I will be the first one to tell you that upon hearing the news about Greg Oden out for another year, and Brandon no longer having any menisci left in both knees I panicked just like everyone else did, and is still doing. But now that the initial shock is done with, I feel like I'm finally coming to my senses and can think rationally about our team. Hear me out here.

 

The Blazers had the second most injuries in the league last year(I would argue our injuries were harder to overcome seeing as our players are better then the warriors, and this isn't accounting for our health of our coaches and front office), and we still were a 50 win team last year. We had Juwon Howard playing center for much of the season for us, and didn't acquire Camby until the latter part of the season.

How we were able to still be a very good team last year despite these injuries makes me to believe it's more then just our teams depth, and talent. I think the Blazers are much like the old Denver Broncos running back system for much of the 90's and 2000's under Shanahans control, meaning you can plug in any half decent player and the team and offensive style of play will produce results every single time. Nate has the full backing of a team and a front office who buy into his style of team play, slow calculated high percentage offense and as of recently, a renowned love/respect on the defensive side of the ball. The Blazers don't run a lot of isolation, it's a lot of non-iso, drive, pass out if it's not there, make the defense collapse and get that high FG% shot off. As long as Nate continues to have this team buying into this philosophy, were going to be able to continue to get away with putting less then optimum players in the game and still win.

Help is on the horizon too. There's nothing we can do about Oden being gone, but this team is used to it, and luckily is not reliant on him to make it to the playoffs. a front court of Camby/Pryzbilla and Aldridge/Cunningham is not bad by a long shot, it's actually rather good. Brandon Roy unfortunately will be a worry all year long, but he's not done. He's going to be a good player for us, he's going to start, he's going to have good and bad games just like anyone else, but the good will still far outweigh the bad. It's not like the meniscus disappeared last week, playing in pain isn't something new for Brandon. But boy does Wesley Mathews sure look really good out there? Wesley could start at SG for a lot of other teams, so he's certainly not the one holding us back. He's not the offensive star as Roy is, but where he makes up for that is his aggression, and far superior defense. Couple that with Nic at SF, and Andre continuing to be able to be the teams penetration when called upon, as well as feeding LMA and crew down low is still lookin dirty.

Is this an optimistic outlook? Hell yes it is. There are question marks for every single team not named the Lakers in this league, and we are no different. Watching this new team grow the last 3-4 years has shown me that they can overcome obstacles, and that the "team game" of basketball still does exist in a game dominated by superstars today. Will injuries happen still? Most likely, but the law of averages suggest that these freak injuries have to stop occurring at this ridiculous rate sometime. We do not have a team full of injury prone players. The only explanation I can come up with is this has just been a medical sports anomaly. It just can't keep happening, no medical staff is incompetent and putting these players in jeopardy. Times will get better.

Look on the bright-side guys, we don't have many players who are regressing/getting worse, the Blazers are still loaded with unseen potential and talent.

Poll

Are the Blazers going to finish with a same, or better record than last years 50 wins?

52%

yes, we'll exceed it or stay the same

219 votes

47%

no, we wont get 50 wins

202 votes

421 votes | Poll has closed

Comcast to broadcast Blazer games in Washington

 

"The Blazers could help fill a viewing void for NBA fans after the Seattle SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City this summer. The network will air 55 Blazers games, along with 60 NHL games featuring either the Vancouver Canucks or San Jose Sharks."

 

Mmmmm, more converted Seattle fans

And in a battle of two titans Wednesday, the vice-presidential nominees faced off in St. Louis.
Am I the only one who finds Palin pretty hot? Maybe it's just a lady dressing in a suit that's hot to me, who knows.



Oh, and GO DEVIL RAYS!

Training camp starts tomorrow! And with this I present to you a link..........


Baseball season ended last season, with the beloved Mariners finishing with the second worst record in the league, to the Washington Nationals. The two teams fought hard for this achievment but the Mariners just seemed to not have what it takes to be on top err bottom. Who do you guys think will make it to the World Series?


And how many of you watched the season premier of The Unit on CBS last night? I think after having it on the bubble for this upcoming season they did quite well in capturing the attention of a lot of viewers with a short attention span, but at the same time pissed off some older viewers such as myself that wanted them to pick off where they left off last season instead of starting something new.


DUMP ME LINKS

Just a couple of hours ago SB Nation launched it's new layout/platform for it's sports blogs. Athleticsnation was the first to see this update. You can have a look for yourself over at http://athleticsnation.com

Some new things that jump out at me is the removal of "Diary's" and the addiction of "FanPosts". The same thing, just don't have to use the girly diary word now.

