A Day, A Week, Hemant, A Year

This past weekend I flew out to Toronto and met Jeffrey who was arriving from Montreal. Jeffrey was interested in seeing a Raptors game while he was out in that part of the country, so that seemed like a pretty good excuse for me to meet him there. It had been over two years since I attended a Raptors game at the Air Canada Centre, so this was a great opportunity for me to feed my addiction. Since we were going to be there for a few days, we also got some tickets to Evil Dead : The Musical. It would also work out for me visit my many friends in Guelph.

Before I left Saskatoon on Friday, I checked the Toronto weather forecast for the weekend. It wasn’t looking good as there were major snow storm warnings issued for all of southern Ontario. I was lucky enough that I got in just before it started up so it didn’t affect my flight.

I got to Toronto early in the afternoon and decided to rent a car since I was going to be traveling between three cities. I was supposed to get a compact such as a Ford Focus, but for some reason I got downgraded to a sub-compact, getting stuck with a Hyundai Accent. To my surprise, it didn’t turn out to be as bad as I was expecting. I met Jeffrey downtown at the Eaton’s Centre. We had some time to kill before the Raptors game at seven o’clock so we went to the St. Lawrence Market and bummed around. Seeing that market again really made me wish that we had something like that in Saskatoon. We bought some fresh fruit and chowed down while being geeks on our respective internet tablets. You gotta love free wi-fi.

We headed to the Air Canada Centre a little early since I wanted to try and get my picture taken with, “the man, the myth, the voice”, Chuck Swirsky. For those of you who don’t know who this is, he is the play-by-play voice of the Toronto Raptors. He’s has become a favourite among the team’s fans, and has gathered somewhat of a cult following. He is known for his use of personal catchphrases during the games such as, “Get out the salami and cheese mamma! This game is over”, and “That was sick, wicked, and nasty!”.

I had emailed him to see if I could get a pic with him and he told me that he was always outside Gate 1 about 50 minutes prior to tipoff, and would be happy to meet me. So Jeffrey and I hung around the area waiting for him to show. We were about to give up, when he rolled in, blaming the storm for his tardiness. After he jumped in on the Raptors TV pre-game panel, I managed to swipe a picture with him.

Even though getting to meet Chuck was enough to make this whole trip worth it, I figured we should still go and check out the actual game versus the Washington Wizards. On the way to our seats we crossed paths with some of the Raptors Dance Pak. I couldn’t refuse after the ladies swooned over me and wanted to get their picture with me.

Our seats turned out to be better than I was expecting so that was a great. Another added bonus was that the ACC offers free wi-fi, letting Jeffrey and I further display our geekiness with our internet tablets. The game didn’t start off too well for the Raptors, but they got their act together creating a pretty entertaining match. It went into overtime, but the Raps couldn’t pull it off. Disappointing, but it was still and exciting game.

Following the game we grabbed a bite to eat before heading out to Chris and Kaleigh Kuzma’s pad. They are some friends of Jeffrey, Rachel, and Michelle and were nice enough to let the two of us stay with them. We did a little visiting, but we were all pretty tired and called it a night.

When we woke up Saturday morning, the snow was really coming down, and was accumulating very fast. Since the weather wasn’t cooperating and Jeffrey and I had done the Toronto tourist stuff multiple times, we just decided to go see some movies before we headed to the Evil Dead show. We saw 10,000 BC which I enjoyed more than I probably should have, and Semi-Pro which was just another cookie-cutter Will Ferrell flick. You can likely wait for both of these on DVD.

After the movies we met Chris and Kaleigh for dinner and then we headed to the Diesel Playhouse for the musical. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but since it was critically acclaimed and had been voted “Toronto’s Favourite Show”, I had a pretty good feeling. The first two rows were called the “splatter zone”. You probably can imagine why it is called that. Jeffrey and I made sure to get tickets directly behind this zone since we didn’t want to get sprayed with blood. As it turned out, our seats were “unofficially” in the splatter zone. We were provided with ponchos to help keep the washable blood out of our clothes.

