I bought a new iPod last week and I have an application that allows me to listen to the radio. Unfortunately I don’t get either of the Portland sports stations on it. However I do get Houston 610 Sports Radio. So I thought I would give it a listen, and I could not believe what I heard. Honestly they when I listened they didn’t do much talking about the Blazers other than today talking about how they can’t over look Portland and that the fans need to stop talking about what they are going to do against the L*kers and what they’ll do about the center position this off season after they lose to LA (their words not mine).

Before last game a caller called in named TexasMike (sounded like he’s a frequent caller) to give advice to the incoming Houston Texan rookies. During which TexasMike said that Houston sports fans are not intelligent sports fans and that Houston woman are ugly. Then the Radio hosts called TexasMike gay and spent the next 10 minutes gay bashing.

Today about an hour ago I was listening to the same station and I heard a commercial advertising a show about a guy named Andre and someone else. The commercial consisted of the two guys talking about Jeff Garcia but giving Garcia a feminine voice and giving him an over exaggerated stereotypical gay dialect. Then talking sarcastically that if he came to Houston to play they would have him on every day making it sound like it would be funny.

I never thought that Texas was actually the way that they are depicted in the sense that they are openly ignorant towards LBGTQ lifestyles.

Its one thing for the citizens of an area to be this way but to be openly broadcasting it for everyone to hear is disgraceful.

Say what you want about some of our Portland radio guys but every single one of them has more class than that whole station.

I’ve noticed in many posts on here that the Blazer fans love of sports goes way beyond Trail Blazer fandom. So I was wondering if any one would be interested in playing in a Blazers Edge fantasy Football league? I would commish if no one else wanted to, however if some one would like to Commish I'd happily let them take it.

I personally like the ESPN leagues, but if someone would like to play in a different style of league go ahead and let us know J

We can argue that we don’t need an All Star quality PG. We can argue that Bayless our guy for the future. But if Deron Williams does not sign an extension this year we could really be in play. Williams in this article says that he would like to know that he is playing on a team with championship potential. Portland could have the money, playing along side the big three should be pretty luring, and he fits Portlands window perfectly. Plus what else do we have to loose? If it doesn’t look like it works with 4 huge stars on the same team we will still have 4 huge stars with big value to package in a trade that could work. I say Pritch doesn’t do anything with RLEC until he knows for sure what D-Will does. What do you think? Are we so positive that this won’t happen? How likely is this really? What stops this from happening? Do we want it to happen? Are we getting greedy? And is that bad?

Before the last few months I did not like OJ Mayo at all, I thought he was not right for the Blazers chemistry and that he would be a cancer on our team. However through out the season I had the opportunity to watch at least parts of 6-8 USC games and I saw a player who was not the flashy guy we saw clips of on ESPN when he was in high school. I saw a player who played exceptional defense, trusted his teammates at times too much, and I saw a fight in him that I couldn’t help but wish more players on the Blazers had.

I have been one of the louder voices when it comes to pro trading up to draft Mayo and I to be honest I recently have even said to friends and family that I have started to come to the realization that we wont make a move for him. I started to listen to all the people who said he was a bad guy. Then I read this article tonight by Chad Ford, here are some of the highlights-

“His confidence is interpreted as arrogance. When he shoots the ball, he's selfish. When he passes it, he's criticized for not shooting it. When he wins, he's showboating. When he loses, the fingers collectively point his way.”

“He averaged just 2.1 turnovers per game. His 3-point shot started falling with more regularity -- he shot 54 percent from 3-point range in his last nine games. And he started scoring at a greater clip, scoring 24 points per game.”

“Background checks found surprising things, too. Mayo scored 29 on his ACT and made the honor roll at USC. Floyd gave glowing reviews about Mayo's maturity and leadership on the team. There were no off-court incidents that people could point to, and his humility and calm demeanor, among those who know him, came through as well.”

"He's a hard worker," Grover said. "He works as hard as anyone. He's a quick learner. He's great with the other guys. He's polite. He's punctual. He takes nothing for granted. He thanks you for everything. We've had zero problems with O.J. He's a great kid."

Grover has worked with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and he trained Dwayne Wade in similar pre-draft workouts. He says Mayo has a similar "it" factor to those players.

"His knowledge of the game is so deep. By January he will have picked up all the little tricks that the veterans do. Some guys never pick that up."

“"I don't like to talk about myself," he says.“It doesn't matter what other people think. I know that. I just want to play basketball, this is my dream. I know I need to get better. I want to get better. I know it takes hard work. I just want to win."

