Dear Chuck,
What a year. Seriously, I haven’t been through so many ups and downs in a single season following the Raptors. Every year, for the most part, you knew what kind of team we had heading into the season. You set your expectations, and away you go.
After winning 47 games, the Atlantic division and securing home court advantage in the first, things were looking up. Only a year before, we had a GM who seemed in over his head, a bloated payroll that provided us no talent, and no room for improvement, and no hope really - lets be honest.
So last year, with the regular season winding down and 4th in the East secure, you went on a rampage. Asking, calling, begging for the first round match-up with Jersey. I mean, looking at the possible first round opponents, an injury riddled Wizards team would have been my choice, this isn’t even a hindsight pick (I’d rather have the team missing two all-stars, that’s just me).
I can appreciate your disdain for VC, we all share it. His reasons aside, giving up on us like that was ridiculous. What hurt more was how we went off as soon as he was traded. Mind you, having Kidd feed you on the wings, with Jefferson on the other one, will give you a lot of options - especially with his skills.
I thought it ridiculous how badly you wanted the Raptors to play the Nets. I mean, the Nets had a big active front court (sure they were missing Krstic) but Mikki Moore was having a career year, Collins is a solid low post defender, and Boone is an active front court player. with out any up front to help Bosh, they would be defending/attacking him by committee to slow him down, which they did. I was nervous that the Raptors were matched up against a perennial eastern conference playoff team with our ex-franchise player who would want nothing more then to light us up, which he did.
At the point guard spot, we had Forderon, but they had a guy called Kidd. You might have heard of him, awesome player. No real backup to speak of (Marcus Williams isn’t even worth the mention here), so everyone jumped over how Forderon would run Kidd ragged. The result: Kidd averages a triple-double for the series, and the Nets take the series in 6, with the Raptors holding home court advantage.
The 2007 offseason was non-eventful. Colangelo made a lateral move, letting Morris Peterson walk, and replacing him with Carlos Delfino, Jason Kapono and Jamario Moon at double the cost. He signed Maceo Baston to supposedly back-up Bosh up front. Seemed like management was counting on Bargnani to have a break out year (he had a break-out, but it was in the wrong direction). And finally, there was nothing done to address Garbajosa’s potential loss (which was a huge factor in how things played out this season).
Your reaction, and I’m obviously paraphrasing, was that these were all products of BC’s genius, and the Raptors are the deepest team in the East, and possibly the league. What an idiot Dumars was for letting Delfino walk for two 2nd round picks, Baston was a Euro-league stud, and Moon, I don’t remember what you said about Moon, but you I do remember no one was talking him up.
Then the bomb dropped. ESPN picked the Raptors to tie for 9th (with Jersey) in the East with a 39-43 record and all hell broke lose. People were dubbing this a 50 win season. In fact, on many occasions you echoed the sentiment. I predicted 43/44 wins and told you, but wow, ESPN was on the ball (-2).
Bosh goes down for a handful of games, as per usual, the Raptors play through it as best as they could (they did pretty well if you ask me). TJ goes down senselessly (as I write this, Marvin Williams rapes Rajon Rondo on a layup attempt on the break, wtf is wrong with Atlanta?), Calderon steps up like a champ. TJ comes back, he goes bonkers cause he can’t handle coming off the bench. Smitch starts him, things seem to settle down, the Raptors back into the playoffs, going 9-17 to finish the season, no set rotations, no consistency, seemingly no fire….and all we get from you is “Bring on the Magic”, “Raptors can beat them”, “Bosh will destroy them”, “they are the best matchup”…bla bla bla.
So much for the depth of the team, that couldn’t finish the season, with a pretty easy schedule save the western swing, on a positive note, anyways…
So we are in the playoffs, the only advantage the Raptors have is at the point guard position. Doesn’t work out how most thought (I predicted the Magic on the winning end of that battle), Bosh doesn’t have the help to destroy the Magic front court, and boom, the Raptors lose in 5.
