J.O Is Endorsed By The Dino Blogger

There are elections underway in both Canada and the United States if you didn’t know. When these are going on it is always important if newspapers or media endorse a candidate. Well for long time readers of the Dino Nation Blog they will recall that at first I was not exactly sure about Jermaine O’Neal. I had concerns about not only his health but his attitude. I think the root of my lack of love for J.O goes back to the fact that he was always compared to Chris Bosh. I always thought that Bosh was better than O’Neal and deserved the props from the media. To put it in simple terms if Bosh was Batman to me J.O was the Joker.

But despite all of this I had said that the door was being left open for Jermaine O’Neal to change my mind. I am a firm in thinking if you are a Raptor you are part of my team and I am going to support you or at least try to do so. The first challenge for J.O to impress me was his press conference after this trade happened. What was he going to say? Was he pissed to have got traded to Canada? How was he going to deal with all the questions about his health? What about all the problems in Indiana with the Pacers?  I sat glued to the T.V waiting to hear what he would say. when it was all done he had not ducked any of those questions and had reasonable and logical responses to the questions from the gathered media. He thanked me and all of you the Raptor fans for welcoming him to the Raptors. He came off as every bit the NBA Veteran he was. There was a professionalism about it all.

If this can be related to having a first date with someone he passed the test. Since than I have had many chances to catch J.O in the Toronto Media. He was at the Score for their H.D launch party. He again said how happy he was to be here and that he was looking forward to being a Raptor and having success here. Through it all he has said that he is here to help Chris Bosh and that this is Bosh’s team. He has said it is not about getting all star appearences or personal numbers. He is here to have team success and that is what is his focus as far as he is concerned.

Raptors Media Day was what pushed me over the top to be writing this blog. Jermaine had a very interesting chat with 2 people that I have had in this blog as guests. Paul Jones and Eric Smith talked with J.O on a webcast. What J.O would say I have never heard in the history of the Toronto Raptors. He said that he had made a list of 5 teams for Indiana that he would consider a trade too. The Raptors were on that list. In the end he said it came down to Cleveland or Toronto. This is mind blowing that a guy considered an NBA Star by most had Toronto on a list of teams he wanted to be traded too. I was truly shocked by this statement. There has always been this fear on part of Raptor fans that players don’t want to be here and that even stars that we draft may not remain here. Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Damon Stoudamire all eventually wanted out. But Jermaine O’Neal wanted in.

That was enough for me. In addition though Jermaine has been talking defense and showing it on the floor. Many folks around the Raptors are quick to tell you how healthy J.O looks and how he is blocking just about ever shot he can get his hands on. These are good signs for a Raptor team. They were in desprate need of defense in a series that saw the Orlando Magic lay the smack down on the Raptors. That is what lead Bryan Colangelo to start the search that would end in finding J.O. 

I admit also that I really didn’t know much about J.O as person. I saw him as kind of the running buddy of Ron Artest and kind of a bad dude. But in every interview he is very well mannered and speaks with great intelligence. He has been impressive to me and I have grown to enjoy hearing what he has to say. It has been a long summer journey that has taken me from someone who was not exactly a fan of J.O to now considering myself a J.O supporter.

Will this matter for Jermaine O’Neal? I mean this is the Dino Nation Blog giving him our endorsement. That is a big deal right? Not exactly but here is what it does mean for J.O even though he may never read this. It means that if I the fan/journalist have changed my opinion of him, it makes sense that a lot of other people that may have felt like me,also have changed their minds as well. Ask T.J Ford how it feels to be playing in a city that is not exactly in your corner. It is not a lot of fun, I as one of the few that supported him can say it isn’t easy.

But even I who am one of the biggest T.J Ford supporters you will find, I understood  that this trade was a good one for Ford. There is an old expression about trades that whoever gets the best player wins a deal. Well it is clear that J.O is that best player and if he is truly healthy, which all signs seem to suggest he is, than this is a huge win for the Raptors.

J.O may never be the Prime Minister of Canada. But if he helps bring an NBA title to Canada he will be more popular than whoever wins the upcoming election in this country. It makes you think back to when the Toronto Blue Jays brought in a veteran star named Dave Winfield and he was part of a World Series Champion in Toronto. J.O is a veteran for sure but he is not exactly the age that a Dave Winfield was. He isn’t even 30 yet. In his words” he is the old young guy “. So let it be said the Dino Blogger Endorses J.O. I am sure this news will make it up to Ottawa and mean big things for J.O. But he has done more to impress me than anyone in the election in this country. So maybe that is a message for the political folks in this country. I support the party of the Dino Nation Daily.

One of the people that is one of my top advisers I am going to talking with today. The blog’s most frequent guest, The Coach Jack Armstrong!!! So hope you come back for that tomorrow.

Tags: Chris Bosh, Dino Nation Blog, Jermaine O'Neal, NBA, Toronto Raptors