And comments in game threads, as well as any other thread or post update automatically. No more have to click the refresh button to see what everyone has said.

There's many other things in the new update, but instead of listing them all right here I'll let you see them for yourself.

Do you want this new update on BE?

Poll

Do you want this change?

60%

Yes

23 votes

23%

No

9 votes

15%

I'm not sure

6 votes

38 votes | Poll has closed

I for one would LOVE to have Darius back.

Darius Miles is basically... what we HOPE for Trout to be one day, without the baggage. Darius is athletic as they come, and he can jump out of the roof just like Trout can.

Having these 2 fighting for minutes at the PF/SF position while Jones and Webster fight for the SF/SG positions would be great. Minutes would not be a problem, obviously neither one would be a clearcut starter, but who cares? As shown by our last 12 game win streak, we don't need a starting 5, we need a TEAM. It's our second team that puts fear into the opponents eyes, if we can improve that even more, were a lock for the playoffs next year.

We would have something like this if I were GM

Centers: Oden, Przybilla, Aldridge
Power Forwards: Aldridge, Frye, Miles, Trout
Small Forwards: Miles, Trout, Webster, Jones
Shooting Guards: Roy, Rudy, Webster, Jones
Point Guards: Blake, Roy, Sergio, Jack

Obviously this shows that we kick Josh, Raef, Green and any draft pick we get to the wall or to the D league. I know Raef's expiring contract is going to be valuable so I don't know if were allowed to send him to the D-league? Someone elaborate on that for me if you know.

With the lineup, I'd hope for Both Oden and Aldridge to get 30 minutes respectively at there starting positions. This leaves enough space for przybilla to get some time at center, and also leaves room for trout/frye and somewhat miles (i like him better at SF) to go at it for the remaining PF minutes. Then We have Trout, Webster and Jones fighting for backup SF/SG duties.

Competition breeds improvement and raised level of play. When you guarantee people spots, and giant contracts, then they get to comfortable and forget there playing for there money and minutes.

In about 15 hours, Portland will be wearing red at home for the first time this season in the holiday match up against the green Sonics.

"I think they are ugly, but everybody else wanted them,'' Przybilla said. "Look at these things. I'm going to look like a big ketchup bottle out there. It's just ugly man."

Hoopsworld came out with there rankings and has the Blazers listed as high as FIVE ahead of the likes of Phoenix, and L.A. Crazy what a little win streak can do for national exposure and respect.

"5. (5) Portland Trail Blazers - With games against Seattle, Minnesota and Philly, the Blazers could be sporting a 13-game winning streak by next week."

Ray Ratto came out with a column today that was amazing in my opinion, and exemplifies what all of us think and feel, difference is he's a national writer and were not. So it's nice when he publishes something like this here little article.

" More to the point, they spent the past several years teaching America how to destroy a franchise. Losing was bad enough, the crime thing was worse, and the open-sore feud with the Oregonian, Portland's million-ton media elephant -- all of it testified to a tin-eared operation seemingly hell-bent on actively offending every person in town.

But between the much-encouraged firing of general manager Steve Patterson in March, the winning of the best pingpong ball in the NBA Draft lottery and the subsequent selection of Greg Oden, the Blazers thought they were on to something. That subsided when Oden went down with microfractures in his right knee, but Oden remained a fixture in the community, and the team went on without him -- slightly older, true, but still the third-youngest team in NBA history, and now with someone other than Oden to love in Roy.

Taken in and of themselves, none of these items is that special, but when combined, the Blazers trump every other hot-team-warms-cold-town story you've got. Sunday's Oregonian, for example, devoted a large chunk of its Sunday cover to a huge picture of head coach Nate McMillan, who was neither wearing a Santa hat, rescuing kittens from a burning building nor buying toys for the economically repressed."

GET READY SONICS!!!

Happy holidays!!!

Hey, haven't posted a diary on this site in a while... and well I've been wired off caffeine and Halo 2 all night so what better time to post a random collection of sports links? Feel free to add your own links as well.

250 million dollar man David Beckham made his debut yesterday for the L.A Galaxy.

Before a sellout crowd of nearly 47,000 and a national television audience, David Beckham came on as a substitute in the 72nd minute, shortly after a pouring rain let up. His Los Angeles Galaxy team was trailing 1-0 and also playing a man short after Kyle Martino was red-carded in the 67th minute for a hard tackle.

Mmmmmm, good to see our good money is going to good use on Beckham, wouldn't want him to break a sweat now playing the whole game.

Now how's this for oddness. The Mets fan who caught Barry Bonds 756 HR ball reportedly is leaning towards keeping it instead of selling it. The ball is said to be worth 500,000 - 600,000 dollars.