All I can say is that I completely enjoyed the show from the moment the curtains opened. It was much more of a farce than I was expecting and the music was great. Once the mayhem started to reach a climax in one of the final scenes, the blood started to fly. At one point I was taken by complete surprise and took a stream of the red stuff directly in my face. It was hilarious….but the “blood” definitely didn’t taste good. I can’t help but recommend anyone in the area to check out this show. It’s a great time.

Jeffrey was heading back to Montreal on Sunday, so I dropped him off at the train station. But not before having to dig the rental car out of a ton of snow. Knowing that this may be a tricky endeavor, it had been bothering me all weekend. As it turned out, with two shovels going we had the car out in no time. I headed out to Waterdown (just outside Hamilton) to visit my buddy Shawn, his wife Wendy and their new baby Sabrina. The highways were actually not too bad considering how hard the area was hit with snow that weekend, so I made it to their place with no catches. I spent the night with them, and we didn’t really do much other than visit and catch up on what has been going on in our respective lives. It was a great visit.

I left Waterdown Monday morning and headed to Guelph where I had lunch plans with some old friends from the Co-operators. I stopped in the office and said hi to some old colleagues before a bunch of us headed to a new pub close by. Since it was spring break, I didn’t get a chance to see a lot of people I wanted to, but it was great to see everyone else. Once we finished up there I went to see my old landlord Dominic. It may seem kind of weird to go visit a landlord, but this guy was awesome, and he and his wife did a lot for me. Probably the greatest landlord in history.

I was staying with my buddy Danny and his girlfriend Aislinn at their new house in Guelph so I headed over there. He gave me the grand tour and we spent the rest of the afternoon playing Guitar Hero : Rock the 80s. We went out to a pub for some pints and a bite to eat, and were lucky to have a couple of old buddies join us. The party animal Khamsy was a little disappointed that we were being so tame. He had big plans for me that night involving “praying at church” (ask me in person about this), but I wasn’t up for a crazy evening.

My flight back to Saskatoon was just after noon on Tuesday, so I said my farewells to Danny and Aislinn and made my way back to Pearson International in Toronto. Luckily all of the snow situations were under control and my flight was not in jeopardy. The trip was like a whirlwind, but it was awesome to see so many of my old friends, and get a chance to see Guelph again. I really love that city and was surprised to see how it has boomed over the last two years, becoming the fastest growing city in Canada. Toronto was fun as usual, but the terrible weather was a limiting factor…guess I’ll have to plan another trip.

You can see more pictures from the trip below.

• Thumbnails on Flickr
• Slideshow on Flickr
• Thumbnails on Picasa
• Slideshow on Picasa

I’ve managed to get the video of my call into the Hoops show that aired on Raptors NBA TV and The Fan 590 on Thursday, April 19, 2007. I had to be a little creative in getting it. I just recorded the segment with my digital camera during a rebroadcast since I don’t actually have a VCR or PVR hooked up to my entertainment system. Not the most high-tech solution, but it got the job done.

You can also listen to the audio broadcast of the entire show here.

Hoops is a weekly talk show that is broadcast on Raptors NBA TV and on the Fan 590, a sports radio station in south-western Ontario. It’s hosted by Eric Smith, “The Coach” Jack Armstrong, Paul Jones, and Sherman Hamilton.

Whether it’s on the court or off the court … HOOPS has all the stories covered regarding the Toronto Raptors, the NBA, and basketball in general.

With the Toronto Raptors set to face the New Jersey Nets in the opening round of the playoffs, excitement among fans is reaching explosive levels. You could see the enthusiasm amongst the Hoops hosts as well as the fans calling in. About halfway through the show, there was a call from Edmonton and Eric asked him if he was getting a sense of excitement amongst Edmontonians, and out west in general. Not surprisingly the caller said that if it wasn’t for satellite TV, he wouldn’t know anything going on with the Raptors.

