I'm ready for my close-up

Tough on the Toronto Raptors who absolutely got killed by the ESPN analysts Tuesday for selecting Connecticut big man Charlie Villaneuva with their first pick in the NBA Draft. Steven A. Smith screamed what everyone else decided to just speak in a regular tone of voice: What are they thinking?

More accurately, as Smith bellowed, what is GM Rob Babcock thinking?

Well of course the following day the media in Canada had a hey day with the Raptors and their seemingly bumbling pick of a guy that many experts and mock drafts had going in the mid- to late-first round. Media outlets got on the joking bandwagon and ripped the Raptors for butchering the draft one year after they made arguably the worst selection in team history by taking Rafael Araujo with their first pick in '04.

So if everyone else is taking shots at the Raptors for this admittedly poor selection, CKY-TV Winnipeg's Kevin Armstrong shouldn't be any different. Nor should his equally out-of-the-loop colleague Shawn Churchill who did the half-hour 11 p.m. cast. Armstrong berated the Raptors using many of the same adjectives that the ESPN crew had done the night before. All well and good, but this is the same broadcaster that called Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem (You-DON-is), Odonis Haseem during the Heat's playoff run this season. (Never mind that Haslem was one of the big contributors for the Heat all year, so anyone who followed a lick of hoops this year would have known his name.)

Churchill follows later in the night expectedly with the same script but adds a little flavour to his number by calling the Raptor pick "Villanova". Really, Villanova? The school in Philadelphia? Someone call Rollie Massimino and tell him he's got a new job north of the border.

On top of all that, neither of them chose to discuss any of the other three picks the Raps had in the two-round draft. They took Joey Granger, described as one of the best athletes in the draft, at No. 16 and then selected what ESPN.com suggested was the steal of the second round in 6-foot-5 Euro point guard Roko Ukic.

Not even a mention of who else got picked. There were three others, y'know?

Here's the thing. I will tend to listen to the ESPN analysts, who follow the NBA religiously, 365 days a year as their full-time job, when they disect each draft pick with the oodles of information they have at hand. It's called respecting someone's opinion. But when two guys like Churchill and Armstrong jump on board and feel like the broadcast is the soapbox for their obviously uninformed perspective, there's not a lot of respect for opinion being thrown around on my behalf.

The same reason I don't want much of the American media chiming in and discussing why Todd Bertuzzi should be banned for what he did to Steve Young I don't want the Canadian media ranting about basketball that they cover so lightly (NBA) or not at all (NCAA).

Hey, for those who haven't caught on yet, don't necessarily accept the fact that a sports guy on TV has any more knowledge than the guy that pumps your gas — he probably just has better teeth. That's how it works.

A TV guy on Detroit's ABC affiliate — the sports director in fact — said after the Pistons lost Game 1 of the NBA Final that "when Bruce Bowen, who's not much of a three-point shooter, beats you, then you're going to have a long night." The same Bruce Bowen who is largely regarded as one of the best dead-eye perimeter shooters in the league and the same Bruce Bowen that the San Antonio Spurs draw up plays for specifically to get him open looks in the corner. Well put. Have you seen an NBA game?

Listen, there's a reason why I don't go on bioengineering blogs and give my feelings on microelectrodes. And there's a reason why I don't apply for jobs in economics or offer my hand to perform a frontal labotomy. I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express, so I don't feel like the world needs me mucking around in those areas that I clearly am not fit for.

Very simply, if you don't know what you're talking about — and these two and many others who sounded off don't — then keep your damn mouth shut.

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Talking about the draft itself, certainly the Raps puked on their first pick. But, almost in spite of what everyone around has said in the past 24 hours, I'm not ready to proclaim that pick a bust. What I will say is that they did not use their first pick well at all. If Villaneuva was your prized pick, and there's really no reason he should have been, then he would have still been available to you at the No. 16 pick when you chose again. Plus you selected a guy in a position where you've already got Chris Bosh, one of the league's best up-and-coming '4' men. And you missed out on crazy athletes like Danny Granger and high schooler Gerald Green. You missed out on a banger like Sean May. You missed out on a speedy point guard in Nate Robinson (not a lottery pick potential guy for sure, but still) ...

Teams like the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers — who picked 17 and 18 in the first round — benefit from the idiocy of teams like the Raps who consistently pass up on the diamond-in-the-rough-guys allowing them to slip to the late rounds. In this case, playoff teams like the C's and Pacers basically got lottery picks by getting two of the most talented, exciting players in the draft.

Yes, Villanueva was the worst selection of the draft and Raptors fans have reason to be skeptical. But you know what? Given how misguided so many fans tend to be, I don't think they have any reason to be sinking the ship before the jump ball has gone up on the 05-06 season. Remember, this is the same legion that booed incessantly in 1995 when Toronto had the audacity to select Damon Stoudamire with its first-ever pick. The precious, sacred, deified fans, after all, wanted Ed O'Bannon. Stoudamire, you will remember at least gave Toronto two-plus seasons of solid play and became an icon in T-dot whereas O'Bannon ... well, I think he sold me a hot dog the other day.

Still, Babcock's tenure as GM in Toronto now has Araujo and Villanueva on the board, plus a Vince Carter trade that brought him nothing in the way of right-now talent and two first-rounders this year that we now see seem to have yielded very little. Babcock's days should be very, VERY short-lived.

• • • • •

The Los Angeles Lakers were feeling some heat over selecting Andrew Bynum, a 7-foot, 17-year-old, with their first pick. Also understandable that fans would be a bit vexed over a team that most would like to see improve now, deciding to go with a 'project' player with its first pick — a rare lottery selection for the Lake Show at that. I'm not angry over this, but I'm not elated either. I'd at least like to see how it may pan out before I start burning Mitch Kupchak in effigy. Well, burn him more.

I like getting Gonzaga's Ronny Turiaf early in the second round, a guy who doesn't mind banging a bit and shooting guard Von Wafer, if only for his name, is a nice addition that can maybe give the Lake the guy they've needed badly who can knock down a few shots when asked. Basically, I can't argue too much with the Lakers history in the draft, so that's why I'm once again openly, without hesitation putting my faith in the purple and gold.

One last note on the draft: Andrew Bogut as No. 1? I can't get comfortable over a big white guy being the future of any team. I say he's a buster by '08.

Well, instead, maybe I should call up Kevin Armstrong and see what he thinks.

Tee Martin debuts for the Bombers today. Fire it up. I'm ready.