Well, another loss upcoming for the Raps tonight. They’ve lost 10 in a row in Cleveland or something insane like that.

Still, it’s another chance to watch LeBron James; whether you like the guy or not, he is amazing to watch. That SI story on him came out last week, and what’s amazing is how big he’s gotten. Word is - Bron, the Cavs and the NBA won’t officially confirm it - that he’s up to 275 lbs. 275! He’s 6′8″!!

It’s amazing to me that anyone can think there is a better athlete in the world than James. People say Dwight Howard is the best athlete in the NBA because of what he does with his size. But I say James does even more with his size. Given his strength and the length of his stride, I’m willing to bet he’s faster than anyone right now except maybe Devin Harris. He’s probably physically stronger than anyone except Howard and Shaq. I bet he can jump higher than anyone.

His footwork is markedly improved, and here’s why I think he’s the better athlete than Howard - Howard can jump out of the gym but still isn’t smooth or graceful. I used to think LeBron looked sort of mechanical at times, but over the past couple of years he’s become real smooth with the ball. I’ve never seen a combination of grace and power like that. Remember that commercial where he jokes about joining the Browns? I’m sure he could! There’s probably five positions he could play - and be dominant. Wide receiver? He’d haul in anything and be impossible to bring down. Safety? He’d be killing guys if they went over the middle. Corner? How could you throw the ball past him? Linebacker? He’d cover more field than Ray Lewis and if he came on the blitz, who would be able to block him? And as long as he could learn to throw a football, he’d be the most athletic QB of all time.

The scary thing for the rest of the NBA is, he’s still rounding into form as a basketball player. He’s only going to get better! And to think, now that he’s got a decent team around him, he doesn’t even have to do as much. I’m willing to wager if he was on a “worse” team he could average 40 points and 12 rebounds a game - as long as his desire was there (I sometimes wonder how engaged he is in the game). Who could stop him, besides himself?

Certainly not anyone on the Raptors. Here’s a scary thought. Kobe scored 61 points last night; James and Kobe are considered the MVP front-runners. I think it’s possible James tries to out-score Kobe tonight, and James is no dummy - he knows just how weak the Raptors D is, and if there’s a good time to score 75, tonight is it.

With Zydrunas Ilgauskas out, you’d think the Raps would have an advantage up front, but if you’ve ever watched these two teams play then you’d know that Sideshow Bob simply owns Chris Bosh whenever they meet. And given Bargnani’s struggles the past couple, well, I’m not counting on him to do much. I think he’s reverting to his December form. Great. Well, maybe JO will have a big game.

As for the rest, well, you’re got Jose Calderon, still apparently dealing with The Hamstring that Won’t Heal (I mean, seriously!?); look for a big night by Mo Williams. Mo’s got the strength advantage and his and LeBron’s dribble penetration will wreak havoc on the Raptors’ D. I admit I was wrong about Williams, I didn’t think he’d have much impact in Cleveland, but he’s been very impressive. If Jameer Nelson is hurt and has to miss the all-star game, I expect Mo to get the nod.

As for the two-guards, Pavlovic and Parker, well, I’d take Parker over Sasha on my team anyday, but that dribble penetration is gonna force Parker to help and give Sasha plenty of open looks from downtown. Of course, AP will get time on James too, as will Moon, Joey and probably even Kapono. Joey might have the best chance at slowing LeBron down; he’s the only Raptor who comes close to being physically strong enough for James to even notice when he runs them over.

Sigh. It’s not going to be a pretty game, I can guarantee you that. In fact, the only reason I foresee the Raptors “holding” James under 40 is that the Cavs are gonna be winning by such a huge margin, he’ll sit most of the second half. Cavs by 30.

PS For what I hope are the final words on the ridiculous Stephen A Smith story, I direct you to Scott Carefoot’s Raptorblog and Michael Grange’s From Deep Blog, both of whom said it better than I. And let us not speak of it again.

Well, if the Raptors-Magic game was a complete dud, the Super Bowl more than made up for it! What a game. I can’t believe the Cardinals fought all the way back from 13 down in the fourth quarter to tie!

Even more, I can’t believe that amazing, spectacular catch by Santonio Holmes! I mean, I thought Ben Patrick’s TD catch was good; then I thought Larry Fitzgerald’s first was great; but Holmes’ was the best. And how about James Harrison’s 100-yard INT-for-TD!? What a game.

My only complaints would be the number of flags and replays. Yes, it seems most of the flags were justified (except that one very-border-line-roughing the passer penalty on Arizona), so I’m blaming the players more than the refs. Harrison’s ludicrous beatdown of a Francisco, and Dockett’s running over the holder penalty… I mean, come on guys, it’s the Super Bowl! What the hell are you doing out there with those boneheaded plays?

As for the replays, well, the good thing is they got them all right in the end, it just does seem to slow it down a lot. And to be honest, I think we maybe needed one more - are we sure Kurt Warner wasn’t in the throwing motion on the final play?? Not that I think they would have scored but still.

At least for the Cardinals, they didn’t get steamrolled like other teams that looked overmatched on paper (I’m thinking of the 97 Patriots and 99 Falcons). They made a game of it and while there are never moral victories, I hope they can at least feel good about that. I can’t believe the resurgence Kurt Warner has had. Even though he had the INT at the end of the first half - and more credit goes to Harrison for selling the blitz-fake than blame goes to Warner for throwing it - and the fumble-that-may-not-have-been-a-fumble, he still threw for 377 yards and three TDs. The guy now owns the #1, #2 and #3 passing yards records in Super Bowls. That is damn impressive.

Fitzgerald was silenced in the first half, but finished with 7 for 127 with 2 TDs, and finished the postseason with records in yards and TD catches. That is damn impressive.

