After watching the Toronto Raptors the past few days, I've come to realize that our team is very similar to the stock market. Like the world's markets, the Toronto Raptors success was inflated, based upon speculation, of opportunities that could be, and never really based on actual performance.

The Toronto Raptors are to the basketball fans of this city what, WorldCom and Enron are to the investment community: A monumental disaster and a poster child of how not to manage an organization. It was a short term gain, where only a few benefited, and the long term effects are just now starting to show. However, investors in the stock markets learned from the recent market failures, our MLSE has not, or if they have, they have refused to act on their new found knowledge.

Jeffrey Skilling and Bernard Ebbers, the former CEOs from Enron and WorldCom respectively, are nowhere to be found, and yet Glen Grunwald still continues to manage the Toronto Raptors. Like Arsenio Hall used to say, this is definitely one those "things that make you go hmmm"?

To better understand this team today, we have to understand what really happened in the past, and exactly where the mistakes occurred. Our one and only playoff series victory against the New York Knicks. Let's be realistic, the Knicks at the time were an old team. They were team on the decline and an 82 game regular season schedule was too much for them. There should not have been any jubilation in that victory.

Next came the Philadelphia 76ers. All we did was own them in the regular season, so what happened in the playoffs? Simple, our Raptor team, which matched up so well against the 76ers, player for player, was out coached. That team was not better on the court, they were better off the court. Larry Brown, embarrassed Lenny Wilkens, from the sidelines. A well coached team does not allow Charles Oakley to dribble the ball up the court and throw a behind-the-back pass in the dying seconds of a game. In fact, a well coached team, keeps its 6'9" 245 lb. bruiser under the basket, and not 18 feet away from it, while he misses more shots than he gets rebounds. After that series, the true Toronto Raptors emerged. That was a poorly coached team, who could not execute in the crunch. Philly could and they won. Just look at the last play of the game, in game 7. Carter took an inbound pass, and attempted a turn-around fade away from near 3 point range. Who drew up that play? To this day I dont see any other team out there who continually comes out of a time out only to turnover the ball, or attempt an impossible shot.

For what it's worth, a team that promised so much during Butch Carter's final season, has played less than .500 call since. AN NO INJURIES ARE NOT AN EXCUSE, just look at the Orlando Magic.

This is a team that was embarrassed by Denver last night, and if you need more reason than that to fire your coach and GM, I'll give it to you. I won't rant and complain about the box score, like I did after the Chicago game, but I will do my best to help the management team of the Toronto Raptors.

Now is not the time to fire the coach or the GM, but the management team at MLSE must start the search for their replacements as soon as possible. The Raptors organization has strayed from its development path, and major changes are necessary before the start of next season. Here is what the management team at MLSE must do before the start of next season, to give hope that our purple dinosaurs do not go extinct:

(1) Fire Glen Grunwald and Recruit a new GM.

(2) Allow the new GM to fire Lenny Wilkens and bring in his own coach.

(3) Make every possible attempt to trade any, if not all of the following players on their current roster :

Antonio Davis

Alvin Williams

Morris Peterson - though he is a free agent and we can rid ourselves of his 0.300 shooting percentage. Last night all he did was go 2 for 9, and 1 for 5 from behind the arc....a common theme with this player.

Jerome Williams - his is this year's team MVP. The only one who showed any effort, and that's why I think his value is at an all time high.

Vince Carter - I personally believe he has had enough of TO, and wants out. Sign and trade with Seattle for Rashard Lewis and their 1st round pick in this year's draft would be adequate.

Once again, we beg that Glen Grunwald get up and stand at the mid court during the Raptors final game of the season, and tell us all what we want to hear....those two little words - that bring hope for the seasons to come for our Purple Dinosaurs...say "I QUIT".