What kills me about your irresponsible prediction was that you have unbridled access to the players that no one else enjoys. You speak to management, coaches and players on the regular. You see them in a light we don’t. Along with that, you see what the rest of us do, that the Raptors on-off switch only works with teams in the same category/level, and when they beat better teams, they were in a rhythm. But you assume that when the stakes are higher, when teams dig in, the Raptors can turn it on, when their track record shows otherwise.
So there’s all the context, and I know you are a Raptors fan, but there are a lot of us (just to name a few: Alt Raps, Arsenalist, Cuzoogle, Dinosty, I Hate the Raptors*, Jamario Moonshine, Khandor Sports Blog, Raptor Central, The On Deck Circle, Time Intact). Some of these guys also shared your belief that the Raptors would win, but it was with a much more reserved/calculated tone that was backed up with some facts.
Ok, so here is the whole point of this rant, at what point do you (and most of the rest of the Toronto sports media for that fact) put the pom-poms away, and give us fans something useful? Instead of saying the Raptors will win, because Bosh is going to destroy them, why not give some analytical supplementary material for us to chew on and debate? Do you not feel any sort of journalistic responsibility to the fans?
You have gotten much better over the years, but still not a good analyst. You should really take notes when Doug Collins, Marv Albert and Mike Fratello break down the game. They are masters at telling us why stuff works, and how the team did it. We see how Bosh got to the rack, we see an open Kapono jacking jumpers, we saw Forderon taking it to the rack. We want to know how they did it, what were the elements that came together that allowed for that great play. You know, analysis.
I have been very harsh with my assessment of you over the years. Don’t get me wrong, I think you are one of the best colour play-by-play (I meant PBP but said colour) guys in the game (save the TNT/ESPN crew who are head and shoulders above everyone). My issue with you is how you tote the company line. Would I proud to be represent the Raptors? Hell yea. Would I promote them as best as I could? Of course. Would I cross the line and become a propaganda machine? No way.
Now with Sportsnet losing their contract to broadcast games, all of us are dreading losing Jack Armstrongs great work behind the mic. Hopefully the idiots at MLSE will step up and grab him, before someone else does, and replace Leo whose verbal diarrhea can only be described as…diarrhea. Hell, I will even take a split of the games called. Games are easier to handle when your cheer-leading is countered with Armstrongs analysis.
I hope you have a chance to read this over, and I am more then willing to post any response you may have. You can even leave a comment, you don’t even have to sign up to do so. Anyways, here is hoping that you answer the call and give us what we are looking for: some higher performance analysis and reporting.
Yours Truly,
Sam Holakoozadeh (aka Raps Fan)
Publisher, RatorsTalk.com
PS - Drop “ask the expert” or change the name to something more appropriate, like “after 14 years of watching Raptors basketball, what kind of stupid question do you have now?” Thanks man.
Technorati Tags: Bryan Colangelo, Carlos Delfino, Chris Bosh, Chuck Swirsky, ESPN, Jack Armstrong, Jamario Moon, Jason Collins, Jason Kapono, Jason Kidd, Joe Dumars, Jose Calderon, Josh Boone, Leo Rautins, Maceo Baston, Marcus Williams, Mikki Moore, Morris Peterson, TJ Ford, Vince Carter
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May 4th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Well said sir, here’s my favorite paragraph:
“What kills me about your irresponsible prediction was that you have unbridled access to the players that no one else enjoys. You speak to management, coaches and players on the regular. You see them in a light we don’t. Along with that, you see what the rest of us do, that the Raptors on-off switch only works with teams in the same category/level, and when they beat better teams, they were in a rhythm. But you assume that when the stakes are higher, when teams dig in, the Raptors can turn it on, when their track record shows otherwise.”
That’s what bugs me the most, he flies on the team jet, talks to the players, talks to Sam, talks to other reporters and yet he draws total blanks in his analysis. Very annoying.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
that is what always makes me second guess myself, and it isn’t just targeted at swirsky - all the media. they see/hear/witness things we don’t. when i looked at the orlando series, i couldn’t for the life of me figure how the raptors could win it.
for me, they drop the first two, win the third, lose the 4th game in a tough manner, then get rocked in the 5th game. win a game, on the road, in the playoffs is a hard feet. the raptors couldn’t beat ‘weaker’ teams in the stretch, and that is pretty much how it went down. what made you think they can steal one in the playoffs?
