I’m not a man of medicine and despite my ridiculed existence I know when the soul is sick. It has been sick for quite some time know, May 5th to be exact. The remedy is still eight moons away and I find myself occupying my time with unholy objects such as proposed barters and mind-numbing chatter about the future - a future which is both pregnant with hope but also one where the ghosts of disaster and shattered dreams lurk nearby. They say a forward of the small kind is needed to rectify the most major need of the unit and although that is true in the basest of regards, the more daunting need continues to be a presence of greater magnitude in the central position. A man of limited talents such as Radoslav cannot be called upon to satisfy the needs of a squadron which aims at the heavens for glory, the thirst of which glory was only beginning to get quenched in a playoff series of the most earliest of rounds.

The draft is approaching and with it comes the anticipation of new blood, but alas, the team which represents the most ancient of breed is left without an option to choose. The men in charge have bartered away the chance to pick from the fresh crop and only another barter or a purchase of chance can allow a selection on the 28th day of the sixth month. I am a meek and humble man or maybe I am humble because I am meek, either way I have a proposition which I present to my esteemed audience which of course there is none. I say let the devil take the draft, the younger the blood, the more nurturing it needs, no, demands! There is sufficient young blood in the present battalion and adding an experienced hand with tricks up his sleeve is to me far more valuable than another youth who only seeks to gratify his most immediate needs and desires.

My hole in the ground presents me with an environment which allows me to spend days and nights in thought, uninterrupted by the annoyances of everyday existence and away from my companion’s love affair with reality television. I sit here in my hole contemplating whether we have a squadron that is adequate enough to meet success in the elimination stage of the tournament and a resounding, booming answer in the negative deafens my ears. My heart, it speaks of triumph and hope, of success and the maturation of our leader Christopher, it speaks of the elevation of Terrence into a true and fearless leader but the devil, he keeps whispering in my ear that the previous campaign was but a hoax resulting because of the misfortune of others (PHI, BOS, IND) and not because of the valiant effort put forth by our heroes. I shut him out but he speaks louder, so loud that I second guess the very elements that comprise our formula.

I am being negative again, Dmitri, my only friend keeps reminding me that things are for the better and the new harvest will yield a crop that will make us proud and will be one that will enable us to participate until the late days of the fifth month or with some luck, even the sixth. There is truth in that but I retort that Christopher will need to improve and his mates will need to be better than that what they were in the year gone by, the latter is a tough task given that the other armies in the arena have now taken note of the ancient breed and will be ready this time around. Fate was gentle enough to assign the element of surprise on our side last campaign but this time the opponent will be ready, prepared and knowing what to expect. It is our high commander’s duty to prepare the troops and to tutor them in the skill of half-court execution because it will be a skill that will come most useful when a score or two is needed down the stretch. Our defensive vulnerabilities resulted in our exit from this years tournament and if things aren’t rectified, the appropriate components replaced, the proper philosophical adjustments made, we cannot hope to compete in the dark battles of the association.

Grant Hill, a legend in is own right, is available. Depending on the cost of acquiring such an asset, I would not hesitate to get his esteemed signature on a contract of a year or two. Perhaps it is just my madness reaching an irrecoverable stage but the nimble mind thinks he possesses what we desperately need: a creator at the small forward position which can turn something out of nothing while still being able to construct a shot of the highest percentage when time calls. Aside from being a man possessing great court-vision, a respectable mid-range game, Hill is a man of great character and a gentleman, a fact that will only have a positive impact on the team. I will not insult the reader’s higher intelligence by describing the obvious health problems of Hill.

Esteemed and superior reader, forgive me if I have wasted your time. The only punishment for such a crime is for my abject self to return to my hole and continue with the self-loathing and despair that has become this off-season.

