What they really wanted to say on Media Day (Part 1)

Enjoy - Nav B. Part 2 coming soon. You will never guess what some of these guys were saying.

Have a great week all!

Big Time Melo Noise via - ESPN.com

Hey Everyone, seems like Melo maybe on the move, check out this proposed deal.
Thoughts......!!???

add in the comments section below!

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the video i posted is no longer available according to espn.com, it was pretty sick, anyhow you can read about it here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5618346


@_bigkev_
@brokeanklesblog

Coyotes of...

Just got back from a conference that was held in Windsor, Ontario and had an exhausting and yet fun filled weekend!!! Glad to be back in Toronto, although I do miss the Boom Boom Room!!! LOL

So after writing the first Blog of the hockey season, a lot of people were saying how can those be your top 10 things to watch for in the coming season and not include the Phoenix Coyotes and their ownership situation. The reason I didn't have it in my top 10 due to the reason it is not a true hockey item to watch, it is a political battle between the NHL, and the City of Phoenix and anyone whose name is Jim Balsillie.

So we all know the situation, Balsillie overbids for an NHL team and then promptly decides he's going to move it to Hamilton to bring a second NHL team to the GTA/Southern Ontario Market. Here's my thoughts on the entire situation, from start to finish!!!



SEND THE TEAM TO SOUTHERN ONTARIO!!!

The facts are the facts...a second NHL team in the Southern Ontario Market, will not only generate interest from business owners in those areas, but it will put pressure on the Toronto Maple Leafs to put on a better product! Further more, from a business standpoint and I know @_bigkev_ can relate...a breaking even as opposed to a $35 million dollar loss in profit is a much better profit sharing technique that the other richer owners (cue New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, Toronto, LA, Chicago, Detroit) will be happier with.

See here is the issue, with the CBA the players and owners signed, the teams that require assistance receive them from the Richer teams. The players have to put a certain percentage of their money into an escrow fund, which may or may not be paid back to them; depending on the profits of the league in total. So by increasing the profit now by say, $35 million dollars the players are happier because now they don't have to put more into the escrow account!!!

Gary Bettman you little munchkin, are you hearing this...Happy Rich Owners and Happy Rich Hockey players! Both people are happy, and both are delivering an excellent product on and off the ice.

Lets face it, I wrote a blog in January about how the 'expansion down south' worked well for the NHL as there are American born hockey players who are now playing for high level Junior programs, either at the National Junior Program USA Hockey, in the CHL up here, or going to be playing high level College hockey in the NCAA. However, lets put our ducks in a row and call it a day. The NHL couldn't have thought that Phoenix would ever succeed. It was a disaster waiting to happen, the moment they changed the name from the Jets.

Here's the scariest part, the NHL makes a profit, but have about 8 or 9 teams bringing the profit down. Teams like Atlanta, Nashville, Dallas, Florida, Tampa are severely bringing down the profits of the NHL. I've never understood how an owner can stand by and watch as his money goes down the toilet. I mean if he wanted to do that, he could just give it to me and I'll figure out what to do with it!!! If the NHL moved even three of these teams (Dallas and Tampa you can stay) then it would be a much more profitable league.

I will give credit where credit is due. Since the NHL went to these markets, they did have to get a little bit creative, and well they were able to bring us these lovely ladies all the time!!! So Atlanta, Carolina, Dallas, Florida, Tampa and Nashville, thank you for your southern hospitality!!!

Now I'm not saying move the team to Saskatchewan, or to Prince Edward Island; I don't think PEI has enough people on the island to fill an NHL rink...although the Charlottetown Potatoes has a good ring to it...(they can even have Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head as the mascot). But moving the teams to hockey markets that the league knows can be a success (Hamilton, Winnipeg, Quebec City) would be a step in the right direction.

One of the conspiracies that was being floated around when Balsillie was looking to owning the Phoenix Coyotes was that the NHL could not make any money on that sale because the Coyotes sale was private and only the owners of the team would profit from it. Well now, the NHL has full control over the Coyotes, and can now determine a place to put the team all on its own, and can profit from moving it to Southern Ontario as well.

