The sports business Part 3 - by wongoz

Many apologies to everyone out there... i just haven't had the urge/motivation/time/whatever to post anything recently. Some of the topics i've wanted to respond to are so old now that what i wanted to say is more or less irrelevant, so i'll just leave things as they are and start anew (well, as much as you can while still staying on the same subject)...

Unfortunately, the title of this post is a reason why a lot of people don't follow sports as hardcore as Apollo and I do... it's just a fact of life that sports IS a business, and when your favourite team and/or player(s) treat it so, then you're bound for some heartache. Or rage. Or both.

For the last 10 years, i've followed the Raptors from basement-dwelling mediocrity to the joys and agony of an off-balance missed shot in the conference finals and back. So nothing, save the Tracy McGrady fiasco, compares to the backhand-slap I want to give Vince Carter at this point in time.

Could he be any worse at hiding his desire to leave? I just don't understand it. First, he's got zero leverage, having at least 3 years left on his contract. Second, he says stupid things like telling fans to "enjoy me wherever I am", and offering the copout "no comment" line when asked if his agent asked for a trade. Third... well, do i really need a third?

I don't know if he's trying to keep all this under a "i'm just a pawn" gameface, but he's not fooling me. An agent doesn't demand a trade unless the player tells him to. A "no comment" comment is tantamount to saying yes, and VC knows it. Thus, if he knows it, then he might as well just come out and say it, instead of letting the whole thing fester like Michael Stewart's career. Saying moronic things like "enjoy me wherever I am" is more or less saying "buy my jersey even if I'm playing for the Knicks next season". Who does he think he's kidding? Does anyone doubt that if Chuck Oakley were still around that he'd give a nice forearm shiver to Vince's head for not standing up for himself?

Anyways, I hope he gets to play for the Knicks and Lenny Wilkens (has anyone figured out why Vince wants to play for a coach he so visibly disliked before?), just so I can expose him for the money-grubbing louse he is. If we can somehow swing Jesus Shuttlesworth himself (that's Ray Allen for everyone except the 6 people who saw He Got Game), that would be fantastic. I don't even have a trade proposal in mind, but i think it can work out somehow. Let it be known, that even before that article came out in the Toronto Star, i proposed Allen as the player coming back to the Raps in an email to Apollo. Hopefully he'll back me up on this one.

Alright, enough ranting for today. Hopefully not for the month though... :P