Glen Grunwald And Charles Barkley

I remember Charles Barkley questioning Glen Grunwald's qualifations as a General Manager in the NBA . He said something like who's he and what his business running a team ? This was during the decline of the Raptors fortune and soon followed by Grunwald's end of term as it's GM in 2004. We can perhaps forgive Chuckie Loudmouth as he has a known bias against the Raptors and its star then , Vince Carter . ' Toronto is a bad team ' he often said in TNT's Inside NBA program . Anyone who wants to question this , just watch the replay of previous episodes of this program .

Glen Gruwald happen to be one of the most qualified NBA Executive . Glen has a law degree and an MBA . His expertise covers merger and acquisition . These serve him well in today's world of players' salaries and the cap. As to evaluating talent , he 'snatched' Vince Carter from Golden State and got paid to boot. Some of the best acquisitions/trades in Raptors history happened in his watch - Alvin Wlliams, Chris Childs , Willis, Muggsy Bogues, Keon Clark, and the Oak. Don't forget , the Raptors went 1 shot away from the Easten Conference Finals .
As to the ' highly qualified' Barkley , he is mulling running for the Governor Of Alabama ! Oh yeah , Chuck has the qualification of losing millions in gambling .

Chuck: Maybe it's better
if I run for President .
I can do no worse than Bush !

Time For T.O. To Switch Sports

Reports of football star Terrell Owens' attempted suicide was reported by 2 Dallas papers. This was after he was rushed to the hospital due to 'reaction to medication' as earlier reported . The Dallas' Cowboy wide receiver was sidelined after suffering from a broken finger in the 1st game this season. He was reportedly depressed the past few days.

I think it's time for Terrell to switch sports . In as much as he's got game , T.O. should try hooking up with an NBA team . Hes got friends in the league from players like Shaq to team owners like Sacramento King's Maloof brothers .To start fresh in the NFL seems impossible with all the pressure on him . Why not join the Miami Heat ? Pat Riley is the type of coach who has plenty of experience handling ' head case ' and as I have said, his friend - Shaq , should be able to put him in line .

Maloof Bros : T.O. is watching intently .
Not sure if he's watching the cheering
squad or the game !

Don't Want No Short People

I still remember this song by Randy Newman pertaining to his dislike for vertically challenged people . I don't know if he directed that song to fellow singer ( and songwriter ) Paul Williams who was famous at the same time this song was a hit . It seems Raptor GM Bryan Colangelo has the same feeling despite the so called ' smallball system ' that his former team , Phoenix Suns plays . In the Suns' line up , Boris Diaw who is a mere 6'8'' plays center in the absence of 6'10'' Amare Stoudomaire who is not exactly ' tall ' for the middle .

The revamped Raptor line up changed overnight from one of the smallest in the league to one of the tallest . The addition of 3 new big guys accounts for this sudden growth spurt. Andrea Bagnani ( 7'0'' ) , Rasho Nestorovich ( 7'1'' ) and Uros Slokar ( 6'10'' ) are certified behemoths . Given Colangelo's propensity for hiring Europeans , it will not be a surprise if the Raptors will continue to add giants in its future line ups . Instead of looking at Spain and Italy for reinforcements , he will maybe try Netherlands to add ceiling to the Raptors . I can just hear former Raptor Muggsy Bogues crying foul !

Muggsy : They're descriminating
against my son , Tom Thumb !

Gators In , Raptors Out

The NCAA 2005 basketball champions , University Of Florida Gators played 2 games against local Brock University Badgers and totally demolished the latter . In their 1st game played Sept.2 the Badgers scored 51 points against the Joaquim Noah led cagers' 107. Badgers coach Murray's goals were ' to hold the Gators below 100 pts. while averaging 75 pts. ' Tickets which were sold at Cdn. $ 20 at maximum 4 per person were gobbled by fans eager to see American style college ball . Gators coach Billy Donovan said ' that they don't talk about repeating as NCAA champs . All we can do is prepare ourselves '. I was able to watched this game and was totally impressed by Noah . He is very nimble and energetic like the Cavs' Varejao . In their blue and red shirt , JN looks like a thinner version of the Brazilian center/forward except for his ponytail. Had he come out for this year's draft , Noah would have been no.1 pick !
That's a welcome happening for Niagara based basketball fans including this writer. However , the news is that the Toronto Raptors opted to hold their pre season this year somewhere else instead of at Brock University like the last 2 years with GM Rob Babcock . Although the Raptors practices under Babcock were closed door ones, at least at the last day , they held intra team scrimmage open to the public . I guess the team Management want a change of venue to go with the team's overhaul. Not to mention their luck at the Niagara Casino !






Babcock : Unlucky in poker,
unlucky in basketball !