It's Just Business

One of the great things about athletics is that most of the time you can find logic in them - nothing happens just because. If a guy falls in the draft we always discover a reason for it later (bad workout, failed drug test). If your team is continually near the bottoms of the standings, there is also likely a reason. Usually the reason is that the front office is being run by idiots who still take stuff personally, when they need to treat sports like a business. Take, for example, the ongoing saga of Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors. Bosh is a free agent and has had his bags packed to leave Toronto since last summer. The wrench in his plan is that, in an effort to have players and teams stay together longer, the NBA has set it up so that free agents get the most money by re-signing with their current teams (they can make around $30 million more by staying). This set-up benefits both sides because now, even if the player is set on leaving, it has become commonplace for the original team to sign the player to a contract worth more than another team could offer him, but then trade them to the team they wanted to sign with. The player gets his maximum deal and the team he's leaving can get players or draft picks in return. Bosh has said from the beginning he wants the max deal that the Raptors can offer him, but he doesn't want to stay in Toronto. However, Toronto has talked to the teams Bosh would be interested in joining (Miami, New York and Chicago) and has decided that they don't like what is being offered in return. Also, they aren't thrilled with the fact that Bosh appears to be really enjoying his free agency tour and has been constantly Tweeting about his meetings. Therefore, they are perfectly willing to let Bosh walk with nothing in return.

Look, I appreciate spite as much as the next guy, so I get why Toronto is in no rush to help Bosh make an extra $30 million. All they have done for seven years is build him up as this elite player (even though he's only been able to get his team into the playoffs twice, which in the Eastern Conference only requires a .500 record, and he's never gotten them out of the first round), yet the first chance he gets he's halfway out the door while the season is still going on. On top of that, he wants them to help him make extra money as he leaves and he only wants to go to a few specific places, which other teams know and that kills any leverage the Raptors may have had to get the best deal. It is a really dick move. Still, refusing to do a sign-and-trade is just going to hurt the Raptors more than it would Bosh. While I certainly don't have a high enough opinion of Bosh to think he warrants a max-level deal from any team, there are those out there who run NBA teams who do. He's going to get a ton of money whether the Raptors help or not. Sure, he'd like the $120 million the sign-and-trade would bring, but he won't be starving by signing with Chicago or Miami for only $90 million. In their petty effort to cost a former player some money all the Raptors are actually doing is hurting the remaining team. Normally in pro sports the teams have the upper hand instead of the players, but in this situation the roles are reversed. The Raptors may not like it, but in this case I think they may have to just deal with not liking how this turns out. The shame of it all is that the Raptors actually have some of the best fans in the NBA and they're the ones really getting screwed by this. He's leaving anyways, Toronto, at least get something in return for your investment.

-I always have had an appreciation for those little things in life that we all just do. We unanimously agree on so little nowadays, so I always take notice when it happens. The other night I was up at the local track running laps with my cousin (alright, I was walking, she was running). When we showed up there was only one other person on the track, but as we were going another 5-10 people showed up. The thing is, they all decided to walk the same direction, which was counter-clockwise. This, as it always does, got me to thinking: no one has ever told me that that is the direction I have to walk, but whenever I'm on a track I go counter-clockwise. Who made this decision for us, and why do we all just go along with it? Really, what would be the worse thing that would happen if you wanted to walk clockwise? Also, if I was down in Australia, would everyone be walking the opposite way? I had so many questions. At least I can provide you with one answer: yes, I did forget to bring my iPod and thus had a mile and half to think about this kind of crap.