Toronto Raptors Dead To Stephen Colbert

Just a little under a month ago, Torontoist suggested that Stephen Colbert should end his long-standing grievance with the Toronto Raptors. Colbert, host of The Colbert Report, put the team "On Notice" during his first show on October 17, 2005. As we described then, the move came one day after the Raptors lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv, the Euroleague Champions; it is the only time that an international squad has ever beaten an NBA team on North American soil. We argued that the team's recent performance warranted reconsideration of their on-air vilification.

It would seem our efforts went unnoticed. Prompted by an online ranking of sports team mascots, which put the Toronto Raptor in first place and the Saginaw Spirits' Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle in second, Colbert went to put the Raptors "On Notice"— only to realize that he had already done so previously. Consequently, the team was pushed to the host's "Dead To Me" list. Other items on the latter list include owls, "bowtie pasta," and Heather Clark.

Meanwhile, in Oshawa, the first annual Stephen Colbert Day is scheduled to take place on March 20th.