I would hate to be a fan of the Raptors...

I’ve held off writing for the last couple of days because I was waiting for LeBron James...err, I’m sorry, King James (wouldn’t want to piss off the King), Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh all to make their decisions. But in the time that I’ve been left waiting as numerous rumours reported as fact have come and gone, I’ve found myself thinking about what is going to be the overall damage caused to both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors when the decisions are read and the two franchises are left to pick up the pieces.

For the Cavaliers, they had no choice but to hope that they could convince the King to stay due to a good roster, a new head coach, and most importantly, the comforts of home and the loyalty that the home fans would lavish upon him if he were to return. It was a necessary gamble and one that looks destined to lose, but in the end, it was the right move.

So, with Cleveland having all their chips in the middle and waiting to see if they will scoop the big pot around 9 p.m. tonight, at least Cavs fans can be comforted in knowing that the organization did everything possible to keep James around. I also believe that if James does indeed sign somewhere else, Cavs fans will turn all their anger towards James and none will be directed towards the organization when the inevitable dip in results follows the loss of James.

In Toronto though, I’m not so sure the fanbase will be quite as adamant about voicing displeasure singularly towards Chris Bosh. I say that because I’ve never gotten a sense from the Raptors that they did everything they possibly could to keep him. While the Cavaliers met James, fired a head coach and rallied fans to come together in the hopes of showcasing the hometown aspect to LeBron, what did the Raptors do to try and keep Chris Bosh in Toronto?

I can’t think of one significant thing that the Raptors did to make it even a thought for Bosh to stick around. Yes, I understand the argument that Bosh already had his mind made up and that all efforts would have probably been fruitless...I get that. But the way that the front office of the Raptors handled the Bosh situation as opposed to how the Cavaliers handled the LeBron saga is comparing apples to oranges.

The Cavaliers as an organization did not show any hint of ego whatsoever throughout the process and understood that James had all the power in this scenario. In other words, they didn’t fight a battle they couldn’t win. But with the Raptors, it’s clear to me that Bryan Colangelo didn’t like the idea that his former star player had all the power, meanwhile leaving the Raptors out to dry. Colangelo wasn’t going to stand for it and he was going to go down swinging. Good for the ego of the individual and the club, absolutely. Good for the overall health of the club on and off the court, absolutely not...

If Cleveland fans are going to boo LeBron and no one else, I think Toronto fans are going to boo Chris Bosh loudly, but also save some wind in their pipes for Bryan Colangelo. The guy that was supposed to be the saviour for the Toronto Raptors has done nothing in his tenure with the team to suggest that he’s going to turn around this sad-sack of a franchise anytime soon.

At least Cleveland fans can be comforted in knowing that with LeBron James playing in another city, they still have other pieces to the puzzle that allowed them to be a 60-win team a year ago. They won’t be the dynamic team that allowed them to be the best regular season team in the league, but they won’t be pushovers either.

But what is going to happen in Raptorland when Chris Bosh finally suits up for the Miami Heat next season? Who is going to lead this rag-tag bunch of misfits? Say what you will about Chris Bosh not being a winner and not worthy about being put in the same class as LeBron James or Dwayne Wade, but what did you expect him to do with the kind of “talent” that surrounded him in Toronto?

It’s hard to imagine Bosh out of a Toronto lineup, but just look at the drop-off by just having his name taken off the list. Does anyone think Andrea Bargnani has what it takes to become the leader of the Toronto Raptors? Would anyone take this team seriously if their captain became Jarrett Jack? Suddenly Hedo Turkoglu looks like an important piece of the puzzle with Chris Bosh not there.

It all comes back to the terrible decision-making of Bryan Colangelo. Anytime you hear him speak about basketball decisions or player personnel or what it takes to be successful in the NBA, the more you realize that the guy offers lots of style points without too many results. If I’m a Raptor fan, I’m looking to vent more about what this guy hasn’t done for the club as opposed to Chris Bosh looking to apply his trade somewhere else.

