CampusIntel

For every Little League boy who is dreaming of making it to the major leagues, there are two Barbie-lovin’ girls who are hoping to date a boy who will make it to the major leagues. Of course, the odds of that happening are incredibly low… for either gender.

I find it completely understandable that these young lads envision a day when they will see their name in lights and hear their name being cheered by thousands of fans as they come up to the plate. However, I am still trying to figure out why so many women fall asleep each night, hoping that their prince charming… a man in cleats, carrying a baseball bat… will come rescue them.

However, many five-year-old girls fail to realize is the reality regarding baseball. The long season, the constant travel – one can only imagine how hard this would be on the princess waiting at home.

Let’s take the Toronto Blue Jays upcoming season, for example. If I can still add (it’s been a few years since high school math), the Blue Jays will spend approximately 88 days in Toronto during their 187 game season. Plus, that’s not everything…consider where they are right at this moment… in Florida – for six weeks!

That being the case, it doesn’t seem to leave much time for baseball players to actually be the prince charming their woman has longed for when they are younger.

And then there’s the aspect of relocation. Whether the baseball player is excitedly moving from farm team to the major leagues, or disappointedly being traded from his home team to another state, (or in the case of our Blue Jays – to another country), one can only imagine how heart-wrenching the experience is for the woman he is leaving at home. She is merely left behind to figure out their new living situation and forced to say goodbye to the house they made their own, to the friends they’ve grown attached to, and to the happy life they had

The reality of the artificial dream is acknowledged in a newspaper article from the Montreal Gazette. Although published over 25 years ago (1985). The reality still rings true today. Within the article, Bryn Smith, who had then been a pitcher for the Montreal Expos, stated: 

You can shag a fly as easily in Wrigley Field as the Big O. It’s the person at home cooking those meals whose world has really been turned around. While her husband is doing something he’s always dreamt of, she has been uprooted from friends and family to find herself in a position she probably never dreamed of being.

Evidently Smith realized the effects of falling in love with a baseball player.

For every game that has to be won, a birthday is missed.  For every RBI scored, an anniversary is missed.  For every loss that occurs, a player’s love says goodnight to an empty pillow. For every win that takes place, tears of happiness are shared by the male but tears of sadness are expressed knowing it won’t be long until her lover leaves again.

Kate Kilpatrick published an article highlighting the reality of it all in the Washington Post this past August. In the article, Rachel Dunn, wife of Adam Dunn, the first baseman for the Nationals, stated that a life of the significant other of a baseball player is “not even remotely as glamorous as people think – [as it] can be lonely, chaotic and uncertain.”

Abby Kearns, wife of Nationals right fielder Austin Kearns, reiterated Dunn’s statement claiming “I am lucky to be able to take a shower every day. I’m just so busy, honestly, trying to take care of the kids, without [Austin] here.”

Michael Schlact, who is presently playing for the Texas Rangers, discusses the hardship that arises from being in love with a woman and a sport with me through a direct message Twitter. Schlact indicated: “I’m blessed that my wife is able to travel with me [now]. [It] makes it much easier. We did long distance for 3 years. It was hard!”

Interestingly, when I asked Toronto Blue Jays, Dirk Hayhurst, (or otherwise known by his Twitter friends as “The Garfoose,” about the aspect of the dream women have of falling in love with a baseball player (and the affect that might have on him), Hayhurst merely indicated that “women that want to meet you because of what you do for a living are not the type worth meeting.”

Evidently, it seems the life that I dreamed of having at five-years-old now doesn’t seem to be as amazing as I had once thought. The dream house I dreamed of sharing, only hear the echo from movements, the dream kids I’d wish to have would be screaming through crowded airports, the dream job I wished to hold would be pushed aside due to her being given the roles of both a mother and a father, and the dream husband that I wished would always be there to protect me be my knight and shining armour…well he’s away, playing the dream sport.

I’ve never really been one to watch the Olympic games in all honestly, I found them boring as a child, I’d much rather have seen what Bugs Bunny was up to or tuned into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…you know, things with real passion eh? However, this year I actually sat down and watched the opening ceremonies, and from that moment on I was stuck on the Olympics.

