The 2006-2007 NBA season was memorable for many reasons. None of which include:
The composite ball. The Duck Tail. Linus Kleiza.
But here in Toronto, the only thing we remember is the emergence of the Raptors as an Eastern Conference contender. Did you hear that? Con-ten-dah!
No longer considered a glorified NBDL team. No more jokes piling up in online forums about the Craptors, the Rapterribles, or the over/under on a Raptors/(insert local high school team) game. We’re for real. Fo’ rizzle. The Basketball Godfather (Colangelo) has turned the tide here in Canada’s basketball capital. Piece by piece, day by day, he’s building a team to compete, night in and night out, and using less clichés to say it. He’s building a bridge to welcome back the fractured fan base. But most importantly, he’s building a dynasty.
Or, in our case, a DINOSTY.
(Yes, that’s the type of provincial humor you should come to expect. Thanks for asking.)
And as a patient, loyal fan who’s failed more than one exam due to 10:30 tipoffs and ruined more than one favorite Umbro World Cup ’94 t-shirt spilling pasta sauce during an alley-oop, it’s exciting times. Times I want to wanna get in on. But because Sam Mitchell has yet to call me, desperate for a 5’11 white kid who can’t go left (if being white’s not enough, he’s already got Derrick Martin, who can’t even spell ‘Derek’ right), a Raptors Blog is the next best thing.
Before I go any further, I don’t profess to qualify under any definition of ‘expert’. Contrary to other excellent ball blogs (which you can see listed on the right), following the NBA season isn’t my first job. I don’t get to travel with the team, visit practice, or even get to see each game live. I’m just like you (but better), a Raptors fan whose obsession might be considered unhealthy (or at least, slightly pathetic). Following hoops isn’t even my second job, actually. But top three, for sure. So at best you’ll be getting 33% of the mind-power of an unqualified analyst. Sold you yet?
But I love the round-ball too much to sit silent. I have too many biased opinions, too many poorly researched premises not to share.
So for this upcoming 2007-08 season I invite you to (in alphabetical order): cheer, cry, comment, drink, laugh, paint your toenails purple, pray against suspensions/injuries, rub your eyes in disbelief, and vomit along with the DINOSTY (pronounced dy-no-stee).
During the preseason, I’m going to ease myself into this. A couple of posts while the guys are out in Europe, a season preview, maybe some sort of quasi-original-yet-somehow-familiar ‘list’ type post (are you watching, ESPN?) But come the season, like Sir Charles in the buffet line, its GO time.
Before I go, I thought you should know that we’ll be running a couple of non-Raptors related features concurrent in the Dinosty. Like Shawn Kemp, a true basketball blog spreads its seed across many NBA-related stories. First up is the soon-to-be-infamous Bobcat Bet.
After a couple well-frosted lollipops, I made a bet with my good friend, Sir Pharoah the Beekeeper, regarding the fate of the 07-08 Charlotte Bobcats. I say they’ll not only be above .500, but will shock everyone and win a playoff series. He laughed, we shook. Now sober but no less convinced, I maintain my assertion and look forward to seeing Jason Richardson, Gerald Wallace, Ray Felton, Emeka Okafor, Sean May, Adam Morrison, and Walter Hermann (yeah I know, better than you thought) make some noise this year. And watching Marc Stein get it wrong – and not admit it – yet again? Icing on the cake, baby.
So, you in? Cause if so, I’m serious about the toenails. A trend has to start somewhere.
The Dinosty