There’s no such thing as too deep

The Raptors are 15-4 and holding down top spot in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. Despite that, the Raps lost all-star shooting guard Demar Derozan to a groin tear that could sideline him for a month. There is no way this can be a good thing for this team. So far chemistry and bringing back all of the pieces from last years team has paid serious dividends, losing Demar can’t have a positive effect. Or can it?!

The Raptors are 2-1 since losing Demar to injury. One loss, coming against the lowly Los Angeles Lakers. This is unacceptable. These are games they simply can’t lose, but I will chalk it up to the fact it was the first time without Demar in so long. Regardless, you can’t give up 129 points to that team, even if it did go to overtime.

Following that loss, the Raptors handled the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz. Scoring tons of points. That’s one thing that is so clear with this team, even without Demar, they can score with the best of em averaging 120 a game.

Greivis Vasquez has stepped into the line-up and played awesome. After struggling to start the season, he has looked very good and made the loss of Derozan not as significant.

Lou WIlliams is doing typical Lou Williams things. Hitting buzzer-beaters, dropping double fidget points off the bench.

James Johnson is a BEAST. Defense is just phenomenal, all around a scary individual too.

Overall, the Raptors shouldn’t panic at all. They are a deep team with tons of chemistry. Lou and Greivis could be starters on plenty of teams in the league. Vasques hasn’t been as much of a facilitator as in the past, but his scoring is explosive. This team looks like it’s well on it’s way to a top seed in the playoffs.

Once Demar’s back, we can focus on the Larry Obrien Trophy.

Jammin’ With Geoff: A New Bond To Share

Welcome to another addition of Jammin’ with Geoff! Big news happened out of Pinewood Studios this morning as you may have already heard. Sam Mendes, director of such incredible films as American Beauty, Road to Perdition and the most recent addition to the James Bond franchise, Skyfall was on the scene at 6am EST to unveil with great anticipation the title of the 24th feature and the follow up to the worldwide phenomenon that was Skyfall.

The whole video is below, but if you can’t wait like I did, just skip to 2:00. If you’re a huge Bond fan like I am, you’ll be glad you did.

Epic, right? Did you see that car? If I could sell my future romantic life for that car, I would! Because let’s face it, I ain’t getting lucky any time soon!

The first thing that caught my eye was the impeccable choice of name, also viewable below.

Fans of the franchise will know that SPECTRE – which stands for Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion – was an old-school terrorist organization that Agent 007 frequently came into contact with in the earlier years. Sadly, the memorable organization or it’s head hasn’t been featured on screen in over 30 years. Well luckily, after settling a dispute over ownership of the famed group of foes, SPECTRE will be making a big return in terms of plot and is also getting the great honour of being the title of the freaking film!

Another thing that has me as excited as a kid at Christmas is the amazing cast. Returning of course are Mr. Daniel Craig as James Bond 007, Rory Kinnear as Tanner, Chief of Staff, Ben Wishaw as the youngest Q ever, Naomi Harris as the gorgeous Eve Moneypenny, and taking over after Judi Dench’s unfortunate departure, Ralph Fiennes as M. They added so much to Skyfall and can’t wait to see them again for Spectre. A new inclusion to the MI6 family is Sherlock’s Andrew Scott as a fellow named Denbigh (It’s pronounced “Den-bee”. I had issues too). Joining him as new inductees to the film are Dave Bautista playing a henchman known as Mr. Hinx, Monica Belluci as Lucia Sciarra, Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, and two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz as the main villain Bond will go up against.

Now many people figured that given Mr. Waltz’s status in the film, and then the reveal of the title, he’d be playing old school Bond baddie Ernst Stavro Blofeld. But on the IMDb page, he’s listed as Oberhauser. So from appearances sake, Blofeld will be waiting to return to the Bond franchise.

HOWEVER!!! I am of the belief that Waltz could still be Blofeld and here’s why. Recently, a ton of movies have been doing the ol’ bait n’ switch with characters. Star Trek Into Darkness revealed Benedict Cumberbatch’s villain John Harrison to be a classic Star Trek villain by the name of Khan. Skyfall made a pair of big reveals when Naomi Harris’ Eve was unveiled to be the iconic Moneypenny. Even Ralph Fiennes went from being Gareth Mallory to the new M. So who knows how many people will be knocked unconscious by Christoph Waltz simply for teasing him about his “real identity”. Only time will tell.

I do know one thing, I’m gonna be counting the days until November 6, 2015 when Spectre makes its big unveiling. Wouldn’t blame you if you did too.

Raptors Fall Short to Dallas 106-102

The Raptors turned in another strong fourth quarter, made even more impressive given the loss of DeMar DeRozan in the third quarter due to a left groin strain, but they just couldn’t quite get over that hump against a Mavericks team that always seemed to find a way to get a timely bucket.

Down 97-83 with 2:21 to go, the Raptors rattled off a 13-2 run that cut the Dallas lead to just three with 33 seconds remaining. The Raptors then fouled Monta Ellis, who drilled two free throws to restore a five-point lead with 25 seconds to play. A Kyle Lowry layup would get the deficit down to two with 9.9 seconds to go, but Devin Harris sealed the deal for Dallas with two more free throws the other way.

Huge performance from Ellis, who scored 15 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter to keep the hard-charging Raptors not coming out on top. That 30-point performance from the veteran guard has typically been a great sign for the Mavericks — they’ve won now won all three games when he’s scored at least that many this season.

‘Tis the season to be Jolly…

So here’s the deal…

There’s only 8 more days left in the semester, and things are actually looking up in means of school. Everyone is pretty much kicking ass when it comes to assignments/exams and then that’s when you realize there’s only 21 more days until Christmas. I’m sure by now most people have their Christmas tree up, the smell of fresh pine is in the air(unless you have a fake tree from Walmart like me, that’s fine too) and have all sorts of Christmas decorations hanging around the house, and you just know for a fact that once that long and very well deserved Christmas break is over, and you go back to school or work, people might not recognize you(unfortunately) due to all the weight you’re probably going to gain from all of the delicious chocolate, turkey, stuffing, garlic bread, cake, not to mention the candy candies and whatever Santa left for you in your stocking…I could go on forever.

Good thing that “New Years Resolution” always comes in handy….I am right…huh…oh wait…thats just a figure of speech…right?

But of course, just because it’s Christmas and you are on your Christmas break, doesn’t mean it’s all about you. You always have to be thinking about your family, friends, and loved ones.

But it’s also time to think about the ones, who are less unfortunate then you. Everyone loves Christmas, and everyone deserves to have a happy holidays and a happy news years(even if you are a filthy animal).

So in saying that, I encourage anyone and everyone who reads this blog post, or who as ever read a blog post to be generous this year and to take a step back from reality and realize that there are millions of people each year who don’t get to experience a Christmas like other people do. If you don’t feel like having bad karma for the rest of the year, might I suggest you head out to your local Toy Drive and donate, or you can visit CP24 CHUM Christmas Wish and donate online.

Merry Christmas, ya little jerks.

-Scotty Shade.