a little less exciting - not enough scoring, too many runners stranded - but nevertheless, it was a good series.

I think Tampa’s got enough to win it - in six games.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 20th, 2008 at 7:57 am and is filed under General NBA, General Nonsense, General Raptors, General Sports.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.