Being a big Raptors basketball fan living in Saskatchewan, I knew where he was coming from. Eric then pointed out that there was a lot of calls coming in from all across Canada, and wanted to try and hear from all provinces. So with that, I decided to call in and continue the conversation of the popularity of Raptors and basketball in general across Canada.

It took a while to get past the busy signal, but I finally got through to the screener. He asked for my name, where I was from, and what my question was. After realizing that I was extremely intelligent, and probably incredibly handsome, he told me that he would put me on next.

“We have Hemant from Saskatoon. Hi you’re on Hoops.”

Eric may have pronounced my name properly, but the graphic on the TV sure had the spelling somewhere out in left field.

On the Phone
Hemond from Saskatoon

Oh well, I guess it’s better than Herman T. So since I was live on national television and radio, I put on my game-face and got down to business. I told the guys that I wanted to continue the discussion they started with the caller from Edmonton earlier. I explained that when the Vancouver Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors joined the league in 1995, it sparked an interest with me in the NBA. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that it was very difficult to actually see any coverage of the games since so few of them were actually broadcast in this part of the country.

My interest in the league continued, but I wasn’t very dedicated or involved. Then when I moved to Guelph, just outside of Toronto, all of the Raptor games were broadcast giving me what I needed to really feed my interest. The six years I was there was awesome for getting my fill of Raptors basketball. Then when I moved back to Saskatoon last year, I explained that I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to follow the team as easily.

As the guy from Edmonton stated earlier, I reiterated that with the help of today’s cable providers, one can get coverage of the Raptors for the entire season. I did emphasize however, that there are still some hoops (no pun intended) that need to be jumped through in order to achieve this, such as pay a premium fee to subscribe to Raptors NBA TV.

The question I fielded was why does the Raptors organization tout themselves as Canada’s team, but for areas outside of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) they are generally ignored by the sports media, and the sports networks make it so difficult to watch the team?

Out of everything the panel had to say in response to the question, Eric had the most intriguing statement. Actually, he started it off with a question to me.

In Saskatoon and area, do people tend to follow the Toronto Blue Jays, and get excited about the Major League Baseball season.

He already knew the answer, but he wanted me to answer it anyway. I responded with something along the lines of the following.

Yeah, I know a lot of people who follow the Toronto Blue Jays pretty religiously, and yeah, I think people tend to get excited about the baseball season.

Eric then when on to say that it took almost thirty years for that to happen. After ten years, the Blue Jays were ignored just as the Raptors are now outside of the GTA. He really feels that the same type of thing will happen with the Raptors – he just hopes (and me too) that it doesn’t take as long. I then asked the guys what sparked that interest in the Blue Jays to spread across the country, and the panel all agreed that it started to happen when the team began winning consistently, finding themselves at the top of the American League.

The call ended and I sat back to think about the conversation I just had. Even though it seems grim right now for interest in the Raptors to catch on in this part of the country, the guys over at Hoops seemed to have pointed out a little light at the end of the tunnel. And if their theory is correct, and the Raptors continue on this winning path that they have been following, the end of that tunnel may be closer than one thinks.

It’s been five years. Five long years. Almost an eternity since the Toronto Raptors qualified for the NBA post season. It was 2002 the last time the Raptors played in a playoffs and every season since then has been disappointing, depressing, frustrating, and maddening. But this year under a new president and general manager, Bryan Colangelo almost completely rebuilt the team resulting in nine new players. Despite the overhaul, analysts were still dismissing the team. The organization however knew they had something special, and the team set their own goals despite what the rest of the league were saying.

1. Qualify for the playoffs
2. Win the Atlantic Division
3. Get home-court advantage in playoffs

On Sunday, April 1st the Raptors defeated the Charlotte Bobcats to clinch a playoff berth. A few days later, Friday, April 6th, they seal the deal on winning the Atlantic Division for the first time in franchise history by defeating the Philadelphia 76ers. Then on Sunday, April 15 their third goal was met by taking down the New York Knicks – home-court advantage in the first round of the post season. Not bad for a team that wasn’t expected to make much noise this year.

