spawn: "He acted very cowardly. Not denying nor confirming rumours from 'sources' for 2 months and then all of a sudden confirming them and saying "I want to think for me" i dont think you're understanding something about what vince did. IF HE HAD OF COME OUT RIGHT AWAY AND HIMSELF SAID "I WANT A TRADE" THEN THE RAPS NEVER EVER EVER WOULDA GOT FAIR VALUE FOR HIM...DISGRUNTLED STARS DO NOT GET FAIR VALUE. SO HE DID WHAT HE SHOULD OF....HE TOLD THEM HE WANTED OUT...TO FIND A TRADE...AND HE KEPT HIS MOUTH SHUT. ALL THESE LEEKS YOU HEARD OF WERENT VINCE...AND THE ONE'S THAT MIGHT OF BEEN SORTA CONECTED TO HIM, LIKE HIS AGENT SAYING IN THE POST THAT HE WANTED OUT, WERE JUST TO GET PEOPLE TALKING HOPING FOR HIM..PUTTING PRESSURE ON GM'S TO PICK HIM UP. LETTING THE GM'S KNOW THAT HE'S AVAILABLE. But......nothing got done, all the offers the other teams could/would make were obvously too low...so vince did the only thing he could do...lower his value by being a publicly disgruntled player thus making those old offers reasonable. Dont go bashing on vince cause he didnt come out right away saying he wanted out. To anyone with a brain it was obvious that was the case. The guy was trying to satisfy the needs of the team AND himself. But sometimes you have to be selfish. now i dont know why vince would want out...especially when its not that bad here...and he could end up being in way worse situations very easily. Hell NYK arent a better team and the fans are fickle as hell...but he wants there..go figure.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting jenike:</div><div class="quote_post">^ That's garbage. Who wouldn't want to play in a city where basketball is gaining in popularity, with great attendance numbers, where a star is the basketball pride on a whole country! I'd rather play in TO than Atlanta, the Clippers, or New Orleans. The Raps have failed to make playoffs for 2 straight years now, but the fans are still sticking with the team. Doesn't sound like a bad place to play if you ask me.</div> Obviously cuz u live in Canada, u think that way. That's not garbage, its a fact. Then tell me why high profile ppl don't wanna come to Toronto in general in terms of bball? Put it this way, for hockey, since we are hockey country, most players would want to play with the Leafs. Why would u wanna play bball in areas with less popularity? Most of my friends dont even watch bball, its all about hockey up here. Not to mention most raptors games werent even televised in the US, so Vince didnt have a chance to show some of his highlights this yr. PLEASE.. the fans still sticking with the team.. theres no fan/person i've ever talked to that had to say anything good about them. Its MLSE thats stickin with the team, not the fans. Most think the raps suck in general. SO i'd understand why Vince would wanna leave.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 02civic:</div><div class="quote_post">spawn: Dont go bashing on vince cause he didnt come out right away saying he wanted out. To anyone with a brain it was obvious that was the case. The guy was trying to satisfy the needs of the team AND himself. But sometimes you have to be selfish. now i dont know why vince would want out...especially when its not that bad here...and he could end up being in way worse situations very easily. Hell NYK arent a better team and the fans are fickle as hell...but he wants there..go figure.</div> Very good point
Look what kind of league we're watching now... players are influencing major management decisions - that should not be happening. That's why this kind of crap is happening. Professional sports in general are generating insanely high revenue, which makes most athletes GROSSLY overpaid. However, that's not the issue at hand. No matter what Vince thinks, all trade talk should be EXCLUSIVELY with the management. When you are under contract, it is improper and just plain wrong to discuss being traded away with journalists. The management and Vince's immediate entourage are the only people who should know if he is dissatisfied about his current situation. Considering transactions are a purely management matter until they have been completed, it should be so for everyone.
intrepid1983 - of course bball here in canada doesnt compare to hockey...but sellouts are not an uncommon sight, the games are always televised for us, and up until last year tons of games were being televised in the states. Its a great country in many ways, with alot of things over american cities. Also dont forget that VC's 90 million is like 110 million up here. sure *some* products are more expensive here...but not THAT much more. Toronto has never had a problem keeping stars T-Mac wanted out for other reasons, Stoudamire was a punk. The only player i can think of that didnt want to play with the Raps and the city was a reason why, was Kenny Anderson...whoopti dooo. And when have we ever been in the market for a big name? We havent...we've drafted ours..and we've traded for roll players and compliments to our stars.
Yea, thats another way of looking at it, 2 sides to every spectrum.. well said, but not from my perspective =P
Intrepid1983- To each his own. I think that player's have that opinion of Canada and basketball, but really we are a country with alot of basketball knowledge. Maybe when the Raps started 10 years ago there weren't many who truely enjoyed the sport, but now we are just as knowledgeable about the game than any US city. If people would stop talking about Canada not being a basketball country, then the numbers would speak for themselves. As for Canada being Hockey, that's true, but I would say that basketball isn't the US number one sport either. Look at Football, College Football, baseball. I would have to say NBA falls below them. Again, just my opinion. =)
as far as revenue goes NFL far outsells the NBA......so america is as much a football country as we are a hockey country
