After agreeing to cover the Idaho Stampede’s open tryouts this weekend and then reading Henry Abbott’s recent posts on TrueHoop about IMG Academy, I started to question why I wasn’t trying out for the team. So, I jumped on the phone Tuesday afternoon to talk with Joel about whether I could ditch my golf shirt and instead lace up my kicks Sunday afternoon. He loved the idea so Sunday I’ll have the pleasure of crossing “trying out for a professional basketball team” off of my Bucket List.

Leo Rautins, an announcer for the Toronto Raptors and head coach for Canada’s Senior Men Basketball Team,  talked with Ryan McNeill during the Toronto Raptors media day about how Canada faired this summer in their Olympic qualifier, how his young core is developing and how he’s preparing for the World Championship qualifiers next summer.

This afternoon I was the Air Canada Centre for the Raptors media day and I was able to snag some exclusive interviews, witnessed Kathryn Humphries crack a great joke on Sam Mitchell and was impressed to see Andrea Bargnani with a newfound swagger.

In this weeks Buzzer Beaters I have news about Sam Mitchell’s vow to stop cussing, the scoop on Lil Wayne blogging for ESPN and a ton of links for you to check out.

The Toronto Raptors sent out a press release informing the media of a press conference on Thursday where the team will unveil a new third uniform.

Have you ever dreamed about playing professional basketball and live in Toronto? Then head over to the Humber College on October 5th for your chance to earn a roster spot in the Idaho Stampede this season.

This week we have a link to an interview with Adrian Wojnarowski, a great video clip of Shaquille O’Neal dancing with his kids and I give a shout out to Converse for sending me a free pair of kicks.

Was last season a case of Bargnani taking a step back in his development or regressing? If you ask Sam Mitchell the answer is a resounding no.

With over 100,000 votes being cast during the length of the tournament, the winner of the first annual Floor Burn Tournament is Shane Battier. It was a wild week of voting as Pistons fans thought Jason Maxiell had this tournament locked up after the first few days only to see Battier have a huge surge and secure the win by the end of the week.

After a month long battle to crown the Floor Burn Champion, the final contestants are Jason Maxiell and Shane Battier. Despite complaints from some readers about these players being heralded on message board across the ‘net, I have no qualms with these two finalists because they are a great representation of what the Floor Burn Tournament represents: two players who don’t get the shine they deserve for being glue guys and integral parts of their respective teams success.