Take solace in the one point we got but know we should’ve had all three. Be happy that we now have Jeff Cunningham but know that he should’ve scored at least twice tonight to secure us the points. Chances that beg to be finished are hard to come by but when the come so many times in one game you’d think we’d be able to score more than just two. The two goals that we did score was the highest degree of difficulty and the chances we missed were easy ones. I don’t know how much Dichio knew about the first goal, it was more of a “here goes nothing” type shot than an actual attempt at goal but he’ll take it and so will I. The second goal scored by Brennan off the freekick was world class in every respect. If you score that goal in England, it’ll be in the Sky Sports top 10 goals of the year, a booming freekick which four goalies couldn’t save. Kudos to Jim Brennan.

In the first half our defense was about as loose as a Thai hooker the day the navy left town, but whatever Mo Johnston said at halftime must’ve worked because we tightened things up in the second. We actually looked forward to making a tackle instead of retreating to the safety of our zone and hoping for the offense to screw up (that never works). Blame the first goal on Marco Reda, the guy fell down, he actually fell down by just attempting to turn. It was like watching a toddler trying to take his first steps only to realize he must turn around in order to go in the opposite direction. It was pathetic to watch but what was even more pathetic was the Andy Herron celebration, put your shirt on boy, this is the MLS and you scored two minutes into the game, not in extra time in the league final. I don’t really like this guy and justice was somewhat served when he limped off injured in the first half.

Greg Sutton (who’s starting to look more and more like Bill Buchanan from 24) should’ve saved the first one, he got beat because of the velocity of the shot which wasn’t even that much. Even fellow goalie Craig Forrest let it be known that that was a save to be made by even an average goalie. The jury’s still out on Greg Sutton and the defense, another prime example was how the second goal was conceded. Ronnie O’Brien TURNED HIS BACK on the shot from inside his own area??? What the hell was that? I mean don’t they teach you that in Grade 4, you make an attempt to block the shot and not turn around like a little girl. If I ever see that again I’m writing a letter to Mo Johnston along with video footage.

Some more realizations today: Andy Welsh had an excellent game, he was breaking people down left and right, if he plays half as well as he did today we’ll be in good shape on the right side of the midfield. Danny Dichio as a “holding forward” is an excellent idea, he doesn’t have the skill to finish off plays but has the grit and physical ability to win balls in the area, I think Cunningham will finish off what Dichio started as the season goes along. As much as I liked Alecko, Cunningham’s just a better fit for this team. The defense in the second half was much better, they were aggressive, sought out tackles and didn’t allow their midfielders the space and time to pick out their forwards. I’m guessing Mo Johnston must’ve lashed out at them during halftime and even threatened to trade them if they didn’t pick it up.

Columbus Crew is stupid for actually deploying an offside trap when playing Jeff Cunningham, they should’ve been punished for it today as JC got open a number of times but couldn’t beat the goalie and when he did beat the goalie, the post was his enemy. We’ll take the point, we need it. Good luck to Alecko Eskandarian, he’s a nice enough guy. Too bad it didn’t work out. Props to the TFC fans who made the trip, they were louder than anybody else in the stadium and CBC gave them enough airtime.

I love Pippo Inzaghi, that’s all there is to it. The ultimate leech struck twice: once by complete fluke and the other by complete skill to send off Liverpool about two rounds later than they should’ve gone. Inzaghi was shockingly (at least to me) left out of the semi-final tie against Manchester United but Ancelotti’s senses came back to him and he snuck the fearless and legendary striker back into the lineup in Athens. I just knew he was going to have an impact in this game, I just didn’t know it was going to be this significant.

You know that guilt you feel when you get caught offside for the fifteenth time in the game and your teammates start staring at you? Inzaghi doesn’t feel that kind of stuff. He’s a statistician of sorts, the more he gets caught offside, the better a chance he has of not getting caught offside next time. The man literally latches himself on to the last defender and just waits for the ball to be played and that’s exactly what happened on the second goal. After controlling the ball it was pool old Pepe Reina who got to see a slow, slithering shot go under him and into the net. My man Inzaghi celebrated with even more class than the first goal.

