Title: Introducing the Toronto Raptors All-Fan Ire Team
Date: March 23, 2020
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic Toronto, Eric Koreen and I teamed up to highlight the most begrudged Raptors in franchise history, the guys fans began to turn against when their role misaligned with performance or popularity.
There are few articles that require as little an introduction like this one.
Whether a team is the class of their league and the margins become magnified, a bottom-dweller for whom every decision feels outsized in importance, or anywhere between, no professional sports team has ever existed without fans questioning someone’s playing time. Even within healthy deference to expertise, there is room for disagreement with a coach or general manager. Often times, those disagreements snowball and bring in more dissenters, leading to A Situation where a fan base stands opposed to one of their own.
A moribund franchise is rich with such characters. Title contenders are no more immune given the leverage at play. And a team that’s experienced both ends in quick and stark contrast? That’s a recipe for The Playa Haters’ Ball of fandom.
Here is your Toronto Raptors All-Fan Ire Team.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 