Tuesday January 13, 2009 - This is your Raptor Rant!
Well you’ve scratched another week off your NBA calendar and yet you didn’t see any progress from the Toronto Raptors, or did you? After two close losses to the reigning champ Boston Celtics, many fans feel the Raps have made steps in the right direction. I’m not sure I agree with this. I have heard terms like this over the last few days, ‘they gave it their all’, ‘what a great effort’, ‘they worked really hard and almost had it’. I won’t lie all of those are factual statements, but I’m not digging them. A great effort?? Ok, so you want me to sit here as a fan and say, my team did what they are capable of doing and still aren’t winning – but you want me to be happy about it? I will admit, I have seen a lot of growth in players like Andrea Bargnani, Joey Graham and Roko Ukic – congrats to those dudes, keep it up. However, I didn’t learn this one in math class but this equation isn’t doing it for me, youth + effort = not winning. Read the rest of this entry »
First of all, Happy New Year to everyone! The start of 2009 hasn’t been terrible for the Toronto Raptors but, it could be much better.
I have to be honest, over the holidays I was away and didn’t really get a chance to see most of the final games of 08, just highlights-if you could call them that. The start of 09 was pretty sweet. An absolute crushing of the Houston Rockets was something the Raps needed, help them with some confidence. Two days later ‘Superman’ (Dwight Howard) and the Orlando Magic were in town to face the Raptors. The Raps were shorthanded as Jermaine O’Neal and Jose Calderon are both out with injuries, I’ll speak more on that in a minute. Despite a super performance by Howard, the Raptors came out on top 108-102 and got a clutch performance from young Roko Ukic. The following night the Raptors were in Milwaukee to take on a surging Bucks squad. You would think after defeating to 20-plus win teams, they could take out the 16-19 Bucks. However, this is the NBA and things don’t always work out the way they should. After squandering an 11 point lead at the end of the 1st half, the Raptors and Bucks went back and forth through the 2nd. It was the play of Michael Redd and Charlie V that eventually overcame the mediocre Raptors defense and Milwaukee went on a 13-0 run to end the game and win by 10, handing the Raps their first loss of 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
Tuesday, December 16th 2008 - This is your Raptor Rant!
This past week the Raptor’s had a crazy schedule on and off the court. In the past 5 games the Raps managed to pick up 2 wins. A week ago, a complete crushing from Cleveland as the Cavs beat the Raptors 114-94. Toronto returned home the following night to face the surprisingly decent Indiana Pacers. Jay Triano earned his first win as head coach of the Raptors with a 101-88 victory. The Raptors then hopped on a plane again to hit the swamp. With an 0-13 shooting performance from Vince Carter, the New Jersey Nets had a slim chance to beat the Raps. The Raptors walked away with a 101-79 win, knowing they would face this team again in 3 days. New Orleans hit the ACC to take the Raptors on Sunday. With a depleted front court the Hornets were still able to beat the Raps 99-91. The Raptors, were tired for Monday night’s matchup with the Nets. Their performance definitely showed it as they lacked energy and intensity for most of the game and eventually falling to the Nets 94-87. Read the rest of this entry »
Only 3 games played since we last spoke and the Raps came out 2 and 1. Last Wednesday night at the ACC the Raptors squaked by a young, athletic Charlotte Bobcats with a 93-86 win. Friday night the Hawks were at the ACC to try and defeat the Raptors for a second time this season. Toronto had some big leads but for some reason history tends to repeat itself. In the end the Raps pulled out a 93-88 victory over Atlanta. Toronto is now on a 3 game road trip, which started in Los Angeles to take on the mighty Lakers. The final score, 112-99, doesn’t really give justice to the dominating performance the Lakers had. Kobe Bryant had 23 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds, in 29 minutes. He didn’t need to be on the court in the fourth quarter. This game also showed the importance on Jermaine O’Neal. His inside presence on offence and defence helps CB4 in so many ways. Chris was forced to guard a pure center in Andrew Bynum, which tired him out when it came to scoring.
Tuesday, November 25th 2008-This is your Raptor Rant!
The Raptors fell to 6-7 after this weeks play. Let’s start in Orlando, where the Raps were up by as many as 16 before falling to the Magic 103-90. The following night in Miami the Raptors overcame a 40 point performance by D. Wade by getting a monster performance by CB4 to beat the Heat 101-95. Coming back home to the cold might not have been a great idea for the Raps. Especially when a hungry and vengeful Vince Carter is your first test back! The Raps were up against the New Jersey Nets by as many as 18 points. Even with less than 2 minutes left in regulation, the Raps seemed to have the game locked, up by 7. Read the rest of this entry »
True story! This is definitely worthy of the Wack Files, but I was a little traumatized. Some of yall know that I’m trying to get in shape again, so yup, back to the gym for me! I’ve joined a gym that’s a little more, ummm, how do I say it…well, it’s a little more ‘high end’ than I’m used to. All kinds of perks and junk with your membership-cool right?? Ya, until you go to use the hot tub and are a little unsure of the rules…listen to the podcast-cuz I want none of what’s in that pic!
Caribana weekend has come and gone-amazing as usual!!! As he has in the past 3 years, Toronto’s Kardinal Offishall spent Caribana Friday afternoon with me in the FLOW 93.5 FM studios. I also had a visit from Checkmate, Concise, and New Orlean’s Hornets basketball player and former Toronto Raptor Morris Peterson. Big shouts to my girl Kemi who got us the audio from the show…enjoy! Click here to check it out! Kardi’s album ‘Not For Sale’ is in stores September 9th. Shouts to Abby for the hype pic!!
So many of you (mostly ladies and hip hop heads!) have been asking about my conversation with the legendary LL Cool J. In honor of him being in Toronto for the Ice Cream Summerfest (look for me on stage!) I thought I would give you the full, uncut, unedited interview. His new album (and possibly his last) is called Exit 13. LL Cool J has released a new single featuring The Dream called ‘Baby’, yall definitely need to check it out! LL Cool J also reveals his favorite 3 tracks that he made! Check the interview out below!
Hot off his MMVA performance in Toronto, Flo Rida dropped by the studios to speak with me! We talked about his start in the music business and his debut album-Mail on Sunday. We went on to speak about his two hit singles, Low and Elevator, as well as his love life! Check the full interview out below and check out his bling…good lord!!
Model, songwriter, singer, and all round sweetheart Anaya Hayes took time out of her schedule to speak with me. We talk about her career, her travels and just have some laughs! Feel free to check her out at her blog site and her myspace