Colangelo could have dealt Chris Bosh ahead of time and at least got something back for him. Colangelo could have at least put his ego aside and looked at sign-and-trade scenarios with Bosh in order for the Raptors to get something back in return. Hell, Colangelo could have decided to save the money he wasted by giving Hedo Turkoglu a massive contract to sign with the Raptors.

Both the Cavaliers and the Raptors are going to suffer after what happens tonight on ESPN and the next couple of days as the Miami Heat get stronger, but I like the Cavaliers chances of bouncing back a lot more than the Raptors. And the seemingly time-honoured tradition of cheering for losing teams in Toronto will continue with each passing day...

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What do you think, Knicks fan?

It’s probably not what you had in mind when you thought about the first mega-signing of the summer. Amare Stoudamire was not supposed to be first step in the great re-build of the Knickerbockers, but that’s exactly how it’s played out in New York after Stoudamire signed a 5-year, 100 million dollar deal to leave Phoenix and head to the Big Apple.

Quite frankly, I think everyone is shocked that Stoudamire was the first big-name free agent to commit to a new team this summer. The talk was that everything would revolve around Lebron James. King James had to decide where he was going first before the other peasants could make a decision to benefit themselves. But give credit to the Knicks and Stoudamire for being proactive instead of reactive.

But that’s the only thing I’ll give the Knicks credit for. Simply put, they forced the fans to suffer through two years of terrible basketball with the promise that they were going to re-invent the team and make the championship contender again starting in 2010-2011. Well, that doesn’t seem to have taken place at all. Instead, they’ve chosen to put their eggs in the basket of a guy that was considered second-tier in an unbelievable list of free agents.

Clearly the Knicks found out in the last few days that Lebron James wasn’t going to go there, Dwayne Wade never considered going there and that Chris Bosh has probably resigned to the fact that he’s better off being a complimentary player to either James or Wade and thus, won’t go to the Knicks either. It’s got to be a big slap to the face of any Knick fan that had this week circled in their calendar as the start of something great.

Look, Amare Stoudamire is a great player and would have been the most coveted free-agent in most years, but timing is everything and it has to be considered a disappointment that the Knicks had to settle for Stoudamire.

The biggest problem that Stoudamire has compared to the Big 3 free agents is the risk of permanent injury somewhere within the 5 years that Stoudamire suits up for the Knicks. A huge red flag has to fly when it’s been determined that his contract cannot be insured because of the risk factor involved with the condition of his knees or his right eye.

Also, Stoudamire has been exposed in the past as being a one-dimensional player. He brings a ton of ability to put up points on a consistent basis, but he’s truly lacking the physicality to get rebounds and an ability to use his own threat as a weapon to get others involved in the offense. I know that if I was an owner, I would want to use my 100 million on someone that could offer more than just one-dimension.

Ultimately, the saving grace for the Knicks in this signing could be Stoudamire’s ability to bring in others to play with the organization. However, if the Knicks are counting that, we might be able to count on a power struggle between coach, player and even GM. And the Knicks could find themselves right where they started when they decided a couple of years ago to go for the big splash in the first place.

Now I'm just getting annoyed...

I know I shouldn’t get mad about this because I’m a part of the group of people that feeds the hype of any sports situation, good or bad. But I’ve just about had enough of the reports, opinions and rumours about where Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh are going to land in free agency and what team is going to get them, whether it be New Jersey, New York, Chicago, Miami, Cleveland, etc.

For the last 2-3 weeks, we’ve heard just about every single scenario being thrown out. We’ve heard Lebron going to any of the five teams mentioned, or Lebron and D-Wade, or Lebron and Bosh, or Bosh and D-Wade. Let’s not forget that there are several other big-name free agents in the NBA that need a home this summer, but for the sake of making things easier, I just decided to stick with the big three.

As a media member, I’m starting to feel a little sense of embarrassment and shame about how out of control the “reporting” has become when it comes to free agents. Hell, the reporting over the last couple of days involving Ilya Kovalchuk has been a little frustrating as well. The shift has happened already where the onus is to get the information out first, then worry about whether it’s right or wrong afterwards. For some, they hide behind a veil of “a new age of journalism” or “new-school journalism.” Call me old-fashioned, I guess...

