Let's Take Up Bird Bull Watching

So it's not in our hands anymore.

Instead, we must rely on our new favorite team in the entire freaking universe; the Boston Celtics. It feels morally, biologically, and physically wrong, but whatever it takes right? Damn straight.

Tonight at 8pm on TheScore, we will all be glued to our televisions as if our very own Raps will be taking the court. All we ask is that those whining, chest thumping, illegal screen setting dudes in green beat the Chicago Bulls by at least 1 point. That's all.

Because once that happens, then Raptors Nation will be back in the driver's seat.

Right now, the Bulls have the Celtics and the Bobcats left on their schedule. Ever since we put up that stinker against Chicago, I've had a lot of friends feel free to point out to me that Boston and Charlotte will be resting their starters. Thus leading them to believe that Chicago will have an easy time getting these last two games.

But hold up!

The Boston Celtics still have something to prove. With 2 games left in the season, they can still grab the 3rd seed away from the Atlanta Hawks. Heck, all they have to do is tie the Hawks in order to accomplish this. And let's be real here. But these old and very much beatable Celtics would much rather take on a Bogut-less Bucks team than a Heat squad led by D-Wade.

And then you have the Charlotte Bobcats. Now this is a bit more difficult to call considering they are already locked in to play the Magic in the first round of the playoffs. But Larry Brown has consistently gone on record saying that he will not sit his guys all for the "integrity of the game". He also went on to acknowledge the tight race between the Bulls and the Raptors, and that it would only be fair to these two teams and the rest of the league.

So there you have it! A very much meaningful season remains for anyone left on the Raptors bandwagon. If the Celtics win tonight, all the Raptors need to do is win against the Knicks on Wednesday, and they clinch the 8th spot. And yeah, that would mean a date with the Cavs, whom we would realistically lose to. But I don't know anyone who could deny how crazy Raptors playoff games are like at the ACC. Personally, I don't want to go another year without the Sea of Red.

And secretly, neither do you.

Red and Black Attack or Retract?

It's really simple right now. If we want this:



Or this...



Then there can no longer be any limping to the finish line. It's as simple as that. Boiling down to one game against the Chicago Bulls, everything will be on the table, ready to be taken by whichever teams wants it the most.

Very rarely does it ever come down to this.

More often than not - at least in races this close - teams must rely on others to get the job done. There is after all a reason why tight races involve two evenly matched teams. And so regardless if you take care of your own business, you must still hope that the other teams aid you with hurdles. But this year, the Eastern Conference's 8th seed will most likely be determined with a do-or-die game between the very two teams trying to outrace each other.

No one else will be involved. There can be no excuses. You either win and enjoy the result, or lose and deal with the consequence.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will very well be interested in the outcome of this game, but this isn't about them right now. This is about two teams wanting to make it to the playoffs; where anything can happen. Sure, you have the typical fan or two who actually prefer missing out on the post-season. But it's these same people who most likely have never been in a scenario like this before. If you've played any kind of team sport during your school years, you know that the playoffs and the championship are the only goal one should have in mind. It doesn't matter how unrealistic your chances are, all that does matter is that you get to that "2nd season". Because you don't put in all that work only to finish early. That's never the point. You don't work hard all year to only be told you're not good enough to continue.

Put yourself in their shoes. Would you honestly throw away another year of your career just so that some random college player can be added to your roster with the 12th pick?

Tell Jarrett Jack that - who has never been to the playoffs before. Earlier this season, he and his mother could not contain their excitement at the mere thought of it.

Tell DeMar DeRozan that - who coped with the fact that he wasn't asked to play in the rookie/sophomore game by leaning on the possibility that he would be playing in the playoffs and his peers would not.


Tell Hedo Turkoglu that - who though has been more than disappointing this year, was in the NBA Finals last year. Even he would not be fine with the possibility of not playing in April like he's accustomed to.

And finally, tell Chris Bosh that - who has his entire future and legacy as a Raptor on the line.

Believe it or not, but the Toronto Raptors want to be in the playoffs. Despite what you may see on TV, or hear on the radio, these players want nothing more than to beat the Chicago Bulls and secure the 8th seed. And after tonight's game that will without a doubt have a preview of what playoff basketball is like at the ACC, you'll feel the same as well.

With A Side Of Red - Apr.9/10

With just over three hours until tipoff between the Hawks and our Raptors, here's another installment of your favorite Raptors side dish. Today, I'm going Raptors video happy, lots of good stuff on Raptors.com...

Just like with every road game, you know your favorite broadcast crew will be busting out a new episode of "Life on the 2nd Bus". Keep up to date with the most entertaining 2nd bus in all of sports.




Last post, I talked about a possible future with the Young Gunz era. No matter what happens in the future with Bosh, I totally see us moving forward with DeMar DeRozan. He could very well turn out to be anything from a #1 option to a #3; that's how raw he is right now. It's hard to gauge a 20 year old rookie because of the numerous ups and downs, but give it some time - there's clearly potential there. Here's chapter 11 of the the Raptors original documentary that spotlights DeMar - "One Rookie".



In other news..

With all this talk about CB4 possibly leaving us for the US; it's funny that this recent update popped up. The "Baller" Adnan Virk (who used to work for The Score, and is currently employed by Raptors TV) has accepted a job in the States to work for ESPN. That's big man. Though you'll be missed, good luck to you.

Adnan Virk to ESPN

Lastly, to get you all hyped up for the game tonight. Check out a replay of the last game between the Raps/Hawks all in just six minutes. Amazing performance from Jamal Crawford in this one, and though Bosh struggled throughout, he hit the one that counted: the game winner.



I lied - one last thing. The Heels On Hardwood Blog of the The Score Sports Federation is having a contest where they will be giving away courtside tickets to the Raptors Knicks game. Real simple to get involved in, and the prize is crazy. Check it out!