"Part of me wants to keep it. It's the greatest American sports accomplishment in history," Murphy said Thursday on NBC's "Today Show." "Part of me might want to sell it, but I really am leaning towards keeping it. It's just too valuable, sentimental."

Selling the ball for that amount would instantly put Murphy in the highest tax bracket for individual income, where he would face a tax rate of about 35 percent, or about $210,000 on a $600,000 ball.

Even if he does not sell the ball, Murphy would still owe the taxes based on a reasonable estimate of its value, according to John Barrie, a tax lawyer with Bryan Cave LLP in New York. Capital gains taxes also could be levied in the future as the ball gains value, he said.

I don't think you could ever force me to keep a ball like that and take a 200,000 hit to my bank. Nuh uh. There's gotta be some loophole around something like that... Like say you inherit a house... you don't actually have to pay taxes until you decide to sell it. Someone elaborate if this is alone the same lines.

And apparently MSNBC likes us now and is giving us some spotlight over at there page. I guess thats what landing the beast we call Greg Oden number 1 overall in the draft does to a team.

They may not be championship contenders, but they may have the most intriguing nucleus after another terrific off season, this being their fourth straight with nothing to do after mid-April. And perhaps there'll be another one or two. But it seems there are some interesting times ahead for the Trail Blazers, though not necessarily because of Greg Oden.

Oden, of course, was the No. 1 pick in June's draft, projected -- or promised -- as the Next Great Thing for the NBA, a classic low post big man."

Well that about does it for me, back to Halo 2 and Twinkies and Ding Dongs for me.

Poll

favorite color

2%

hippopotumus

1 votes

33%

fatty

12 votes

16%

red

6 votes

16%

spoon

6 votes

11%

blue

4 votes

8%

green

3 votes

5%

pancake

2 votes

0%

yellow

0 votes

2%

washington dc

1 votes

2%

tuna casserol

1 votes

36 votes | Poll has closed

Seriously now people, did any of you guys think we had a remotely possible chance at snagging Oden or Durant? Even though it was sweet to play the ESPN draft machine 50 times a day, and see the Blazers win 5/50 times, you still figured that we were going to end up with the good, but not great Corey Brewer or Wright.

When they got passed the 7th spot, I just assumed, like everybody else, that we were going to end up like 5th or 6th... Maybe even 4th! But no, when Memphis and Bostons cards were shown, I just had a feeling that Portland was going to be in that final 3.

When it was announced that it was going to be Portland, Seattle and Atlanta for the last 3 before going on commercial break, I calmed down and started to think rationally as possible. I even made a comment just for my own sanity if we didn't get the top 2 saying, "Even if we get 3rd guys, this draft has already been amazing". We had the worst odds out of the 3 remaining, and not to mention it always seems like the team your rooting for to win something, comes out on the bad end of things.

So the commercial break ends, and it goes straight to the 3 finalists standing on the podium. I can't even remember who the other 2 representatives were standing to Brandon Roy's right. Now in my mind, all I'm thinking about is, " Just not 3... JUST NOT 3!"... And then there it is... with the 3rd overall pick... The Atlanta Hawks. I was so excited at this point, It didn't even hit me yet whether or not we would get Oden or Durant yet, just the fact that we were going to get one of them made me scream! Then, with no dramatic 5 minute wait, or player interview, the man at the podium grabbed the card out of the envelope... It was the Seattle Supersonics.

So this is what it feels like to have the first overall pick to what has been said to be the best draft in the last two century's?  I just couldn't believe it... I kept thinking about it, Oden in red and black... next to LaMarcus Aldridge, Zach Randolph and Brandon Roy. The feeling was surreal, It's like the basketball gods felt they owed us something for taking away our number one overall slot last year and shipping us to fourth.

This is a new age in Blazers basketball ladies and gentlemen. This is a player that will change the face of the Portland Trailblazers franchise forever, someone who can arguably become one of the best players in all of basketball if he just keeps up what he did in high school and college. this is a player who is already an amazing player, and who's potential ceiling hasn't even been touched yet.

Welcome to the soon to be best 15 years of Blazers basketball that you've ever witnessed.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Ao14SvOaj_IJqMYzr.CriyW8vLYF?slug=pacerswarriorstrade&prov =st&type=lgns

BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT (TICKER) -- The Indiana Pacers reportedly have traded scorers Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday in an eight-player deal that netted Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy Jr.

ESPN.com, citing unidentified NBA front office sources, is reporting the deal, which also has guard Sarunas Jasikevicius and forward Josh Powell going to the Warriors and forward Ike Diogu and guard Keith McLeod going to the Pacers.

