Alex Wong @ Raptors Show Appreciation Thread

[ebo]

His humour, both on radio and Twitter, is not targeted at the typical hockey and baseball listeners on the Fan - and that seems to generate a really strong negative reaction from some of those people who are used to media being targeted directly for them (and probably don't know what things like Black Twitter are). I personally think he was hilarious, and was a breath of fresh air on the Fan. We need lots of different types of cultural humour represented.

Very presumptuous to assume that people who don't like Alex are xenophobic chuds. I can't stand hockey and baseball. Puckhead culture is pretty gross, overly reactionary etc. I don't listen to the Fan or sports radio in general. Just basketball media and podcasts, moreso on the analytical side. I recognize that Alex is a successful writer, but he was a horrible on air personality.

Interesting that you took "really strong negative reaction from some of those people" and framed it as me calling everyone who doesn't like him "xenophobic chuds". We all have biases and blind spots, and simply recognizing those is important for all of us in being open minded.

To my point, look no further than this thread of "appreciation" and the amount of strong negative reactions.

[WiggOuts]

I'm surprised people liked him, he was not a good radio personality at all. He kept trying to make jokes that were not very funny. He didn't seem like he wanted to be there anyway

[NinjaBro]

live look at NinjaBro over this news

Exactly my reaction when I found out he was gone. I used to turn off the podcast as soon as Alex Wong came on. This is great news, Will and Blake are excellent at what they do so this is terrific.

"If you want to lose brain cells go read Realgm" - Pensare Basketball

[WaltFrazier]

Savannah on now talking about being in Detroit when the trade went down. She is a much speaker in this less formal setting, more fluid and natural. On TV doing sideline reporter stuff she sounds stiff and robotic in her delivery. I like her anyway just based on appearance, but it's nice to see she's engaging and charming in the more conversational setting.

[johanliebert]

I think that show will be cancelled by years end with Blake. Wasn’t a fan of Alex either but Blake will just lecture the audience and not invite any feedback. That doesn’t work well when you never competed at any level and hold onto advanced metrics. The local sport radio scene is void of any personality aside from Jeff Oneill.

[And1Skip]

Alex is a legend and will be missed. Just a few years ago it would be crazy to have thought that the Raptors could have a daily 2 hour show on the Fan. We used to have to suffer through puck heads like Bob McCown - but here we are and a lot of that is due to Alex and Will.

It is also interesting to see the difference in reaction to this news between here and Reddit - where people here seem to be kind of glad he is moving on, and on Reddit there is much more sadness. My sense is there is not only an age and demographic difference between here and Reddit, but that difference also contributes to how much people enjoyed his commentary.

Alex and Will brought a distinctively young, immigrant, and person of colour perspective to their analysis, banter, and humour - all of which made their dynamic and show so great and unique. I don't think that always worked well with the primarily older and white demographic of those who consume radio shows. There is definitely some dog whistling going on with the way people are describing why they are so glad he is gone.

I think if someone did a poll here on RealGM on the demographics of this board, you'll find it's just as diverse. I'm not "glad that he's gone" - I just don't find Alex worth listening/watching to. I appreciate the representation as I'm asian myself, but find a lot of the jokes lame (like I knew that, etc) and feel it could be a bit awkward to those that don't understand them. The promotion of CCYAA was good but that can be done with Will and Blake.

And Bob McCown is not a puckhead. He hates hockey with a passion though I don't appreciate his views on basketball either. Yeah he wanted OG gone, but it was because he said OG was a bad shooter LOL.

Fair enough, and everyone should have their opinion. I think your point about jokes being awkward to those that don't "get them", is kind of my point as well.

His humour, both on radio and Twitter, is not targeted at the typical hockey and baseball listeners on the Fan - and that seems to generate a really strong negative reaction from some of those people who are used to media being targeted directly for them (and probably don't know what things like Black Twitter are). I personally think he was hilarious, and was a breath of fresh air on the Fan. We need lots of different types of cultural humour represented.

I will give him the kudos and appreciation for what he's done. He has his good moments and especially at the beginning of his gig coming off of writing many insightful and interesting articles. The critical comments about the show has been communicated to them since the beginning in hopes they would improve, and not just now after the fact. Glad that the Raptors Show is still going to proceed though.

[HumbleRen]

The only MLSE Raptors podcast that actually felt untouched by the corporate side of things. I’ll miss the chemistry between Alex and Will.

I’m surprised at how polarizing he is on this board but it makes sense since RealGM tends to have much older users compared to Twitter or something.

They built the most popular basketball podcast in Canada off the backs of Will and Alex, I hope Sportsnet doesn’t forget that.

[Mr Funk]

Interesting that you took "really strong negative reaction from some of those people" and framed it as me calling everyone who doesn't like him "xenophobic chuds".