In an odd twist of fate, I'm remembering when the city of Toronto was awarded a franchise by the NBA and one of the bidders was Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Well they ended up losing the franchise bid to the Bitove Group...however a couple of years later, Maple Leaf Sports comes back and makes the purchase of the Toronto Raptors and the Air Canada Centre (hadn't been built yet but the plans and design) and have profited large from that acquisition. If the NHL doesn't play its cards right, and in fact decides to move the Coyotes to Hamilton wouldn't it be funny if Jim Balsille comes in two years later to buy the team off the guy the NHL sold the team to? Then what would Munchkin Gary say?!?!?!?!?!

Its great to see the NHL show interest to come back to Canada...lets hope they will actually fulfill it and not cop out like they have in the past!!!

Just so everyone knows, even as a Leafs fan, I'm all in favour of Hamilton getting an NHL team! I think it would be a great opportunity for both teams to truly make a rivalry out of this great game of ours!!!

If the Coyotes move to Winnipeg, it would be a great story...the son runs away with the pretty girl from the Southern United States...realizes his mistake, and then comes back home again...leaving the girl in the Phoenix with a baby and no child support (in the hockey case it would be an empty arena and 0 revenue)...Justice would in fact be served...LAW AND ORDER STYLE!!!



follow me on twitter at @jollybenjabi
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Worst Post Title (sorry): James and Vick and the US and Sports News Outlets Blowing Things Up....

This is the worst title ever I have had for a post, but i did not and will not ever title something like other news outlets (cough cough espn) with the word 'racial' or racism in it. My Brokeankles peeps, do me a favor and watch this entire video. After watching, think about it for a minute and then proceed and read, because this is a bit of a touchy topic. I am not trying to stir the pot but a lot of you may or may not agree with some of the things i may say going forward in this post.

Again, these are my thoughts and do not reflect the rest of the guys who write on the blog. I am not getting into any Jesse Jackson type of ish, but I am gonna say some stuff.....if the embedded video doesn't work, then check the link and find the video

"Lebron James Racial Divide" http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5603433&categoryid=2459788 - story featured on espn 1st/10.



....So, what did you think? If you are a Canadian, i will say it is hard to relate to the views of both the black and white communities in the US, because I am always the first to say that my city, Toronto, is one of the happiest places in the world!! We are truly a melting pot and issues of race never, ever, never ever eveeeerrrrr come up. Seriously. In terms of our sports coverage we have the Hockey Network (TSN), The Score, and all the Raptor/Blue Jay/Leaf and MLS Toronto FC coverage. The sports news outlets up here are ok, they do what they have to do. Report the latest and greatest, update scores, and talk about news i.e. trades, etc. ESPN however likes to have segments such 1st and 10, which is probably the worst thing I have ever watched on their site. I check ESPN almost daily, 10 times a day almost and watch all vids, and reports, but these 1st and 10 segments get on my nerves. After watching the video, the thing that really, "grinds my gears" is the whole comparison between Cross Burning and Burning Lebron James's Jersey's in Cleavland. To compare Lebron James jersey's to a cross being burned, is absolutely, ridiculous. There is a huge difference to me, and the fact that Lebron James and his "decision" have garnered so much negative publicity, you had to see this coming. This chick to the left (Jamele Hill) of the host, needs to get a Van Damme gut punch man...seriously.

Bringing up Jesse Jackson's comments into play after Dan Gilbert verbally raped Lebron and his antics, is nonsense as well. Gilbert has every right to say what he wants, cause his former employee acted like a Pre-Madonna, selfish individual. A self anointed "king" (w/o a ring), who let down an entire state.... Oh yah, he broad-casted it on National Television. Thats a slap in the face, and i like his game, but Lebron as a person, well just seeing what i see and read of him on the daily news.... he is not someone I would ever go have a beer with. I will leave it at that. For anyone else to comment on top of it, like Jesse James did is stupid, he has no right whatsoever, but I feel that is a... (here we go, maybe a little controversial what i am going to say, but i am just sayin...) its a very common American News tactic, to spin things into a racial issue when we are talking about SPORTS. They are making a guy like Lebron, bigger then the actual sport itself. Which is totally wrong.

