If you're looking for Doug Smith to rant about the team and validate your opinions every day, the sense of entitlement has reached an all time high. He provides his take on things, the way he sees fit, and repeatedly reminds people of how he views the sport, and why, to shed light on what he writes about. If you can't appreciate that take, because it doesn't match yours or the angst you feel, don't read it and stay in this sand box where you can find many to validate you.
I have not read his crap for a few years now... the only passion I see from Dougie is when he sprinkles his blog with CFL comments and national soccer, its obvious that he would rather be doing other things. Basketball and the fans of Toronto are the bane of his existence, in Dougies's mind its just a matter of time before someone notices how his talent is wasted on the raptors and promotes him to the leafs.
In the meantime, his epic knowledge must guide the poorly basketball cultured fans of Toronto. I mean where would we be without Doug Smith and his wisdom? (I feel he writes his pieces with a lot of scorn for the fans of this team, as if he is our avatar and must set us straight - think he needs to retire and write something he enjoys)
#firedougsmith
Actually, this has nothing to do with me.Quote:
p00ka wrote:
The Raptors have been awful for 5 years and show no signs of improvement after all the talk of improvement and acceleration heard over the summer.
It seems numerous reporters (Koreen, Chisholm, Kelly, Cox, CBC guy, Grange) are all noticing this team is in fact bad and has been for quite some time. I have certainly ranted in this post on Smith but my points on the state of the Raptors are very logical and backed by the most important statistic of all: wins and losses over the last 5 years. Smith should get a job with Raptors PR.
p.s. nice of you to bring the sandbox in from the main page. I noticed you left remnants of waste that is often found on the main page. Please take the sandbox back to the main page on your way out.
Maybe you should leave this sandbox then, you stupid twat.Quote:
p00ka wrote:
Just relax and easy on the name calling. His opinion is as valid as yours.Quote:
akashsingh wrote:
Personally speaking, I quite enjoy Doug Smith. I don't read him with the expectation of insightful analysis, but rather I just enjoy his 'everyman' style of writing. I don't get all the anger directed at him or any other writer.
It would be like a woman reading those drugstore romance novels and then starting a #firetheauthor campaign because of shallow characters and ill conceived plots. Or somebody watching reality tv and starting a #cancelthisrealityshow campaign because of the lack of cutting edge investigative journalism worthy of a pulitzer prize.
You have to know the writer, know their audience and know their style/approach. It's all about tempering expectations going in.
Wouldn't you agree that the expectations of a fiction writer should be different than that of a news writer?
With the latter constantly telling us that "everything is ok", after 5 years of losing, his "opinion" seems less like news, and more like bold-faced lying.
News reporters shouldn't be lying to the public. I'm sure that's where the annoyance/anger stems from....
I think lawn bowling would be a very good activity for Doug.
Would love to see the stars blog in the hands of a younger writer with a pulse and more passion for the team and market. Doug can be quite the dick to contrary opinion himself, so have no tears for the doughnut bandit.
His stories always seem to be more opinion pieces to me, as opposed to a purely factual, unbiased report style. I do think that he actually feels/believes what he is saying to be true. It's not like everybody on RR is ever fully agreed on anything Raptors related, so I'm not sure there's a consensus to say that his opinion amounts to lying.Quote:
Nilanka wrote:
Yes he's overly optimistic and more forgiving than most. However, I could also say that a lot of passionate RR posters are extreme the other way, when compared to the average Raptors fan. That's the problem with opinions; there's no "right" or "wrong". Hell, even my opinion about opinions is bound to be called out by some for being wrong! lol
I get what you're saying, CRF. But at the very least, there appears to be a logical correlation between negative opinions and losing, and positive opinions and winning.
Over the course of this team's existence, there has been very little winning going on, which explains the litany of complaints we're seeing here. Which is why the unbridled optimism (stemming from Smitty) just doesn't "feel" right, regardless of whether or not it's a genuine opinion.
I don't think that doug is much of a basketball fan. He follows the raptors, but I can't see him wanting to watch games from other markets... he spends more time talking about unrelated sports than basketball around the league.
Feel the guy is a cog, and fans could benefit from young blood that actually enjoys the sport of basketball.
