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Masai Ujiri Hired As Raptors GM (post #780)

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  • I say they just go back to the original name. Where it all started. Toronto Huskies. Being back the blue and white, like all the other Toronto teams.
    @Chr1st1anL

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    • ceez wrote: View Post
      I could get behind Wolverines, but i think Leiweke will want something more original if it's supposed to represent all of Canada.
      Not sure the Timberwolves would like it. This isn't the CFL

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      • I say this as a non-Torontonian Canadian, but I hope there isn't some attempt to give them a lame, pan-Canadian name. I hate being patronized to. I'd rather that they have a team name that embraces their city.

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        • Putting aside the re-branding stuff, wasn't this one of the most bizarre morning of pressers in Raptors history?

          The president of MLSE comes out and announces that the GM is being fired but staying on a president. Even though (as TL pointed out 1,000,000 times) he will have no say in basketball decisions BUT, they are keeping him for his knowledge EVEN THOUGH it wasn't ideal how things worked out. Then he whacks BC a few times before going on a stream of consciousness about re-branding the team and building stuff.

          Then, BC comes up and says TL mischaracterized his feelings about being fired and admits he's disappointed in the whole thing. Followed by the bizarre spectacle of having a recently fired GM talk about his new role in a club where he has no say but is being kept on for his experience and knowledge.

          I have been watching sports for 30 years and this is one of the strangest management happenings I have ever seen.

          Oh, and by the way, they still don't have a GM....

          Comment


          • octothorp wrote: View Post
            I say this as a non-Torontonian Canadian, but I hope there isn't some attempt to give them a lame, pan-Canadian name. I hate being patronized to. I'd rather that they have a team name that embraces their city.
            Ugh I know, and stop throwing a fuckin Maple Leaf in the middle of every logo, imagine how obnoxious it would seem if the American teams had stars and stripes on every single logo.

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            • ceez wrote: View Post
              I could get behind Wolverines, but i think Leiweke will want something more original if it's supposed to represent all of Canada.
              It's hard to come up with something to represent all of Canada. They can't use Maple Leaf (and every sports fan who follow hockey outside of Toronto would never be able to cheer for them). Naming them something really obvious, like Moose, or Beavers, would really, I think, not get anyone that excited about them. They're not good sports teams names. There's a reason you don't see any major franchises in Canada sport those names. They're awful.

              The Wolverine IS a very "Canadian" animal. They are more common in Canada than any other country, and perhaps the most unique predator in Canada. Most other animals in Canada make pretty dreadful sports symbols, or are not particularly unique.

              -Birds? Ducks...Geese...Loons...Owls...Hawks (already taken)....really nothing special. Blue Jay is already taken.

              -Mammals? Wolves too close to T'Wolves. Coyotes not different enough or unique to Canada. Foxes...lame. Bears? Grizzlies fit well in Vancouver...sigh. Polar Bears are a nice symbol for the North...but I'm not sure it's the best way to brand the team, because anything too arctic-sounding just doesn't fit in basketball. Beavers? Again, see my "pussies" comment. Yes it's immature, but really, how mature are sports fans?

              -Reptiles? What Reptiles? Same goes for amphibians. Naming Toronto the ____frogs or ___ lizards hardly seems right.

              -Marine life? Might work if the team was on a coast...but naming them the Whales or some such just isn't right in Toronto.

              -Insects? No name is better than Hornets, and that's taken.

              -Plants??? Nothing is as much a symbol as the maple leaf. And that can't be used.

              So I come back to Wolverines, and suggest that it presents a unique opportunity to rebrand the team. Again, they are a very "Canadian" animal. They also have the right character for a mascot, especially in a market that is somehow an afterthought in the NBA, since they are small opportunistic animals who are capable of taking down much larger ones. In addition, it has it's own colours since they're usually dark and gold/silver masked. So the team could maybe go with brown and gold jerseys? I think that would be pretty sweet.

              The team has tried branding specifically for Canada with all this red nonsense, and putting maple leaves anywhere they can in images, logos, etc...I don't think they need a "Canadian image" as much as they need "an image Canada can get behind". For a country with an admitted inferiority complex with a passion for a gritty, somewhat violent game in Hockey, I honestly think choosing an animal/symbol like the Wolverine is a great place to start. Provide the national fanbase with a team that fits that style, which is possible building with a guy like Jonas, and a unique identity they feel fits them as the lone Canadian team fighting for it's place in the league.....

              This started as a joke because of the X-Men character and how popular that movie was, as opposed to Jurassic park....

              But the more I think of it, the more I want to see the Toronto Wolverines, with Brown and Gold colours.