I understand that everyone who is out there covering sports for a living is looking for that one big scoop in order to get the big prize at the end. Being able to say that you were the one to break where Lebron James has signed can be the ticket to securing your position for life. It could be a life-altering scoop and I get that. But how much of the media’s credibility is taking a hit for every single false alarm that is being put out there?

In just thinking aloud through the blog, maybe I’m making too much of this and anyone who is not involved with the media just doesn’t care about this kind of stuff. But I’ve always thought that people should be held accountable for not only their actions, but for their words as well. Yet, in this age of technology, untrue rumours and unspecified reports can be put across a screen for people to see and can evaporate just as easily because of a “delete” button or people have just moved on to reading something else.

That’s not right. People should not be forced into having to differentiate between what is fact and what is rumour. Our job as media is to inform people of what is fact and to express our feelings through opinion, but somewhere along the line, the two have melded together. Now, it’s just OK for media to express opinions/theories as fact, and if proven wrong, backtrack and point to the article as “pure speculation”.

God, I hope Lebron signs today.

The Ultimate Proving Ground

That used to be a saying repeated over and over again during the early broadcasts of the UFC, and it’s still repeated once in a while, but it wasn’t more evident in the last two fights of the night on Saturday.

Despite being the heavyweight champion of the world, Brock Lesnar was in a position of having to win against Shane Carwin to prove a lot of things to all his doubters, but more importantly to himself. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Chris Leben found himself having to prove that his career was worth something. He also needed to prove to his opponent that he should be spoken about on the same level as the top-guys in his weight class, an inconceivable thought as early as three weeks ago as he prepared to step into the cage against heavy-favourite Aaron Simpson.

Lesnar was a slight favourite heading into the fight against Shane Carwin, but come fight day, it was hard to find anyone willing to put money on the champion. The Carwin backers believed there were too many questions left to be answered correctly by Lesnar in one fight. How much of him was left after a frightening life-and-death with diverculitis? How would his chin hold up from a punch from someone just as big and powerful as him? How much ring rust would have from not fighting for 351 days?

All those questions were asked of him as he struggled to survive against a mighty onslaught from Carwin in the opening round, but he hung on. Those questions turned into answers as Round 2 progressed and were fully answered after submitting Carwin in the middle of the round. The only question we can have now for his upcoming fight against Cain Velazquez is: “How do you top that performance?”

As for Chris Leben, his career had always been filled with question marks ever since he first made his appearance as a troubled, yet talented fighter on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter. His battles with alcohol and other mental obstacles always were the focal point.

He was on the verge of being another UFC afterthought heading into his bout with Aaron Simpson only two weeks ago. He was a heavy underdog and was considered to be a stepping stone for Simpson, but Leben defied the odds-makers, the matchmakers and anyone else that was ready to call his career over.

He was then chosen to be an injury replacement for Wanderlei Silva and would be pitted against Yoshihiro Akiyama. Akiyama was thought to be devastated by losing the fight against Silva and felt that Leben was not talented enough to worth risking himself going into the cage. Leben ended up submitting Akiyama in the dying seconds.

In a sport where knockouts and submissions usually define the career of a fighter, Saturday night proved that for Brock Lesnar and Chris Leben, defying the odds and persevering can also do a lot to define one’s career as well.

Kovalchuk to the Islanders?

This would certainly be the shock of the summer, but at the same time, it makes sense to me...if my thoughts on Ilya Kovalchuk are bang-on and I’ve got him all figured out.

Look, I like Ilya Kovalchuk and what he brings to any team that he plays for. He’s an exciting and dynamic player that brings the crowd to the edge of their seats every time he touches the puck. He’s one of the few guys in the league that offers a wow factor just having his mere presence on the ice. Having that kind of presence has to be so exciting for any potential owner looking for a boost not only in on-ice performance, but also a nice little bump in ticket sales, either single-game or full-season.