As for the Steelers, well, what can you say. They did what they were supposed to do, but I loved that for once, the offense had to rescue the defense (trialing by 3 with 2.5 minutes left). I mean, the lead story with them is always the D, but Roethlisberger’s damn good and it looks like he’s got another receiver to go with Hines Ward, in Holmes.

All in all, a great game, and I’m happy the Cards made a game of it. It looked like it might turn into a real dud there in the third, but what a great fourth quarter.

Incidentally, I’m not prepared to call it the greatest of all time because A) I haven’t seen every Super Bowl, B) too many penalties and C) I think 2001 (Patriots over Rams) was just a smidgen better (and honestly, I’m willing to entertain thoughts that Rams-Titans and Patriots-Giants were also more entertaining).

But in Super Bowl 36, you had all the drama of the unstoppable Rams and the Tom Brady / Drew Bledsoe thing. A 17-3 lead for New England after three - remember, the Rams were 14-point favourites - followed by a furious Rams rally to tie it with 1:30 to go. And of course, Adam Vinateri’s game-winning field goal as time expired… tough to beat a game-winner like that.

Like last night’s game, Super Bowl 36 (no numerals here!) featured a lopsided first three quarters and a great fourth. You also had a defensive player scoring a first-half TD. But what really set it apart was the inspiring back-drop of the 9/11 attacks. From all the pre-game ceremonies to the tremendous halftime show from U2, it was hard not to get misty-eyed (and I’m not even American). Add to the fact that the largest underdog in history (if I recall) won, on the final play… I think that just gives it the edge over Super Bowl 43.

As for Springsteen, he put on a good show, no surprise, but I could have done without Glory Days. 10th Avenue Freeze Out was a pleasant surprise (got the crowd into it), Born to Run was expected and great, and Working on a Dream, also expected, was decent. Finishing with Glory Days… enh. At least he didn’t play Born in the USA.

Anyway. Sometimes all the hype and hyperbole leading up to the game overshadows the game itself, but not this time. It was an all-time classic Super Bowl, and congrats to the Steelers on their hard-fought victory!

“All that matters to me is that the Raptors play hard every game; if they do that, if they give a good effort and the games are close, I can still enjoy watching the team on a game-to-game basis, even if the season as a whole is a colossal disappointment.”

– Me, January 19

So, I said that. And I meant it. All I ask for, as a fan, is effort. Judging by the crowds in the last two games, that’s all most fans ask for - yes, we want a win, but if we can’t get a win, we at least want effort. And frankly, I don’t think it’s too much to ask.

Apparently, the Raptors think it is; they seem to think it’s OK to go out and give 40 or 50% effort, to go through the motions and hopefully beat the traffic home.

Well, the fans called you out on out, fellas. That level of effort is not acceptable.

I mean, no one really expected the Raptors to take this one - Orlando is every bit as good as their gaudy record - but the poor effort is what hurts, especially coming off the poor effort in the game against the Bucks. We expected more.

And then, trying to turn it around on us, the fans, and say “the energy in the building is not good?”

Wow.

I cannot even believe Chris Bosh said this: “If you have a bad fiscal year, how about I boo you?”

Double Wow.

Um, Chris? These are paying customers you’re talking about, and booing, much as it sucks, is the only way - repeat, THE ONLY WAY - we get to voice our displeasure.

Think about it this way. You’re at a restaurant. You’re paying for a meal. But let’s say your steak isn’t cooked right, the service is slow, and the waiter is rude. You can send the steak back to the kitchen. You can complain to the server about the wait and to management about the poor service. If all that does nothing, you can leave a lower tip. If the service is that bad, you can leave no tip it all! That is your right as a paying customer. You’re not obligated to be happy about a poor meal and crappy service, you have a right to complain.

But an attendee at a sporting event? They can’t complain to you or Bryan Colangelo that the team is playing like crap, that they came to see you play hard and you didn’t. They can’t express their displeasure by not leaving you a tip. All they can do is boo.

Again: They’re not obligated to be happy about watching a team of professionals play like they’d rather be at home watching 187 hours of Super Bowl pre-game shows. They’re paying customers: They have a right to complain.

And frankly, it is shocking to me - absolutely shocking - that an intelligent young man such as yourself does not realize that.

Look, Chris, I don’t like booing either, and I’ve never booed the home team myself (and I sat through some AWFUL games as a Raps fan). And earlier this year - the time Bargnani got booed after missing a free throw - it was not justified. But yesterday? 100% justified and I don’t see how you can argue that. The Raptors were missing simple defensive rotations, were not hustling after loose balls, and were settling for long jump shot after long jump shot.  Add in the turnovers and offensive rebounds, and the most upsetting thing in my mind, the terrible transition defense (some no-name scrub with a girl’s name went coast to coast for a dunk and not one Raptor even ATTEMPTED to stop the ball) and it’s clear that you were not giving your best effort out there. It’s not acceptable; and although you can say you were playing hard, actions speak louder than words, my friend.

Chris, you’re a great ball player and you seem like a good person, but it’s time to rise above that garbage, OK? You’re better than that. At least I think you are - please don’t let me down. I know there’s a lot of negativity out there, but try and rise above. Thank you.
PS As for Stephen A Smith and his ludicrous report? Not worth getting worked up over. The man is a fraud and a hack. I can just as easily declare “sources say Chris Bosh told BC he’s re-signing in 2010!” because I have as much insider information as he does (read: none) and guess what, one of is going to be right. Only difference is, I won’t crow about it, because I know and fully admit I’m making it up - but I can all but guarantee that if Chris signs elsewhere, Mr. Smith will be on air declaring how he broke this story in February of ‘09 and saying “I told you so” to anyone who will listen.