Hooped Up

Wow! The most racist thing I’ve seen in a newspaper this year has officially happened. This picture was taken for a Spanish newspaper and you got to wonder, what the hell was Spain thinking? The whole team posed in a racist, slanty-eyed gesture directed obviously directed at the Asian community for a freight company ad.

During the 2008  Beijing Olympics, in freakin’ China. Uh…ya, bad idea. The Spanish squad definetly went 1936 Berlin games on this one.

Not to condem the players (who obviously should know better) but who the heck was the 8 year old “genius” that let this go to publication?

The enite Spanish squad shoud get a free pair of Bad Idea Jeans for this one.

In the wee hours of the morning — or the reasonable hours of the morning in Spain — the Raptors reached an agreement with point guard Jose Calderon, a restricted free agent. The source of that news: Calderon himself.

“Early this morning, through my agents, I reached a preliminary agreement with the Toronto Raptors,” Calderon said on his Web site. “I want to thank [president and general manager] Bryan Colangelo, [assistant general manager] Maurizio Gherardini, [head coach] Sam Mitchell and all of the Raptors family for the confidence that they have placed in me. I am sure that together we are going to achieve big things in the future.”

The free agency negotiation period started Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. ET. Players, however, cannot officially sign their deals until July 9. However, players are free to talk about the completion of deals, even if teams are wary of doing so.

National Post

T.J. Ford knows how it goes. You lose your spot, you fight your way back. Ford began the season as the starting point guard on this Raptors. Injuries and the stellar play of Jose Calderon in his absence combined to take it away from him. Ford says he is not bitter about this but, at the same time, it’s not in his competitive nature to accept it, either. This is not a knock on Calderon or Ford. Calderon is the starter on merit. But if Ford can change that, he will. Would anyone expect anything less of a top-level athlete who got to where he is primarily on his competitiveness?

Toronto Sun

The Blazers, who have been hurt this season by inconsistent play at the position, did more than window shop for a point guard at the Feb. 21 trading deadline. A Western Conference source said the Blazers heavily pursued Toronto point guard Jose Calderon, only to have their offers rebuffed by the Raptors. Pritchard, the general manager, hemmed and hawed last week before saying it’s too early to pass judgment on Steve Blake, Jarrett Jack and Sergio Rodriguez. And McMillan, the coach, paused before diplomatically saying each point guard excels in a different area of the game.

Oregonian