The Musically Challenged Raptors

by Gagan Gandhi… Throughout the years, the Toronto Raptors, the team, have been the northern poster child for the good, the bad, and the ugly. That’s right, they’ve had good seasons and they’ve had ugly seasons. But, most of the time they’ve been somewhere in between and had bad –just plain bad seasons.

Sadly, the same can be said for their choice of music for the pre-game introduction video.

If the team isn’t good on the court, you’d hope the music would make up for it at least a little bit.

But no, clearly that’s too much to ask for.

Well, I’m going to help out the people over at MLSE and do their work for them and free of charge at that! Although, I’m not entirely sure they should be getting paid for some of the selections they’ve made in the recent past to begin with.

Wow.

That was kind of harsh, but don’t you all go hiding now, I know I’m not alone on this matter.

Here are my (@gagangandhi on Twitter) ten suggestions for the 2009-10 Raptors (important to note that the entire song wouldn’t be used just the parts that would get the crowd’s blood flowing):

1. I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas

2. Eye of the Tiger – Survivor

3. Let The Drummer Kick – Citizen Cope

4. Flashing Lights – Kanye West

5. Rock You Like A Hurricane - Scorpions

6. Lose Yourself – Eminem

7. Mortal Kombat Theme – The Immortals

8. List of Demands – Saul Williams

9. Addictiv – Tonite

10. Let It Rock – Kevin Rudolf

Here’s what some folks on Twitter suggested:

@CAntonescu – Time 4 Sum Aksion by Redman
@DeeNLen – Run Away Train or You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC
@DeeNLen – New Jack Hustler by Ice-T
@AllThatAmar – Rock N Roll Pt. 2 by Gary Glitter
@Liston – Bust A Move by Young MC (LOL)
@ronilagan – In The End by Linkin Park

Out of the responses I got on Twitter I’d have to agree with @AllThatAmar’s selection.

Meanwhile both @Nat77 and @PeterBaraniecki believe it’s going to be ‘Boom Boom Pow.’

Twenty bucks says it ends up being ‘Right Round’ by Flo Rida or ‘Boom Boom Pow’ by the Black Eyed Peas. I’m a fan of both songs, but not something that works as the opening theme.

Here are some suggestions I have for the players:

It looks like they have a winner on the court this season. Hopefully there’s a winner coming out of the speakers at the ACC this season as well.

Bryan Colangelo seems to be on a role; maybe he can make this executive decision as well.

Follow Gagan Gandhi on Twitter and join his group on Facebook. He also writes for RealGM.com and can be reached at: [email protected] with any comments, concerns or requests.

It’s Raptors Turn to Make Some Toronto Noise

By Gagan Gandhi… While fellow Eastern Conference teams have picked up the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Vince Carter and Ben Gordon, after Day 1 of free agency, Bryan Colangelo, the Raptors general manager, has thus far been pretty quiet on the acquisition front.

The moves so far this off-season have been anything but mind blasting (thank you for that one Russell Peters):

1.    A qualifying offer to a former player who the Raptors apparently just realized their rotation is not deep enough without, or as good defensively.
2.    A trade to bring in some paint toughness, but maybe more so to unload a contract that many media and fans considered to be outrageous only after a couple of subpar seasons. Ah, hindsight, gotta love it.
3.    A draft pick who will not be of any immediate help to a squad that is once again aspiring to be playoff bound. It’s not hard to figure out the keyword in that sentence.

Don’t get me wrong, all those moves definitely point the Raptors in the right direction in terms of the Eastern conference standings next season. But, none of those moves will have you saying “Wow, the Raptors are finally a bona fide playoff team again.”

Carlos Delfino will be a nice bench player and possible starter depending on what happens in free agency, but you have to hope that Colangelo doesn’t overpay him or we could be facing a similar situation as to the Jason Kapono one this summer. Evans instantly brings inner toughness to a team who was manhandled on the boards at times last season, although it’s my belief that Kapono will absolutely thrive in Philadelphia. As for DeMar DeRozan, he’s the guy I wanted them to select at 9 and called it earlier in the day, he was too good a talent to pass up at 9th overall and being only 19 may still have a year or two to grow. Most people say he reminds them of a Vince Carter, but I like to compare him more towards an Andre Iguodala, who coincidentally was also drafted at 9, right after the “Brazilian Beast” known as Rafael Araujo.

However, while Colangelo seems to realize where his weaknesses lie: rebounding, defense, toughness, wing positions, it’s as if he’s stuck on a carousel of exchanging pieces and is unable to land a player who can without a doubt put the Raptors back into the playoff picture.

So, the question is: what’s poppin’ Mr. Colangelo?

After a day of free agency when Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva both landed in the Motor City, who by the way now have two starting shooting guards in Gordon and Richard Hamilton (can someone say trade?), the Raptors did indeed make some phone calls according to the rumblings on the greatness that is the internet.

As of this writing, the rumours floating around have them interested in Hedo Turkoglu, Trevor Ariza and Linas Kleiza.

If Colangelo could somehow lure Turkoglu or Ariza and then sign Kleiza, it would fill out the rotation nicely.

It seems as if he’s finally given up on re-signing Shawn Marion and it’s for the best. I’m not sure why that process has gone on this long to begin with. Sure, if you could get something for him via sign and trade it’d make sense but when you have a talent like Turkoglu, why sit back?

Offer Turkoglu a 4 year / $48 million deal and get his autograph on the dotted line. If that’s not enough to lure him to Toronto, say good bye, move on and don’t think twice. There are too many players available this summer for the Raptors to sap over one player.

One interesting name to watch for is David Lee. If Turkoglu accepts Portland’s 5 year deal and Ariza signs elsewhere, Lee could quickly become Colangelo’s #1 target. (as per CBSSports.com)

Whatever Colangelo tries to do, whatever he does do, Raptors nation waits impatiently.

After watching Leafs fans rejoice over their free agent signings on Canada Day, Raptors fans hope it’s their turn.

In the end, all fans of any team really need is hope. Hope that one day their team could be hoisting the championship …for Raptors fans it can’t come soon enough.

Follow Gagan Gandhi on Twitter and join his group on Facebook. He also writes for RealGM.com and can be reached at: [email protected] with any comments, concerns or requests.