            I don’t know how many other people across Canada alone got the ‘Olympic fever’ but this year for some reason I got it bad. Every morning as I got ready for work I would turn on the TV to the same channel and the journalists would wake up with me. Every evening I’d come home from work or class and I’d tune in to see what events had taken place and what was going on that night. I’d receive texts from my Mom periodically each day updating me on our metal count and what races we’d won in. It was just something outside of my own little world of crazy school and work life that I could sit down, relax and be excited for…and it didn’t hurt that I could actually do school work while watching it (I mean really, I was mostly interested in the Canadian athletes, or on occasion those athletes they did those little pre-game life stories on), so during other athletes’ runs I’d read my textbook…you know how student life is.

            I started looking forward every day to events I would watch in the evening and have people come over to watch anything really, curling, skating, and of course hockey! It didn’t really matter what we watched, we just loved seeing our athletes compete and really took pride in the metals won as though they were our own (I love living vicariously though athletes…makes me feel like I never have to go to the gym).

            The day I found out that the Olympics were ending however a wave of sadness washed over me briefly, I thought to myself, who will wake up with me in the morning? How will I deal with the lack of texts from my Mom? How will I decide what to watch on those nights when there’s no good shows on TV? But I made it though, and although the closing ceremonies were emotional for me, I held to one thing…we kicked butt in both women’s and men’s hockey!

After a celebrated rebirth in 2005, and a tumultuous second life, ECW is finally, really, completely, dead.

Things started out so well; 2 majorly successful “One Night Stand” pay-per-view events in 2005 in 2006, a resurgence of a fan base, and then Paul Heyman’s wish finally granted: a TV deal with a network (SyFy)  that would actually promote the show instead of bury it behind “Roller Jam”, like TNN did with ECW’s first TV deal.  90% of the original talent roster, and 100% of the energy, extreme content, and originality were all there out of the gates.  Until, things went sour.   

 ECW lost its identity.  WWE programming made a move to broadcast PG content.  Paul Heyman and every last ECW Original eventually faded out of the picture and off the roster.  Some got caught doing drugs, some left, and some got fired.  Tommy Dreamer was the final ECW Original to part ways.  Most of the others didn’t want to work for THAT version of ECW anymore (and one part because many of them truly didn’t measure up to other WWE talent from an ability standpoint).  A few of them resurfaced in rival promotion TNA, if at all. 

The “E” in ECW still technically stood for “Extreme,” but you’d be hard pressed to prove it in ECW’s last days.  In fact, you’d be hard pressed to distinguish it at all from the other WWE shows.  The hardcore original version that Paul Heyman incarnated (Paul himself made a huge content shift from the original ECW, which stood for “Eastern Championship Wrestling”, a rather traditional wrestling show) gave way to a kid friendly and family oriented version.  ECW’s “extreme” movement simply meant violence; and this no longer melded with Vince McMahon’s vision of ECW.  Unfortunately, the man with the money controls the show; and Heyman’s ECW was not congruent with Vince’s.  Whether Vince liked it or not though, the hardcore style made ECW stand-out from other wrestling shows, since no other wrestling show took it to that level. 

McMahon has been known to make statements to the tune of him always knowing what the audience wanted.  Most would say either Vince never “got” what ECW fans really wanted, or else just chose not to acknowledge the truth.  Most would agree he’s never been good with characters and concepts he didn’t create himself.  When fans said they wanted hardcore barbed-wire, no-DQ matches with steel chairs and flaming tables, Vince gave them the company’s 3^rd tier show with 3^rd tier stars, performing the same material the others were doing—but worse.  Even the original format of ECW matches – No DQ’s and no count-outs—was abolished.  The show didn’t even stand on its own; tapings were piggybacked before Raw or Smackdown broadcasts, and didn’t even feature a stand-alone tour (though there was originally, it obviously was a failure).  Extreme-C-W had been phased out, and most would admit the writing had been on the wall for quite some time.

So now with ECW’s cancellation, we get what Vince McMahon describes as “the next evolution of WWE; the next evolution of television history.”  We get “WWE NXT”; a reality/wrestling mashup of developmental wrestlers trying to make it to the main WWE rosters with the guidance of current WWE Superstars.  While I’ll admit the concept contains partial originality (smells a lot like WWE’s first reality show, “Tough Enough”), I really don’t think anyone cares to see 8 b-list stars coach 8 complete unknowns to “greatness”. For WWE’s sake, I hope the new show is a success; but methinks this show may end up going the way of the XFL.