And now the Toronto Raptors have been called one of the most dangerous teams in the east, many (including analysts Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley) expecting them to reach the Eastern Conference finals in a battle with the solid Detroit Pistons. Raptors coach Sam Mitchell who was called the worst coach in the league just last year is the favourite for this year’s Coach of the Year award. Bryan Colangelo is a guarantee for the Executive of the Year honours, and rookie Andrea Bargnani is at the top of the list for Rookie of the Year (although his emergency appendectomy a month ago resulted in him missing the last fourteen games, and likely his chances of winning the award). I mean winning twenty-plus games more than last season cannot go unnoticed.

We’re not sure who we’re going to see in the first round since the season is not quite over, but it’s currently a toss-up between the Washington Wizards and the New Jersey Nets, and will be decided in the final regular season game on Wednesday. Getting the Wiz would be the best scenario since they’ve just been hit by an injury bug, losing two key players in Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler. The Nets are a scary team with the “three-headed monster” in Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, and Vince Carter. Even though they’ll be finishing in either the sixth or seventh seed, they can do some serious damage. Despite this one cannot help finding a Raptors – Nets match up quite intriguing, getting a chance to see Vince Carter go up against his old team in the Raptors. It would be an intense battle, and the fans at the Air Canada Centre would be ruthless. This would definitely be a more high-profile series.

I’m torn on who I want to see in the first round. I want the Wiz so we get an easier opening series, but I want the Nets and VC for what will be an unforgettable and insane piece of entertainment. Either way, I’m just happy that the Raptors have made it to the post season and have an excellent chance of going deep. What does suck is that while I was living out there the team was terrible for most of the time. Then when I move away they get things straightened out and have the strongest team they’ve ever had. I can just imagine the atmosphere out there right now, especially since the Leafs suck and are done for the year.

The main reason for this post is to make a calling for those out there who don’t usually watch NBA ball, for whatever reason. I just ask that you tune into a Raptors playoff game this year – I guarantee that you’ll have a great time. They play an exciting and fast paced, team oriented style of ball that will keep you on the edge of your seat, plus they are Canada’s team. Or if that doesn’t convince you, the Raptors Dance Pak may be what is needed to lure you in.

If you were disappointed by March Madness this year (and I can’t imagine how you weren’t), come cheer on the Raps. Their first game will be either this Saturday or Sunday and will be televised across the nation. Check your local listings or raptors.com for scheduling.

Note: my playoff beard starts on their first game of the post season – I’m not sure what to expect.

Most people who know me are aware that I am a huge NBA fan. Since I was going to be in Los Angeles, there was no way I wasn’t going to see a basketball game. With two teams in the city, it was really a no-brainer to want to see the Lakers as opposed to the Clippers. Even though the Lakers are a playoff bound team, they would definitely not have much going for them if it wasn’t for Kobe Bryant.

Not only was I going to have the chance to see a legendary team and one of the premier players in the league – I was also going to see them play one of the best teams out there in the Phoenix Suns, featuring fellow Canadian and two-time league M.V.P., Steve Nash.

Tip-off was at 12:30 at the Staples Center. Ryan, Connie, and I were on the road by 10:00 and stopped for breakfast at a place whose portions sizes could feed a small family. Despite the restaurant being pretty busy, we were in and out of there in no time and on our way to the stadium.

It was about a 45 minute drive to downtown L.A. and traffic cooperated with us. I was not surprised to see a statue of Magic Johnson outside of the Staples Center, but I was surprised to see one of Wayne Gretzky. Ryan and I both agreed that he should have been wearing an Oilers jersey as opposed to a Kings jersey.

Prior to the game the three of us took a quick peak in the Lakers store to see if there was anything interesting that we wanted to buy. Since it was so busy we decided to go in there again after the game. We made our way to out seats in the upper 301 section. As far up as they were, the view was still pretty good. The stadium is built with the seating sections so steep that it is pretty hard to get a bad seat.

