A Requiem For A Sports Boss
The idea that we could get through an entire year of professional sports in Toronto drama free is one that rates up there with pigs flying. It just won’t happen. Counting the Buds recent hire of Mike Babcock, pro teams in Toronto over the past 20 years (counting the Leafs, Jays and Raptors because TFC and the Argo’s just don’t count) have seen an insane 29 head coaches or managers with the Jays boasting a dirty dozen while the Leafs nearly reached double digits with 9 and the Raps followed closely behind with 8.
Now that doesn’t say much about stability on the sidelines but at least teams in TO are known to pay top dollar for their hires while ensuring that once they let them go, they are just as happy to pay them while they sit and chill at home (see Sam Mitchell).
Sure it’s part of the game but the announcement this past week of a $50 million dollar, 8 year deal for Mike Babcock that brings the former Red Wings head honcho to Toronto has everyone in town scratching their heads while trying to feel good about the big hire at the same time. Sure we’re excited to bring a winner to the Blue and White but don’t we always mess these things up and turn them into scapegoats (see Brian Burke)?
And don’t even get us started on Jon Gibbons. He was the most puzzling hire of all and that he still has a job, and so does Alex Anthopolous for that matter, is still shocking to us. Military guys who only got a job because he was a minor league backup catcher for a previous General Manager don’t make good coaches on predominantly Latin ball clubs with All Star talent. Didn’t we try this once before only to see it end with epic embarrassment (see Tim Johnson).
Sure the Leafs and Jays are a dysfunctional lot at the top but what really has us scratching our heads at the moment is the coaching shuffle going on with the Raps. Last week the team announced the firing of a couple of assistants along with the search for a new lead assistant. Now we’re no geniuses at The Bull but anyone that experiences as much of a let down as the Drake’s did post All-Star break and gets embarrassingly swept out of the Playoffs, regardless of wins or record, needs a shakeup at the top. Instead, Masai Ujiri has opted to play it safe and bring in someone that’ll likely be more suited for the job than Dwayne Casey. Remember, Ujiri didn’t hire Case, Bryan Colangelo did, and our best guess is that when he is fired, we’ll hear all about how he’s now getting his ‘guy’. A recipe for success? Doubtful and to us it spells a lame duck year in 2015-16. Just sayin and at least we’ll get to host the All-Star game and all but so did the Knicks last year. Here’s hoping we’re wrong.
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