From the 2:30 mark, “The International Olympic Committee has the honor of announcing that the 21^st Olympic games in 2010 are awarded to the city of….(dramatic pause)….Vancouver.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpSqv1jx-8M]

I still remember ducking out of my hated construction labor job for 20 minutes in July of 2003; strategically hiding from my boss, taking refuge in my car which I parked out of plain view, reclining the seat and turning up the radio to hear the announcement being broadcast on a local station.  My hair stood straight up and chills ran down my spine when IOC President Jacques Rogge finally said “Vancouver.”  Unfortunately I had to go back to hating my job and life prompty after that, but they were 20 minutes I’ll never forget.  I still get those same chills even when I remember back to it now.  For seven years, I’ve been excited for Vancouver, and Canada, to host these winter Olympics.  I know I’m not the only one either.

An event like the Olympics effects not only one entire nation, but the entire world.  Anytime things of that magnitude occur, opposition naturally follows.  And that’s part of the beauty of our democratic societies; that we allow free speech, and people have the right to balk at things they believe are worth standing against.  Are there bad things that will come out of Canada hosting the games?  Surely.  The $500 million+ dollars pumped into these games could’ve been spent a lot of other ways; especially amongst a recovering economic recession.  Would we have ended homelessness in our country with that money?  Tough to say.  Were we not careful enough with the environment when constructing facilities?  Did we not represent the Indigenous people of Canada, and our other cultural origins correctly?  Did we go overboard on security in an attempt to keep terrorism and other threats to peace out of the picture?  Are there another 100 things that were not done to the liking of our 30 million residents?  Probably.  Is anyone actually making the case that we did things perfect?  Not likely.  Sometimes athletes cheat, sometimes there’s corruption in the IOC.  Sometimes they get away with it, sometimes they don’t.  Some countries get more money to train, and some have to just make due.  Personally, I don’t like the fact that our politicans and corporate sponsors ALL managed to get prime tickets to ALL the events, and the public was subject to an inane online lottery system.  Oh, and that some of those tickets cost $1000 or more.  Athletes get hurt, and probably more unfortunate than anything else, sometimes athletes are fatally injured; as in the case of Georgian Luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili.  So yeah, there’s a lot of imperfect things that the Olympics bring. 

But can we think positively for at least 2 weeks?  If anyone who watched the opening ceremonies that saw the 60,000 Canadians packed into BC Place draped in red and white, waving the Maple Leaf, and resounding in excitement, thinks that Canadians aren’t pleased as punch to be hosting these games, well they couldn’t be more wrong.  For every stick in the mud, there’s an entire tree full of green, growing branches, reaching for the sky and enjoying their time in the sun.  And that’s exactly what Canada has before it; 2+ weeks to shine in international light. 

Canadians love sport, and we love our athletes that compete for us as well.  The thing about athletics is it has the ability to transcend even the thickest cultural and international disagreements in the name of sportsmanlike competition.  If you need any proof of that, look at the nations of Iran and North Korea; absolutely scorned by the Western world as being on the brink of nuclear war with us.  But through all that justified tension, North Korea has sent a speed-skater, and Iran’s sent 2 skiers to compete in the Games; and to, if only briefly, join and be welcomed by the international community.  Even Israel and Lebanon will put aside differences to be a part of the Olympiad.  That’s powerful stuff. 

Look at Ghana, Ethiopia, Nepal, and other impoverished countries that may or may not even see a flake of snow in their countries, but come to the Games with the support of their governments and train between full-time jobs to earn spots on their national rosters to compete because they believe that the Olympics are worth the effort and sacrifice necessary to get to them.  And really, that’s exactly what the Olympics are all about in their purest form; the best amateur athletes in the world, putting aside barriers, competing cleanly, for their country, to showcase the best that their human abilities have to offer in terms of their unique sport. 

The thing is, there’s so much good to be harvested out of such a criticized event.  We ran a little flicker of a flame from Greece, around the entire planet, and through the streets and neighborhoods of nearly every city in our own country.  In Kelowna, we had a kid with cancer cut out a few days of his chemotherapy treatments so he could be a local torchbearer.  Many similarly touching stories laced our national torch relay as well. 

