...here: http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/09/a_lighter_physically_and_emoti.html

and the Roy interview here: http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/09/brandon_roy_senses_a_more_focu.html

I am now craving to see Portland and Cleveland at the end of the season, in the finals. I want this.

I want to see Shaq unwillingly have to pass the torch to Oden... a nice "what now" look out of Oden when "The Dunk" happens would be icing on the cake.

I want to "witness" LBJ get schooled by Roy (a Samb-esq dunk on LBJ wouldnt hurt) in the way only Roy can deliver.

I want to be sitting on my couch watching a Portland vs Cleveland finals, while still trying to digest the previous Roy vs Kobe series where Kobe also had to hand over his crown as the best #2 in the league, even if only for one season. (Yes, #2 is a pun on Kobe... not on Roy)

 

There is more I want to see of course. However, these are my top 4... I think. So I am curious, what do you want to see?

I was browsing the forums like I do nearly every day, and I realized there was no countdown timer to the beginning of the season around here. Is there anyway we can get one on the site? So this is my grand petition request to get the signatures of people who would also like to have a reminder on the main page.  

If this is not a possibility, please feel free to post other suggestions. I know there are some pages out on the interweb that will let you put together your own custom timer... but I would like to see a BE timer to remind us all how many days/hours/minutes/seconds are left till... well... absolute greatness.

 

UPDATE: No need for signatures any more.

Ben once again showed why we keep him around. Check the right side of the page near the bottom of the ads... its kind of small... but its there. Too bad you cant link the countdown timer, record box, and throw the last games final box score together somehow... I know, its reaching. Maybe a good project for someone who knows HTML a bit better then me?

That was not a complaint in any way! Just thinking big is all. Thank you Ben for putting up the countdown timer!!! Seeing that there are still 6 weeks to go is kind of a bummer... but then again... ONLY 6 WEEKS LEFT!!!

Apparently there was a bit of a problem with us showing the hit on Rudy before we played them on Friday night. Something about not showing flagrant fouls to get a rise out of the home crowd. 

Good Investment if you ask me

I really dont think anyone in the arena needed to be reminded of who did what to who for how many cookies. Ariza would have been booed if we showed him performing CPR on the Pope before the game.

 

As we are all still enjoying the high after a win against the L@kers last night and now a win against the red headed stepchild of L.A. with the Clippers, something came to mind.

If you had to choose just one player, coach, entity in the NBA to boo. Who would it be?

We all have our lists of players out there, but who embodies your ideal evil? K0be? Z-Bo? Artest? D-Miles? Blaze? Odom?

As for me? I have to point to the picture here... Thank you S.T. This is one of the best things I have laid my eyes on in a long time. You wonder why K0be was so animated with his interview after the game? I would be too if I have that all up in my... well. Yeah. That woman is my hero of the week.

So, my vote goes to K0be. I shouldnt have to explain why. There is a lot. I will just say, I think K0be needs to spend the night with Handbanana, they would have a lot to talk about.

Oh, and Phil... Mr. Jackson... Mr "Zen Master" as you like to be called... we all know that plantar fasciitis is just a poor Chinese translation attempt for what we all call Pussy Foot. Man up Phil! Man up!

 

Rip City. The playoffs are going to be insane!

So here we are the day after the Blazers blew out the 4th team in a row for more then 20 points each game, and what newsworthy articles are featured under the NBA tab on Fox Sports?

• Sixers rally past Pistons, wrap up playoff berth
• Raptors win eliminates Knicks from playoff spot
• Bobcat guard Bell day-to-day with strained calf
• A.I. (sore back) to miss rest of Pistons' season
• Mismatch: Magic crush LeBron, Cavs in Orlando
• Ripped off: Pistons G says manager stole $$$
• Lakers school Rockets, close within 1 of Cavs
• Knicks rookie Gallinari set for Tuesday surgery
• Former Blazers star Lucas has cancer surgery
• Rivers expects Garnett to be ready for playoffs

No mention of the Blazers win over the Thunder. So lets look at ESPN...

 

• 76ers into playoffs as Iguodala, Miller turn it on
• Raptors stay in playoff chase, bounce Knicks
• Gordon gets on track late to push Bulls by Nets
• Back shelves Iverson for rest of season | Dime
• Report: Stockton, Sloan voted into Hall of Fame
• Bobcats' Bell day-to-day with strained right calf
• Bobcats guard Bell leaves game with calf injury
• Knicks' Gallinari to have back surgery Tuesday
• Hamilton to pursue charges against ex-manager
• Insider: LeBron is unequivocally the MVP

Ok, how about NBA.com...

