Last week was a truly awful week in the world of sports for yours truly. Jesus H. Christ someone wave a skunk in front of these boys because they stunk. The Leafs and the Raptors went a combined 1-7 last week and in some cases lost in spectacular fashion. With the history of the teams I cheer for I am plenty used to losing, but that doesn't make it feel any better when it happens. The Leafs I have come to expect this from, but the Raptors? You were the great hope (and still are) but that 2-6 homestand really exposed some warts on the team.
Let's face it the Raptors have been pretty awful since the calendar flipped to 2015, and their losing ways continued last week when they went 1-3, only beating the woeful 76ers. The Ryerson Royals from my HBA days when I was 11 could beat the 76ers for christs sake. The Raptors have gone ice-cold offensively, and have seen some terrible defensive breakdowns. The Pistons game last Tuesday was a great game to watch but a third quarter collapse allowed the Pistons to pull ahead, and a fourth quarter comeback by the Raps came up just short. What I don't understand is why DeRozan was held out of that game, they really needed him. They shit the bed against the Hawks and the final score against the Pelicans covered up how awful they were for most of that game. The confidence has all but deflated with this group, T. Ross especially has been terrible, and he was stapled to the bench in the second half of the game against the Pelicans. Do I have a solution? No not really, the Raptors are in an awful slump now, and that's to be expected, they've been a fucking great team since the Rudy Gay trade in December 2013. They're not the 95-96 Bulls or the Show Time Lakers, they're going to lose a game or 10 along the way. The great difference between the Leafs and the Raptors is there isn't a legion of retards ready to smash the panic button. Where is fucking Damien Cox shitting out an click-bait ego-fluffing article saying they should trade Kyle Lowry for spare parts, is Dave Feschuk going to call up Amir Johnson's Mom for a quote? Is some squid going to throw his jersey on the court? Yeah there was a smattering of boos at half time of the game yesterday, they scored 36 points in the half for christs sakes, what did they want? I have no problem whatsoever with booing when it's warranted. Do they need some tinkering? Yes. I'd keep T. Ross on the bench and start James Johnson... perhaps a trade would do? Nothing major, I am not saying I know enough about the NBA landscape to know what is out there or what we can get in return, but "In Masai I Trust". Bottom line is the Raptors play in the worst division in all of professional sports it will require a collapse of Maple Leaf proportions to cause them to miss the playoffs, would some more winning be nice? Of course, but it's a fucking slump and we're going to have to live with it, I have every confidence that they will rebound sooner rather than later.... literally. They need to get more rebounds.
The Week Ahead: @ Milwaukee (1/19), @ Memphis (1/17), @ Philadelphia (1/19), vs. Detroit (1/25). Not exactly an easy week for the slumping Raptors, the Bucks are missing some players but they have been one of the more surprising stories of the season thus far, and could wind up being a first round playoff opponent for the Raptors. The Grizzlies are one of the best teams in the league, and even though we beat them at home earlier this season, it will be a very tough game. The 76ers are a joke, but the game I am looking forward to is the Pistons game next Sunday, this has quickly developed into a nice little rivalry, and a playoff series between these teams would be fun as hell to watch. It's tough schedule but I have confidence the Raptors will get their shit together and put together a good run of games. If they still shit the bed there is always the Jack Armstrong Drinking Game to get us through the tough times.
The Leafs... the god damned fucking Leafs. I haven't seen such a pathetic lack of scoring since my high school days (and current days tbh). The shitty thing is they have been playing better defensively, they could've easily won the Los Angeles and the San Jose games, a bounce here or there prevented that. I missed the St. Louis game because I was at Monster Trucks, but from the sounds of it everything was equally bleak. Not a single forward scored a goal last week, their only goal against the Sharks was from defenseman Roman Polak. There is just such a terrible odor surrounding this team right now, mostly the one left over from Randy Carlyle, but still. What can this team do right now? Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and often times they stink. In my asshole opinion I think they should just stay the course until the off season, yeah it sucks but what can you do. Everyone is yelling Trade Kessel! Trade Phaneuf! Fire Everyone! Tank for McDavid! Well all that shit is easier said that done. What I want to happen is for Clarkson to voluntarily give up the remaining 14 years of his deal or whatever that squid is signed for, and disappear forever but that ain't happening. Trading in the NHL is way harder these days than it was pre-cap, and Kessel and Phaneuf are still very good players, and I don't want them to get the same return for them as they got with Grabovski, Kulemin and MacArthur (they got absolutely NOTHING for those players). Save any big trades for the draft and the off-season. This is a lost season, it was a lost season the second they announced Randy Carlyle was coming back, I think Dave Nonis is going to be fired in the off season, so do I want him to make any trades that will affect the team for years to come? Fuck no. This isn't necessarily a bad team, they can still get hot and compete for a playoff spot... the goals will eventually come back, and the way they've been playing defense that will be a winning combination.
The Week Ahead: vs. Carolina (1/19), @ Ottawa (1/21). Ugh, the All-Star game is this week? I fucking hate All-Star games, such a monumental waste of time. The Leafs play 2 shitty teams before the break, and winning these two games will at the very least have them feel good about themselves, and I think a week off will help everyone. I despise the Ottawa Senators, they are an abortion of a franchise who should be contracted for the good of the game. So a solid 12-0 victory over those squids should be just what the doctor ordered for the Leafs.
I was flipping between the Raptors-Pelicans game and the NFC Championship game yesterday in a hung-over daze, and at first the NFC Championship game was pretty shitty and I was watching more of the basketball game, but that fourth quarter was easily the craziest finish to a game I have seen. People keep saying it was the greatest comeback ever... how quickly people forget the Bills-Oilers game in 1993. Yeah it was 22 years ago so I don't expect many to remember it, so here is a video to jog your memory. But that ending was extremely fun to watch... unlike the Patriots-Colts game which was shit from the jump, did the Patriots really need to cheat again using deflated balls?? What a bunch of Sneaky Petes. Anyways might as well make my Super Bowl Prediction....
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A Seattle win and a Katy Perry wardrobe malfunction will make my night. My hatred of the Patriots is no secret, but I think the Seahawks are a much better team. Russell Wilson had the shittiest game of his career and they still managed to beat a very good Packers team. I'm firmly on the Seahawks bandwagon for the next two weeks and I am fully expecting to see this scene again....
Followed by this...
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