You mentioned that you weren’t happy with your fantasy basketball team. How come?

I broke one of the first rules of Fantasy sports… in that, I’ve relied too much on rookies, and put way too much weight on guards, especially with the uncertainty that is the lower body of Al Jefferson.  Seeing Jamal Crawford play only 14 minutes in Atlanta’s season opener was downright frightening… Word that Anthony Randolph WILL get the start in GSW is encouraging, but I think I’ve got too many youngsters overall.  Oh, and I’m relying on the disgruntled former-Capt. Jack for a good chunk of my scoring.  See you in the cellar fellas, and lady (What up, Nat!?).

Tell me about “Got Game.” Was it hard to get a show about video games put on a sports radio station?

I’d like to say that “Got Game” is my baby… but sadly, I can only claim that I take care of it.  I’ve played video games all my life, and the opportunity to talk about both sports and gaming on the radio is an absolute blessing.  The show started up about 6 months ago, growing from Bryan Calhoun’s blog, to the epic 60 minute show that changes weekend time slots as frequently as Shaq misses free throws.  Yes, I understand that video games on a sports radio station might not be top-peg material… but we’ve got a wonderful and loyal fanbase that can thankfully follow along via podcast (available on our blog at fan590.com and on iTunes).

Gamers, hit me up on both PSN and XBL: I’m ZCooperstown (just like on twitter).

I like your bio on FAN590.com (”I’d prefer to pick up two assists than score a goal … anyday” — a man after my own heart). Could you tell me more about the series of events that led you to radio and The FAN 590?

My radio career has spanned about 8.5 years now.  I started off writing news for 680NEWS just before the tragic events of 9/11.  Needless to say, as a 20 year old getting into the biz, it was a great time for me to professionally cut my teeth.  Watching the best do their best under dire, ever-changing, circumstances was eye-opening and enlightening.  It’s certainly somewhat sad that a newsroom feeds off tragedy, and it’s partly that… along with love, and luck, that brought me to The FAN590.

The grind of news, traffic, weather, and entertainment reporting was starting to make me cabin-crazy (long, strange, hours of downright depressing info – and I’m not just talking about the weather here).  Thankfully, the Big Red Corporate Machine (Rogers) took over The FAN a handful of years ago.  When they needed overnight coverage for the Athens games, I stepped up… apparently impressed enough to get more opportunities… and I’ve been growing as a broadcaster ever since.  Hosting shows, reporting from Raptors games/practices (my true passion), and doing the updates have been fulfilling… but I’m curious about what’s next.

You indicated that you’re a newlywed. How does married life work with your FAN 590 shifts? I assume you have odd hours.

I did just get married in July.  Thanks for inquiring.  Life at home is great.  When I get me some life.  I assure you, the most difficult part of my job is not watching sports.  It’s balancing the hours of work with the elusiveness of leisure time with the lady.

Like a lot of people involved in sports broadcasting, my hours are pretty damn loopy.  I’ll go from working an evening shift, which will sometimes end at 2 or 3 in the AM, to coming back to the station about 6 hours later for another go-round.  It’s tough… but as long as the lady can tolerate it, so can I.

Got any dirt on Eric Smith and Jack Armstrong? What are they really like?

I can honestly say that what you hear is what you get with both Eric and Jack.  Sometimes, whether it be TV or radio, certain “personas” might not match that individual… but those two are pretty genuine.  As for dirt… can’t say I’ve got much on them. Oh, except you know how Jack comes off like he doesn’t tweet? …not true.  He’s actually up to 34,980 tweets (as of Friday at 5:52pm), as RaptorJack.

…Actually, that’s a lie.  I’m sorry.  @RaptorJack is apparently some dude who hails from Guilherme, Rentroia.  That’s not him.

What do you think of E’s obsession with bringing the NBA back to Vancouver?

I think Eric’s hopes of a return to Vancity is well-founded.  Clearly that disastrous Grizzlies team wasn’t going to draw many fans… but times have changed and the game has grown immensely north of the border since.  It’s a beautiful city (which I used to visit at least once a year), with fantastic, passionate, people… and they deserve something more than just the Canucks, Lions (seriously, do any of you watch the CFL?), and the WHL.

Who are your favourite Raptor(s) on this season’s squad, and why?

I’m not gonna lie… I’m pretty stoked to see what DeMar DeRozan can bring this season.  He’s obviously got the flash-factor, with game-changing dunks and block-ability… so there’s that… I’m a big fan of Jarrett Jack, and what I’ve learned about him as a person.  He’s the kind of guy who seems like he can keep a locker room together through tough times.  I’ve also got to admit that I wasn’t sold on Antoine Wright, but speaking to the guy has me buying what he’s selling.  The guy’s grown a lot in his short time in the game.  I could keep going, because with this team… there are a lot of solid guys.  But I’m gonna stick with the newbies for now.