Stephen Gerrard very expectedly blew a chance gifted to him by Nesta which would’ve tied the game late, all he had to do was lift it a little to beat the bungling Dida but he showed as much creativity as Julio Baptista in the open.  Speaking of Julio, there is awesome news out of the Arsenal camp that he WILL NOT RETURN TO ARSENAL.  Fireworks, joy, laughter, parties, celebration are all in order for this ultimate example of addition by subtraction.   “The Beast” - what a joke of a name that was, the guy must’ve cost us at least 12 points this season just based on missing sitters.  I don’t even care if we don’t get Reyes back, just giving Baptista’s minutes to anybody else (even Aliadiere) will be better for this team.

Samuel Eto’o is still having wet dreams about Thierry Henry, somebody should tell him its just not going to happen for him. Besides, how bad is it playing along Messi that you’re openly calling out for strike partners.  Adebayor’s staying with us long-term, that’s decent news but he’ll need to get better as a complimentary striker for Henry. Hopefully now that his future is secure, he’ll work his ass off in the summer and maybe work on those finishing skills.

The off-season is painful.

Chris-Bosh.com got new forums, I’m really cheering for those guys but it looks like 13 year olds have penetrated their way in and are creating nonsense threads faster than you can delete them. I’m trying to make a decent contribution there but its going to get lost in the pile of steamy crap that has already started to become a dominant fixture of the board. RealGM needs some competition and here’s hoping it can get some. The best part about the forums is a section where Chris Bosh actually answers question but by looking at some of the quality of the questions, he’s going to regret ever starting this thing. Remember, these are actual questions and thread titles:

• people who is the raptors biggest rival
• Chris Read This: Chris i think you should make another topic about you like general ask chris toronto raptors you should do one about your self so people could give comments on your skills your career and your future!!!
• Chris Answer this as soon as you can: I read your blog and i was wondering did you pick detroit jsut between me and you i wont tell no one and also why dont you start a blog at raptors.com that way more raptors fans will read it.Until next season and make sure not too do the 300 workout you might get to strong and you maybe will endup shooting too hard.
• Question: Im from Montreal and im just wondering if youve ever been around here? If so what did you do?

You can tell this forum will bring lots of joy in the off-season.

Hear ye, hear ye. The second best play-by-play guy in the NBA is………Mike Breen. Anybody have any clue why Mark Jackson sounds so monotonous and boring as a color-guy? Wait I just got it, its because he is monotonous and boring. At any point in time Jeff Van Gundy has a million thoughts on his mind but is unable to convey a single one without being interrupted by himself. Somebody put me out of my misery if the Spurs win the title, it would be an affront to anything beautiful about basketball. This just in, Eva Longoria is only dating Tony Parker because she’s being blackmailed by him. Thats the only way I can explain it. This reminds me, where’s Joumana Kidd?

Greg Oden’s going to Portland, I gotta say Boston got robbed - again. Tim Duncan buys a house there and then goes to San Antonio and now this. Boston falls to fifth (the worst possible outcome) and loses on both Durant and Oden. Sucks to be a Celtic fan, its even worse when you’re hopes are pinned on Gerald Green. From a Raps perspective, things are great since the EC got weaker. Harry Palmer started this banter on centers on RealGM and some guy proposed changing the name of the NBA to IBA. WTF? Still recovering from Mitchell getting a new contract, I’m just going to show faith in Colangelo and presume he knows what he’s doing by bringing Mitchell back. We need a better X’s and O’s coach, really, if this team will go to the next level we’ll need more than the high pick ‘n roll. Manu Ginobili just hit a killer three to put the Spurs up by 16 at the end of the third versus the Jazz in Game 2. I think Utah will win both games in Salt Lake City.