And there you have it Raptors Nation. Whatever it is you happen to be doing, I hope you enjoyed it With A Side of Red!

The Atlantic Division; The Cure For Your Raptors Blues

With the depression levels of Raptors fans reaching a season high in the last two days, I thought I'd go a different route than most of the morning papers I've sifted through this morning.

Let's ignore the Chris Bosh injury, the Turkoglu mystery, the Bulls stampeding behind us - let's forget about all of that for a few minutes. Everyone outside of Toronto keeps focusing on our future, a future without Chris Bosh that is. Well Toronto fans finally got a true glimpse of that last night against the Celtics.

Let's call it the Young Gunz era.

Assuming Chris Bosh's tenure in Toronto has finally ended, this is what the city has in store for it:



A high octane, fast paced and athletic offense led by a group of young fellas. That's what I saw last night. It may not have the same star power that Bosh has in one hand, but it's a good start nonetheless. Perhaps a proper rebuild is on the horizon for the Toronto Raptors? Again - assuming Bosh chooses a new home - Toronto could very well end up with the necessary pieces to rebuild a team like the OKC Thunder.

Before you get it twisted, i'm not trying to sugarcoat anything here. If we go into next season with a resigned Amir Johnson, DeRozan, Weems, Jack, Bargnani, and Turk (which looks pretty possible) then we'll surely lose more than our fair share of games. But then again, so did young teams like Portland and Oklahoma. But as soon as they were given a chance to develop together, it all clicked. Obviously, the Blazers had Roy, and the Thunder had Durant; but who's to say that Weems (23), DeRozan (20) and Amir (22) don't have the potential to be very good players in the future? They didn't get the nickname "Young Gunz" for no reason.

So let's put things into perspective. Regardless of how bleak you may think the future looks, remember this: An NBA season is truly won within your division. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Atlantic Division:



Do any of these teams really strike immediate fear moving forward? Well - not really. And that's my point. With the steady decline of the Boston Celtics, this division is once again for the taking in the years to come. Let's look at each team here.

The Celtics: Let's be real here. This is the one division leading team of the entire NBA that many people feel are on its last leg. Their age is finally catching up to them, and that championship window is about an inch away from finally closing shut. Even Celtics fans are ready to go back to what they call the "Age of Darkness". They threw away their entire future for a couple glory years. Was it worth it? Of course. Absolutely. But will they now have to pay their debt? Yup.

The Knicks: This is obviously the wildcard of the division. They've gone all-in for the 2010 off season. If they manage to get LeBron, then everything changes and this becomes their division to own. But with recent reports coming out of Cleveland saying LeBron isn't going anywhere, there's a good chance the Knicks may end up with something like Joe Johnson or Rudy Gay with a resigned David Lee. Bosh could also end up here as well - which would only make the rivalry between the Knicks and Raps heat up even more.

The Sixers: They finally get it. This team isn't good enough, at least not when you consider what their being paid. The Philly front office has been more than ready to part with Iggy, Sammy D, and Brand. Not because of their talent, but due to the fact that they can't afford to keep them around. They are really the one team that resembles the Raptors' scenario the most. They too have some young talent moving forward, but are currently strapped down with some bad contracts.

The Nets: They almost made history this year as the worst NBA team ever. They'll most likely end up as the team with the worst record, which would ultimately give them the best chance of landing the #1 pick. John Wall anybody? No one in the Atlantic wants this Wildcat phenom to settle down here. But remember this, having the worst record entitles you to a 25% chance of landing the first pick. Well with that in mind, in the last 20 years of the draft, the team with the worst record has only won the lottery a total of 3 times.

Surely, Colangelo will sell these points when he attempts to re-sign Bosh. But even if the greatest player to ever rock a Raptor uniform departs, know that there is a very manageable future just around the corner. Winning your division guarantees you a top 4 seed in your conference. From there, anything can happen.

David Haye Boxer

David Haye

David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980) is a British professional boxer, and current WBA World Heavyweight Champion.

Haye is a former undisputed cruiserweight champion, holding the WBA, WBC, WBO and The Ring magazine cruiserweight titles. Haye decided to vacate these titles in order to pursue his ambitions in the heavyweight division. His training camp is based in Kyrenia, in the unrecognised state of "Northern Cyprus" and he has worn the "Northen Cyprus flag" on his shorts alongside the Flag of St. George and the Union Flag in the past. He suffered his only professional loss against Carl Thompson. He has won cruiserweight and heavyweight World championships.

Source : Wikipedia.com

Boxing Bernard Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins

Bernard Hopkins, known as the Executioner (born January 15, 1965, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American boxer. He is known for his ten year reign as middleweight world champion in which he successfully defended his title a record 20 times. He is the first fighter to retain all 4 major boxing governing body belts including the Ring Magazine belt in the same fight. He is the oldest man to ever hold the middleweight championship in professional boxing.

Source : WIkipedia.com

Raptors Rundown Podcast - Episode 4

It's that time of the week again folks. Check out episode 4 of the Raptors Rundown podcast! Remember to keep the feedback and listener questions coming, you guys know I appreciate it.



This week, Joel Reilly of Boshtown makes a special guest appearance to talk about the Canadian trending twitter topic that's taken Raptors Nation by storm. On top of that, the creator of the Boshtown movement also gives his thoughts on the games to come for the Raps, Hedo Turkoglu, and his pick for this week's Raptor Factor. Oh and by the way - Joel also drops the exclusive scoop of a sick Boshtown contest he has planned for Raps fans.



Check out the facebook group as well: Boshtown on Facebook

Raptors Rundown Episode 4

Kris Cuaresma's Podcast