Wowowowow, I feel bad for Al Harrington, It seems Indiana really just can't keep him.

After noticing that Dave was in Sacramento for the game, I got to thinking about possibly going to see my first game live. Yes, I know it's bad, but it's hard for someone who doesn't live in Portland, and only gets to select from the limited choices of the Kings and the Warriors.

The good thing is, My family and I travel up to Portland + Seattle every year to visit relatives. Would anyone be interested in possibly organizing a B.E get-to-gether, something like tailgating/bbq, game, drinks (soda pop for me).

Obviously first choice would be at the Rose Garden, but if there's a big fan base somewhere else, possibly perhaps * prays * the Bay Area, would any Portland people like to make a trip? Or vice-versa, would any California/Washington people like to make the trip to Portland?

Perhaps it's too soon to think of something like this, and we should wait until next season. But we do seem to have quite a few dedicated members, it could definitely be doable this year.

Good morning, virgin link dump by me, sorry if yours is written already salb...(not really)

Darin Erstad appears to have options, with the A's?

Erstad said six teams have expressed serious interest in signing him, either as a left fielder, center fielder or utility player. Though he declined to name the teams, the Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies and Seattle Mariners are believed to be among them.

Serious interest? Is this written in like Ray Rattorion language, which changes words from possibly to likely, and in this case... possibly to seriously?

Perhaps we can get him on a cheap contract, because it would be nice to have gold glove defense at 1B if DJ sucks, and gold glove def in CF if Kotsay gets hurt.

Romo's drop saves the Seahawks, 21-20.

Romo's botched hold on a 19-yard field goal try with 1:19 remaining forced the Pro Bowl quarterback to scramble left, but he was tackled at the 2 and the Seahawks escaped with a 21-20 victory in the wildest of NFC wild card games Saturday night.

"It looked like it was a pretty good snap. He was the holder all year," Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said. "We were in position to win if we could just execute the extra point."

I just want to go on the record and say that I feel for those kickers/long snappers and holders. They get all the blame if they mess up once, because there always needed in pressure situations. The entire game was filled with mistakes from both teams, Dallas just seemed to suck just a tad bit more.

Commence dumping.

Wanna test this out and see what everyone thinks. It's a daily thing over at AthleticsNation.com and usually gets 300+ comments a day, and is very well liked by everyone. You guy's can add in your own stuff as well, or comment about any of them. It would be pretty boring if I just listed 50 million links.

So without further ado, an Arrest Made In Connection To Darrent Williams Case happened yesterday.

Willie Clark, 23, was arrested at 5:45 p.m. for alleged parole violations but "will be asked to provide any information that he may have in relation to the homicide of Denver Bronco Darrent Williams," Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.

"His name surfaced during our investigation as someone we want to talk to," Jackson said. "We are not calling him a suspect at this time. We're just talking to him about the information he may have that is relevant to this case ... He is a person who might have pertinent information."

So uh... Why is he being arrested then if they just think he knows about it? 20 says they charge him a few weeks down the road with murder.

The Mavericks have more then double our teams wins. and has totaled our entire seasons wins in one winning streak.

Dallas, which is 27-3 since losing its first four games of the season, can equal a franchise record for its longest winning streak with a triumph over Kobe Bryant and the Lakers Sunday night in Los Angeles. The Mavericks won 14 in a row to start the 2002-03 season.

I gotta admit, I was laughing when they started off the season 0-4. Thought it might have had something to do with the Finals.

Nick Saban apparently is a "Nasty Jerk". And Gregg Doyle at cbsportsline hates him for it.

Saban became the Alabama coach 13 days after saying, "I'm not going to be the Alabama coach," and nothing offends the media more than a coach who lies about his next career move, even though we've mastered the art. Show me a sportswriter who hasn't used one newspaper against another to get a raise -- flying into another town on another paper's dime for another round of empty job interviews -- and I'll show you a peanuts-earning sucker worth exactly what he or she is getting paid.

Eh, who cares about Saban... Oregon ST. beat Missouri baby! Did any of you guys see that game? Was freaking amazing.

And what would this be if there wasn't any Blazer news?

Nate McMillan apparently needs help with a question, "What's wrong with the Blazers?"

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Distressed by his team's performance against the New York Knicks, Portland coach Nate McMillan gathered his players to ask point-blank what was wrong.

Guard Jarrett Jack spoke up.

"Everyone's not playing," he replied, but didn't point fingers or name names.

Hmmm Nate... maybe if you stopped acting like my traveling teams baseball coach... and stop playing damn favorites.