Having said all that, my concern with any team that brings him in would be, “Are you getting a player that is motivated to perform for the better of the team or for the better of Ilya Kovalchuk?” Call it a complete gut-feeling because I have no idea what Kovalchuk is like outside the rink or inside a locker-room, but I’ve just never gotten a sense from reading about him that he was the kind of guy that worried too much about team accolades or winning or giving a city a chance to be successful. He strikes me as a player who’s OK with playing and being the star in a city with no pressure, doing well as an individual player and getting paid well as an individual player.

Just look at the favourite teams to get his services for next season and beyond. The LA Kings have always been and will continue to be the favourites to land the superstar. After that, we have the rumours now swirling about the Islanders and of course, there have always been the rumours about the KHL.

What do all three of those options have in common? They are all willing to give the big guy a truckload of money, all offer destinations where he could be the big fish and have no pressure on him (even if he falls into a slump) and they offer either low to no chance to win the Stanley Cup. Clearly, he has the best chance to win the Cup in Los Angeles as of right now, but even with the addition of Kovalchuk, you don’t have a bonafide Stanley Cup contender yet.

I actually hope that I’m wrong about him and that he’s not all about the paycheque, but I just have never been given anything to think the contrary about him. Some people are motivated by money, some by fame, some by championships and I get that. But what Kovalchuk might gain by getting the equivalent of 2 Lotto Max jackpots in one contract, he’ll lose in never being included in the group of the truly great despite having just as much talent. That to me would be a complete shame, but unfortunately deserved.

Happy Canada Day!

Who knew staying inside a small and cramped radio studio for 6 hours on Canada Day would be exciting, but thanks to 30 NHL General Managers who had money to spend and no time to waste, it certainly lived up to the hype of a “frenzy”.

The Senators were very active on Day 1. A player joined, a player re-signed and two players left. That’s a lot of movement for one day.

A ton of people were excited with the news of Sergei Gonchar coming to the Senators, but as more time passes, the more negativity is starting to creep in amongst the faithful.

Look, there are pros and cons to virtually every free-agent signing, but I think the Gonchar signing offers more pros than cons.

Pro: Gonchar brings more veteran experience to the Sens locker room

Alongside Chris Phillips, Gonchar can be expected not only to help out Erik Karlsson in the next couple of years, but also all the young and talented defensive prospects that the Sens are counting on to be NHL-ready in a couple of years.

Pro: Gonchar will help aid an inconsistent Sens power-play.

And at times, calling it inconsistent would be very nice. Detractors to this will point to the fact the Pens powerplay in the regular season was only .3% better than the Sens. However, I will counter with the fact that Gonchar was third amongst NHL defencemen in power-play points a year ago.

Con: Gonchar could be considered injury-prone in the late stage of his career.

Granted, he missed 20 games due to various problems last season and is coming off a major shoulder injury two seasons ago that caused him to miss 50+ games, but in the three years with Pittsburgh before 2008-2009, he played 78, 82 and 75 games respectively. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that the injuries were due to circumstance and not due to body structure.

Con: Gonchar might not be the same guy towards the end of the contract.

No one can say for sure what he will/won’t be able to do in that all-important third year, but based on point totals from the previous five years with the Penguins, there’s nothing to suggest that his output is in danger of falling rapidly.

Extra Notes:

Headline reads: Sutter Confident that Jokinen Can Produce More for Less Money…this has to be the hero/goat move to top all hero/goat moves…he’s either gonna make everyone eat their words or he’s gonna be out of a job…I’m gonna go with the unemployment logic myself

Love how the Oilers are not only relying on the great youth to pull them out of this huge hole…the brass have clearly come into this off-season with a clear direction…if you don’t fit with this new direction, take your business elsewhere! Goodbye Ethan Moreau, Robert Nilsson, Patrick O’Sullivan, Sheldon Souray…the stink of losing is being discarded very quickly…

Headshaker: Thomas Berdych into the finals at Wimbledon…that’s a headshaker along with the headline of: “Berd is the Word”