Bobcats' Bell day to day with strained calf

Thunder recall White, Weaver

Heat's O'Neal, Beasley, Haslem all injured

Cavs' Brown, Rockets' Adelman named Coaches of the Month

James, Paul named Players of the Month

Rose, Love named Rookies of the Month

Knicks' Gallinari to have back surgery Tuesday

Ok, how about the NBA.com videos?

Behind Gordon, Bulls Drop Nets

Red-Hot Raptors Win Sixth Straight

Iverson's Season Comes to End

Vote Now in the 2009 Dance Team Bracket!

Magic Turn Showdown Into Blowout

Balanced Lakers Get Past Rockets

Seriously? The Blazers are in 4th place, they are destroying the teams they are playing right now. Aldridge is playing out of his mind, and we get videos of "Vote Now in the 2009 Dance Team Bracket!" Seriously!
Thank you BE for being there for our late breaking Blazer news. Without you, I am not sure where I would look for quality Blazer news to satisfy my addiction.

 

So I was thinking about this the other day and thanks to the "Attendance" post below, it came back to me...

Considering the current state of attendance around the league, would it be in the NBA's best interest to possibly "help" the Blazers get into a spot in the standings to pit the L*kers and Blazers in the WCF? This way if they just happened to meet there, the NBA would reap the benefits of packed home games off each team. Same thing with the Cav's and Celt's in the east. Only they are the #1 and #2 seeds currently.

Dont get me wrong, I have complete trust in the officials *choke**cough**cough* to ref a fair game here and there. But would it surprise anyone to see the Blazers pull off a game or two in the playoffs, where there may be questionable calls, just to boost getting butts in the seats? I mean if we can take anything from this last year (see the junk they tried to feed us during all star weekend for one) It wouldnt surprise me.

I am not taking anything away from Portland, they have worked dang hard this year, and making it into the playoffs this year will prove that. 

So as we get closer to the time when both Webster and Oden are "healthy" again and can play. Who would you put at your starting 5? I personally dont think I would change the starting 5 we have now. They have been playing togetther the longest and know each others play style the best. 

However, what if Webster comes back and within 5-10 games is back to where he was pre injury? (I know this is a strech, but hey, we can dream big around here!) Would you start him in front of Batum or bring him in off the bench? What happens to Outlaw at the 3? Do you slide him down to the 4 and let him cover the floor while Aldridge is taking a breather, or do you push Batum deeper down the rotation?

I think Nate has done a pretty decent job so far with the team he has had this year. In a way, I think the injuries have helped the team out more then hurt them . I know its a bit sadistic to think that way, but would we have seen Batum get to where he is now if he was just a sub behind Outlaw and Web? With Oden starting an entire year, would we have seen Joel anchor this team even more so this year  then he has in the past? And how about seeing some early highlights of Bayless while Blake was out? Even Sergio was starting to show signs of exciting playmaking with extended time on the floor.

So my picks for the starting 5:

1. Blake
2. Roy
3. Batum
4. Aldridge
5. Pryz

My top 5 bench:

1. Bayless
2. Rudy
3. Webster
4. Outlaw
5. Oden

Whats yours?

Oh, I almost forgot... RIP CITY!!!

First off, like the thousands of fans right now, my heart, and prayers go out to Rudy.

 

Now then, why was the only player near Rudy checking to see if he was ok was Farmar? A L@ker???

I am a huge advocate of standing up when at times like tonight. Bravo to the Blazers for getting a spine and standing up for yourselves. However, I am also very upset the guy who was closest to Rudy, and the one checking to see if he was ok, ended up being a member of the other team. Why wasn't one of our guys there next to Rudy while the team doctors came out?

 

There is a time and place for picking fights (regardless on if a punch is thrown or not) but there is also a time to make sure your boy is ok.

Does anyone know the name of the theme song they play on KXL at the beginning of the blazer games? Its the one with the trumpets and has been around for a LONG time. I have been pulling my hair out trying to find it and cant seem to find a name or a snip of it anywhere... I need a new ringtone for my phone now that the NFL season is ending. :)

Thanks for the help.

Instead of all the Kobe to Portland crap going around... how about this idea.

Kobe for Durant. The Lakers would get the other side of the draft. What better to fuel a rivalry, both north and south of us, then our least favorite player in the leage going up to a team that we are now starting to find ourselves kind of rooting for in exchange for sending the #2 pick to L.A. and to a team desperate to change the face of and stirring up thoughts of PJ coaching the next Jordan of the league and truely bringing that hate of the Lakers back to Portland.

Right now, we as fans are a little soft for L.A. and Seattle. We need rivals to be proud of pounding in the future...

I know that this is no where near proper english writing... but I think the idea comes across...