The usual celebrities were there including Jack Nicholson and Penny Marshall, as well as some other well-known stars such as Tobey Maguire and Terrence Howard sitting courtside. We were also graced by some NBA legends including Clyde Drexler and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The actual game was not a complete blowout as we expected. The Lakers did a pretty good job of hanging around for most of the game, but Phoenix’s shooting and fast-paced game were too much for them to keep pace with. Ryan was cheering for the Lakers, but Connie and I were pulling for the Suns – although I did cheer for good plays by both sides. Kobe had some pretty sweet moves that you just couldn’t help but cheer for. Steve Nash’s penetration into the Lakers’ zone was completely dismantling the Lakers defense so I pointed out some defensive plays to Phil Jackson.

Following the game we made our way back to the Lakers store which was probably more busy than it was before the game. Connie got in the huge lineup while Ryan and I went through the store looking for something to buy. We both ended up buying a Kobe t-shirt illustrating his 81 point explosion last year against the Toronto Raptors. Since I couldn’t buy any actual Raptors merchandise at this store, I figured this was the next best thing – I get a little piece of Lakers and Raptors history.

After we left the stadium we just decided to drive around downtown for a bit so I could see it. This didn’t work out too well since a bunch of the major streets were closed off. After sitting in traffic jam after traffic jam, we just decided to head back to Rancho Cucamonga. You can see more pictures from the day here.

NBA All-Star Weekend hits Sin City this year, and as if the glamour and excitement wasn’t enough already, the NBA is taking this year’s festivities to the next level. The All-Star Saturday Night and All-Star game which are slated for this Saturday, February 17th and Sunday, February 18th, respectively will be breaking technological boundaries as it will be the first live sports events to be broadcast in High Definition 3D. Yeah, you heard me right – 3D.

Now before you get too excited, the broadcast is only going to be available to special guests of the NBA at Vegas’s Mandalay Bay Hotel since the NBA is saying it is an “experiment”. Either way, it’s a pretty cool concept and may be the first step in delivering this service to regular Joes around the world. Here’s an excerpt from Variety.com explaining the process.

Technology company Pace has designed five 3-D HD camera systems that will cover all of the action at the Thomas and Mack Center. The Pace blueprint calls for two HD cameras to be built in to each of the five systems, working together to transmit the 3-D images. Invitees will need glasses to get the full 3-D effect.

A special director will take charge of the 3-D coverage, said Steve Hellmuth, senior VP of operations and technology for NBA Entertainment, “but the widescreen depth of field is so immersive that there’ll be far fewer cuts than in the standard-definition version, and the cameras won’t have to move as much.”

Hellmuth bills the experience as “about as close as you can get to having courtside seats.”

This technology might be exactly what I need to get back the feeling of watching a Raptors game at the Air Canada Centre that I miss so much….without having to pay $8 for a hot-dog.

You can read the full article at Variety.com here. Engadget also covered the story here.

Since I’ve returned from Ontario, I’ve had my cable and internet service provided by Shaw Cable. This decision was made more for convenience than choice. I would have preferred Bell ExpressVu, but that would have required a dish, and my condo association did not have rules in place in regards to allowing dishes. So my choices were Shaw Cable and SaskTel Max. Since I have a High Definition (HD) TV and SaskTel Max didn’t offer HD programming – I really had only one option. I consider having a HD TV without subscribing to HD channels to be the same as having a computer and not having internet access. It doesn’t make sense.

Now the quality of Shaw High Speed Internet has been great. I have not complaints. But when it’s time to discuss their cable service – well that’s a completely different story. Firstly, they offered nine HD channels when I signed up just over a year ago (as opposed to 27 with Bell). I could deal with it because at least it included the sports channels and Canadian and American networks. I was pleasantly surprised (this is sarcasm) when I realized the US networks were coming from Seattle, meaning that any prime-time programming wouldn’t start until 10:00 at night.

Well I guess the upside was that the HD channels were free. Shaw assured me of this.