I am actually done talking about Lebron, I will say, its a decision he made to move on, but the way he handled it, was f'n insane. Thats it. That is the problem with the entire Lebron story. Anyone, who thinks this story is racist, racial, is totally off and totally wrong. Which bring me to my next subject of this post,Michael Vick.

This lady goes onto somehow involve an ex convicted felon NFL player who recently had a shooting take place at a birthday party into this Lebron story. :| that means "straight face" BBM emotican. Now I am thinking what the F does Michael Vick have to do with Lebron James. Like he's a football player, and LBJ is a basketball player. In case everyone forgot, this is what Michael Vick did....

Mo' Better Blues

“That’s how bad it got,” Mo Williams said. “I contemplated it. I really sat down and envisioned life after basketball. …I really saw myself not playing. “It just didn’t make sense to me. …It doesn’t make sense to me.” “This summer was very, very stressful for me,” Williams said. “I really lost a lot of love for the game this summer". Williams said he was so depressed by James’ exit that he considered walking away from the NBA.

Really Mo? Walking away from it all? You are 27, healthy (at least physically) and have three years and $26 million remaining on your contract. Life has its ups and downs and we all have been to that dark place where we contemplated whether to walk away from things we love (job, drugs, alcohol, PS3s, marriage or relationships).

What you are is blessed my friend, to be in the league and to be healthy to compete at the highest level and get paid really well for it.

Two and a Half Men

I came across this video this morning and thought that it was hilarious. I love Derrick Rose and David Lee. The third guy in this video - not so much. In fact, I am not sure why he keeps popping up in these 2K11 commercials. Dude looks so uncomfortable in front of the camera..maybe that explains Game 7 of the finals.




Nav B

@JollyBenjabi's NHL Top 10 Season Premiere!

Well its Premiere week in TV Land now, and well after a long hiatus, Hockey is back on Brokeankles! So here is the season premiere episode of what I'm looking forward to this hockey season.

1. The Chicago Blackhawks
Now this team, was built by Dale Tallon (who was then unceremoniously fired for a fax up...errr fuck up in administration). He built the Stanley Cup champs to become the Stanley Cup champs and first and foremost, deserves a ring for it. But now here's the really messed up situation in Chicago, after waiting 48 long and torturous years for a Stanley Cup parade, the team was dismantled just like the Florida Marlins. It was a sad sad state when more than 10 players had to be shipped off the team, because of salary cap restraints. The Blackhawks will no doubt be the most interesting team this season, not only because of the star power they have, but because of all the new faces on the team...this isn't your father's Chicago Blawkhawks...

2. Halak a Blue
Jaroslav Halak had a magical playoff run with the Montreal Canadians. As a Leaf fan, I hated every minute of it...as a hockey fan you couldn't help but think of the Ken Drydon or Patrick Roy goalies. This was a goaltender who single handily took out the Presidents Cup trophy winners, and the defending Stanley Cup champions! Unreal! And just as quickly as his glove would make a catch, he was shipped out of Montreal for a couple of prospects. In a weird way, I actual agree with what Montreal did...for two reasons and two reasons only...Halak's value was at the highest it has ever been, possibly ever will be...why wouldn't you trade an asset like that away. The second, they showed a lot of balls by sticking with Carey Price. Price as we all know was looking like the second coming of Ken Drydon...Its going to be a season where not only do the Blues finally have a legitimate number 1 goalie, but now we get to find out if Halak is the real deal or not.

3. Dion Phaneuf as the Leafs Captain
To wear the "C" for the Toronto Maple Leafs is such an honour and a privilege that is given to a player worthy of that honour. Ron Wilson and Brian Burke made the decision this past summer in giving Dion Phaneuf a chance to be the leader. He was kicked out of Calgary for numerous rumours, and has a fresh start in Toronto. That just sounded weird, most players leaf Toronto to get a fresh start somewhere else...but he is here and hopefully can not only bolster the defense of the team, but motivate everyone on the team to do their role, and finally take this team into the playoffs. If nothing else, at least we'll see Elisha Cuthbert at the games...ahhhh the girl next door...

