Random Thoughts Catchup

 As you may now know, every now and then I have a collection of random sports thoughts that are too small to make a whole post about but are still things I want to get out there. Today is one of those days! Bouncing around sports today before getting into Jays mode for tonight when I go to the game. I haven't seen people this excited about the Blue Jays since 2015, I can't wait to see it live. 

Damian Lillard Goes Back to Portland

This one really caught me off guard! I will be the first to say that I was a Dame hater after his time with the Trailblazers ended. I am not naive, I understand player movement happens and for a player as good as Dame, usually a team has to show a certain level of competitiveness or else they'll ask out. Many players have done this in the NBA without me bashing on their decision, and even sometimes me understanding their decision. The issue I took with Damian Lillard was that in Portland he made his entire personality about loyalty. Any chance he got he would claim that he loves Portland and would never leave them. He would say that he wants to win in Portland but if he never wins a championship it's ok because he did his best and he's playing in the city that loves him. This wasn't just like a 1 time interview a million years ago, he would go on this media tour every single year. Then he asked out after the Blazers seemingly pivoted to a younger team centered around Scoot Henderson, and he did it by demanding he be traded to the Miami Heat. He ended up getting traded to the Bucks with Giannis and for whatever reason that's a team I love to hate which just added fuel to the fire. After getting traded, the Bucks had 2 straight disappointing first round exits due to injuries to key guys and rotation players just getting older. Dame unfortunately ended last season by tearing his Achilles in the playoffs and then getting stretched and waived by the Bucks in a shocking move. Everyone thought he'd sign with a new contender to go ring chasing with whatever he has left in the tank, then he surprised everyone. 

Dame announced last week that he'd be returning to Portland on a 3 year $42m contract, and all of the sudden I really like him again. It's hard to project Damian Lillard to be anything like prime Dame coming off an Achilles tear in his mid 30s, but his name carries a lot of expectations. If he were to sign with a contender, the fans would expect him to help them contend, and if he didn't have it they would toss him aside. Instead of going through all of that, Dame decided to go back to the place where they love him most, closest to his family and where his jersey will be retired some day. Ultimately Damian Lillard ended up taking just a 2 year hiatus from Portland before returning back to presumably spend the rest of his career. I know me giving Damian Lillard shit in group chats means literally nothing, but I did spend the last 2 years doing just that, and now I take it all back. I think this was a classy and awesome move from Dame and now I'm hoping more than anything that Yang Hansen becomes the next Jokic before Dame retires so that he can go out a champion in Portland. Who's cutting onions?

Davis Schneider At Bat

A much less romantic section here. Last night the Jays played another exciting game in front of a sold out Rogers center against their division rival Yankees. After getting down 1-0 off a Giancarlo Stanton solo shot in the 4th, the Jays answered when a Bo Bichette double scored both Springer and Vlad in the 5th. After Alejandro Kirk flew out, Davis Schneider came up and the box score reads "pop-out" which is technically true, but I am here to tell you it was so much more than that. Davis Schneider worked the Yankees starter for a 14 pitch at bat, one of the longest I've ever seen. It ran his pitch count into the 90s and set up what was to come later in the inning. There's absolutely no way to prove any of this, but in my mind it's 100% true so I'm rolling with it. On the first pitch after the 14 pitch at bat, Myles Straw hit a grounder to 3rd that should've been the final out of the inning. The throw was wide from first base which allowed Bo to score from second base to give the Jays a 3-1 lead. Immediately after, Leo Jimenez hit a ball to the shortstop which was again misplayed at first base allowing Myles Straw to score the Jays 4th run. Maybe these errors happen anyway, but I seriously think that the long Davis Schneider at bat lulled the Yankees to sleep in the field a little bit and the Straw error at least was a direct result of Davis' hard work in the batters box. Davis gets nothing towards his stats for this, but I wanted to recognize him here! If nothing else, he got Rodon out of the game an inning earlier which could bode well for the rest of the series. Good work Davis. 

Raptors Flame out of Summer League

I had a few excited posts about the Raptors summer league this year so I guess I should be here to talk about how they lost in the semi finals. I admittedly didn't watch that one, I was at a pool party that I wasn't going to miss because of a meaningless basketball game, no matter how much I love that team. Fun tournament though! I get some fans are mad they lost, but seriously I don't think any team goes to summer league with the intention of winning it. It's fun if you do but I literally cannot remember any summer league champions ever and we won't remember this one either. I was just more encouraged by the togetherness especially from a lot of the guys that will be seeing decent minutes with the real team this year. Jamal Shead is looking more and more like a winning type of player that should take all of the backup point guard minutes this year. Ja'Kobe Walter showed flashes of offensive creation again, but even when he didn't have it he was great on defense and is going to be valuable either starting or off the bench. Ulrich Chomche is showing that he is slowly becoming an NBA player, at only 19 years old he's still got a long way to go on offense but he definitely didn't look lost out there which is encouraging. Collin Murray-Boyles was an absolute force on defense. They didn't draw up a ton of plays for him to create his own offense, but the likely won't be doing that with the big club either. Seeing him come in and always be in the right place on defense with his long arms and big body is exciting for what he can bring to the Raptors. Finally we got to see breakout candidates like Alijah Martin and AJ Lawson who both played great in all the games this summer league. The Raptors really missed AJ's offense in the semi finals game where they just couldn't find a way to score against the Kings. All of this is good! The Raptors finally have a bench full of young scrappy guys again and I can't wait to see how they develop over the next few years. 

That's all for today! Please be an exciting one tonight Jays I need more ideas for all the off seasons! Go Blue Jays.