Fast-forward 12 months. Shaw decided to start charging for certain HD channels. Last night I tried to tune into TSN HD to watch my beloved Toronto Raptors take it to some sorry opponent (they’re first in the East by-the-way). Once again I was pleasantly surprised (this is more sarcasm) to see the ‘Subscription Required’ message pop up on my screen.

Immediately I called Shaw to ask, “What gives?” I finally got to talk to a customer care representative who begins to immediately barrage me with questions. The interrogation was as follows:

Me: Hi there. I would like to order the High Definition sports channels.
Shaw Rep: What’s your name?
Me: Hemant Naidu
Shaw Rep: What is your phone number?
Me: 306-XXX-XXXX
Shaw Rep: When were you born?
Me : April 13 of 1975
Shaw Rep: What is your driver license number?
Me: Licence number? Geeze. Ok, let me grab my wallet. Ok. It’s XXXX XXXX XX.
Shaw Rep: That’s not the number we have on file?
Me: When have I ever given you my driver license number?
Shaw Rep: When you initially hooked up with us.
Me. Hmmm. Oh, OK. I know what’s going on. When I signed up with you I had an Ontario license.
Shaw Rep: Yes, that’s right.
Me: When I got a Saskatchewan one a few months later, I had to return my Ontario one.
Shaw Rep. Ok, you’ll have to bring in your new driver license to the office on Monday.
Me (thinking): But the Raptor game starts in 15 minutes, not on Monday).
Me: I’ve made these types of changes since I’ve had my new license, and I’ve never been asked to verify it.
Shaw Rep: Yes, we’re trying to crack down on fraud.
Me (thinking): You’re a fraud.
Me: So you’re not going to let me add a $3 channel.
Shaw Rep: Not until you bring us your new license.
Me: Do you guys charge a service disconnection fee?
Shaw Rep: No.
Me: Ok, ’cause I’ll likely be calling back and doing that.
Me (thinking): Idiot.
Shaw Rep: OK. Bye.
Me (thinking); WTF?

I stood there in a dazed state. Curtis was sitting on the couch with a matching look on his face from listening to my conversation. After I regained my composure I said, “Why didn’t I ask to speak to her supervisor?”

Now for those who don’t know, SaskTel has added High Definition channels to their Max service. And they don’t offer a measly 10 channels – they offer 29. If you ask why I haven’t switched to them yet, it’s just because I haven’t seen a demo of it. There are some possible quality issues with it.

Anyway, getting back to where I left off. Since I was so mad I decided to call Shaw back, make my request again, and if I got the same result I was going to disconnect the service and switch to Max. I called back and got a different rep.

Me: Hi. I’d like to order the sports HD channels.
Shaw Rep: OK. Those are in the HD Premium package for $9.99 a month.
Me: No, I think I can just get the sports ones for $2.99 a month.
Shaw Rep: Oh, you just want those two?
Me: Yes.
Shaw Rep: OK, let me just turn that on for you.
Me: OK.
Shaw Rep: Alright, I’ve enabled those channels. Can you just try channels 301 and 308 to make sure they’re working?
Me: Yup, looks like they’re good.
Shaw Rep: Right on. Thanks for calling Shaw.
Me: Thanks. Bye.
Me (thinking): WTF?

I know. You’re probably as confused as I was. Needless to say, Shaw managed to buy themselves a little more time with me as a client, and I got to watch the Raptors beat the Boston Celtics in all of its High Definition glory. I’m not an expert on the training process over at Shaw Cable but you’d think they’d be running off of the same script. Either way I don’t really care and I think this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Today I’m going to hit the SaskTel store downtown where I can hopefully get a demo of their Max service and start my transition off of Shaw – taking my $135 per month with me. Honestly, I don’t think they’ll care – or at least their service reps won’t.