ESPN - Greatest Team of All Time

Guys, if you havent seen this cool sub site up on espn.com then check it out!
Really cool concept, allows you to pick any NBA team and decide all time who the greatest at each position would be. So of course my buddy already facebook'ed the greatest Raps team of all time, and here is what it looks like:

PG- DAMON
SG - VINCE
SF - JALEN
PF - CHRIS BOSH
C - A.DAVIS

really cant argue there, i would however have TMAC as my 3 and maybe Oakley as the 5 if you could have him eligible as the 4/5. Check it out if you havent already, im having some fun with this...

here is the link for the raps team, from here you can navigate around

http://espn.go.com/espn/greatestteam/index/_/teamId/5559484/the-greatest-raptors-team-all-time?teamId=5559484&votes=0:24~1:5555308~2:5555314~3:5555307~4:5555300~5:5555296~

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follow me on twitter at, twitter.com/_bigkev_


post by Kevin U

Breakfast with Bryan Colangelo (Part 2)

As promised. Here is part two of our conversation with Mr. Colangelo:

 

Question: “Congrats to Jay on winning a gold medal in Turkey– what must he do different this year?”

BC: “ Thanks. Jay just got back and he is still grinning from ear to ear. I think Jay needs to be Jay this year. He needs to be more assertive and be very vocal. We have a lot of confidence in his abilities and I think the group of guys we have this do also.”

 

Did you all see that video with Jay doing all that trick shots? I have a whole different level of respect for a coach who can make a layup with both his left and right hand. He might need to suit up on some nights this year.

 

 

Question: “Why do you think we have problems with getting players to want to come to play in Toronto? I heard that ex-players like T-Mac were telling Chris not to re-sign here.”

BC: “ Not sure why. This is one of the best cities to be a part of. There are lots of players that do want to be here. Jarrett Jack for example tells me all the time that he wants to be here and nowhere else.”

 

Funny. When I used to play high school ball – I would tell my coach anything  he wanted to hear just so I can start over Bobby. Be careful what you ask for Jarrett, you might just get it.

 

 

Question: “Did you look at a plan B during the free agency? Did you have your eye on any other marquee player to sign in the summer? What about Ray Allen? I heard that there were talks of signing him.”

BC: “No we really didn’t pursue Ray. We however had our eyes on Joe Johnson – who would have been a good fit for this team.”

 

Whoa, Joe Johnson? I guess he is trying to put together another Phx. Suns team. We could have had Barbosa, Joe, bring back Marion, almost got Diaw, wait….can we get Nash next? Man that would be something. I support bringing Kid Canada home.

 

 

Question: “What are your personal expectations for this team? The pundits say we will be last in eastern conference. What is a successful season in your mind next year?”

BC: “ Honestly..the East has got lot tougher…we won 40 games last year..if we can win 41 this year without our all-star..that would be a great accomplishment to me.”

C’mon…let it out man..just say it…"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE TORONTO RAPTORS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘CB4' WINS ONE" …I am kidding..someone else in Cleveland already beat him to it. Besides Bryan is way too composed to get worked up.

 

My closing thoughts:

 

·         Thanks again for MLSE for throwing the intimate event – Damn their new Real Sports Bar & Grill is the spot to be; ESPN mobile recently announced that Toronto’s own Real Sports Bar & Grill beat out seven other finalists to win the title of best in North America (I promised to put the plug for them).

·          I appreciated seeing the man who hangs out at the tunnel in ACC up close and hear him speak candidly.

·         My verdict on him is still undecided. Much like all the shareholder meetings I have been too, he had an answer for everyone’s questions.

·         I think we should truly judge him after his term is up. Much like how history evaluates all the US presidents. You always get a different perspective after they are long gone from the oval office. Except George Bush..we all knew he was truly an idiot from Day 1.

 

Nav B.

 

Feel free to let us know what you think. Peace and Love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tweet of the Day

Big day for the blog, we got some love from raptorsrepublic.com today on a post they did on Colangelo. Linking our boy @naveenb23's, post on the espn tru hoop network blog. Since then I have been tweeting away more so now cause I have 2 berries (long story)....

Anyhow, read this couldn't stop laughin...