May 4th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I just had this vision of you pacing in your living room every night for a week and then today you snapped and let loose.
Great post and you certainly echo a lot of what most of us feel.
Few things:
- Chuck is the play by play guy, not the colour guy.
- Chuck, as you know, is paid by MLSE. This does not mean he can’t be honest. We all have seen him undressed by Jack in blowouts when Chuck tries to make excuses. When calling a game, love and homerism are fine….blind love is not.
- Doug Smith was just about the only local media person to come out at take the Magic to win from the outset. To this day I hold Doug in high regard, as do the players. He is honest without being a kiss ass or a prick.
It’s a shame that, in my opinion, the nice paycheque from MLSE and all the marketing that comes with it (salami & cheese packages, etc) seems to have caused Swirsky’s opinions and comments to go askew. Years ago he emailed me when I was waivering on renewing my season tickets and his honest concern about some points and how he passed them along to Peddie (who in turn also emailed me) struck me as coming from someone who genuinely cared. It’s telling, then, that I have introduced 6-7 people to him in person over the past couple of years and each and every one of them have walked away disappointed and considering him either a fake or a company man. These were long time Raptors fans, as well.
I hope you get a response and I’m sure you will. Hopefully it’s one that contains honesty and constructive answers.
AltRaps’s last blog post..Linkage - May 4
May 4th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
that’s exactly what happened, i’ve been marinating on this for a while.
thanks for the correction (I meant play by play). i think he can be honest, while maintaining allegiance to the mighty mlse. at least keep the skewed comments within reach of reason.
i remember chuck’s good pr work when the raptors were bottom of the heap, we would take calls, meet up with prospective seasons tickets buyers and whoever wanted to talk ball. ashame he doesn’t offer those services when things are going well.
that’s crazy peddie emailed you, i’m actually pretty amazed by it.
i hope he does hit me back, at least with a cease-and-desist from his lawyers, lol.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Be sure to ask him about threatening legal action at people mocking him on RealGM. That was a high class move.
I think he forwarded my old email to Peddie since it was an email about poor scouting, mocking their video department, and the small number of coaches. It wasn’t the usual TRADE VINCE OR I WILL KILL YOU crap.
Word on the (real) street is that renewals were down 18%. That’s about 800 tickets they’ve lost going into next year. Maybe Chuck needs to glad hand again.
AltRaps’s last blog post..Linkage - May 4
May 4th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
I was introduced to Chuck through Scott, and I feel the need to echo his statements. I always had held Chuck in high esteem to that point, despite his tendency to use catch phrases in every other sentence for which he has been labeled a ‘homer’. I held that high opinion of him, due to his constant support, willingness to answer emails and above all, passion for the Raptors.
After meeting him, I just had a profound feeling that he didn’t care about anything other than lining his employers pockets (he actually pitched me about renewals and said nothing regaring the team or the sport at all. Just money). It was a sad day - like finding out your parents have faults. I had always though of the organization as a family until then, and since then… things have admittedly gone downhill.
Spudz
Spudz’s last blog post..Linkage - May 4
May 5th, 2008 at 1:28 am
800 is a lot! it amazes me they would raise prices this year of all years, i could have understood if they did it last year.
that actually makes me happy, people aren’t following the raptors as blindly as they do the leafs. makes management stop and take stock of things.
his actions on RealGM were upsetting to say the least. being a public figure, you have to expect a certain amount of backlash from people. sure they were pretty harsh (a lot harsher then i have been), but that is people’s opinion.
in the pr world, they say as long as people are talking about you, you are relevant. he should have been flattered (maybe not the right word) that people were discussing him.
let’s see what he thinks of my plea…
May 5th, 2008 at 3:13 am
This is the first time that I have read your post word by word.. I think its because him, being really a paid one so you don’t really get an assurance of him telling genuine facts… I really agree that he’s a crap and he has to improve immensely his reporting and analysis…
i really hope he reads this one, btw i dugg this post and stumbled it
Melvin’s last blog post..If Boston loses, I’m gonna give a dollar to everyone
May 5th, 2008 at 9:16 am
My to the point opinion of Chuck is he is letting himself become bigger than the game or at least trying to push himself there.