Going to school and working a real full-time job is not easy. What? I can’t talk about non-basketball stuff? Go to hell, RaptorsTalk is talking about his freaking dog. Off-seasons are awfully hard to go by. I remember the days when I used to have a countdown as my MSN name to the start of the season, it looked quite foolish. Those NBA playoff promos with the cheerleaders are borderline NC-17 stuff, they’re looking more and more like strippers. I’m not really complaining but something isn’t right about them. Remember the time when Eddie Jones thought he was as good as Kobe? Funniest quote of those days came from Shaq after the Lakers got pummeled by the Wizards, Shaq goes, “we got a bunch of Rex Chapman wannabes on this squad” referring to Kobe and EJ jacking up threes.

The wait continues…

The very thought of tape-delay actually still existing in the year 2007 is appalling enough but you truly feel the suffering when you witness it first-hand. Only when you become the victim of this archaic technique of networks juggling conflicts do you realize that it really sucks! That’s what happened with me and the Toronto FC/DC United game which was scheduled to be shown on CBC at 5PM instead of its actual 3:30PM start. Now avoiding all human contact for an hour and a half isn’t that bad but when you finally get a nice little sandwich and beverage and turn the TV on only to find a hockey game which was unfortunate enough to go into overtime, you realize that your wait has not ended. Things get complicated when the hockey game has a sports ticker which is threatening to show the TFC score any second; so you change the channel, finish off your sandwich and wait for another 40 minutes because c’mon, you need to see the trophy presentation of the conference champs.

Unfortunately, the misery doesn’t end there. Once the hockey festivities have concluded and the Toronto FC game is about to “start”, CBC has the balls to actually jump right into the game as if they had been broadcasting it since 5:00PM instead of 5:40PM! What does this mean? It means that the first action I’m watching is at the 43^rd minute. So after waiting for 2+ hours they reward me with half the game! WTF?

It took me a while to get over this but at least I got to saw Eskandarian fire home a late first half header to give us a short-lived 1-0 lead. I didn’t catch much of the first half but from the opening minutes of the second DC looked the superior squad. They dictated play but it didn’t amount to anything in the end and it was the hero of two weeks past that was today’s goat - Kevin Goldthwaite. Goldthwaite showed us that he can be a great header of the ball as his defensive mechanism failed him and he sailed one over Sutton’s head like he was the enemy - tie game.

Everyone’s talking like it was a sure penalty, I’m not too sure about it. Was there contact? Yes, but I don’t think it was a clumsy challenge by Marvell Wynne and Luciano Emilio was hunting for the penalty than actually trying to score. Wynne should’ve held his ground than try to block the shot or make it harder for him to launch it then try and dispossess Emilio of the ball. Hindsight is 20/20. It was luck and a 50/50 call that cost us this game, nothing more.

A word needs to be said about our defense in general, it’s very ‘tentative’. What does that mean? Let me explain. We’re too often in two minds about what to be doing when we’re being attacked by forwards or when the opposing midfield is building up plays. We often retreat and allow the attacker enough space to make decisions and pick-off runs instead of just making a slide-tackle that’ll either dispossess the man of the ball or result in a foul, both acceptable options when you’re under pressure outside the area. I don’t want to get into the habit of criticizing particular players because the flaw is all over the defense, not just one guy but I will say Wynne needs to apply his smarts a little more instead of relying on brute strength.  I’m not saying this just because of the penalty, it’s a general observation.

I never understood Don Nelson. He’s been around long enough and looks like he’s got all the basketball know-how a guy needs, but at the same time something tells me he doesn’t have a clue of whats going on. His teams average 100+ ppg but yet I firmly believe he has maybe two plays in the book, if he has a book. His white hair reflects decades of experience and success but somehow he’s the last guy I’d pick to draw up a play with the team down 1 and 10 seconds left. He’s one of the greatest NBA coaches of all-time and I have no clue what got him there.