Well, you did state this:

"His humour, both on radio and Twitter, is not targeted at the typical hockey and baseball listeners on the Fan - and that seems to generate a really strong negative reaction from some of those people who are used to media being targeted directly for them (and probably don't know what things like Black Twitter are)."

[tecumseh18]

The only MLSE Raptors podcast that actually felt untouched by the corporate side of things. I’ll miss the chemistry between Alex and Will.

I’m surprised at how polarizing he is on this board but it makes sense since RealGM tends to have much older users compared to Twitter or something.

They built the most popular basketball podcast in Canada off the backs of Will and Alex, I hope Sportsnet doesn’t forget that.

At least two of the oldest guys on this board have supported Alex in this thread.

If there's one thing I've learned in my many years on this earth, it's that racism isn't dying out with the newer generations. Maybe you don't spend as much time on X as I do.

[Dennis 37]

The only MLSE Raptors podcast that actually felt untouched by the corporate side of things. I’ll miss the chemistry between Alex and Will.

I’m surprised at how polarizing he is on this board but it makes sense since RealGM tends to have much older users compared to Twitter or something.

They built the most popular basketball podcast in Canada off the backs of Will and Alex, I hope Sportsnet doesn’t forget that.

Hey! I'm old thank you very much, and I like inane banter. Yes I do also like analysis, but there is always room for the ridiculous.

Young people, who are serious all the time, grow up to be serious old people. People don't become serious when they get old.

Case in point:



By the way what happened to Will who Will not admit he is Will?

[kakashi]

Alex will be missed, as his type of banter isn't represented anywhere else which made his contribution very unique and fun to listen to. Overall seems like a good, personable good dude as I had bumped into them in person and they graciously took time to chat. Wishing him all the best!

[DelAbbot]

The only MLSE Raptors podcast that actually felt untouched by the corporate side of things. I’ll miss the chemistry between Alex and Will.

I’m surprised at how polarizing he is on this board but it makes sense since RealGM tends to have much older users compared to Twitter or something.

They built the most popular basketball podcast in Canada off the backs of Will and Alex, I hope Sportsnet doesn’t forget that.

At least two of the oldest guys on this board have supported Alex in this thread.

If there's one thing I've learned in my many years on this earth, it's that racism isn't dying out with the newer generations. Maybe you don't spend as much time on X as I do.

What does this have to do with racism? NinjaBro hates Alex and they are the same ethnicity

[NinjaBro]

The only MLSE Raptors podcast that actually felt untouched by the corporate side of things. I’ll miss the chemistry between Alex and Will.

I’m surprised at how polarizing he is on this board but it makes sense since RealGM tends to have much older users compared to Twitter or something.

They built the most popular basketball podcast in Canada off the backs of Will and Alex, I hope Sportsnet doesn’t forget that.

A realgm poll was done recently to find out the demographics of the Raps board and most posters here are in the 20s age bracket. It skewed a lot younger than I thought and was very diverse.

It probably has more to do with reddit being populated with more clowns.

"If you want to lose brain cells go read Realgm" - Pensare Basketball

[djsunyc]

to me, sports radio doesn't really work without callers. otherwise its just a podcast.

[ForeverTFC]

The only MLSE Raptors podcast that actually felt untouched by the corporate side of things. I’ll miss the chemistry between Alex and Will.

I’m surprised at how polarizing he is on this board but it makes sense since RealGM tends to have much older users compared to Twitter or something.

They built the most popular basketball podcast in Canada off the backs of Will and Alex, I hope Sportsnet doesn’t forget that.

At least two of the oldest guys on this board have supported Alex in this thread.

If there's one thing I've learned in my many years on this earth, it's that racism isn't dying out with the newer generations. Maybe you don't spend as much time on X as I do.

I don’t want to to be that guy but I think the race thing is a bit of a reach here. It would be weird to support Will and not Alex if this was a race thing, no?

No doubt there are racists out there that hate the two for being Asian and no doubt it was harder for these guys to come up as minorities, but surely there are non race based reasons for not enjoying listening to Alex.

[KL78192020]

Who comes into an appreciation thread just to slag on the person? Some of you are absolutely miserable

I'll miss the banter and I wish Alex good luck wherever he goes next!

username checksout JJ Wong.That you Alex's mom?

[mtcan]

Alex brought some comic relief so I appreciate that in small doses. The giggle was a bit much though.

Show will feel a bit different going forward.

[ChaiSudle]

I rarely watched or listened to the show but I love Alex's twitter feed and I bought his book. He's got a great sense of humour and he's scary fast with the perfect gif on Twitter.

I have so much respect for him and Will. They've carved out meaningful jobs that allows them to essentially be professional fans of the team they grew up supporting. That's a beautiful thing. And although I'm not Asian, I think it's great that they rep the Asian community in such an inclusive and fun way.

best of luck to Alex!

[dTox]

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Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[rapsincr]

lol im watching todays episode, it really feels like blake hates the back and forth of will and alex. dude barely cracks a smile when they are joking around.