The salami and cheese, the x factor bs etc.
Do players care that he is picking them to be the x factor.
I grew up in a Pistons market and until you have watched George Bla Ha in his prime you cannot know what true homerism is. When the Bad Boys were rocking titles it was almost impossible to listen.
The key for Chuck is to have a colour guy next to him with actual NBA cred to bring him back to earth and not feed the persona.
Look at other local teams, there is always the “swirsky” and a real colour guy who played in the league and actually contributed.
There are so many guys the MLSE could get to replace Leo but they probably think since he brags about Canada that he is a good fit.
Hell same with TSN, Brian Heney? Seriously.
The Score goes to lengths to get Steve Smith to co-host weekly shows and the TSN has a Canadian college coach from the Maritimes?
I do remember when they tried to use Rick Barry way back but I think he talked down to the average Canadian hoops fan so they got rid of him.
I have worked with Leo and I think he is a great guy but he seems to have an agenda when calling a game.
Okay back to Chuck.
He needs to just call the game, no games or bells or whistles. Just call it.
Raptors fans are educated now, stop with the horrible Ask the Expert.
We all know what a charge is.
If Joe Bowan and Chuck Swirsky were locked in a room and asked to debate/argue who was better, the Leafs or Raps, who would walk out as the biggest homer in TO?
Good letter Rapsfan, I hope you get a reply. Chuck has always been good with emails and talking to the fans so you just might.
cuzzy’s last blog post..Babes of Survivor - The Sweet & Sexy 16
May 5th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
hopefully he does, i doubt it personally. i’ll give him this week to at least give a canned response, otherwise i will escalate things. he hasn’t answered one of my emails in a very long time, and i’m pretty sure he doesn’t subscribe to my feed, lol.
as for getting a colour guy with nba cred…you would think that would be the first thing they would have done. leo doesn’t qualify for that. 32 games in the nba, while impressive, doesn’t have any cache/experience associated with it.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
TSN I know their reasons. They give two shits about the NBA….see Rod Black and Brain Looney.
They have 67 guys to cover the Leafs and 134 guys to cover the NHL and whoever is not working that day has to cover the Raps.
The half time sit downs between Rod and Leo has to be some of the worst TV this side of local Rogers shows.
The MLSE, I am sure someone got a referral fee for passing along Leo’s name and since he was the only internal name dropped, they hired him.
No Jack will be hard. I got tired of the Hellllllo…..but at least he told it like it was.
cuzzy’s last blog post..Rolling a blog joint - May 5
May 5th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
chuck as a human being has gotten more and more annoying over the years. i can’t pinpoint exactly why, but to a viewer who has listened to him every game, i’m finding his personality/character more difficult to swallow.
he sounds like an excited puppy that’s been trained to speak through catch phrases and biased yipping that it would be better if there was no colour commentary at all. he adds absolutely nothing to the game experience what so ever.
his banter and ego boosting of leo’s “nba career” only make me want to cry.
the phrase “put him in the hall of fame!” referring to random playerX making a dunk/pass/steal etc only diminishes the actual players that have earned their spot in history.
i don’t know what will make me like chuck, it’s not his fault he’s annoying. i mean this in the most respectful way, but the man is a douchebag.
mute is our friend. i want some substance, is that so much to ask? i’m a loyal fan, i try to catch as many games as i can, why make me listen to garbage?
May 5th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
ps. i personally hate every single person that gets shown on TV for making a stupid “salami and cheese” sign. please stop encouraging this man, it’s only going to his head and making things worse.
think a fire chuck website would gather an audience?