Tweet from: @DeMar_DeRozan

From: @DeMar_DeRozan
Sent: Sep 16, 2010 9:51p

Joey Dorsey is horrible in 2k10...

sent via web

On Twitter: http://twitter.com/DeMar_DeRozan/status/24717948324

follow me @_bigkev_

Kevin U
follow us on twitter at, twitter.com/brokeanklesblog
email us at, brokeanklesdotblogspot@gmail.com

Breakfast with Bryan Colangelo (Part 1)

Today we had an opportunity to have breakfast with Mr. Bryan Colangelo. Maple Leaf Sports was kind enough to invite a handful of us to spend some time with the man who won Executive of year in 2007.

Here are excerpts of our discussion today. I will give him credit. He is a very polished speaker and knows how to come up with answers on the spot. Shows no fear. Very CEO like.

 

NB: “So, let’s get it over with right away – what happened with Chris Bosh?”

 

BC: “Clearly, Chris feels he has better chances of winning a championship in Miami – being a 3^rd option on the team.  He took less money to have an opportunity to make more in a bigger market. I guess he must have always wanted to do milk moustache commercials which he never got here.”

 

Sounds like they need to work on a closure. I don’t know why Chris left to Miami either – maybe I can tweet him for a response.

 

 

NB: “With Chris gone, who do you see emerging as the leader on this team?”

 

BC: “Just because someone  averages 24-10 doesn’t make them a leader. There are lots of other guys like Jarrett Jack who are showing signs of locker room leadership that Chris never did.”

 

Ok. I will give him that one. He pulled a Derek Fisher on me.

 

 

NB: “In that case, weren’t you going to max $126 million to keep him here?”

 

BC: “Yes. We would have done that stupidly – just like any other team would. He would have been a great asset to the team that we could have moved if things didn’t work out in the future.”

 

I guess now I know why the Hawk’s gave Joe Johnson his contract. Don’t get too comfortable Joe. You are an “asset”.

 

 

NB: “Now onto Hedo – where did that go wrong?”

 

BC: “That was clearly a mistake on our part. That relationship did not work for us or Hedo. We have moved on from that mistake and learned that some players care more about the money than the game.”

 

I love when people own up to their mistakes. Now if only the chef that made my scrambled eggs too runny this morning apologized as well.

 

 

NB: “Do you think it will be awkward to have Jose back with the team after what happened?”

 

BC: “No. Jose and I spent a lot of time in Istanbul and he understands where we were coming from. He is still our floor leader and is committed to helping us be successful next year. Funny enough, Larry Bird keeps calling me for Jose. But his offers are too low for me to give up Jose. “

 

I hear you. This dude wanted to trade me Chris Duhon for Jose in my fantasy pool. I hate when people low ball trades. C’mon Larry, you know better than that.

 

 

NB: “How are we going to get tougher as a team? We were being labeled soft last year.”

 

BC: “Linus Kleiza”

 

NB: “Who? Ok onto the next…..who do you think our go to guy on this team will be”

 

BC: “Andrea I think will be the next guy to take this team to another level. He averaged 17pt last year while deferring to Chris a lot and he is not afraid to take big shots . Who knows, with Chris not being here. I can see his #s and production going up.”

 

NB: Big Gulp. “Excuse Miss, can I get a refill on my coffee please?”

 

Really. The ill Mago averaged 17pt with teams doubling Chris every night. Maybe teams will double Demar this year and Andrea can average 30pts.

 

 

To be continued – Look out tomorrow for Part 2. Its gets better.

 

Nav B.

 

P.S. Brokeankles is going to bring you lots of exclusives this season. Better bookmark us on your favourites.

 

 

 

 

 

"Scola goes into video game god mode to finish off Brazil. Wow."

That's what the Houston Rockets GM tweeted after that bad man went off for 37/9 in a friggin international game....who does that!?!
I'm hoping he builds of the play and momentum from this tourney, cause I just drafted this man in the 9th rd as the 1st pick of the oh so serious fantasy L I'm in this year. The experts have the Rockets finishing really, really high (I believe espn.com has then 2nd in the West....weird). So I'm sure we'll be seeing and hearing more of Scola throughout the year.

Awesome performance, you can catch his highlights from this game I think of espn.com

follow me on twitter at, twitter.com/_bigkev_

Kevin U
follow us on twitter at, twitter.com/brokeanklesblog
email us at, brokeanklesdotblogspot@gmail.com