Everybody Loves Raymond, but nobody likes Ramon

By: Robert | July 29th, 2007

When I first heard about Ramon Nunez asking to be traded I was conflicted and to a certain extent I still am, because I liked his game. You may not be a fan of our mercurial number 10 but when he’s in form you have to respect what he does. And even though stories about his attitude and his complaining would slip out of the locker room from time to time, most people just brushed them off because he was young, full of promise and willing to take on any defender.

But then this year came and everything went awry. He was given the offensive reins and failed. His constant struggles to be the player he knew we thought he could be earned him a place next to the coach. And as he begun to wear down a seat on that aluminum bench Juan Toja became an MVP candidate at the position he was given to start the year and Arturo Alvarez emerged at the position he held the year before; unable to find time on the field, Ramon didn’t as much see the writing on the wall as someone sat him down, built a wall in front of him, wrote on it and yelled “Read!” And if that had been that I’d have been fine with management working out a reasonable trade for both him and the team because Ramon Nunez deserves a chance to play.

But that wasn’t that, he went and had a confrontation at practice with Bobby Rhine, long-time Hoops veteran and by all indications a total professional (some reports stated it was a fight, some said pushing and shoving, others indicated just yelling back and forth; I’m going to err on the side of caution and just say they disagreed on Bush foreign policy.) He then came out in the media and demanded to be traded (I think I may have switched the order of events, either way the point still stands) thus lowering his trade value (even if other teams know he doesn’t play anymore, and they do, someone who wants to leave is cheaper for them than one who appears to want to stay.) Because of that, those quirks we used to pass off as youthfulness get spun as arrogance, a lack of devotion to the team and his teammates and slight’s against FC Dallas. And when I hear that I immediately want to use lines like “the only difference between Ramon Nunez’ mom and a camel, is that the camel spits.” (I get a little crazy when people attack my team.) But I remember I like Ramon and so I get conflicted.

Ramon Nunez, and his contract, are linked to the Denìlson signing, since the Hoops need to clear cap space (and a senior international roster slot – more on that later unless a deal gets worked out before I can get around to discussing it) to bring in the talented Brazilian, so maybe this is it. And if this is the end for Ramon Nunez’ days as a Hoop, let me be the first to wish him goodbye and good luck (except against us) and never forget Dallas, where a signing of Denìlson would make the FC stand for “fine consolation.”

HOOPS PRIDE!

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