Let’s get the minor news out of the way first, Toronto FC beat UConn 4-0 in what appeared to be a comfortable win, as it should be. Newly acquired goalkeeper Jon Busch played the first half and impressed Mo Johnston:
“I was very impressed with the way Jon Busch handled himself, I thought he was very professional. We’re playing competitive, and not giving up goals which is always good.”
A pretty cliche quote to say the least but all’s well that ends well. The scoring was opened by Alecko Eskandarian and finished off by Cadavieco. I like to see scores like these, the 1-0 victory against Creighton didn’t really cut it for me, we’re a professional team and should be killing these college kids. Here’s a picture of Eskandarian:
The starting eleven for the squad were: Toronto FC Starting XI: GK - Jon Busch (Greg Sutton 46), Andrew Boyens, Adam Braz, Chris Pozniak, Jose Cancela, Jim Brennan, Paulo Nagamura, Maycoll Canizalez, Carl Robinson, Alecko Eskandarian, Edson Buddle.
Now Toronto FC is actually looking for dancers. Unlike European football where there is no need for eye candy during games, the club feels that having cheerleaders will add to the experience for the fans. Obviously, the players never get motivated by cheerleaders, if anything they’re a huge distraction. Having cheerleaders on the sidelines somewhat pollutes the game for me, it’s not like basketball where there’s a five minute break in the game where those of us with ADD have nothing to do and need to be entertained.
I always thought that being a cheerleader was pretty close to being a stripper except that you weren’t as well-paid, but they’re not looking for strippers. As advertised on their website, their looking to “add some flare to our first-ever halftime entertainment with an energetic, colourful and exciting dance show that reflects the talent and diversity of our city”. What this really means is No Fat Chicks. It’s going to be pretty weird to see strippers, er, cheerleaders on the sidelines in football. Football is a game driven by the passion of the fans and a true affinity towards the club, not by cheap tricks at half-time.
Didn’t have a chance to watch this game but caught chunks of it on radio so I was at the mercy of Paul Jones when trying to understand what exactly was going on. After the Arsenal defeat, things are in a bit of a daze but as I was drifting in and out of consciousness, something about TJ Ford and Jose Calderon returning to form was mentioned. There was also some talk of Bosh making a legitimate bid to assert himself in the paint against Mrs. Gasol. When the Grizz went up 10-0, all signs pointed to a continuation of the mini-slump the Raptors were but the course self-corrected and soon the more talented Raptors prevailed. Refer to NBA.com’s coverage for the technicalities of the game.
I want to talk about The Wrap, the post-game show on the Fan 590 hosted by Eric Smith with the help of constant noisemaker Paul Jones. I listened to about 4 callers in a row call in about TJ Ford and Jose Calderon and ask the dumbest questions possible. The first guy wondered whether come playoff time, who would get the preference in crunch time if we had to pick one. The second guy suggested that Calderon might wilt under the pressure of the postseason and the intense NBA playoff environment. The third guy asked whether there was any precedent set for alternate starters, he gave an example of Calderon starting five games, then TJ starting five games and then Calderon starting five games and then….The fourth guy wondered if TJ Ford is intentionally not passing the ball to Andrea Bargnani when he’s open in the corner.
With callers like these, it’s hard to listen to The Wrap even when Eric Smith is trying his level best in keeping this a moderated forum for Raptor fans, however retarded some of them might be. Listening to the game tonight it became even more clear to me why Paul Jones shouldn’t be a play-by-play guy, he’s a color guy or a studio analyst at best. It’s just not his thing to call dunks and crossover moves, he’s more of an after-the-fact analysis guy, something he’s actually good at. So when he was comparing Rasho’s skyhook to Kareem and Rasho’s baseline move to Hakeem, although it was in the spirit of humor, it still didn’t sound right. And why does he have to start the call of any half-decent play with ohhhhhh, it’s always ohhhhhh, Ford with a fadeaway jumper and ohhhhh, Bosh with a facial. Ohhhhh just means he doesn’t have anything else to say.
Raptors win, NJ and NY idle. Division lead is 4.5. You can check out some of the highlights here. Here’s the Game in a Flash:
