RAPTORS, JAYS, AND WEARING NO. 24 FOR THE 'SLIMMING EFFECT'

The NBA title was won by a team from below the Mason-Dixon line, yet no one seems all that bent out of shape over it.

Since the Keith Hernandez stuff went on longer than it should, today's missive has been split up.

• One week to go until the NBA draft, with your Toronto Raptors still holding the No. 1 pick. Yours truly has said it won't be used on Gonzaga's floppy-haired forward, Adam Morrison, has said it might be the 20-year-old Italian Dirk Nowitzki doppleganger, Andrea Bargnani.
  
  The Toronto Sun has run with the rumour about the Raptors trading down with Charlotte to get the No. 3 pick and point guard Brevin Knight. The Star's Doug Smith advised against that yesterday, saying Knight probably isn't suited to the up-tempo style that is the hallmark of the team GM Bryan Colangelo built in Phoenix.
  
  Smith also wrote the Bargani talk has been a smokescreen and that LaMarcus Aldridge is the guy the Raptors want -- but there's a trade possibility with Seattle that's kind of intriguing, especially since it involves Charlie Villaneuva, which RaptorBlog's Scott Carefoot raised about a month ago.
• He wasn't half-bad, but he wasn't half-good either. Josh Towers, in his first start since being recalled from Syracuse, twirled five decent innings of one-run, three-hit ball for the Jays in their 6-5 win over the reeling Braves last night. Naturally, manager John Gibbons let him start the sixth and before you know it, Towers was out and in short order, the Braves had tied the game 4-4. Was it enough to give him another start? Alas, given the state of Toronto's starting rotation, probably yes.
  
  Just a generally weird game all around, with Vernon Wells becoming the first Jay since god-knows-when (Roberto Alomar's time, perhaps?) to steal second and third in the same inning. (Of course, this being the Jays, he never got past third base.)
  
  Gibbons also said he managed "like it was the seventh game of a World Series," which is where it must be pointed out the Braves have won twice since the start of June.
  
  By the way, what are the chances Towers (1-8) and Atlanta's Jorge Sosa (1-9) will meet up again in a Syracuse-Richmond game in August?
• There were also two reprisals of opposing managers' curious willingness to take their chances against Shea Hillenbrand rather than lefty Lyle Overbay with runners on base, despite the fact Hillenbrand has a higher average against both right-handed pitchers and with runners in scoring position.
  
  The semi-intentional walk to Overbay backfired the first time, with Hillenbrand driving in the game's first run with a two-out hit and Bengie Molina following with a RBI single to put the Jays up 2-0. The second time, after Atlanta intentionally passed Overbay in the seventh, Hillenbrand hit a hard grounder up the middle that Atlanta reliever Phil Stockman deflected toward shortstop, resulting in an inning-ending groundout instead of a RBI hit.
  
  Now we're into the whole nature-nurture argument. Overbay does have the higher OPS against righties, .861 to Hillenbrand's .830. However, that difference is entirely due to walks, and how many of those are those have been intentional or semi-intentional? Overbay's known as a selective hitter, but it's worth noting only two of his 30 walks have come against lefty pitchers.
  
  Hopefully, the emotional blow of no longer being the Marlins' career wins leader won't affect A.J. Burnett tomorrow night. Yes, Dontrelle Willis' 50th career win last night dislodged A.J. from the Marlins record book.
• Mister, you're a braver man than I: Someone live-blogged last night's Pirates-Royals game. (Via Deadspin.)
• The Toronto Argonauts have a rookie defensive back, Jermaine Mays, who is wearing No. 24 -- just like that other Mays. Turns out he choose the number for the slimming effect.
• Yes, because as we've long suspected, a university's reputation is built on the opinion of 19-year-olds who have no basis for comparison: Queen's University finished No. 1 in the highly sketchy Maclean's university survey in the category of "How would you evaluate your entire educational experience at this institution?" with 55% of first-year students giving the response of "excellent."
  
  Silly frosh. Don't even get me started. Well, if my alma mater can't have kick-ass sports teams -- with the shining exceptions of women's basketball and soccer, along with cross-country -- at least it's No. 1 in something.
• Off Wing's other gem is about a long-time high school lacrosse coach arraigned on petty larceny charges in an incident stemming from a long-running dispute with a neighbour. Question that has to be asked, in light of the Duke "lax" scandal: if people in "lax" are generally good, why is it they keep getting involved in incidents that smack of general dickishness?
• Greg Hughes has revamped his blog. Check it out.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.