two come to mind initially: (1) oakley punched opposing player, jeff mcinnis during a shootaround. many in the media speculated oakley acted as a noble warrior defending vince who was routinely harassed by mcinnis during their days as teammates at north carolona but no, oakley punched mccinis cause he didnt payback a loan extended to him: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2000/12/01/oakley001201.html (2) in one of the first raptor training camps held in buffalo during the earlier days they had a raw, 7 footer named garth joesph who dislocated a finger in practice and apparently went hysterical afterwards running and screaming out of the practice facility
that story was revealed by the always reliable michelle carter (vince's mom). on the topic of michelle carter- remember when mlse took away her prized parking spot?
three more: (1) vince attending his graduation on the same day of game 7 in the second round (2) vince announcing that he wasnt going to dunk anymore (3) lamond murray rant about kevin o'neil in his post game comments
Our franchise history is so pathetically hilarious. Off the top of my head, my favourite stories are: - The way this franchise was named to capitalize on the popularity of Jurassic Park still makes me laugh a little. I don't think any other North American pro team was named because of such idiotic reasoning, and yet somehow that name has been embraced by the fanbase (and sounds kinda cool). - Remember when we randomly gave Master P a pre-season tryout? - When Vince Carter was caught on the stage of a Nelly concert when he was supposed to be at home rehab'ing his knee. I think that's when I truly realized how much of a pussy he was. - Anything involving Rick Brunson during that brutal '04 season. First there was that awesome satire site (man, I miss it). Then there was the feud between Brunson and Chris Jeffries, with Jeffries calling Brunson a snitch and threatening to fight him. - Kevin O'Neill smashed his hotel room lamp for some reason (I forget what it was, he was always angry about something). - Jalen Rose wasn't starting, so he wore all black clothing in protest. - Rafer Alston threatened to quit the game of basketball after a locker-room fight with Sam Mitchell (Smitch supposedly bodyslamming VC had to be his best coaching accomplishment). - When VC demanded a trade, he leaked the new through Nav Bhatia... an owner of a car dealership and long-time patron of the Raptors who became irrelevant after his "in" went to New Jersey. I'm sure there's much more.
-the rick brunson crap was hilarious, i remember the marty york article which quoted an unnamed source who claimed brunson was KO's favourite -yeah jalen called it a funeral that was hilarious. he did have some awesome games of the bench though -master p apparently was quoted as saying outside of vince carter, he would have been the second most marketable player or something on the team -remember the classic mike james interviews: [video=youtube;FIXwkkZyi9k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIXwkkZyi9k&feature=PlayList&p=1051D7FB0F2D7499&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=68[/video]
The Raptors go to Nova Scotia or somewhere out East to play a preseason game against the Cavaliers. When they get there the humidity in the arena causes the ice under the floorboards to melt and condensation forms on the court. After several minutes of trying to unsuccessfully mop it up the game is called off. Then GM Glenn Grunwald vows to bring the team back within two years, but is fired and the promise falls through. In a moment of extreme frustration following a road loss, Toronto coach Kevin O'Neill picks up a lamp in the hotel and smashes it, causing a commotion. For some reason this is the turning point for the Toronto media, who pull out their daggers and blame him for everything from then until his eventual firing. Keon Clark openly smoking a joint during a charity golf tournament. Antonio Davis was unhappy his children were being taught the metric system, but the backstage rumours were that he demanded a trade for another reason: after cheating on his wife and getting caught, his wife left him and took the kids to Chicago, unwilling to return to Toronto, prompting his request to be traded to Chicago. Also, as an aside, did you know the fan his wife attacked in the stands when he played for the Knicks was Mike Axelrod, son of Barack Obama campaign manager David Axelrod? They settled. Toronto Raptors fans desperately wanted Ed O'Bannon with the first pick in franchise history. They were furious when Thomas selected Damon Stoudamire and booed loudly at the SkyDome.
AD cheating on his wife is news to me. i thought he was always the good, committed family guy. and the axelrod thing was something i was unaware of as well. the keon clark thing is hilarious- i didnt know about that but i did know he played golf religiously and admitted he played drunk in a few games as a raptor.
Remember when we created an intro for Raptors home games that involved the players dancing goofily to Beyonce's "Crazy in Love"? It was funny the first time. And then kind of amusingly corny after a week. After a month, we all started wondering what our actual intro song would be for the season. I spent the rest of the season shaking my head in embarassment during the pre-game intros. Then the team rebounded from that year-long debacle and made "Renegades of Funk" by Rage Against the Machine their intro music. It was awesome, unique, and hyped everyone up. But the team eventually became afraid that "funk" sounded too much like "fuck" and changed the music to some crappy U2 song. Or remember when the Raptors decided to market the '05 team around the newly formed front office? You'd see posters all over downtown with Rob Babcock and Wayne Embry, encouraging you to buy season tickets. I don't remember any other team ever selling an unknown rookie GM as the reason why fans should support the team. Or how about when we finally made a return to the playoffs and the team decided to give all fans red t-shirts and create a "sea of red" to intimidate the opposition. The Nets countered by wearing their alternate red jerseys and blending into the stadium more than the Raps did.
i remember richard jefferson thanking the TO fans for supporting them. MLSE is thoroughly ignorant. a few other stories come to mind... 1) i remember eric montross missing free throws by a mile in a raptor game- the entire team erupted in laughter and montross was visibly upset. the only dude who got up and encouraged him was fellow unc alumni, vince carter. 2) AD and Alvin's public feud- alvin accusing AD of not being a team guy 3) kenny anderson refusing to come here and then going on ESPN dressed up in a pimp outfit explaining his rationale 4) sherman douglas assaulting the superfan and the superfan's subsequent lawsuit against mr. douglas which was dropped after mr. dougles apologized 5) butch carter suing marcus camby for defamation or something leading up the raptor matchup with new york in their first playoffs 6) michelle carter calling out charles oakley for his unproductive play after he did the same to vince. then oakley joked that michelle should think about coaching the team after lenny wilikins contract expired
oh i almost forgot about doug christie's wife's obsessive compulsion over her husband. i believe she escorted him on every road trip.