His Golden State team could’ve beaten Utah in Game 5 if only the Warriors didn’t jack up 4 straight ill-advised threes late in the fourth quarter, they even would’ve won Game 2 if the Warriors had made an effort to not have Mickael Pietrus handle the ball. If the Warriors would’ve shown even a little self-restraint in Game 4, that also would’ve been a W. My point is that late in the game the Warriors shot themselves in the foot every chance they got. After Stephen Jackson tried in vain to split his third double team leading to a third turnover you would think Nelson would’ve given him a talk about quitting his little mission of going through Utah players, but no, no reprimand or even advice was given. Same goes for pulling up for threes in transition (Jason Richardson) and stepping back to get a three when you barely have a look at a two (Al Harrington). All these silly mistakes cost the Warriors, but nobody can argue against Nelson because its this crazy philosophy of playing open basketball that got them there in the first place.

Over the last 30 years the guy has only not coached an NBA team for three of them! He’s won Coach of the Year three times so he must know what he’s doing (although Sam Mitchell winning it this year confirms that the award doesn’t mean much). A firm believer in Hack-a-Shaq, Don Nelson once tried a Hack-a-Rodman technique that almost worked but the Jordan-led Bulls prevailed in the end. He’s probably the only coach to have cost his team the game by getting a technical foul with less than a second left! I mean how many coaches that have been asked by the NBA to stop bringing beer to news conferences?

His offensive philosophy can be summed up in two words: Just shoot. Wait, lets give the man the credit due, its actually more complex than that, it’s more like: You shoot and you rebound and if you rebound you get to shoot too. As for X’s and O’s, Nellie keeps it simple enough so even Stephen Jackson can understand without consulting his agent. Nellie believes that plays are too confusing and detrimental to scoring, its much better to actually just “take what the defense gives you” on every single possession. It doesn’t matter if the defense is only giving you a 26 footer, you are obligated to shoot it if it presents itself. But maybe he’s on to something, maybe playing the Miami Heat style of basketball isn’t the way to go, who needs to dig down on defense and battle for offensive rebounds when you can just come of a screen and fire one up, why bother savoring and cradling every possession when you can just pull-up in transition with zero rebounders underneath the rim just to do a “heat check”. Is there any logic in tiring yourself with the nitty gritty aspects of fighting through picks and sticking to your man when you can just drop and play the zone? Don Nelson asks these questions in every game he coaches and usually the answers are in his favor.

Defensively his teams have never been good but the offense usually hides the glaring holes presented by the porous defense. His Dallas and Golden State teams are recent testaments to this. In both Dallas and Golden State, Nellie lacked a true big guy who could dominate the glass and provide a scoring punch inside - Shaq and Carlos Boozer ate his frontline up when it started to count in his last two playoffs runs. As I think about this more you can’t really have an amazing offensive team without having defensive gaps, Nellie has just chosen to make defense priority #2 and that’s really cost him in his recent years.

I think Don Nelson is a fine coach for a fairly mature team with decent talent, he gives free reign to his players which can be both good and bad, good because it allows a player to play his natural game and bad because it kills off the structure and discipline required to execute in the half-court set, something that is paramount in the post-season. That Jazz series really exposed Golden States inability to execute late in games, but that’s something I knew they were going to have trouble with given their coach. Don Nelson: great run ‘n gun coach, not the man you want if you want to go deep into the playoffs.

Let’s end this with a really weird and out-of-place Don Nelson quote:

Reporter: Is it important for you guys to see how your small lineup works against the Mavs?
Don Nelson: I’m impotent, too. I just went to the doctor, he told me I was impotent so I went out and bought me a new suit.

Don Nelson, the greatest coach who never had a playbook.

The game wasn’t on TV and MyP2P didn’t have it either so that means I had to sit this one out. A scoreless draw against Pompey - not the most fashionable way to end a season but somehow it’s fitting given the overall disappointment of this campaign. The game didn’t mean a thing for Arsenal but everything for Portsmouth who were vying for a UEFA Cup spot. It must suck to be a Pompey fan, I mean getting denied in the last game of the season by Graham Poll who disallowed the Senderos own goal midway through the second.

