The Sports And The City banner was born four years ago; the stunning Toronto skyline melded with photos of the city's finest: Mats Sundin, Roy Halladay, and Chris Bosh.
Sundin was the first to leave us, walking away after years of remarkable service. Tomas Kaberle, his replacement, may never play for the Toronto Maple Leafs again.
Roy Halladay followed Sundin out of town, asking to be traded by refusing -- rightfully so, really -- to sign a contract extension. Doc's replacement, Aaron Hill, is today batting below the Mendoza Line today; his - 0.2 WAR keeping me up at night.
The final punch to Toronto's sporting gut? Chris Bosh's decision to bid us adieu, and head for South Beach. The man who it has been argued is more a 1A type player is not 1, 1A, or 1B in Miami. He's the third option down there. But, hey, he's happy, rich beyond his wildest dreams, and he played his tail off for the Raptors. To each his own. The bottom line: Toronto has lost its franchise's all-time leading scorer, and he's only 26-years-old.
By now, you know the drill: it's up to you and I to decide who replaces Bosh in the banner. My vote is with Hedo Turkoglu. Because he is about to have the type of redeeming season the likes of which this town hasn't seen since, well, this year. See Wells, Vernon. (All-Star!!!1)
The options are slim: Jose Calderon, in his now famous three-point pose? (Or getting shredded on defence?) Amir Johnson? (Who I saw leaving Real Sports Bar and Grill holding his own Raptors jersey. Awkward.) Andrea Bargnani, who's most famous for not being Brandon Roy, or LaMarcus Aldridge? DeMar DeRozan? Perhaps. He has come out and told us not to worry; that he's "got us." And a little confidence is a good thing right now. Bryan Colangelo? He may have screwed this Raptors team, but he's always too well dressed to not consider. The Raptor? Sonny Weems? A trade exception? (The hell might that look like -- a big dollar sign?) Yeah: it's bleak.
Or is it time to open the floor to TFC; Dwayne DeRosario?
Oh, the questions.
The poll's above, on your right. Have at it.
And thanks, as always, for reading Sports And The City. Toronto 'til we die.
11 comments:
How about somebody from the Argos? Cleo Lemon, perhaps.
Or you could have the saint of Toronto sports - Don Quixote. Sometimes when I look at my Leaf, Jay and Raptor jerseys, I feel I'm chasing after windmills too...
ugghh......,
Depressing and disgusting at the same time.
That's just how I feel about the whole Chris Bosh/Miami Heat thing.
I still kind of like Colangelo as a GM - He didn't really have much to work with in terms of retaining Bosh, and the Raptors are exciting to watch. However, his drafts have been disappointing, which you have to be good at if you want to survive in the NBA without an owner that will pay WAY into the luxury tax.
What about Jarret Jack as an option? And seeing TFC added --as well-- could be good.
I voted for The Raptor as he seemed the most talented and well-liked on the list.
Not Turk...since we're going to be parting ways with him shortly.
Damn. Looks like your top two choices to replace Chris Bosh are on their way out of town....
eyebleaf, I'm running into the same problem. Since Toronto seems to be a revolving door for these franchise players, it almost seems safer to choose guys from years past (Sittler, Alomar, Stoudamire).
Sad to say that I have no idea who plays for the Toronto NBA franchise. I haven't followed basketball since traveling and palming and zone defenses no longer became against the rules. So I can't help you there.
On a positive note, wouldn't it be funny if Miami got all those guys and the NBA players went on strike? Ha! That would be a hoot.
Aaron Hill hasn't exactly earned the right to stay in the graphic either. What happened to him anyway? Did you curse him? Are you the next SI cover guy?
I'm thinking you should keep the banner empty until someone steps up and proves they belong on the banner.
On The Fence Sports
The Raptors are and will continue to be a small stop on the journey of players to bigger and better contracts/teams. I say treat them like their players have treated Toronto fans: Pretend they don't exist. Put an Argo or a TFC player up instead.
Are you ever going to post again?
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