“There aren't any guards in the draft with a more complete game than Mayo. He can defend, facilitate and score in multiple ways. And there aren't many prospects more NBA-ready than he is. He's shown he can persevere through the intense media and fan spotlight and other distractions, too. “

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/insider/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=DraftWatchMayo-080523&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fdraft2008%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dford_chad%26page%3dDraftWatchMayo-080523

I know, I know look who is calling who a hippie but there are many reasons why we as Blazer fans need the Sonics to stick around. I posted a few that immediately came to mind.  

1. We won't have to worry at the chance that Allen could move the Blazers. I know right now it doesn't sound likely but just a couple years ago we had a scare and I would rather there is no chance than a small one. I'm sure Allen would secretly rather have all of his major businesses in Seattle, after all he did try to buy the Sonics first.
2. The potential futures of these two young teams are good if not great for the next decade and the I-5 rivalry would be great to be apart of for years to come. Seattle will most likely have a top draft pick possibly a Rose or Beasley to pair with Green and Durant. Imagine a Durant and Roy, a Green and Aldridge, and a Beasley and Oden match up for the next decade.
3. If OK doesn't get the Sonics then the Hornets will most likely be next in line. Which at a long shot may give Portland their best chance at CP3. We've all read or speculated that one of the best scenarios at snagging Paul is if the Hornets leave New Orleans around the same time Paul's contract is coming to an end. Like I said it's a long shot, but an unstable franchise couldn't be fun to play for. It would be tough for any one to come to Portland to play against the Blazers and see that we have a loud fanatic arena with a record that most likely wont be good enough for the playoffs and then to come home and not reach 18 thousand in attendance with one of the most exiting young teams in the league. And after the rebuilding of NO by the Hornets is ended by a move to OK the idea of starting over in a place with no long time fan base might be a tough pill to swallow.

Is Ricky Rubio planning on entering this year's draft? If so, is he our guy?
I've heard he is a great young talent, real undersized and maybe a bit of a pre-madonna. I'm not sure if he is the right choice for us or not because watching youtube can make any one look great.
Anyone out there have any good info on the kid? If he is entering the draft is he planning on coming straight to the NBA or is he going to stay in Spain?
If we do grab him the combo of him and Rudy coming over from Joventut could be some fun to watch. If Rubio stays in Spain we can keep him there while he works on his game and we don't have to worry about our first round pick filling up a spot for a year or more. What do you all think?

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Ricky+Rubio&search_type=

Ok, Ok maybe a little drastic, but in the last minute of the game there were two horrible calls and being the semi conspiracy theorist that I am at times makes me ask was it better for the NBA that the Suns and the newly acquired Aristotle don't loose a game that they were so in control of all game.

You can say Shaq has gotten calls like the one he got on Joel that fouled the Thrilla out his whole career, or that it was simply a blown call. You can say that the uncalled charge that Jones set was just a human error from being caught up in the moment. Maybe the Blazers don't win the game if those calls were of weren't called.

But times like those remind me that the NBA is a business and sometimes the NBA might push to fulfill their agenda. The agenda of having the Shaq trade a good story coming in the Playoffs and not a train wreck coming in to the Playoffs.  

What do you think? Does the NBA have an agenda? Do the referees have an agenda? Remember when Tim Donaghy said there were more refs that were betting in the league, but then retracted it later? Maybe I'm making too much in to this, I probably am. I mean this is just a regular season game that Portland probably deserved to loose. Not to mention the more ping pong balls the better now that the Playoffs are getting more and more out of reach.

Today I was listening to my favorite radio show Primetime on 1080 the fan with Isaac Ropp and Big Suke. I heard Ropp say something that made me change the station. Isaac Ropp said that he's not a Blazer fan and that his new favorite team is the L*kers. I normally love Ropper but this actually made me pretty upset, I don't mind him not being a Blazer fan, but being a L*ker fan is unacceptable in my book. Like I said I love the show and I'm not asking for any one to be fired, but I did want to let everyone know that one of the guys we listen to from 3-7 every week day has sold his soul to the devil.

In the shalacking the Sixers gave to the Knicks yesterday 84-124 the Wachovia Center started to erupt in the city of brotherly loves best New Yorker accent with Fire-Eyes-A-Ya. I was at the that game in which you were hoping to start it in the Rose Garden. I loved the idea, maybe next year when I.T. isnt fired (because he may not) we can start it up at the Rose Garden and be the farthest place from New York to do it.

