Alex Wong @ Raptors Show Appreciation Thread

[ForeverTFC]

... even I get lost when Caitlin and Samson get together ...

Really? Even you?

As I've said elsewhere on the board, I think of listening to Caitlin podcasts as akin to attending a Shakespeare performance. You only understand a small percentage of what's going on (except Macbeth, which is pretty straightforward), but it all sounds so good. The words wash over you.

Did not mean it to come across that way, may bad!

Agree on your characterization of listening to her. The best is when I rewind her thinking I'm going to get it the second time around, knowing damn well I'm not going to get it even if I listened to it 10 more times.

[NinjaBro]

Alex’s last day. Let the tears flow

Tears of happiness

[djsunyc]

Watch on YouTube

[kdot99]

Lots of sour sounding people in this thread who think too highly of themselves and down on others. Classic RealGM

[Tor_Raps]

Lots of sour sounding people in this thread who think too highly of themselves and down on others. Classic RealGM

For real... we have very little mainstream Raptors stuff and people wanna crap on them. Sure you can nitpick flaws but you should be happy with consistent raptors content while being circled around a bunch of puckheads. Go do it better yourself if you think so low of them...

[djsunyc]

do we know what alex is doing next?

[BCbudraptorfan]

they really go off topic alot in that show but good luck to alex

[ill-Will03]

Y’all some haters man lol

Anyways best of luck to Alex. Does anyone know why he’s leaving?

[WaltFrazier]

Love and hate Alex at the same time. Can be funny and creative but a lot of the time he's straight up annoying. Will and Blake are too serious, hopefully they add someone with character.

An ex player or coach who's a funny character would be great. To counterpoint the numbers approach of Blake and whatever Will's thing is (fanboy?). Can't think of any recent ex Raps to fit the bill though. Jonesy and Sherm too earnest and dull, Leo too old. Alvin is a good guest on the show but too busy. Alternatively try to have 2 authoritative guests from other teams, or national US media every show. Someone who's been in the NBA . Not so many of their peer group Canadian podcaster types.

I watched today. Will and Blake speak too softly to be entertaining. Wouldn't want a hot take guy who yells like ESPN guys either, but someone in between, with a little personality

[WaltFrazier]

Reading through this, I feel like a lot of you may not have gone through what those fans from the 90s and 00s went through as basketball fans in Toronto.

Now I don't agree with a lot of William Lou's takes especially when it came to his bias for Van Vleet and now his bias for Schroder (he's a lot better here), but I appreciate that he loves this team and the sport. Even if he wasn't doing this show, he would be doing something Raptors. The show has evolved so much in Toronto basketball talk. I think Tim and Sid kind of helped make that transition and they were my favourite, but this show has brought basketball talk to a different level in Toronto and Canada. We have guys who do all stats, but that is imo too dry and it's great we even have that option now. Give us all the content we can get. I tune into their podcasts depending on what they're deliving into.

I grew up having to listen to 6 hours of hockey content to get about 15 mins of basketball talk. I chased any content to the point I even read Feschuck and Doug Smith article (yikes).

I will always have a soft spot for Smith and Jones as they did this during a time when they were probably being mocked and made fun of by the puckheads. For the time they did this, they were great. I remember the hockey show mocking those guys publicly because the NBA trade deadline barely had any movement and the NHL one had a ton. Kudos to those guys. They were pioneers.

The chemistry between Will and Alex has been great. Alex really helped Will develop imo. He's doing a lot better than last season and from what I hear Alex is the one who worked behind the scenes to make this show what it is. But, you could also tell he didn't really want to be part of the show, or at least that's how it came across. I'm hoping this decision was an Alex decision and not forced because I do think having him pop in and out worked and helped keep the flow light and serious. I think Blake and Will be fine over time, but it's very possible we don't realized Alex did the behind the scenes work to make this show what it is.

I'm not a fan of the show or the chemistry of Will and Alex the way you are. Too many inside jokes and mentions or restaurants for my liking. But I appreciated the video tributes to Alex today. It did come across that he's been the driving force behind the scenes, as you said. And he did stress today that he's leaving of his own choice and on good terms with Sportsnet. Even thanked some puckheads among his many thank you'd to people

[C Court]

I will miss Alex. I liked him and Will together.

Below is his goodbye statement.

Read on Twitter

[djsunyc]

watch alex turn heel and start his own raptor show on another network lol!

[WaltFrazier]

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?

Hey just a quick thought—a lot of folks are named Wong, just as there a lot of folks named Smith. If Alex Smith was leaving the show (instead of Wong) and the poster’s name was JJSmith17, would you make the same joke? And even if you did, I think it’s important to think about how your statement could be implied as prejudiced, even if you never meant it to be. Hope I’m not coming across as accusatory or condescending, but I think it’s worth considering either way.

Looking way too hard for "prejudice" when it's just about the guy's on air performance.

[torsport]

I'm late on this, sorry to bump it, but wanted to add my appreciation.

I'm an old-head, still listen to most of my content on the radio...and for years there was no knowledgeable NBA talk on the radio.

The Swirsky show had a little, but unfortunately Chuck wasn't the best at analysis...he could call a game though. Smith and Joes were so infrequent, whether it was the Hoops show or anything else.

It's still a problem...after the IQ and RJ trade I heard the morning show folks say that RJ was the prize of the trade...sigh.

Anyway, I never caught the Raptors show on Yahoo...just not my thing, but since they've gone to the Sportsnet it's been a breath of fresh air. Actual knowledgeable ball content! It's been decades!

But more than that, I'll miss the dynamic between Will and Alex. They went beyond basketball analysis and provided great Toronto culture: food, clothing, music (never heard of Action Bronson before they show), but more importantly they gave a platform to voices seldom heard (I found the show that featured the folks behind the women's Islamic basketball league absolutely inspiring).

They shared a lot about their own journey. Neither were journalist majors looking for a gig on the airways and going through the 'process'. Alex was an accountant on a second career and Will was an economics guy that plays the flute! They're on the air because of the passion for ball...sometimes it makes them less professional, sure, but the passion rings true.

Nowhere on the airways will you get time spend on Pokeman, or Lord of the Rings player comps...nowhere...sure it can be silly, but it's also not. Basketball fandom can be lonely in Canada, and the show did a great job of connecting fans. Ball unites all was an old saying in the 90s, and I think the show is really a great example.

I love Blake and Will, but Alex will be sorely missed.

Okay.../rant - just wanted a place to post my appreciation for Alex...and really the show...no Alex, no Raptors show...and I'm so glad we finally have something on the main channels to consume.

[C Court]

Excellent post.

It’s the off-topic banter between Alex and Will that gave the show character that’s missing in other hoops content. I still laugh thinking about the untimely demise of Alex’s old Honda Civic.