May 5th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
fyi:
firechuck.com
firechuckswirsky.com
firetheswirsk.com
are all available!
May 5th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Love it! It’s about time an article struck down some of this nonesense from the Toronto media…I wish these same articles could make mainstream media sources such as The Sun/Star/Globe and Mail..but I imagine MLSE would never allow that to happen…I’m actually a big supporter of Chuck, I think he does a quality job of doing play by play. When he went all bold on the predictions though…damn, I was wondering why! And reasonings such as “the Magic’s inability to make it out of the first round since Shaq left”…Last I checked, how many times has the Raps made it out of the first round? On top of that, how many players on our team even know what it is like to play in the second round? (Kapono, Nesterovic, Delfino…err at least on the bench). Not a lot of research or reason was behind such predictions.
Oh, and could someone please start a get Leo out of town post? I’m sorry, but i rather listen to Celine Dion cd’s than Leo’s repetitive banter. The fact that MLSE has allowed for Leo to become the main analyst for all major networks (minus Sportsnet which they aren’t continuing with) is pathetic! Jack Armstrong is as good as they get, and the Raptors would be sippin on some whacked out Koolaid to let him leave!
May 6th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Not to defend the chuckster here (since I agree he’s not very knowledgeable) but he is not the color commentator. He is the play by play man and does it decently (save for the catch-phrases). It is not his job to analyze the game. Jack and Leo do that.
Just wanted to point out that your whole post was bogus.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:30 am
uhm…we don’t call him ‘the chuckster’ here. i understand that his job isn’t analysis, but he always gives his two-cents, knocks other players on other teams (JR Smith anyone?), positions himself to be bigger then the game and predicts first round wins over teams that the raptors can’t beat. so there is room for improvement.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Couple Things on Chuck:
1. He is what he is. I mean he just is not going to change. I use to have him on my Radio program back in college. He is a nice guy. A great human being. But as far as basketball goes he tends to be like a hype man for a rap or hip hop group. I try to balance the fact he is a great person and not as good a broadcaster as he is a promo man.
2. I was really upset that he did not take a stand that I am aware of on behalf of Jack Armstrong. I have talked to Jack personally and he is a great person to talk sports with. He is a very good at what he does. The fact I saw no public response from Chuck in defence of Jack made me sad and I lost respect for him.
Lastly this was a great read. If the letter actually was sent Chuck would just react the way he always done by saying there is people that like Choclate and Vanalia and thank you for your comments. It will have 0 impact on what he does. Too many people enjoy is RAW RAW attiude towards the team.
James Borbath’s last blog post..Jose Is Ready? Really Is He?
May 6th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
cuzzy - lets be honest. Why should TSN break a sweat about basketball when it can’t break 500,000 viewers on an average broadcast? Their NHL Draft program draws more people than a Raptors playoff game. Until that begins to change, no need for them to fret.
caleb - I’ll continue to say that Leo isn’t a big issue. I think he does a great job of breaking the game down and explaining things to the average/new viewer. Sure, his back and forth dialogue gets to be a bit dry, but look who he is working with. I think we love Jack because, as fulltime ball fans, we can appreciate his basketball knowledge as a coach and he talks on that level. Leo uses his “basketball camp” mentality and speaks mainly to the people that might not know what a high screen and roll is.
james - the thing with Chuck is he wasn’t always like this. His first few years here, he did a great job of play calling and wasn’t over the top. Something changed in the past few years. He’s either a Raptors Fan that has a microphone and refuses to think this team has any faults, or he has taken his MLSE employment to heart. That can be a good thing, but if you want to present yourself as the conduit between the team and the fans, you need to accept negative viewpoints and be able to rebut or agree with them in a professional manner. Curling up in a ball or simply not responding (even to on-air statements made by Leo or Jack) does nothing for you.
I also don’t blame Chuck for not backing Jack. It’s a company issue and as a public-eye employee, you need to step back and let them do their thing.
AltRaps’s last blog post..Linkage - May 6
May 6th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Good point AltRaps about TSN. I worked there for a few years. Mats Sundin getting a hair cut is a bigger story than the Raptors getting a No. 1 pick and they love ad money just as much as the next guy.