A month ago we were flying high and couldn't find anything to be upset about. I couldn't have been happier before the season to know what they have accomplished, like some national credit, an all star, and the win total. And with this latest slide we are all starting to panic and get grumpy, even though we all know we have to be patient. With that being said I think we should be allowed to ask what's going on?
Here's my rant-
I'm tired of the lack of play execution, during the 13 win streak and the first half of January we were driving the lane more, our pick and rolls were to the basket not the pick and pop we are seeing now, what's the deal? Why the change? I just don't understand it! Also where has the hustle gone? Is it because they are hitting that college wall, because our players who are getting the minuets haven't in the past? One last tangent, what are we going to do about the lack of testosterone on this team, I want to see a hard pick, I want some anger from some one when Roy gets hit hard. Come on Mo teach LaMarcus how to be the NEXT ENFORCER, then we can quit calling him LA. (I want a good nickname that we can say with out thinking of the purple and yellow) I want to see the LaMarcus who stared down Odom and Kobe last year. I don't want a bunch of thugs but I don't want to watch a bunch of wimps either. Or are we expecting G.O. to do that next year also?

Every so often I find my self on ESPN's trade checker,
because I like many of you probably dream of being K.P.
so I tried to fit a few rumors around the NBA together
while adding the Blazers. I'd love to see what kind of
trades you all come up with. I tried to keep it somewhat
realistic for all teams involved.  I know there maybe
problems in some of my logic, but I would have probably
said that about the Gasol-Brown trade too. So let's see
 what we come up with and analyze it from all teams prospective.

New York trades away- Jerome James, Zach Randolph, Nate Robinson, Fred Jones
receives- Trenton Hassell, Jason Terry, Darius Miles, Bostjan Nachbar, Taurean Green

Knicks are able to trade away both Z-Bo and James who both
have been rumored to be moved and in return get Terry and Hassell
 who along with Crawford is a formidable back court in the East.
They can start Lee at the 4 with Zach gone and Nachbar at the 3.
It is a long shot that Darius will be anything compared to
what he was, but his best head boppin buddy is Quentin Richardson
whom we had one of his most productive years. Zeke has also been
someone who has expressed interest in Miles in the past.

New Jersey Trades away- Jamaal Magloire, Antoine Wright, Jason Kidd, Bostjan Nachbar, Darrell Armstrong
Receives- Channing Frye, Raef LaFrentz, Jerome James, Zach Randolph, Nate Robinson

The Nets get Z-bo in return for Kidd, which may be as good as they
could hope for. Nets now with a young 4, 5 quartet in Randolph,
 Fry, Josh Boone and Sean Williams. Raef can still be effective
in the East. Hopefuly Robinson can show that  he can run their point.

Dallas trades away- Eddie Jones, Devin Harris, Trenton Hassell, Jason Terry
Receives- Jason Kidd, Antoine Wright, Jarrett Jack
The Mavericks get Kidd and Jack to take the place of Harris and Terry and get an upgrade in Wright from Hassell or Jones.

Portland trades away- Channing Frye, Raef LaFrentz, Jarrett Jack, Taurean Green, Darius Miles
Receives- Jamaal Magloire, Eddie Jones, Devin Harris, Darrell Armstrong, Freddie Jones

I wouldn't even think that Eddie Jones or the Big Kittie Cat even
 put on a Blazer jersey as K.P. would probably just buy them out
and allow them to become free agents. Portland gets rid of their
two ridiculous contracts in Raefs and Miles. Armstrong and Freddie
are both in their last years of their contracts and we get Harris at
only 4 mill a year for the next 6 seasons. Even if Harris isn't our
starter of the future (which he may be) we get a real nice young back up
 for years to come for a very affordable salary.  On top of all
 that Portland has four extra spots for two draft picks, Freeland
and Rudy (assuming Petteri Koponen isn't quite ready yet)

Continue reading this post »

Do you think that Jarrett Jack is starting because James Jones is hurt. Nate McMillan wants Martell Webster to work on his scoring off the bench? Because Jack is just playing that good? To help prevent another slow (which he did last night). What do you think?

I think that Kevin Pritchard and McMillan are giving Jack the chance to show he is vital to the team meanwhile at the same time driving his stats up to make him more of a valuable trade commodity. Either way the Blazers are better off, we keep him because he is important or we trade him and he is worth more.
p.s. this is my first diary post so I hope I met all your approvals