We’ve come together as 6 continents to show that there’s at least one thing we can all be civil and peaceful about, if only for a short time.  The world of sport blends together with art and culture to put on a show unlike any other.  Our troops fighting for our freedom overseas gather around a TV, dressed in Canada clothing and sipping Tim Hortons’ coffee to watch the proceedings of Canadian icons Rick Hansen, Nancy Green, Betty Fox, Wayne Gretzky, and others completing the Olympic opening ceremonies.  We bought pairs of red mittens, various apparel, grocery items, and pretty well anything we could get our hands on that we either knew would support Canadian athletes financially, or just emblazoned “Canada” on them to show our support. 

So, through all the things there are to protest against, there are plenty of others that Canadians are rightfully excited about.  How bananas are we going to all go when a Canadian wins our first gold medal that we’ve ever won on home soil?  Our when our hockey team(s) (hopefully) strike gold as well?  Between the Olympics and Paralympics, it’s going to be an exciting few weeks, and a historical moment for our country.  I hope you choose to enjoy them with the rest of us.  Go Canada go!

There are battles of Alberta, Summit Series’, and “Magnificence” vs “Greatness”; but is there an NHL rivalry greater than the current individualistic battle between Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin?

The two phenoms entered the league as at least respectful rivals of each other. Prior to their simultaneous NHL arrivals, they had only ever competed against each other on the international stage, playing for Canada and Russia, respectively.  With cameras and tape recorders rolling, making campy NHL commercials and delivering birthday cakes at the NHL All-Star game together slowly morphed into on-ice physicality and off-ice verbal sparring.  Welcome to the business of “selling” the new NHL to the American market.

It’s a protagonist-antagonist scenario that seems to be inspired by Vince McMahon himself.  In one corner, you have the abrasive, exciting, inimical Ovechkin; equipped with infinite energy and a talent level he must have exchanged his soul for, hailing from Mother Russia, a country that, according to Hollywood, produces more bad guys than perogies.  His opposition, the humble, hard-working, and traditional Crosby; hailing from Canada, playing and interviewing the way the Canadian hockey heroes of the past did before him.  Of course, as the NHL panders to the North American market, it’s easy to portray Crosby as the “good guy”, though Ovechkin, Federov, and every other Russian NHL star has been adorned in their homeland.  Most Canadian fans would likely admit that there’s Russian NHL’ers that are better than Canadian NHL’ers, but they’d feel like they were betraying their country if they ever uttered it publicly.

Forget all the media hoopla; shouldn’t the NHL be sending royalties to the parents of Sidney and Alexander for deciding to have children that grew up to capture the attention of their entire audience?  In the ongoing battle to procure American advertisers and cable network broadcasters, the NHL can count on at least Penguins and Capitals games as easy ratings sells; providing that Crosby and Ovechkin are in the lineup.  Did anyone care about the Capitals before Alexander the Great?  A team with no Stanley Cups, and nothing more than a conference championship in 1997-98, former Hart and Art Ross Trophy Winner Jaromir Jagr couldn’t even make hockey exciting in Washington.  All of a sudden, the Verizon Center has sell-out crowds, and the team is a contender.  Ovechkin plays with a wreckless abandon that has resulted in a kneeing suspension, but what is coach Bruce Boudreau going to do with his star, bench him?  Tell him to ease up?  Come on.  The Penguins at least got to pair Lemieux and Crosby together in 2006, but the Steel-Town had been pretty dismal since the back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 1990-92.  Sure hockey’s a team game, but to suggest that the individual ability and rivalry of Crosby and Ovechkin isn’t largely responsible for the teams’ success and the league’s rising interest, is naive.

The 2008-09 playoffs were an absolute treat to watch, and many people would point to the Pens/Caps Eastern Conference showdown as a highlight, as well as an indication of who would/did become the eventual Cup winner.  Fans got to see Sid and Ovie go at each other for seven consecutive games rather than once a season, and they got to see both players at the top of their respective games; Game 2 featured both players notching hat tricks, and Sid’s 13 series’ points and Ovie’s 14 equaled the highest single-series point total since the 1995 NHL playoffs.  It was awesome.

Penguins win the series 4-3, and the “evil” Ovechkin, was banished back to Russia (well, Washington), screaming promises of revenge (actually he wished that the Pens win the Cup, but just work with me) while he was being dragged away. Meanwhile, the “heroic” Crosby was adorned on a mountain top, cape waving, a dark curl dangling from mid-brow (just above his perv-stache), all while giving an interview where he characteristically puts over his opponents, commenting on how well they played, and not giving himself any selfish credit. Wouldn’t it have been great/justified if he had finally just snapped, either after that series or after winning the Cup, and said, “YOU SEE?!?! I AM BETTER THAN HIM!!”