The funny part about it is I would say more people there are hoops fans than hockey fans.
You are also right about Leo talking to the non-basketball fan with his call. That is great, when the Raps were new. But the time has come to be a little more pro and a little less high school coach.
We hate it when US networks do it with hockey so I think Canada should catch up with hoops.
cuzzy’s last blog post..France hearts Kylie
May 6th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
alt, leo is next on my hit list. really low performance analysis from the guy, and he’s canada’s national ball coach. could be why nash wont play for him!
May 6th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
chuck & leo are there to provide a service: to add a verbal element to the broadcasting of raptors basketball, whether it’s commentary, analysis, etc.. their job as broadcasters is to entertain us and maintain a flow throughout the game.
yes they do this, but do they do it in a way that is enjoyable? how many viewers out there genuinely ENJOY listening to them speak? from my experience, from casual to hardcore fans, i’ve yet to encounter a person actually who likes them. my responses have varied from “they’re annoying but we put up wit them cuz that’s all we got”, to complete disgust. not many are coming from the positive end of the spectrum.
i’d rather chuck have ZERO personality and just called the game as a play by play should. not fling his “charisma” all over the place like bukkake.
it’s like having a maid who’s the nicest person but completely sucks at cleaning.
May 6th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Cuzzy/RapsFan, that is the issue in my mind, though….I have always begrudged media for making the Raptors second class citizens. However, I blame local media more than the big boys. CFTO (the CTV affiliate in Toronto) does a bang-up job covering the team. If they play, they are usually the first or second story in sports. The rest are pitiful. I’ve seen high school sports on before Raptors highlights on CityTV. Outside of wild trade speculation, I can probably count the number of times the team is mentioned on the front page of the papers on two hands. That said, if we have any hope of attracting that older generation (one I’m a part of), we have to teach and foster. The answer isn’t to have 2 ballheads talking over peoples heads. It might kill you and I to listen to why a guy gets 3 free throws as opposed to 2, or what that little halfcircle is beneath the basket, but if it makes the game a bit clearer for one viewer that might watch again because they understand, then I’m all for it.
I spent the last 13 years in a company full of 25-40year olds. 30 employees. Entertainment industry. I would say 40% basketball literate. The “Purple Fever” years brought the other 60% on board. They were watching the games because they were exciting. More importantly, they were learning. Our Senior VP is as hockey as you can get. No other sport exists. Since that year, though, he has watched the odd game, followed them in the standings, and learned more about the game than I could ever think he would. He did it by watching and listening. As such, his kids are now fans. That is how you have to cultivate and, as a company that wants to see ad time, you do it by hand holding. Sucks for the rest of us, but I also don’t want to see basketball go back to a game that is low down on the pecking order.
Sorry, RapsFan..didn’t mean to hijack here.
AltRaps’s last blog post..Linkage - May 6
May 6th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
hijack all you want brother. i hear what you are saying about cultivating fans, and teaching, it is really important, i get it, more fans = more $$$.
i’m just saying after 14 years, you would think the really elementary stuff could be done away with, or you know use a different forum for it…set up a website, something like WhatTheChuckIsBasketball.com.
for the rest of us, how about giving us something new. Maybe graduate from basketball 101, to basketball 102?
May 6th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Swirsky has returned home to Chicago.
YOU ARE A SWIRSKY KILLER!!
AltRaps’s last blog post..Linkage - May 6
May 6th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Looks like your post was the last straw for Swirsky. Reports say that he is leaving the Raptors organization for personal reasons, but we all know it was because of Raps Fans post. He couldn’t take it anymore….haha. Just kidding.
May I suggest hiring Marv Albert…lol.
I just hope they don’t bring back John Saunders.
May 6th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
We fished our wish buddy…we fished our wish.
Have fun, Chicago!
