Moving Day is here!

Since its inception, Khandor’s Sports Blog [KSB] has been located right here, as part of the wordpress.com community.

The wordpress.com platform has served its purpose and allowed the blog to get its feet wet, take its first baby steps and, recently, to begin to reach a slightly wider target group.

As the ride continues, however, the time is here to switch gears a bit and give the blog a fuller independence from the shared wordpress.com platform. 

Hopefully, the benefits will out-weigh the risks and this shift will initiate the next step in the gradual evolution of KSB.

——————————————————–

The blog’s new location is:

khandor’s sports blog

——————————————————–

Thanks to all for helping to make this possible.

Hope to see you there soon!

Keep On Truck’n

On paper … the best team the Raptors have had

According to a quote attributed to Bryan Colangelo yesterday …

This is ‘best’ Raptors team on paper, GM Colangelo says
Bryan Colangelo considered the question and considered the moment and considered the circumstances in which the query was posed. And then he offered a qualified answer about the talent level of this incarnation of the Toronto Raptor roster.

“On paper, in terms of just pure talent, I would say, yes, this is the best team we’ve had,” the Raptor president and general manager said Monday afternoon.

So off they go to training camp, a merry band of just 13 players but a group richer in individual talent than has been put together in Toronto in years. No games have been played, no practices have been held so every question about the season came with qualifications but the over-riding feeling out of the annual media day was of unbridled enthusiasm.

—————————-

Hmmmmm ….

Here’s the team’s current roster:

’08-09 W-L Rec’d-? Playoff Finish-? Coach: Mitchell-S

STARTERS O’Neal-J Bosh-C Moon-J Parker-A Calderon-J

KEY BENCH SUBS Ukic-R Kapono-J Bargnani-A

RESERVES Solomon-W Adams-H Graham-J Humphries-K Jawai-N

and here’s a snapshot of the previous 9 teams [1999-2008] in Raptors’ history:

Toronto Raptors’ Roster 1999-2008
‘99-00 45-37 1st Rd – NYK Carter-B	‘00-01 47-35 2nd Rd – PHI Wilkens-L	’01-02 42-40 1st Rd - Wilkens-L
Davis-A Oakley-C Christie-D Carter-V McGrady-T	Davis-A Oakley-C Peterson-M Carter-V Williams-A	Olajuwon-H Davis-A Peterson-M Carter-V Williams-A
Bogues-M Brown-D Curry-D Thomas-J Willis-K	Childs-C Curry-D Clark-K Williams-J Montross-E	Childs-C Curry-D Murray-T Clark-K Williams-J
Williams-A Workman-H Marks-S Stewart-M Radojevic-A	Murray-T N’diaye-M Stewart-M	N’diaye-M Stewart-M Montross-E
’02-03 24-58 DNQ Wilkens-L	’03-04 33-49 DNQ O’Neill-K	’04-05 35-47 DNQ Mitchell-S
Davis-A Williams-J Peterson-M Carter-V Williams-A	Bosh-C Marshall-D Rose-J Carter-V Williams-A	Bosh-C Marshall-D Rose-J Carter-V Alston-R
Alston-R Lenard-V Jefferies-C Bradley-M McCoy-J	Palacio-M Peterson-M Curry-M Moiso-J Blount-C	Palacio-M Peterson-M Murray-L Bonner-M
Hamilton-Z N’diaye-M Huffman-N Foster-G Long-A Baston-M Brown-D Hunter-L	Strickland-R Glover-D Mason, Jr. Murray-L Archibald-R	Cook-O Williams-E Moiso-J Williams-Aa Araujo-R Sow-P Woods-L
’05-06 27-55 DNQ Mitchell-S	’06-07 47-35 1st Rd – NJN Mitchell-S	’07-08 39-39 (at present) 1st Rd – ORL Mitchell-S
Bosh-C Villanueva-C Rose-J Peterson-M James-M	Bosh-C Garbajosa-J Peterson-M Parker-A Ford-TJ	Bosh-C Nesterovic-R Moon-J Parker-A Ford-TJ
Calderon-J Graham-J Bonner-M Araujo-R	Calderon-J Dixon-L Graham-J Nesterovic-R	Calderon-J Delfino-C Kapono-J Bargnani-A
Barrett-A Martin-D Williams-E Williams-A Williams-Aa Sow-P Davis-A Woods-L	Martin-D Jones-F Tucker-PJ Jackson-L Sow-P Bargnani-A Humphries-K Sow-P Slokar-U	Martin-D Graham-J Johnson-L Humphries-K Baston-M Brezec-P

Does it seem to you as though this might, in fact, be the one with the most ‘pure talent’ on it?

Or …

How about just in the last 3 years? 
[since the start of Bryan Colangelo's tenure with the team]

—————————-

Cause unless these eyes have suddenly lost their ability to see with any degree of acuity … this statement is very, very far away from being accurate.

According to the judgment of this corner … there are, at least, 5 other teams on that list which, on paper, are superior to the current version of the Rapshow … i.e. ’99-00, ’00-01, ’01-02, ’06-07 and ’07-08.

—————————-

It is going to be a very interesting season in Raptorville.

NOTE:
* Heart concerns sideline Raptors’ Jawai
* Spotlight squarely on Raptors’ Bargnani
* O’Neal ready to take his lumps

Hakuna Matata … in South Beach

Two very positive and productive comments, from an article yesterday, on the present situation, going forward for the Miami Heat …

===================

Beasley, Chalmers put rookie symposium experience behind them
“I’m not worried about it,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade told The Associated Press. “I think it could carry over, but from being around them the last few nights, I can see that they’re not going to be a problem. Mario knows he has an opportunity to compete for a starting spot. Beasley knows the same thing. They have an unbelievable opportunity in this league, and they need to understand the culture of the Heat and how we do things. They didn’t have that this summer.” [on what it means to be a member of the Heat]

————————

“I would say that’s where my immaturity played a factor,” Beasley said. “I’m 19, so I kind of tried to be a kid and get away with it. … But it was kind of eating away at me, just to watch my teammate go through so much and be basically hiding behind the lights. I just felt it was the right thing for my team, and just to stand by my teammate.” [on what it means to be 19, with a lot to learn]

————————

Baby steps, gentlemen … baby steps.

It’s important to be able to put your past behind you … with the full support of your friends and family.

Where the Lightning Bolt could be headed

Physicist subtracts showboating, says Bolt could have run 9.55 in Beijing 100

Uncharted territory

“We estimate that he could have finished the race in a time between 9.55 and 9.61,” Norwegian physicist Hans Eriksen said Friday in a telephone interview.

“We saw the final on television and then spent the whole weekend researching. It was fun. We’ve done more serious research work, but this one got far more attention.”

Eriksen, a physicist at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo, said he got the idea to examine just how quick Bolt could have gone after hearing Bolt’s coach say the Jamaican could have run 9.52 seconds.

===================================

Yes, indeed …

to, quite possibly, Bolt-ly go where No Man has gone before.