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"Realists" with no grip on reality...



"I'm just a realist..."

How often have you heard that lately when someone is defending their negativity towards the Raptors?

All too often, and almost never accurately? That's my observation.

I don't begrudge the self-proclaimed realists their opinions. Their reasons for their doom and gloom are almost always deeply rooted in factual information. Some emotional influence perhaps exaggerates the base issues from time to time, but generally speaking they have a legitimate foundation for their malaise.

Here's the problem I have with their claims of "realism."

Day after day after day, post after repetitious post, they offer up the same dried out solution. Fire BC, trade Andrea and win the draft. It's a ceaseless barrage of sound reasoning that unfortunately is completely disconnected with the reality of the Raptors franchise.

You may be right, and your suggestions may be the "right" moves to build a contender.

But this isn't a video game.

I am sorry "Mr. Realist" but there are real-world ramifications to your suggestions. You need a willing trade partner to trade Andrea. You need a GM willing to do so. You need an ownership willing to suffer 2-3-however many dire seasons of a terrible product to achieve your goals.

And you need to ignore reality.

The problem with the "realist" is he is only "real" about what he thinks should happen and and is completely out of touch with what is probable/likely/feasible in the real world.

Most of us agree that ties should have been severed with Andrea by now (some don't but that doesn't make them less real it just means they favour the longshot, Vegas loves those types). The problem is many of us are resigned to the fact that BC and Casey are committed to their Dirk-lite experiment, at least until the trade deadline, and we also can see that ownership wants a profitable team.

This means in reality, they want wins, even if it isn't deep into the playoffs.

They want to feel like the Andrea Project got an honest shot with a full training camp under Casey.

They want to be sure they are wrong before they admit they are wrong.

THAT'S BEING REALISTIC.

There are 3 or 4 talents on this roster that may (and I use that "may" loosely) turn into stars in this league. Maybe one even breaks into superstar status. There is a good foundation for a well built team that needs some elite talent to carry it. Another draft went by where we saw good but sub-franchise talent get traded for a high lottery pick.

Maybe one of our budding talents is good enough to net us this lucky fortune even if they weren't destined to be a franchise player here. Maybe they are enticing enough to another team after a good showcasing under Casey that they net us such a return.

Is that a long shot? Yes. It is.

The whole thing is a gamble.

But it's the realistic proposition to be discussing based on the surrounding evidence.

So enough with the "Trade Andrea" and "Fire BC" daily BS. It's gloomy and quite frankly delusional, even if it IS rational and correct. It's just not realistic.

So quit being a "realist" and join the "reality" of being a Raptor fan.

We are on a certain path, let's talk about where we actually ARE headed instead of where we SHOULD have turned 4 forks in the road back.

And quit calling yourself a damn "realist" already. You just aren't.