Doug was good for the market 15 years ago, but the market has outgrown him, fans now know more than him... and it shows, his lack of interest in the game is becoming a dead weight.
You can't get by watching the raptors only these days, this market could use more committed writers to the game.
I think you just summed up Leo Rautins' relevance with 100% accuracy ;)Quote:
BasketballCrush wrote:
True, but if every reporter took a negative 'the sky is falling' approach, we'd be complaining about that too. I've never read him and got the impression that he thinks everything is A-ok and that we'll be contending for a championship anytime now, either. I just think he focuses on the positives and has faith that the organization/management is aware of the problems and is busy behind the scenes doing everything they can to rectify the negatives.Quote:
Nilanka wrote:
Sometimes I think in this era of fast food, video games and social media, too may people expect sweeping changes to happen overnight. Do people really think BC is sitting in his office staring at the ceiling doing nothing (wait, don't answer that!)? This isn't a video game where you can make any trade happen if you want to. In fact, when BC was aggressively pulling the trigger to try and make big changes happen quickly (ie: Villanueva/Ford trade, Ford/O'Neal trade, O'Neal/Marion trade, Marion/Turkoglu trade, etc...) he wound up being villafied for apparently acting too quickly without thinking. Now he's being more patient and ensuring that potential moves don't wind up backfiring a year or two down the line, yet people are complaining for the opposite reasons now. I love being a GM in fantasy sports and video games, but man, no way would I want to be one for real because you're always in a lose-lose situation (unless you luck into Durant, then suddenly you're a god who's 'model' is the shining beacon of hope for everyone to follow). Sometimes it's a question of methods VS results, too.
Every article I read from the dude, I get the feeling that he can be doing other things with his day than following the Raptors.
Smith bothers me less than guys like Devlin, Leo and, to a lesser extent, Jack. I think it's mostly because, to me at least, it's pretty obvious Doug isn't a basketball guy. He ended up with the BB gig at the Star cause they already had Griffin on the baseball beat and 4 or 5 guys covering hockey. He's a chronicler of the team. He is close to the organization out of habit and necessity. He's like the guy down the hall from me who comes in, works 8-4:30, leaves and couldn't give two shits about the job or the company. He'll do the minimum possible and just wants his paycheck. I get Smith.
I don't get guys like Leo and Jack. Whatever you think about them, they are basketball guys and they aren't stupid. They have lived the game their whole lives and they understand BB. They know what is going on with this team and they understand how bad things are but they keep to the company line and willingly drink the kool-aid. To me, it's worse because it becomes a credibility issue. I think Leo, in particular, has basically lost any respect he once had among Raptor followers and Jack, too, has lost respect with the constant excuse-making.
I'm not saying there needs to be a constant stream of negativity for 2 hours every game but being honest every now and again would be nice.
"Actually, this has nothing to do with me."Quote:
Matt52 wrote:
Since I didn't quote you, I thought that might be a clear sign that I wasn't directing my post specifically at you, but at the majority of posts in the thread. I'll try and include a disclaimer next time.
"no signs of improvement after all the talk of improvement"
If you can't find encouragement in, or even see, the improvements in DD,ED,JV,Ross, I feel sorry.
"Please take the sandbox back to the main page on your way out."
Snark for snark.... I'm not leaving, but if you'd rather I be more direct, rude, and in your face about joining the childish, self-entitled, everybody (Raps management, coaching, writers, RR posters) who doesn't agree with me is a fool, horde, I'll leave the sandbox out of it.
You basically told others to stay in the sandbox if they don't agree with you. You are not exactly a pillar of compromise.
With doug's access, even a mentally challenged raptor fan can do much much better. IMO. You just have to like the sport.
Basketball is a team game. This is what I see:Quote:
p00ka wrote:
The Raptors are failing to deliver on the culture change and the accountability statements from the start of the year.Quote:
Eric Koreen @ekoreen
Raptors Def rankings (this year/last year): points allowed per possession (25/14); OPP FG% (27/T7); OPP 3P% (26/5).
DD, JV, and Ross are definitely positives on the season. Unfortunately it doesn't change the fact the Raps are the 2nd worst team in the league.