Here’s another crazy Toronto Raptors conspiracy theory that I have concocted. On Tuesday, November 28th, the Raps played the New Orleans Hornets and blasted them 94 – 77. It was quite a win. Since I wasn’t able to watch the game I was looking forward to seeing the highlights. While having breakfast the following morning and watching CBC News : Morning, Colleen Jones got into her sports coverage. As usual the hockey scores were at the top of the bill, followed by some NFL highlights. Within a few minutes the sports portion came to an end with no basketball scores. It didn’t really surprise me. Nothing fishy yet.

Later that chilly November night the Raps faced the Mavericks in Dallas. Despite a decent effort, the dinos fell to this western powerhouse. The following morning as I went through my usual routine and watched CBC New : Morning before heading to work, Colleen Jones got into her sports highlights once again. She made her way through hockey scores and to my surprise she got into the Raptor / Mavs highlights from the night before. “Isn’t that odd”, I thought to myself. They didn’t show highlights from the Raps game they won a couple nights ago, but covered the loss from last night.

For those who follow the NBA, you probably know that Toronto got off to a slow start, but really started to heat up as the season progressed. Actually they weren’t that far off of first place in the Atlantic division. The team had a big weekend coming up. Friday and Saturday night the team would face two weak teams in the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks respectively. If they could win both games, they would find themselves in second place. First place would be theirs alone if the New Jersey Nets happened to lose.

The stars were almost completely aligned. The Raps managed to win both games, propelling them to second place. The Nets also happened to win, so they remained in the top-spot. Despite this, no one could take anything away from the turn-around the Raptors had made. Monday morning rolled around and I found myself sitting on the couch, eating breakfast and watching CBC News : Morning once again. Surely Colleen Jones would be highlighting the roll the dinos were on. Hockey highlights. Swimming highlights (yeah, swimming highlights). NFL highlights. Then to the weather. What?

Once again following a Raptors win (actually two) the CBC skipped over the story. Could it be that they only cover the team when they lose? Is their a hidden agenda? Is the CBC trying to make sports fans think that the Raptors are continuing down the horrific path of terribleness that has plagued them the last few years? Is it possible that the CBC, home of Hockey Night in Canada, is hoping to take credibility away from Canada’s only professional basketball team? You decide.

Before I make my Raptors conspiracy theory public, I just want to make clear that there is no evidence to substantiate what I am about to say. In fact, once you read this you will probably have a strong sense that I suffer from Paranoid Schizophrenia. But based on the recent behavior of Raptors management, there is clearly no other viable explanation for what we have seen. I believe that there is a massive conspiracy between the NBA and Maple Leaf Sports and Enterainment to sabotage the Toronto Raptors basketball club as to get them out of Canada and into the United States.

You may be thinking this is crazy, but let’s take a look what has happened in the last few years.

1) Rob Babcock is hired as Raptors General Manager despite major objections by team superstar, Vince ‘Air Canada’ Carter. This may not seem like a huge deal, but keeping a team superstar happy is a big priority. I mean if they are not happy, they are not going to stick around. Not only did they hire someone VC objected to, they really stuck it to him by not even interviewing his first choice – Julius Erving.

2) Rob Babcock drafts Rafael Araujo 8th overall in the 2004-2005 NBA draft. Anyone who knew anything about basketball knew this was an insane draft. Araujo wasn’t expected to go before 17 and there is no logical reason for this pick. As a centre, ‘Hoffa’ has averaged 0.70 points per game and 0 blocks per game. In short – a waste of a good draft opportunity.

3) Rob Babcock trades Vince Carter to the New Jersey Nets for Eric William, Aaron Williams, Alonzo Mourning, and 2 first round draft picks. This may sound like a lot, but VC is in his prime, and the 3 guys the Raps got are on their way out. And to top things off, Mourning was thrown in with the intention that he would never play for the Raps. Well, trading the one good reason anyone watched the Raptors was definitely not going to help the team. Even though the Raps were losing, the Air Canada Centre still filled just to see what VC may do. I don’t think people are going to show to watch the two guys we got for him sit on the bench (which they do).