Dinosty’s last blog post..The 2008 Raptors - Looking Back
May 6th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
happy days, happy days.
couple things:
a) swirsky can go fuck himself as it seems toronto isn’t a world class city anymore
b) marv albert would be the way to go, good call rod
c) happy days!
May 6th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
They’re announcing in Chicago that the Bulls are shaking up their broadcast teams next season, and Chuck Swirsky is returning to Chicago to be the new Bulls radio play-by-play guy…
May 6th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
sucks to be a bulls fan now.
Canada should take back the citizenship.
As soon as I read the news, I was like, wow the power of a blog haha.
I am going to write a letter to joe bowen next.
AltRaps, all great points on the media. I am glad to see the Score seeing that hoops is up for grabs and they are going after it.
cuzzy’s last blog post..Rolling a blog joint - May 6
May 6th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
CHUCK IS AND WAS A CLASS ACT….cant say that about many of u faggots.
have fun with paul jones you losers.
May 6th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
MUHDIK you can follow him to Chicago, we don’t want you either.
cuzzy’s last blog post..Rolling a blog joint - May 6
May 6th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
it was really classy of him to say “it is great to return to a world class city”…i thought that was really sweet and appreciative…
May 6th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
It would be a dream to get Marv Albert here, but that won’t happen. Can you see him going from the NBA on NBC and TNT to the Raps? No way.
Dan Shulman would be a nice guy to have, but that ain’t going to happen either, as he left Canada for ESPN.
The whole Canadian broadcasting of Raptors games is abysmal at best. I usually try to catch the American feed when trying to watch a game on DishNet.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
i love it!
raps fan, commence open letter to leo asap =D
May 6th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
it’s coming cheungri!
May 7th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
open letter to Rod Black would be good as well.
but someone would have to read it to him.
cuzzy’s last blog post..The seven: Summer movies
May 7th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
maybe draw him some pictures
May 7th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
I just caught the “moving to Chicago” announcement on TSN accompanied by his “top 10″ calls. Those were his TOP TEN? What are his worst moments on television?
Oh well, at least Chi-town has someone who can cheer when Larry Hughes goes 1/15. LARRY HUGHES BRICKS A 5 FOOT JUMPER! WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
May 7th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Farewell Chuck…may you be remember for the Salami and Cheese instead of 18 Parkerville Court.
May 7th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
(sigh)…great post…GREAT. You hit the points bullseye (no pun intended) and wrote with more calm than I could’ve about the ambivalent Chuck Swirsky. I’m glad to see many more Raptors fans were bothered by his unbelievable bias and propaganda. I would be amazed if he actually responds to your post. Now here’s hoping there’s no more added segments of Brian Heaney and the TSN stooges…omg that guy makes me cringe and wanna smash my tv set.
TimeIntact’s last blog post..Are You Kidding Me!!?? Chuck Swirsky leaves Toronto
May 8th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
chuck has no choice really. contrary to the reports he attained canadian citizenship, chuck was found to be one of the 40,000 illegals overstaying in canada !
coach’s last blog post..10 Real Reasons Why Suck Is Leaving The Raptors
May 8th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
I’m going to miss Chuck announcing Raptors games. I liked his blind optimism. He wasn’t great but there’s so many terrible broadcastors around the NBA, both locally and national games, he was enjoyable in comparison.
nbaroundtable’s last blog post..Game Two: Boston vs Cleveland
May 9th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
no word from the chuckster eh? Ok time to promote Eric Smith to the big show hahaha.
cuzzy’s last blog post..Who will be captain of the Raptor ship?
May 10th, 2008 at 12:55 am
u should write an open letter to members of the gay community for your asshole…u dumb bitch.
get a life losers…chuck was an amazing broadcaster.
u think we’ll have a better play by play man next year?..we were lucky to have someone as good as chuck.
May 10th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
dude, relax…it’s not like this is coming out of left field.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I didnt mind Chuck so much and nbaroundtable is right there are a lot of terrible commentators out there and I would have to say that Chuck was bettter then most. they should pry Jay Onrait away from tsn Sportscentre and put him side by side with Jack Armstrong. Leo should focus on our National bball program.