So is it just me, or does anyone else feel a little like the Blazers story over the last couple years could fit in a classic Mighty Duck's/Bad News Bears story for a movie?

We certainly seem to have all the right pieces so far... just need that win to put us over the top. Even if it isnt the championship, if we got that win that placed us in the playoffs at #8... I could easily see a movie being made of this team...

I would own a copy.

What if we didnt get #1. What would our team look like if we would have had the luck to get #2. Or even #3? Obviously we would have taken Durant no questions asked at #2, but what about #3? What about the rest of the team? Who would we have traded or kept?

Would we have The Buffet?
Would we have said farewell to ZBo?
Would Blake be here?
JJones?
McRoberts?
Green?

I honestly dont think our team would look the way it does now. I do think there would still be a certain culture to it, but I really dont feel it would have the caliber players we have now.

I feel that a lot of this has to do with the luck we had in the draft, but I also feel it has a lot to do wtih Oden as well. What if he would have let his sprained wrist bench him? He most likely would have stayed another year and would have missed this last draft. With that in mind what do you think?

Here is a link to the ESPN article where they interviewed Sam Bowie. He has a lot of good advice that should make its way back to Big O in some way or another.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=3019727

I like the part about Bowie offering cousel if needed. Once a Blazer... always a Blazer.

Ok, so ever since I read the news today, I have been trying to think of how this can be turned around on a positive spin.

And there may be a few. With all the other Diary's right now about the news, I havent had the time to read them all yet, so this may be double talk.

So here are my top 5.

1. Off Court Workout time. Good thing. Why? Well, how about time to go over plays. Look at video on opposing teams and players. One on One workouts with coaches and other players. The mental workouts that great players do to become great. Greg will have all the time in the world to do this. He has a team and trainers who are top notch and will make sure he will be at 100% come next season. For once, 100%.
2. The Bench. We have some talent on the bench. A lot of it. With Greg out, it will open up time for our bench to become a great bench. Time to slide play time around more. Even if we dont have starter material after Greg gets back, we can use the talent on the bench in the future. This is a huge plus in my book. Not to mention, it helps the trade stock of our bench as well.
3. Draft Day 2008. I doubt we will get #1 again. But I can see us getting up in the top 5. I would like to see us get a playoff seat over a draft pick, but you have to be realistic.
4. Roy/LMA. Oh buddy. They will have an amazing year. They will now get the attention they deserve. I am getting ready to be pissed off at some point this season when I read an article with this in it "Roy and Aldridge put away the <insert playoff team here>! You have to wonder if it would have been such a close game if Oden was in there." No. It wouldnt make a difference. Roy and Aldridge deserve all the credit for where this team ends up at the end of the year. I still anticipate an improvement over last years record thanks to these two.
5. Desire. Every game Oden has to sit and watch is going to make him sick inside that he isnt out there with his team. He has been playing every season since Jr High. He now gets a break. And one that will haunt him. One that will make him realize, Basketball is in my blood. I need it. I want it. I will have it. Like KP said about the first time he is back on the court, he is going to rip the rim down. I dont doubt that in any way.

Thats how I feel. Yes, I am upset with the news. Its quite the blow to the Blazer Ego here in Portland. But you know what, we needed it. This is a good shaking of the tree. Good way to let people know that we still have a great team here and you need to keep watching. People will fall in love with the Blazers again, and it wont be due to our #1 draft pick. It will be because of our ROY and the company he keeps.

Rip City is still very much alive in me.

This originated from the Chargers Win post from Dave. And just to reiterate... the Chargers won. :)

So anyway, what Beer goes best with the Red and Black? And why?

Also, is there a favorite location to consume said beverage? Why there?

This isnt really my forte as I am not a huge beer drinker, but I enjoy the Oatmeal Stout at BJ's Pizza down the street from the Rose Quarter. Nice and thick and full of flavor.

I dont have a watering hole I frequent and most of the time I try to catch a game at home, when I am there. (Working Graveyard doesnt help)

How about you?

"you don't even know if g.oden pulls an orlando magic like shaq did." -fatty

That simple phrase got me thinking a lot... so I started to read up on Shaq and the Magic and found this series of articles:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/news/2001/03/07/sayitaintso_magic/

One thing that always bugged me about Shaq was his constant bending of the truth, or should I say him living in his own little make believe world. The part about taking the $121mil in LA over playing in Orlando for $115mil with an owner many in the NBA called the best, just doesnt sit well with me. Not to mention he transformed the Magic into a championship contender team almost immidiately. It was HIS team. And he left it for the lime light of LA and $6mil more.

