Alright, So I think I work in the best place in Toronto. The Air Canada Centre, home of the Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Don't get me wrong, I'll always cheer for these two teams because they are my home town teams, but lately they're giving me plenty of reasons to hate them. I'll start with the Raptors and address the Leafs in another post.
Alright, I will admit it, I haven't been a Raptors fan from the beginning, or even when they were at their best with Vince Carter. I became a fan when they hired Brian Colangelo as their general manager, and then picked Andrea Bargnani with the first selection in the 2006 nba draft. Right around the same time I was hired to work at the Air Canada Centre, so I figured I'd start to watch the Raptors with optimism at an all time high, and that I would be exposed to the Raptors and Leafs everytime I'd go to work.
So, the Raptors finished that season tying their best all time record, won their first division title and played the man who deserted their franchise years ago Vince Carter. I had gone to game 2 of that series prior to my trip to New York and it was the most amazing event that I had ever attended, the atmosphere was truly amazing. Unfortunatley, the Raptors had lost that series and were eliminated from the playoffs. I was upset, but I was sure the Raptors would return with vengeance next year and for sure make a splash.
Last year it was more of the same, unfortunatley injuries led to a bit of a drop off in their record but they still made the playoffs, but were promptly eliminated by a much better team in the Orlando Magic. In the offseason, they traded one of their best players and one of my favorite players T.J Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and their first round pick for a former all star centre Jermaine O'neal. Personally, I was not a fan of the trade because I feel that they had a more pressing need in their guard position and small forward position and that they should have targetted Shawn Marion or Gerald Wallce, two players that were being shopped by their teams at the time.
The 2008-2009 campaign began for the Raptors with two straight wins on the road against Philadelphia and Miluakee, leading up to their home opener that I attended against the Golden State Warriors. They won that game in overtime, Chris Bosh played like an MVP and the Raptors were playing with swagger, something that they never really had since the Vince Carter days.
Unfortunatley, this was all a mirage as the Raptors always seemed to collapse at the end of games and now they are sitting 2nd last in the Eastern Conference, and would pick 8th inNBA Draft, not guaranteeing them an impact player which is something that they're lacking, but enough to hopefully give them a solid contributor.
So that is that state of the Raptors, they are not going to make the playoffs this year when their expectations to succeed were higher than ever. I cannot wait for this season to end because this team needs a major retooling. I'll address my ideas at a later date, when I have a level head and not going crazy.
Those are my thoughts for now. Thanks.
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