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              • octothorp wrote: View Post
                I say this as a non-Torontonian Canadian, but I hope there isn't some attempt to give them a lame, pan-Canadian name. I hate being patronized to. I'd rather that they have a team name that embraces their city.
                AS someone who grew up in Toronto....There really isn't a good symbol of the city that fits as a team name. Blue Jays was probably one of the better choices picked out. Other Toronto teams have names that really don't fit that well at all wiht the city or sound that good in general.

                The other animal that is Canadian and not cliché, obviously catering to Canadiana Canadian, is Lynx (the Canadian variety being very distinct). And with the Bobcats soon gone, it may not be terrible. I don't like it as much as Wolverines though.

                *This is from Wikipedia, so who knows how current the info is...but witness the awful sports names in Toronto.
                http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ams_in_Toronto

                And there's already a Toronto Lynx in the soccer d-league.
                Last edited by white men can't jump; Tue May 21, 2013, 01:16 PM.

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                • slaw wrote: View Post
                  Putting aside the re-branding stuff, wasn't this one of the most bizarre morning of pressers in Raptors history?

                  The president of MLSE comes out and announces that the GM is being fired but staying on a president. Even though (as TL pointed out 1,000,000 times) he will have no say in basketball decisions BUT, they are keeping him for his knowledge EVEN THOUGH it wasn't ideal how things worked out. Then he whacks BC a few times before going on a stream of consciousness about re-branding the team and building stuff.

                  Then, BC comes up and says TL mischaracterized his feelings about being fired and admits he's disappointed in the whole thing. Followed by the bizarre spectacle of having a recently fired GM talk about his new role in a club where he has no say but is being kept on for his experience and knowledge.

                  I have been watching sports for 30 years and this is one of the strangest management happenings I have ever seen.

                  Oh, and by the way, they still don't have a GM....
                  This is really all I care about. I was never eager to fire BC. I'm eager to replace him with someone better (which I obviously am totally unable to judge anyway). The fact that these things have been announced....means little in the end. There's still a lot of uncertainty, and their public handling of all this has been, frankly, quite awful.

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                  • Is there many swallow birds in toronto? How about the Toronto Swallows?
                    Eh follow my TWITTER!

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                    • Toronto Killer Whales
                      Toronto Melting Pot
                      Toronto Crack Pipes
                      @sweatpantsjer

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                      • ceez wrote: View Post
                        Toronto Killer Whales
                        Toronto Melting Pot
                        Toronto Crack Pipes
                        Toronto Gulls (Toronto Shit Hawks)
                        Toronto Park Pigeons
                        Toronto Canada Geese
                        Toronto Mullets (sucker like fish that swarms up the creeks every spring)
                        Toronto Zebra Mussels
                        Toronto Smelt

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                        • From Marc Stein:

                          Early estimates suggest that the Toronto Raptors would be willing to offer Masai Ujiri an annual salary in excess of $2 million to leave the Denver Nuggets' front office.

                          The Nuggets, I'm told, nonetheless remain positive that they'll be able to hang on to Ujiri -- just named the NBA's Executive of the Year for the 2012-13 season -- while knowing they'll obviously have to raise his reported salary of $500,000 to keep him from wanting to leave.

                          It should be noted that, as of Monday night, Toronto had yet to secure permission from the Nuggets to officially woo Ujiri. But that hasn't stopped the Nigeria native from being billed as the Raptors' top target after it became apparent that Phil Jackson -- despite his longtime friendship with new Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president and CEO Tim Leiweke -- was in no rush to embrace Toronto's interest.

                          Jackson has said repeatedly in recent weeks that he wants the opportunity to run a team from the top, a la Pat Riley, for the first time in his basketball career. After ESPN.com reported that the 11-ringed coaching legend wanted to let the fate of the Sacramento Kings play out before deciding anything about his future, Jackson said in a subsequent visit to "The Tonight Show" that his discussions about running basketball operations for the Chris Hansen-led group trying to purchase and relocate the Kings to Seattle were "serious talk."

                          Some league observers, however, remain convinced that Jackson's flirtations with teams are largely aimed at convincing Lakers lead basketball decision-maker Jim Buss to cede his organizational power to sister Jeanie Buss ... which would theoretically enable Jeanie to bring Phil, her fiancé, back to Lakerland as L.A.'s next front-office chief.
                          That's a big raise, but I imagine Nuggets will match.
                          Eh follow my TWITTER!

                          Comment


                          • Employee wrote: View Post
                            From Marc Stein:



                            That's a big raise, but I imagine Nuggets will match.
                            Wasn't BC being paid in the 4-5 mil. per? I think 2 mil. is just a number thrown out there. Nuggets might be ok with it but if Ujiri meets with Leiweke and he blows by that number....what then?

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                            • Bendit wrote: View Post
                              More games in camo unis....and becoming Canada's team!. Essentially lets have more chachings/cowbell.
                              This team definitely needs more cowbell.

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                              • Sam Mitchell chimes in I love it when they call him up for his 2 cents lol.

                                http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/n...-reassignment/

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