One thing I have liked about Oden is that he doesnt seem to have the same "I am the best" attitude Shaq did as he came into the league. He knew he was going to be the #1 pick. He knew he was bigger then everyone. He knew the media would eat up anything and everything he puked out of that hole in his face. Shaq has always bugged the living crap out of me.

Oden doesnt act that way. He is a very humble kid. He obviously has a descent ammount of intelligence up there in his brain... and he has the fear of mom in him. Something more kids now should have IMO. He also has shown that money doesnt seem to faze him like other players. Ford Taurus anyone? He genuinly seems to be a decent human being.

Even though Oden loves LA, do you think he would leave the Blazers like Shaq left Orlando? You better believe after his rookie contract is up, he is going to have every team able to make an offer knocking on his doorstep with offers that will make his head spin. Would you blame him if he up and left for more cash? Do you think he will stay out of loyalty? If thats they case, what would keep him from going to play in Indiana where his family is at? Or in Ohio for that matter?

Do you think we still have the best fan base in the NBA like soooo many people attribute to Portland? And if this is true, do you think its strong enough to keep a franchise player like Oden to stick around?

I would like to believe so.

So, with that in mind...

Poll

What keeps Oden in Portland?

2%

Hates to move, and he just got settled into his new home in Oregon.

2 votes

48%

Paul Allen will not allow Oden to leave.

36 votes

20%

Our amazing fan base. You cant just leave Rip City.

15 votes

1%

His mom.

1 votes

2%

Dave and the Blazer's Edge

2 votes

5%

Fatty.

4 votes

10%

Desire to retire with the team that drafted him.

8 votes

8%

Wanting to beat Russell's championship wins record with a single team

6 votes

74 votes | Poll has closed

Lately I have been seeing and hearing a lot of buzz around the Blazers, and rightfully so. So much of it that is has caught the attention of a very VERY picky sports fan in my family, my father-in-law.

He is purely a college basketball fan. He cant stand the way the NBA overpays the players and you end up getting a buch of crybabies never playing to their full potential.

And I agree with him.

However. With all the publicity around our team this year, and the stories that are comming out of the woodwork about the caliber players we are recruiting on our team, I am seeing more talk out of my father-in-law about how he loves this Oden kid. How he cant wait to see what Oden is able to do. Its as if the "mania" is starting to grab hold of him. You can tell in the way he talks about the Blazers now, this long time Laker fan is starting to turn.

Thats right, a Laker fan becoming a Blazer fan. And not just a Blazer fan, but a possible NBA basketball fan again. Something he hasnt been a fan of in at least 8-9 years.

Is this a sign of the times? Have you been a witness to similar changes? If so, who are they, and whats their back story? What makes this persons transformation so unique?

Its a great time to be a Blazer fan!

I came across this while browsing the net and found it a bit interesting.

Current Notable NBA Players First Games:

Kobe Bryant League debut : 0 points 1 rebound 0 assists

Yao Ming League debut : 0 points 2 rebounds 2 assists

Dirk Nowitzki League debut : 2 points 0 rebounds 4 assists

Steve Nash League debut : 0 points 0 rebounds 0 assists

Tracy McGrady League debut : 0 points 1 rebounds 0 assists

Kevin Garnett League debut : 8 points 1 rebounds 1 assist

Makes me laugh to read all the stories these "high profile" sports writes are spewing out there. Considering the talent listed above, I dont think any of the 2007 class of rookies have anything to worry about.

Also figured I would post this in here as well to try and hit my 300 word salary cap.

So this guy named DR. James wrote in to Canzano at the Oregonian and had this to say:

"From what I have read, and based on 30 years as a primary care physician, Greg Oden has mononucleosis. His history and sypmtoms are classic: sleeping all the time, fatigue, 19yo, girlfriend, overstressed, very swolllen tonsills. I have never seen tonsillectomy recommended for mono. It would be dangerous. Mono can be associated with liver and bleeding problems along with other issues which could increase the danger of surgery and general anesthesia.

"Somehow the Blazers have invented a new treatment for his condition, tonsillectomy. I have never seen this procedure recommended for acute mono syndrome or, for that matter, acute tonsillitis. Surgical removal of the tonsills in either condition could result in disaster. A legitimate indication for tonsillectomy is in the setting of chronically enlarged tonsills or recurrent tonsillitis. There is no hurry for this kind of surgery, and any sane surgeon would wait for acute illness to pass.

"In thirty years I have never seen a patient who, having mono, needed a tonsillectomy for airway management. If Greg Oden's airway was a problem, he would have already been operate on. The treatment for mono is rest, sleep, and avoiding trauma. Most kids will be mostly better in two or three weeks."

And people question his drive? Come on.