Ovechkin wins rookie of the year, Sid’s named the youngest captain in history.  Sid wins the Art Ross and the Hart, Ovie wins the Richard and Pearson awards.  And so they dance.  We’re still waiting to see what Ovechkin’s equal to Sid’s Cup win will be.  Alexander’s pursuit of a championship, Sidney’s defence of his, and their continued rivalry will continually be fun to watch, and is easily the best rivalry in the NHL today.  It’s Canada vs. Russia, tradition vs. new school, team vs. team, and man vs. man, all wrapped into one ongoing showdown.  If the NHL can’t sell that to Americans, then tearing fans away from the baseball diamond and football field for the hockey rink is a fruitless endeavor anyways.

By: Dustin Pollack

The Minnesota Vikings are one of four teams remaining in the 2009-2010 NFL playoffs. But for 40-year-old quarterback Brett Favre the road back to the Conference Championship has come with scrutiny and boo’s from fans and media alike.

It was March 2008 when Favre first pulled the retirement-comeback card.  Just months after retiring from the Green Bay Packers, Favre decided he  wanted to comeback to the Packers, but to his dismay Aaron Rodgers had already filled his spot.

After some paperwork was filed later that off-season, Favre was traded from the Packers to the New York Jets where he played the 2008-2009 season.

The Jets finished 10-6 but were eliminated by the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East Title game. Favre started the season strong with 12 touchdowns in his first four games, but he trailed off in his last 11 games throwing for just 10 touchdowns making for a total of 22.

Paving the way for Favre’s second retirement.

But Brett made yet another comeback in August 2009, this time with the Minnesota Vikings.

Minnesota seemed to be a great place for Favre for the simple fact that he could take a back seat in the Vikings offense to top NFL running back Adrian Peterson.

And in his first start that seemed to be the case as Favre only passed for 110 yards while Peterson rushed for 180.

However, after his week three heroics where Favre marched the Vikings down the field in the games final moments and then threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Greg Lewis with just seconds remaining to defeat the San Francisco 49ers , it seemed Favre was climbing over Adrian Peterson into the front seat of the Vikings offense.

He responded again the following week against his former team the Green Bay Packers throwing for four touchdowns in the Vikings 30-23 victory.

After going 7-1 in the first half of the season the Vikings trailed off going 5-3 in their last eight games.

The Vikings impressive 12-4 record can be hugely credited to the play of Favre who had some of his best statistical numbers ever:

• 33 touchdowns (his most since 1997-1998)
• 4202 passing yards (his 3^rd most ever)
• 107.2 QB rating (career best)
• 7 interceptions (career best)

At 40 years old Brett is putting up the same kind of numbers that he did when he was 25. It makes you wonder, has the best yet to come from Brett Favre?

Too often forgotten after all of the Olympic hype is the Paralympic games. This year when you gather at the bar to watch the final moments of a game, or flip through the newspaper to check the medal standings, or snuggle up to watch Canadian athletes soar, I encourage you to take a longer look an introduce yourself to the Paralympic Games.

The Paralympic games will be broadcast March 12th-March 28th, and the biggest story for the Paralympic Games this year with be Sledge Hockey. Information provided by the Canadian Paralympic Committee/ International Paralympic Committee, “Sledge hockey is the Paralympic version of Ice hockey and, since its debut on the Paralympic program at the 1994 Lillehammer Paralympic Winter Games, it is quickly becoming one of the biggest attractions for spectators at the Paralympic Winter Games. It is fast-paced, highly physical and played by male athletes with a physical disability in the lower part of the body.” Similar to hockey played during the Olympic Games, each team has six players on the ice, including the goaltender. Teams are comprised of a maximum of 15 male players per team, including two goaltenders. To be eligible to compete at the Paralympics, athletes must have a disability of permanent nature in the lower part of the body that precludes their participation in standing hockey.”

The rules, once again are much like those structuring the Olympic Games with exception to the way the movement of the game is played. ”Athletes site strapped into a metal frame that rests on two regular-sized ice-skate blades. The sledge is raised high enough to allow the puck to pass underneath. Athletes use two 75 cm long hockey sticks, with spikes on one end and blades on the other. The spike is used to propel the sledge across the ice, and the slightly curved blade is used to handle the puck. The goaltender may have an additional pick at the base end of his stick and may use an additional stick with a blade or a trapper globe with teeth.”

