The Jake Voskhul Era Will Not Be Broadcast For A Lot Of Folks

Well there is a lot of nothing to talk about today. Jake Voskhul signing is not exactly getting the Raptor fan base excited. I would agree with the general "So What" attitude of Raptor fans. Even if you were totally jacked up about the Jake Voskhul era you may not be able to watch it anyways. That is because Rogers and TSN still have not figured out how to make the on switch work for TSN 2 on Rogers Cable and a number of others around the country like me here on Source Cable in Hamilton. I am totally enraged that basketball fans are being treated this way by these companies. It is insulting and frustrating. The Toronto Raptors need to speak up and say something about this. They are the ones paying in the end. Fans will find other things to do if they can not see the games. The truly loyal will find ways to see the game on the Internet or they will turn on radio and listen to two good friends of Dino Nation Blog Paul Jones and Eric Smith on Fan 590. But the bottom line is get these games on the air. The next 3 games are scheduled to be on TSN 2 and with the holidays and everything the Raptors for the casual fan are going to become less a priority for them. So basically I am a pretty fired up Dino Blogger for a Monday Morning. So please adjust the volume on your blog reader, computer or mobile device.

Let's Start With Trade Talk vs Trade Reality

So this is the day that all the rosters open up around the NBA. Raptor fans thought the signing of Jake Voskhul would mean another shoe was about to drop. Well it did for George W Bush. It was thrown at him. But as for the Raptors the other shoe has still not dropped and it may not for awhile. People are scratching their heads saying how did the Raptors afford this contract? Our we paying Tax to have Jake Voskhul? Well the tax number is not figured out till the end of the year. So the Raptors could make several moves that could still see them fall under the Tax level by the end of the year. If this was always the case, why were we painted this picture of the Raptors being in handcuffs and unable to do anything? Guess that was not the case all along.

Don't misunderstand though. Bryan Colangelo is still hard at work looking to improve this roster. But the Voskhul deal is not connected to anything else directly. But it may speak to one of a few things being possible. It could mean that Nathan Jawai and his situation may not be heading to a positive outcome as far as him playing this season. There have been a few articles that suggest he may have to be forced to retire before ever playing a game in the NBA. But to this point we have heard no news on the Jawai front for a long time. The other possibility is that the Raptors are in serious talks to move a big from the roster. I think it is safe to assume that big would not be Jermaine O'Neal or Chris Bosh. So Kris Humphries or Andrea Bargnani are the only other people that would qualify. There was a crazy rumour last night on a Golden State based blog that suggested an 8 player swap that would have included Bargnani. But if you are going to make up a rumour do your homework. It also included a 2nd round pick in 2009 that the Raptors do not have. I try not to get in the rumour creating business because in the short term it might get you a lot of attention but in the long term it kills your credibility with you readers. That is something I value and am not willing to put at risk.

You can expect all of the rumours and trade talk to heat up around the league now that we have reached December 15th when all the signings and players traded for this past off season now become in play for all of the NBA teams. Here at the Dino Nation Blog, I will do my best to make it clear what is just a rumour and what is reality. I know people like rumours and hype but I am not going to waste your time with stuff that is not based in some form of credibility.

TSN 2 What Can You Do?

Well this is a two fold question. The first is what can you do to see the games. Well there are options on the Internet out there for you to find the game. The last game on TSN 2 I was able to find on Raptors Republic. But there are other options that the folks over at Raptors Forum have found for watching games on the net. It is frustrating but if there is a will there is a way. I also mentioned you can always tune in on the radio. In fact all audio for games in now free on NBA.com for all games. So those are your short term options. When it comes to the long term ones. It takes you investing time to write e-mails to the various parties involved in this mess. Rogers, TSN and the Raptors. If you say all of this is pointless and they won't listen. I can understand that point of view based on where we are at with this thing. However last year many folks sent in letters of support for Jack Armstrong to remain a part of Raptor Broadcasts. Well Jack is still here and ironically working for the network that is a part of this mess. He actually works for both with his radio show being on Rogers owned Fan 590. I have no idea if the e-mails and support that was shown for Jack impacted on him staying with the Raptors broadcasts. But I like to think it helped. I do know Jack was grateful for the overwhelming support. The one thing I do know is that if people had not wrote those e-mails of support and Jack was gone it would feel bad and I personally would wonder if I could have made a difference. This is a different case but the fact remains the same if you do not express you point of view no one is going to listen to it and that is 100% guaranteed. Doug Smith in the Toronto Star gave you some thoughts on this topic and how to maybe make your point a little more clear to the folks involved.

Vince Carter Will Be In T.O Even If We Don't See Him

Vince Carter would have preferred that it was Friday's game that many folks would not be able to view. He had one of the worst games of his career against the Raptors on Friday night. He did not make a field goal and Devin Harris was kept under control. Now we see Vince return to the place he once proclaimed even after he left was his house. I do not think the A.C.C is the house that Vince Carter built. I mean sorry to Vince Carter but he is far from the Babe Ruth of basketball. But the one thing that I will say is it is the house that he makes loud. Be it as a Raptor to boo him or cheer him and as a Net just to boo him. The hate for some of Vince Carter will just never die. Just when you think it is starting to change something like the game in which Vince scored 39 points and made the two key plays to win the game happen. The rage and hate come back like the memory of a bad relationship from your past.

Triano had a great game plan for the re-match in which the Raptors humbled the Nets. The pressure is on Lawerence Frank to make the adjustments to find a way for the Nets to win. Triano and Frank will get to match wits and see who can give their team a path to victory. Often in the Sam Mitchell era many fans would say that Sam Mitchell would be out coached by people like Frank and Van Gundy in the playoffs. Well let's see if Jay Triano has the stuff to match wits with Frank and get a much needed win for the Raptors. You know that it is not going to be as easy as it was on Friday.

Dino Blogger Has A New Place To Talk Ball

I do the majority of my writing and work here at the Dino Nation Blog. But if chances to write other places and it makes sense to do so I will. So I am pleased to announce that I am writing on the NBA and Raptors for a new exciting magazine that covers the Toronto scene. The Industry Magazine is a magazine that is focused on Toronto night life and music and a lot of other things. Well people that are into Hip Hop music and the whole urban culture are some of the same folks that love basketball. So that is why I decided to write on basketball for them. It is a bi/monthly publication that is on the net and on the streets. This is the third issue of the Magazine and I hope to be contributing to it on a regular basis in each issue they put out. So for those of you from around the Toronto area give it a look and see what is happening in the T.O. If you are one of our readers from places far a way it might give you a taste for what Toronto is like should you want to visit. There is a link to the website it the blog directory and it has been there for a bit. But now you know why it was there and what it is about.

As for my part of the Magazine I wrote about the whole 2010 free agent period that I spoke about here awhile back. In the next issue I am going to be talking about Toronto and the All-Star Game. So that should be fun. Thanks to Lisa and all the folks over at The Industry for wanting to have me on board. If a magazine like this can get that Basketball is important why can't you folks at Rogers and TSN understand that. Basketball has a much larger culture than you think it does. Be it doing radio in Montreal or writing for a magazine like this in Toronto. Even taking a look at my site map of my readers. It all speaks to basketball being a global game that does not get the respect it deserves from the decision makers in the main stream media of this country. One of the reasons this blog went on board with the Score as part of it's Sports Federation was because they respect basketball and I respect them for it.

Still despite the lack of ease to watch the game the Raptor Rewind will be up and ready for you reading pleasure after tonight's game against the Nets. If stuff happens through out the day of note I will add some updates to this post.