I mean, how many of these American sportswriters have even BEEN to Toronto? Marc Stein is one of the few American sports writers I’ve read that talks about Toronto in glowing terms. He’s even said that if ESPN opened an office in Toronto, he’d be the first to apply to go there. He’s an incredibly rare breed, however.

As for Toronto spending, I find it perplexing that fans feel that Toronto needs to spend so much money. There’s never been a strong correlation between spending and winning. And generally, the contenders who are among the highest spenders didn’t get there because they spent. They spent after they got there. A perfect example is Orlando. Orlando was well under the tax threshold until they made the Finals. Now that they are legit contenders, they are spending money. Its not the other way around. The Raptors are actually spending LESS than last season, but will probably be a much better team.

As for our supposed disproportionate spending compared to our market size, honestly that’s bull too. Seems like fans forget that having the highest salary in the league doesn’t mean you’re a winner; it means you’re the (old) New York Knicks. If there’s ever a time when the Raptors are on the fence about whether or not to keep or acquire a hefty contract (like if Toronto fans actually *wanted* to keep Bosh and Toronto ownership said no), then I’ll join the bandwagon strike outside MLSE headquarters (in spirit). But up til now, the Raptors have had a pretty good track record in going after players or keeping their own. Especially if you believe what people say about players not wanting to be in Toronto. But alas, fans just want to see spending for the sake of spending, even if it means cutting a bunch of minimum salary players and adding on some new minimum salary contracts just to get ahead of other teams on dollars spent. Not very cap smart.

Thanks. One thing I didn’t mention is how prevalent Raptor fans are on the internet. It’s really hard to get any hard facts, but the two teams that seemed to be most represented on most Basketball forums are Laker and Raptor fans.

As for Bosh bolting, I’m not surprised at the notion that most of the American media are convinced he’s leaving. It’s the narrow view of things I mentioned. OF COURSE, he’s going to go to Miami or New York. He’s American. Why would an American live in Canada if they didn’t have to?

Really, I don’t think anyone, including Bosh, knows whether he’s going to leave. I think it’s a lot more likely he’ll re-sign now than a month ago. I mean, if Colangelo had ANY indication that Bosh was going to leave, he’d have been traded. If Colangelo has shown one thing, it’s that he’s not afraid to pull the trigger.

1) The size of Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington can be misleading. For example, one could extend Philly’s boundaries to New Jersey which is where most of their sub urbs are located. Even with that, they had a much lower attendance record than the Raptors and so did the Wizards.

2) What do you think of this pre conceived notion that Bosh will just bolt? Has he indicated in anyway that he wants to leave or has ever had a problem being a Raptor? He did already sign an extension he did not have to sign.