Recently, the documentary film about the Canadian Mens team has come out for purchase. The documentary, titled “SledHead” follows the lives and journeys of the Canadian Paralympic Team, how they became a team, and what it took for each athlete to get to the games. Some have overcome accidents, bullying, violence and discrimination. If you do anything this year in support of the Canadian Athletes, do this; watch the film, educate yourself on the athletes stories and become involved in the spirit of the games, both Olympic and Paralympic.

You can purchase the video online for $60, or take a sneek peek of the trailer at: http://sledheadmovie.com/Sledhead_Movie/Trailer_.html

When I first saw this commercial it sent shivers up my spine. If you are feeling a little low on Olympic Spirit, or a little down after Canada’s Jrs claimed silver, this video clip ought to brighten your day and prepare you for the men’s and women’s hockey games coming up in just 29 days!

So take a look and hey Canada, lets make sure that everyone knows whose game they’re playing.

Can anyone believe these Raptors?! I thought Canada’s Wonderland had roller coasters, but they’re nothing compared to the one Canada’s team has got me on right now! Take December 4^th vs. the Wizards for example. I turn on the tube midway through the first: your Raps are up 24-7. I’m thinking good news. This is what I’ve been waiting for! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, back it up just for a moment. Just a day before that, the usually calm Raptors squad had a bit of controversy. The previous game vs. the Hawks yielded their highest scoring total in over 16 years, 146 points scored. Calderon was -23 while on the floor. Jack had one-third of the team’s turnovers. As a whole, Toronto barely had half the rebounds as Atlanta. The lone bright spot was rookie DeMar DeRozan, who netted a career-high 21 points. But to cap it all off was the main man, Chris Bosh, with two points in sixteen minutes.

So as things often transpire in sports, a blowout loss is enough to make tempers flare. The team was not a team at all; they were a group of individuals put back to basics to fend for themselves. One player described the tensions as North Americans vs. Europeans, as if culture had something to do with it. But in reality, it was everything that had built up over the weeks of near-pure losing. A team (or group of individuals, whatever you feel is most applicable at this time) can only lose for so long. Right?

On December 4^th, the tides turned. Two of the worst losing slumps in the league, held by New Jersey and your Raptors, came to a close. Whether Nets’ part-owner Jay-Z’s birthday that night had anything to do with it, I am unsure. Nevertheless, it happened.

So as I balance watching the Raps-Wiz game with playing Super Smash Bros., it seemed the team couldn’t hold that 24-7 lead I swear I saw in the first quarter. Wait a minute: the Raptors couldn’t hold a lead? That’s nothing new, but that’s a different story. I watched the two team exchange buckets as if they were putting out a fire, but the relentless Wizards simply would not go away. In fact, they were creeping up on the Dinos until they tied the game on a dunk by Nick Young at the buzzer to end the third quarter. Little did I know, the game was only just beginning.

Fast forward to three minutes remaining: Toronto down three. Two minutes remaining: Raps up one. Ten seconds left: tie ball game. After Hedo Turkoglu missed his three-pointer for the win, it was time for overtime.

Now, any true Raptor fan like myself would experience the rush of memories of recent wild finishes in Washington. March 30, 2007. Wizards up three with just 3.8 s left. Michael Ruffin, a former Wizard, intercepts a Hail Mary pass intended for one of the Raptors up-court. He heaves the ball into the air to expire the last few seconds on the clock. Game over, right? Not a chance. The beloved Mo Pete catches the ball and tosses a up wild three. Swish. Raptors take the game in OT. I still get chills today thinking about it. Now, even more recently, Toronto pays another visit to Washington. Down three with just 1.2 s on the clock, Anthony Parker receives the inbound pass for a final shot attempt. Over three, yes three, defenders he nails a Derek Fisher-esque three-pointer. The ball nearly scraped the rafters it was so high.

That said, the Wizards know by now not to take the Raps lightly at the end of games. Lucky for Toronto, they’ve got an ice-in-the-veins kind of guy named Turkoglu. His clutch fade-away, combined with a “How did he miss that?” layup from Gilbert Arenas, sealed the deal for Toronto.

It’s their first win in much too long, but things look oddly optimistic for the team. Their differences have been settled, and they look like a stronger bunch moving forward. I guess what they say is true: what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.