You said your true passion is reporting on the Raptors. Any hopes or plans for expanding that career-wise?

There are a lot of ideas that float around in my brain… but given the economic uncertainty of the times, I’m trying to keep things practical and realistic.  You never know what lies ahead… but for right now, let’s just say that I’m hoping to do more of the same.  However… play by play would be a dream come true.

I have no video game system currently. Which one would you recommend?

If you don’t have a system, and you’re looking at getting in on the game… first off, what the hell kept you?  But more importantly… if you could only have one, I’d say go with the PS3.  It’s more technologically savvy, the top-quality exclusives have seemingly swayed Sony’s way… Either way, you’ll be in good shape… but with games like Uncharted 2 (and its unbelievable predecessor), Infamous, Little Big Planet… and that thing called a Blu-ray player, my vote goes to PS3.

NBA Live or NBA 2K, and why?

2K all the way.  Graphics, fluidity, presentation, realism… it’s all there.  Live got much closer this year (with a great ball-handling mechanic), but you can’t go wrong with 2K10.

Thanks, Zack, for answering my questions. Let’s see where we’re at when we meet in our league’s Week 10.

Remember to check out “Got Game,” and follow Zack on Twitter.

Previous Rappings:

• Eric Koreen of the National Post
• Raps Fan of Raptors Republic
  

Pete Marasmitch: I enjoyed your hair-raising piece, a.k.a. Bryan Colangelo’s Personal Vendetta. How goes the faux-hawk? Are you sporting the fedora, 24-7?

Eric Koreen: The faux-hawk lives. (Although I’m writing this a few days before the season starts. I could have evened it out by the time this is published.) I have worn a hat just once, and am now pretty comfortable with it. I don’t like it, but I’ve made my peace. Amir Johnson told me he did me a favour, while Sherman Hamilton told me about three weeks after the cut that the hair was at the ideal length. (Although, perhaps I should not be putting too much stock into Sherm’s thoughts on hair.) And if I do cut my hair soon, it will be legitimate: Johnson cut his hair a week before the season started, although he did apologize to me for leaving me hanging.

PM: In your behind-the-scenes view of the Raptors, what are some things about the players, coaches, management, etc., that might surprise the average fan? (Feel free to counter-attack B.C. and Amir Johnson.)

EK: There’s not much I can share here that’s particularly interesting, but I will say that Johnson, derided for his work ethic in the past, has stayed late almost every day of the pre-season. Maurizio Gherardini likes his dark humour, and is kind of the feet-on-the-ground yang to Colangelo’s always-hopeful yin. There is also far less defiant nudity in a basketball locker room than in a hockey or soccer locker room, and I’m fine with that.

PM: Please share a funny anecdote from your time as a beat writer.

EK: Jose Calderon has a reputation as a mundane quote, and that’s fair. Players don’t owe us anything, and I certainly don’t hold this against a player like Calderon, especially considering English is not his first language. But that doesn’t mean he’s devoid of personality. Two seasons ago, during the winter that featured unrelenting snow, Calderon was late for a game. When he arrived, he went on a two-minute rant about how drivers in this city over-react to snow, driving cautiously well past the point of necessity. He was not mean-spirited; I’ve never seen him be a jerk. But he was certainly enthused by our inability to cope with the conditions as a city, and it was damned entertaining.

PM: Do you regret missing the Sam Mitchell years? What nickname would he have given you?

EK: I didn’t miss all of the Mitchell years. I became full time in January 2008, so I got 11 months of Smitch — minus the summer, of course. It wasn’t quite enough time for us to form much of a coach-reporter relationship as he had with Doug Smith or Michael Grange, but I think he called me Goldilocks a few times. He was half-right. 

PM: Who are your sleepers from this edition of the Raptors, and why?

EK: With the nature of the Raptors’, errr, fervent fanbase, and the amount of money Colangelo tossed around this summer, I’m not sure anybody on this roster can be considered a sleeper. But my favourite thing the Raptors did this summer was sign Jarrett Jack. Their second unit was just brutal last year, and Jack is poised, and up to this point in his career, he has been productive.

One of my biggest problems with this team, as constituted, is the lack of offensive punch off the bench. I think they hope Marco Belinelli would fill that role, but I was not impressed with his pre-season body of work, and remain unsold. They’ll need someone to contribute offensively off the bench, other than Jack. I like Antoine Wright’s demeanour, but I’m not sure that’s him.

