Not sure how this is going to sit with all of you who happen to attend a Raptors game every now and then but there are all kinds of whispers here there that changes are afoot for the coming season.

How would 7:30 p.m. weeknight starts suit you as opposed to the traditional 7 p.m. tips?

It’s not official but I’m hearing it from too many places and too many people to think it could be scuttled at this point and after 19 seasons of one start time, a new one cometh.

The precise reasoning for the move at this point is unclear and trying to reach anyone yesterday in these quiet days proved futile; I can surmise that they just like a bit later start (I’d guess there are as many 7:30 starts around the league as 7 p.m.) so they can sell more dinners and whatnot and I know fans who commute from the nether regions of the GTA and even beyond might like the extra 30 minutes.

But what else? The move just seems far more of an inconvenience to all kinds of people than a solution to some perceived problem.

I don’t know how much the players will mind because they’ll get into the routine quickly once the season starts but it is going to add tine on those getaway nights for road trips, which I can’t see as a good thing.

I don’t know what it’ll do to their broadcasts, although they were so screwed up last season I’m not sure it matters. I guess it could give the TV and radio guys a chance to do an extended pre-game show to fill the time but it also pushes back the end-of-game programming and that would preclude any kind of post-game basketballs show, if there was ever a thought of truly doing one on the stations that show the game.

Us? Well, it creates a fair bit more work for me if our deadline issues remain the same. Used to be with those 7 p.m. start that I could have one story with quotes filed by 10:15 or 10:25 and be done for the night; now it’ll mean an extra story at the buzzer without post-game stuff and then a second story for our second edition.

On the other hand, a bit more pre-game schmoozing time to see friends and the like isn’t a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination.

Again, I don’t think this is 100 per cent done but I’m hearing it all over the place as the scheduling process enters its final phase so it’s probably a done deal.

What do you all think?

Good? Bad? Indifferent?

What do you think?

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There’s something about this I quite like.

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Yes, it’s that time of week, let’s get to the mail, shall we?

Had some all-world questions last week and with some idle time tomorrow and Friday waiting for the football stuff to start (there’s no passaround in the CFL, I’m told) I can get to it early.

It’s askdoug@thestar.ca if you’re so inclined and I’d love to hear from you.

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Oh, another piece of HOTH minutia that you may or may not find interesting.

They are in the final stages of the approval process for the new practice facility at the Exhibition grounds that we’ve been talking about since about February (I remember seeing plans while sitting in Masai’s office just before the all-star break) and the one question is:

Does anyone care?

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I do, marginally, because it’s about 20 minutes closer to Casa Doug and will cut down the practice-day commute considerably (and that’s a good thing) but other than that, does it matter?

Am sure it doesn’t to fans who probably won’t ever get there anyway and I honestly wonder what, if any, impact it will have on the players.

Yes, new and airy and comfortable will be nice and it’s closer to the airport for those practice-get away days and that’s all good but this thought that it’s going to somehow help attract players seems a bit farfetched to me and always have.

The place they’ve got in the ACC is pretty small, there’s barely space for a substantial weight room, there’s only one full-size court and it is among the tiniest that I’ve seen around the league.

I’ve found that players and coaches and, yes, us are interested in two things, primarily: Functionality and proximity.

The one they have now is basically functional and quite close (two floors away from the locker room) but if they can get something bigger that’s just as easy to get to, they may as well go for it.

But one thing, please, if you’re reading this Masai and/or Tim: Put a functional media room in the joint, one with some chairs and desks and a coffee maker so we don’t have to stand around the concourse at the arena any more.

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Okay, got scant answers to Modern Family vs. Duck Dynasty and after last night’s flip-through-the-channels-between-TOD-and-white-noise, where do we stand on NCIS vs. NCIS L.A.?

I’m thinking L.A.

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Getting back to the Blue Jays for a second, I get that you might want to strike while the iron is hot and make moves that could very well be the difference between a fall off and the first post-season appearance in a zillion years but if they’re even remotely considering trading the Stroman or Sanchez kids, fans need to storm that dump of a ballpark in protest.

They’re good, very very good right now, and the risk of getting someone on a couple of months rental makes no sense to me. I can’t see how just about anyone would be better than those two kids today and we all know the future isn’t promised and crap can happen but I’d rather have them then some aging veteran who might, or might not, be the one missing piece.

Pitching hasn’t seemed to have been an issue most of this season; there’s no reason to screw around with it, is there?

I didn’t think so.