That’s no excuse, though. As a team managed by the top GM in the league and one of the finest Canadian coaches, we’ve got to step it up. Bosh’s future as a Raptor depends on this season; lose the season, lose the franchise player. Simple as that. Let’s go out and show we’re an elite team in the East! Or at the very least, stop the up-and-down play. As much as I love Top Gun and Drop Zone, I can only handle them every once in a while. Toronto’s newest roller coaster, the Raptors, is not up to safety standards and needs to be shut down immediately. Please, for everyone’s sake.

JB

The word ‘nemesis’ has been tossed around after the Toronto Raptors’ recent loss to the Boston Celtics on Jan 10th, 2010. This came after the Raps won eight of their last ten, the sole blemishes during that span at the hands of, you guessed it, the Boston Celtics. But does this relationship make the Boston Celtics the ‘nemesis?’ Let’s take a look at the top Raptors’ rivals of the past to see if today’s Celts match up. Not surprisingly, a certain familiar face is involved in all of the following rivalries.

Nearly a decade ago, the infamous series against the Philadelphia 76ers sticks in the minds of Raps fans everywhere. After defeating the New York Knicks in the first round, the Raptors were matched against the 76ers in the second round of the 2001 playoffs. The first six games split 3-3, so the pressure was on for game seven. The Raptors, still a new franchise, had never experienced such playoff success, while the 76ers had been through it many times before. Riding on their budding superstar Vince Carter, the Raptors actually had a chance to make the Eastern Conference Finals. However, despite mass criticism, Carter opted to attend his graduation ceremony at the University of North Carolina on the day of game seven, which fans and analysts felt would throw off his game. Indeed, when Carter took the series-winning shot in the dying seconds of the final game, it clanked off the rim. Philadelphia, taking full advantage of Allen Iverson’s two 50+-point games in the series, just squeaked by the Raps.

Years later, Mr. Carter was up to his old tricks again. Before the 2004-05 season, Carter demanded a trade. After becoming frustrated with Raptor management, Carter swore he would never dunk again. While a trade was inevitable, the way Carter left the city was straight up classless. And the fans let him know whenever he returns. The resounding boos heard in the ACC whenever the guy is introduced, touches the ball or makes any sort of out-of-the-ordinary gesture is just one example. As a result, Carter’s new team at the time, the New Jersey Nets, were an obvious choice for the franchise’s next rivalry. This hit a peak during the notorious Carter-Morris Peterson slapping incident, a moment that still stings Raps fans. During their playoff series in 2007, Carter’s new team proved too much for the Raptors. Now that Vince has moved on, the rivalry between the two teams is not the same. Needless to say, it is tough to uphold a meaningful loathing for a team that cannot win 10% of its games.

In case you have not figured out the trend yet, another arguable rivalry is that of the current Raptors and Orlando Magic. The rise of Superman Dwight Howard has proved a formidable challenge for Raptors All-Star Chris Bosh, with the mind-boggling numbers put up by each big man in Toronto-Orlando games intensifying everything. Howard pulls down 20 boards, Bosh goes for 40+ points; it basically writes itself. And this season, with the Magic’s addition of Carter and their former fourth-quarter closer in Hedo Turkoglu now a Rap, there is no doubt the potential rivalry that could be built around this cast.

But if it weren’t for the former ‘Air Canada,’ the one that we all love to hate, would any of these rivalries have transpired at all? Or are they really just one rivalry in itself, against the one they call Half Man Half Amazing? After all, he managed to anger the entire city of Toronto, and for that matter a majority of Canada, when he vowed to not dunk again. He has been criticised for his controversial injuries, or more specifically whether they were injuries at all. He was once the reason the Air Canada Centre was packed night in and night out; the marketing tool basketball fans or not could appreciate for his freak athleticism.

So with just these few losses to the Boston Celtics midway through the season, not yet can it be considered a rivalry. The difference is what happens off the court, the antics Vince Carter became known for. While some good games have been had between the two teams over the past few years, without the off-court drama a rivalry cannot be a rivalry at all. The Celtics have been through it all already: they know a good rivalry when they see one. In my opinion, until either a) Kevin Garnett badmouths Jose Calderon as Gilbert Arenas did (this came before he let the pistol fly, but that’s another story) or b) VC somehow makes his way to the Celts. Until this time, the Raptors need to just focus on winning games and making it to the second round of the playoffs. Then we’ll see what a real nemesis is like.

JB