Reading the Soccernet report it appears that our favorite f**k-up Baptista blew a penalty and missed another gazillion chances to put the game away. I hope this is the last I see of this guy in an Arsenal uni, he’s provided me with enough grief to last a decade.  I’ve never been so happy to see a season end, once that CL and FA Cup finals are finished we can safely close the book on what can only be termed a cupless disappointing season marred with injury, suspension and bad luck.  I really thought we had turned the corner in terms of form in January and everything was going pretty well until Wenger decided to field the kids for the Carling Cup final.  That was the first domino, the second was the Blackburn defeat (Senderos again) and finally the Champions League game (thank you Hleb for committing the most unnecessary foul in the history of Arsenal).

I think if we just had RVP (not even Henry) for the second part of the season we’d have a lot more to show than just a fourth place finish.  I thought the young players came into their own this year especially Fabregas, Denilson and Diaby.  The last two needed some top-class playing time and I’m glad they got it, we’ll see better results next season - that’s for sure.  I’ll write more later.

I knew Danny Dichio was going to be the first ever goal scorer for TFC after the KC game. He’s too resilient and physical to not be a scoring threat in a league where good ol’ fashioned English grit is at a premium. Thanks to Dichio the gorilla is off our backs and we can actually start winning some games now that the “firsts” are out of the way. A nice and convincing 3-1 win over Chicago can ail a lot of things including team confidence which had to be at low after 4 straight defeats. Even when Chicago tied the game, TFC still looked the stronger side and a second goal was only a matter of time.

I really need to go to a game, BMO Field looks like it might become one of the hubs of football in North America if the fans keep supporting the team at this rate. Of all the MLS games I’ve seen nothing even comes close to the atmosphere at TFC home games - of course I’m judging all this by just watching the games on the TV but I’m quite sure my assessment is accurate.

That first goal celebration was awesome, never knew raining seat cushions would make the field look so good.  Once you add in the flares, things go from good to great.  I really don’t have much to say nor will I break down the game.  The guys here and here probably will.

This post has moved here.

This needs to be said. So I got Rogers Cable and Internet for my house a few months ago and they offered to give me some free channels for a limited time, stuff that I never watch like Fashion TV and some other such stuff that I never watch. I declined but they urged me to try them out since they were free for the first few months, I finally said yes. So for a little while I get all these channels which I don’t even want but I figure since I’m not paying for them, I may as well have them, maybe the wife will like something.

A few months go by and I suddenly see a bill of $160, about $45 over the usual Internet/Cable bill. So I call them up and ask about the discrepancy. Of course they tell me that I was supposed to call in after 4 months and cancel all the channels that I never really wanted in order to not get billed an obscene amount. I tell them I never wanted them nor was I ever informed to explicitly call and cancel the services and simply assumed that once the free period was over, they would just go away. My plea fell on deaf ears and they charged me $45 extra for stuff that I don’t even care and never even wanted. No apologies, nothing, if anything they accused me of trying to pull a fast-one by watching these channels for an extra month and then trying to find a way to not pay for them. This is what I call a Corporate Con.

This is nothing less than stealing from the consumer under the pretense of providing services. A man already has enough to worry about in life but now you also have to be on the lookout for your cable company pulling fast ones on you. The crazy part is that this must happen a hundred times a day, I could tell that the woman I spoke to on the phone had gone though this a thousand times before and pretty much had a scripted speech to give me once I told her about the problem.

Rogers makes enough money providing expensive home phone service, horrible mobile services and anything else they can get their filthy hands on. Is it really necessary for a big corporation to throw low blows like these at the consumer to stay in business? Or maybe this is how they got in business.  Either way, it sucks.