With the firing of Toronto Raptors general manager Rob Babcock last week, Tribune managing editor - and my boss - Andrew Segal came the closest he's come yet to actually insisting I write about a particular topic in this space. But I was hesitant, wondering what there really was to say about Babcock, whose performance as GM was cover-your-eyes awful with the Raptors. Isn't that the long and short of it? He was a bad GM, end of story. See you next week.
Unfortunately, Andrew sent this back to me with one simple but essential edit. "Umm, can you actually write something? Columns usually work better with an actual column in them."
Good point, I guess, but I still had no idea what to say. So I decided to make the Desautels Faculty of Management proud and outsource the production of an opinion to the biggest Raptor fan I know, Sumit Arora, who also doubles as my older brother.
As always, he was helpful, though maybe too helpful: Instead of having one angle to work with, he gave me several from which to choose.
Maybe I could mention how Babcock has basically become the Homer Simpson of the NBA. If there were a basketball dictionary, filed under "B" there'd be
Babcock: To perform at your job in a memorably poor way; ex. "What a bad trade! He pulled a Babcock on that one!"
Maybe I could ruminate on how tough it will be for Babcock to ever get a job in basketball again, even as an assistant GM. Imagine an interview with Babcock and some random team's GM or president:
GM: So, Mr. Babcock, what do you consider your area of expertise?"
Rob Babcock: Well, sir, I could be put in charge of scouting college and international talent, and help with drafting.
GM: Didn't you draft Raphael Araujo with the eighth overall pick?
RB: Uhh, yeah… okay, so maybe I could scout other teams and evaluate potential trades.
GM: Like the one you made for Vince Carter? The one over which New Jersey Nets GM Rod Thorn recently expressed guilt about how badly he fleeced you?