PM: What were the events that led you to become a beat writer for the National Post? Did you ever seriously consider a different career?

EK: To answer the second question first, ever since I about 16 or 17, I had tunnel vision toward sports reporting. As somebody who grew up in Toronto when the Raptors were just starting, as far as beat reporting goes, this is as good as it gets for me. I’m not sure I want to be in sports for 20 more years, but there are more good days than bad days on this job, and I think that’s better than most people can say.

As for how I got here, I started as an editorial assistant as The Canadian Press when I was 18, the summer after my first year at university (Ryerson, journalism). I did that for a year and a half’s worth of weekends (nothing good happens on weekends in university, right?), and then quit, had a miniature life crisis, then got a job at the Post sports section, doing a little bit of everything. I hung around there for a while, long enough for them to gain some trust in me, and I spent six weeks in the winter of 2007  interning there, which meant far more chances to write, including some Raptors stuff.

After I finished school (not to mention an appendicitis scare; I started the Toronto sports year of appendicitis in which Andrea Bargnani and Roy Halladay also suffered from the same ailment) I interned for the Post for the summer. I stayed on in a freelance role, and Matthew Sekeres, who was briefly the Raptors reporter, left the Post in around November to go be the Globe’s sports guy in Vancouver. I got the job at that point. (Matt recommended me, so I owe him a thank you.)

PM: Who are you most excited about in your Raptors FANtasy team lineup, and why?

EK: Durant! I co-run a keeper fantasy league with some friends, and I drafted Durant in the fourth round of his rookie season. He has been on my team for the last two years, and he is the only player in the league I can no longer write objectively about. (I’m joking about that. Kind of.)

Elsewhere, I thought getting Caron Butler in the third round was good, and Troy Murphy in the fourth round was absurd value. It’s easy not to like his game, but he was a points-rebounds double-double last year, with 45% three-point shooting. That last number will probably go down, but still, I was very pleased with that pick. I keep waiting for Al Horford to blow up, and that could happen this year. I was excited to get Allen Iverson as low as I got him. It’s a risky pick, but so is anything in the 10th round. If one of D.J. Augustin and Mike Conley has a good year, I think I have a chance, although I’m not sure I have the requisite hustle stats. That’s always my blind spot.

PM: You talk a lot about TV in your personal blog (A Snack and an Ego Stroke) and on Twitter (@ekoreen). What are your favourite shows? How do you feel about the final season of Lost?

EK: Oh, how you’re going to regret asking me that question. My two favourite shows on television are Friday Night Lights (inside every cynical sportswriter is a beating heart that is dying to feel good about athletes and coaches; FNL feeds that, and gives interesting portrayals of small-town life, too) and Chuck (as far as I know, it’s the only comedy-action-romance-straight-up-drama hybrid with unremitting ’80s pop culture references on television.) Yes, I suppose I’m doomed to love poorly rated shows. I also enjoy new comedies Community and Modern Family. I liked a pair of little-seen comedies from last year, Better Off Ted and Party Down, as well as stalwarts How I Met Your Mother and 30 Rock. If we’re talking all-time (or at least this decade), I loved both Veronica Mars (Buffy with a little more heart and more propulsive serialization) and like everyone else, The Wire. The latter has kind of ruined cable shows for me. The Wire is great, but so much effort was required for it to really kick in that I’m just too lazy to give Mad Men or Breaking Bad a chance. I know they’ll be great, but I feel like I need to clear my schedule for a month to give them a shot.

As for Lost, I’m a fan, although not a huge one. The only season I can say I really loved was the fourth. They changed up the formula just enough, but were still telling compelling character stories that year. I like my cult television, but the sci-fi-ness of Season 5 sort of lost me. And I stand by the notion that Seasons 2 and 3 were kind of a waste of time.

I think Lost is more plot-driven at this point than character-driven, and that’s perhaps why I can’t embrace it as much as people seem to think I should. (And I don’t think many of the characters are that compelling; the only two I really care about are Desmond and Penny. Sun and Jin used to be in that group, but they’ve been too de-emphasized lately. I also think Ben is one of the more overrated characters in TV history; he’s more of a plot device than a character, but that’s a whole different conversation.)

Despite all of that, I’m hopeful for this season. I’m positive they’ve left themselves with too little time to address all the questions they’ve asked. But there should be enough time to resolve the major questions as well as give resolutions for the main characters. As long as they have the guts not to end with an abrupt fade to black, I’ll be good.

PM: Thanks, Eric. Looking forward to our Week 2 fantasy matchup. Go, Channing Frye!

Don’t forget to check out A Snack and an Ego Stroke, @ekoreen, and Eric’s work at the National Post.