Toronto Raptors general manager Masai UjiriThe Globe and Mail
Somewhere, Masai Ujiri is banging his head against a wall.
His Toronto Raptors are in first place, which is something the general manager of the Canadian club, in his first season with the organization, could not want.
The Raptors went into Philadelphia and handed the formerly hot 76ers a 108-98 setback, a decision that moved Toronto a half-game in front of Philadelphia in the tepid Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.
If this were the hockey club, team owner Maple Leaf Sport & Entertainment president Tim Leiweke would be mapping out plans for a victory parade through the streets of downtown Toronto in anticipation of the Raptors winning the NBA Finals.
Sure, it is early, and the Raptors are likely to soon fall back to earth.
The Raptors play in a conference where, Thursday morning, nine of the 15 teams sport sub-.500 records and in the cruddy Atlantic where a 5-7 record is good enough for first place .
Still, for a team that has missed the playoffs the last five seasons, the view from the top is something they must be enjoying.
As for Ujiri, who was brought in by Leiweke to turn around the fortunes of the franchise, maybe not so much.
The reigning NBA executive of the year with the Denver Nuggets, Ujiri knows that he will not be able to reverse the fortunes of the Raptors in just one season.
Before the season started, Ujiri stated that he needed about 25 games or so before he could get a handle on the talent level he had in Toronto before he would be comfortable affecting change.
His job would have been a lot easier if the Raptors just did what many fans really want – stink to high heaven that would line Toronto up with a better opportunity in the 2014 draft lottery to nab home-brew college phenom Andrew Wiggins.
The excitement is growing in the "Riggin' for Wiggins" sweepstakes with people watching closely which NBA teams will tank in order to have a chance at nabbing the Toronto native, who is a freshman at Kansas.
But the Raptors clearly didn't get the memo.
Instead, you get DeMar DeRozan dropping 33 points to help lift the Raptors past the 76ers, who have now lost four in a row.
Fear not, Raptor fans, the season is still young.
Rodriquez freaks out during arbitration hearing
In New York, the arbitration hearing involving Alex Rodriquez took an unexpected turn when the New York Yankee star stalked out of Wednesday's session after claiming he was "disgusted with this abusive process, designed to ensure that the player fails."
A-Rod is fighting the 211-game suspension Major League Baseball hung on him last season for alleged doping violations.
While Rodriquez may be fed up, so too are many of the New York baseball fans who are tiring of the endless issues that keeps his name in the news so much.
After he stormed out of the meeting, Rodriquez made a surprise appearance on WFAN radio, where he essentially called MLB commissioner Bud Selig a coward.
"And the fact that the man from Milwaukee that put the suspension on me," Rodriguez said, "with not one bit of evidence — something I didn't do — and he doesn't have the courage to come look me in the eye and tell me this is why I did 211? I shouldn't serve one inning.
"For this guy — the embarrassment that he's put me and my family through — and he doesn't have the courage to come see me and tell me this is why I'm going to destroy your career? And I have to explain this to my daughters everyday?"
In a statement issued by MLB as a result of the outburst , the league said that the commissioner has never testified in a single case involving a player fighting a drug ban.
"Today's antics are an obvious attempt to justify Mr. Rodriguez's continuing refusal to testify under oath," the statement read.
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