4) Rob Babcock says that Alonzo Mourning is in no health to play for the Raptors and buys his contract out for $10 million. Mourning signs with the Miami Heat, the team he had been wanting to finish his career with and possibly win a title since Shaq was now there. Mourning is far from being of bad health as he plays a major role in getting the Heat to the western semi-finals.

5) Rob Babcock let’s Donyell Marshall’s contract expire without making a trade, even though his worth had increased big time due to his recent play. Marshall made it clear he was not going to re-sign with the Raps, yet no trade is made. Instead he is kept for the entire season and a good trade opportunity is lost.

6) I believe Babcock thought he was sabotaging the Raptors’ 7th pick in the 2005-2006 NBA draft by picking Charlie Villanueava, a ‘potential cancer’ as many analysts were calling him. Again the Raptors’ choice was not supposed to go until around 15. However, Babcock’s pick may backfire since Villanueva’s performance has been impressive. We’ll have to wait for the season to progress a little more before we make a call on this one. Note – I personally didn’t mind this pick and was looking forward to CV on the Raps.

That’s my six top reasons for my conspiracy theory. Many of you may just think this is the work of a really bad General Manager. I don’t claim this to be impossible. But you have to ask yourself this question – if everyone in the known universe can see how bad Rob Babcock is doing, why does he continue to work for the organization. The reason my friends is that the NBA wants out of Canada. With their experiment failing miserably on the Canadian west coast, and the inability to keep or attract any stars to Canada’s biggest city, I think the NBA brass has cut some sort of deal with MLSE to get the Raptors re-located ASAP. So Babcock may actually not be as atrocious as he looks – he may just be the NBA’s patsy.

As I sit here watching the Toronto Raptors get completely demolished by the Detroit Pistons, I’m tempted to get back to what I have spent the entire day doing. I bit the bullet last night and decided to watch ‘Revenge of the Sith’. There was a couple reasons really; first, neither my parents had seen it and I thought it would be nice to experience it with them; second, I haven’t seen it since at least June, and quite frankly was having withdrawal. Seeing it six times in the theatre clearly can be classified as an addiction.

I woke up this morning excited to get to the bonus features of the ‘Sith’ DVD. The disk is packed full of documentaries, deleted scenes, and other great stuff. I thought I would watch a couple features today and slowly work through the disk during the coming week. Well, lets just say that isn’t going to happen. As I watched the deleted scenes I found myself completely hooked. As I finished of the cut scenes, I moved onto the first documentary, then the next, then the next, and so on. Everything on this disk is completely fabulous.

The deleted scenes have been completed just for the DVD as if they were left in the movie. The side story that was cut of Padme, Bail Organa, and Mon Mothma conspiring to start the Rebel Alliance would have been cool to see in the final film, but I do understand Lucas’s reasons to leaving them out.

The highlight of the disc is the full-length documentary ‘Within a Minute’ that follows the complete production of 49 seconds of the final battle between Vader and Obi-Wan including everything from the catering team providing food to the crew to the guys at ILM putting together the digital shots. Something like 70,000 man-hours was put into this 49 second clip and you really get a sense of the scale of this movie.

Once I made my way through the rest of the bonus features, I decided I couldn’t stop there. I threw the first disk back in and watched the movie again with the audio commentary by George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, and Roger Guyett. I love the audio commentaries on DVDs that are done properly. Sometimes you get a bunch of fluff and nonsense, not getting any real information or insight into the movie. ‘Sith’ definitely delivers giving you some great information including everything from backstory to pointing out a kitchen sink flying into a space cruiser.

Now that I have completely exhausted everything on this fine DVD I am now left feeling anxious to view everything on my home theatre system. Seeing the movie again definitely was sweet, but it just doesn’t do it justice when watching it on such a small screen with weak sound. This movie is big and is meant to be experienced in a big way. Since my abode isn’t going to be set up for another three weeks I guess I can look forward to watching my Raptors this NBA season. And as they are currently down by 31 points with just a few seconds left, I can definitely say that watching the Raps is not going to be as enjoyable as watching ‘Star Wars’. Hey, what can I say? Sith happens.