I've been quiet for a little while, but now I'm back with vengeance... or maybe just a mild case of hiccups...  either way, I'm writing again.

   It's no secret that Canada is very much devoted to its hockey, and that Toronto is the hockey capital of the world (although some fans in Montreal would happily argue that they deserve that title... but Montreal smells, so it's disqualified).  It's all well and good, I like hockey, was happy when the Canadian Olympic team finally won a gold medal in Salt Lake City in 2002, I support our world junior team (they've won the last 4 tournaments) and pretty soon will be looking forward to the annual let-down by the Toronto Maple Leafs.  For 40 years Leafs fans have been clinging to the hope that maybe this year is THE year...  And this upcoming season will be the same.   Nothing wrong with a little tradition, eh?

   However, there is a team that seems to be forgotten in Toronto, and if they are remembered, people ask "Oh, do they still play?"  They are the Toronto Raptors.  Canada's team.  The team in Toronto with the best future.  The most exciting team to watch in Toronto.  The team that plays for its fans, and is loved by its fans.

   And yet, with as bright a future that they have, they get no respect from Toronto's so-called "sports" media.  Let's be realistic and call it what it is, Toronto's Hockey Media, with a few other sports mixed in as filler material.  The top sports story in Toronto for the last couple months has been whether Mats Sundin will return to play another season with the Leafs, sign with another team, or retire.  This just in, he hasn't decided yet...  let's talk to this expert and see what he thinks... he tells us "Mats could either retire, re-sign with the Leafs, or sign with another team..."  It's been like this for months.  "In other news, the Raptors traded TJ Ford and Rasho Nesterovic for Jermaine O'Neal, but now back to the Mats Sundin story..."  "Chris Bosh won gold with the US team... now, more important, has Mats Sundin made a decision yet?"  And so on...  I get more info about the Raptors here on Foxsports than I do from my local sports news TV and radio .

   There was a recent story about about the top (U.S.) cities that have let down their fans and one of these sports talk radio hosts wondered where Toronto would rank among them and basically asked "does anyone care about the Raptors?"  As a Raptors fan, I was quite ticked off.  I think most of us at least know that the raptors have been making a bit of noise in the NBA lately.  Let's see where Toronto's other, more "important" teams rank:

• NHL:  I've already talked about the Maple Leafs...  I'll be long gone by the time the Leafs win their next Stanley Cup, and I'm only 27...
• MLB:  The Blue Jays are in Year 8 or 9 of GM J.P. Ricciardi's "5-Year Plan..."  We'll never know what the players think because they are not allowed to talk to the media...
• CFL (Canadian Football League):  The Argonauts are struggling to make .500 with the leagues' MVP at quarterback, and are 0-2 against the team that is currently 2-6...  let's see if they can make it 0-3 on Monday...
• MLS:  The Toronto FC has finally scored a few goals...

   To lump the Raptors in with this group, and claim Raptors fans are being let down by the team is ridiculous.  A Raptors game is one of the most exciting atmospheres I've ever seen.  To hear the crowds reaction after Chris Bosh or Jamario Moon put down a huge alley-oop pass from Jose Calderon, or a big 3-pointer by Jason Kapono or Anthony Parker is exhilirating.  The fans show their support, wearing Raptors jerseys, dressing in red and white, and being as loud as possible.  They have good attendance records, but chances are, most of the Raptors fans in the city are at the game.

   Now let's look at Leafs fans.  I've never seen such well-dressed people, with all their neatly pressed suit and sharp ties, and nice haircuts.  Sittling with their legs crossed, and hands folded genlty in their laps;  if things were to get more exciting, a funeral might break out.  I recall watching many games on TV, when the cameras would go to a close-up of the Leafs coach yelling at his players, and there, about two or three rows back in the crowd, was always the same nicely dressed blonde business-woman in her grey suit... pant-skirt-suit-thingy... whatever it's called... with the vacant stare, clapping politely when a goal was scored... never smiling, never reacting to anything, but never failing to miss a game...  A symbol of everything that is wrong within the Leafs organization, and contrasting everything that is right in the Raptors organization.  The Leafs are a corporation, the Raptors are a team.

   It's annoying when people in your own city don't take the team seriously.  Here's hoping they will prove all the doubters wrong, and turn them into believers. 

   The Raptors are taking big steps in the NBA.  After years of mediocrity, and false superstars, there is finally hope.  Basketball fans know the Raptors are legit, just some small tweaks here and there and they are threats to win the NBA championship.  Heck, we may just be able to pull it off this season, and I will be more than happy to rub it in the faces of my American friends here in the blogging community... lol.  But seriously, an NBA championship will mean more to me as a fan of the Raptors than a championship in any other sport.  We're the small guys in town, and have the most to prove, and have the most to lose.  Fingers crossed.

   Cheers!