Sickening Behavior

As I sat watching the replay of the Raptors Lakers game on Raptors TV I couldn't help but find something off putting about the whole thing.  It wasn't the fact that the Raps were leading going into the 4th quarter or even the fact that Joey Graham was the leading scorer.  It was the fact that people that were at the game were cheering "MVP" for Kobe Bryant when he was at the foul line and when he was making shots against the Raptors.  

What kind of turncoat behavior is that?  You don't cheer MVP for a player on the other team no matter what.  I don't care if its Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, or Michael Jordan the game is being played in Toronto and we are supposed to be Toronto Raptors fans.

People are all over the radio asking questions such as, "what's wrong with the Raptors" and "we upgraded the roster why aren't we winning?"  Maybe its cause fans are cheering for players on the other damn team.  Now I know that if the Raptors don't resign Bosh you can kiss the franchise goodbye for three or four years while we rebuild and with the way fans are acting its no wonder he wants to leave.  Who would want to play for a team where the home fans cheer for the guys you are playing against.

I am a Raptors fan and I always loved going to the games and hearing the fans cheering for the team.  I mean even if we were losing we were cheering for that 100th point so we could get that free slice.  Have Raptors fans sunk so low that we are now in the same category as Leaf fans who cheer for their team to lose and miss the playoffs so they can get a better draft pick?  I sincerely hope we haven't sunk that low.

Raptors fans need to a realise that the season is not over and that while we may be 13 games under .500 we are only 4 games out of the playoffs.  We play in the Eastern Conference so we can still do some damage.  We have a perennial all-star in Chris Bosh and talented players around him.  The season is not lost and at the deadline we are not sellers.  This team does not need to be blown up.   Toronto is the 5th largest city in North America and until recently was a great basketball city with amazing fans.  Players should want to come here.  Let's not make our team look unappealing by being jerkstores at the game and cheering for other team.

I recall listening to a Bill Simmons podcast recently in which he stated that, "Raptors fans are amongst the best in the league.  They go nuts for their team and they are smart too."  I just hope Bill Simmons wasn't watch the game tonight.