McMillan's recent theme is that the Blazers lack a vocal leader who can take over on the floor.

"I think it's experience you're looking for, that leadership," McMillan said. "That leader. That captain. That player to step up and say `We're going to get through this.' "

Jack, for his part, vowed to step up.

"I'm going to try everything: try to be more aggressive, play in-your-face defense, give words of encouragement, anything I can do."

There's a player for you right there. Sure would be nice if Nate would let Jack play his PG position instead of trying to convert damn Roy to PG.

------ Hope you guys like this. If it turns out to be a success, I might just do one every Saturday or Sunday, something like that.

Poll

Would you like to see this weekly?

88%

Yes

23 votes

7%

No

2 votes

3%

Daily

1 votes

0%

Don't care

0 votes

26 votes | Poll has closed

Awww yes, 6:00 AM, been up since 4... still have icky greenish sleepy stuff in my eyes, and I haven't even had my bowl of cherios that I now eat religiously. And no, this isn't about the dream of Jessica Alba I was pleasently having before I was rudely awakended by my 120lb dog to go take his morning glory.

It's about the Blazers and if we have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs this year. Yes yes, lock me up and throw away the key, I said it! I said Blazers and playoffs in the same sentence! Really though, I don't think im THAT crazy, actually if you think about it I have a legitimate reason not to be thrown into a mentral hospital with THAT guy again and i'm gonna explain my maddening explanation why.

Exhibit A - Jarrett Jack

Now... my client here Mr. Jack outplayed the wonder boy Telfair last season, despite having something like 70% bad tissue in his ankle. Nate has raved over him and his ability to be a true PG for this team and lead it. He even trusted him so much as to bench Telfair, our "Holy Grail" to get this 22nd round pick, who's a rookie the starting job.

Then Telfair is traded to Boston for Brandon Roy, all but sealing the PG job to Jack. Hell, PTB management didn't even blink an eye when Jack said he was going to have surgery in the offseason to get his ankle fixed. I know everyone always claims to be the expert, and that these highroller coaches and GM's don't know anything, but my god if someones going to get this much trust in them, im going to take there word on it that there the real deal.

Exhibit B - Brandon Roy

Now is it just me or does it seem kinda cool that the 2 main Rookie Of The Year canidates names kinda got that rhyme thing going on. Randy Foye... Brandon Roy... oh hell it doesnt matter. My client Mr. Roy should win it on default just for the fact that his name is ROY. Take that O.J!

In all seriousness though, I can see Brandon having a similar year like Wades first year. Maybe not as good, but somewhere close. Roy has been getting all these huge reviews about how he's a "ready to contribute now" type of player, whereas Aldridge, Bargnani... Morrison and Thomas are gonna need some more time and seasoning. And folks, after what he's shown us in the Summer league, I for one believe them. He played the entire summer league at a position that's not his primary... in a league of elites where everyone is the best at there position, and he went above and beyond the expectations I had for him.

No, he wasn't scoring 25ppg every night like Foye was at PG. He went out and did better, he went out and did what a PG is supposed to do, he made assists. Now his 3.6 APG does not show him justice, the man passed the ball around like it was hot potato, and I believe (correct me if im wrong) that he had a 9 assist game like his 2nd game. then you add in that he was shooting an amazing .647% FG from the floor, and a .667% 3PT and I don't know how the top Rookie Honors went to Foye.

And then there's his attitude. Staying in college for all 4 years, even when he could have came out earlier and entered the draft alongside with his buddy Martell, he decided he wanted to learn the most that he could, and up his game before the pros. When I heard him talk about he was somewhat disapointed when Minnesota picked him, and how estatic he was when he was told that he needed to change hats to the Red and Black. Did I mention he was local? Yes, good ol Washington.

Exhibit C - Martell Webster

Aaaaawwww... what is there to say about Mr. Webster... OoOo, I know... He was not at the Leaky Caldron at 10:27 PM on the night of August 10th, 2006! Yeah, that was kinda dumb right there but who cares? I can write it and you can't stop me ;). Oh, basketball right? Ok, Martell as well as Roy has lit up the entire Summer league posting huge amounts of points. I believe it was something ridiculous the first game of the season he got like 29 pt's and was crowned "player of the day". Hey, don't mock it, I'll take an award anyway i can get it.

The Blazers were sold on Martell ever since he had his first workouts in Portland. PTB management still say to this day that they have never ever in there careers seen a more amazing workout then Martells. He basicly just put on a show and that was enough for Blazer management to select him as the first high school player out of the draft. He was also said to be the most dangerous deep threat shooter in the draft, which is always nice to have "Steve Kerr moment :)".

Also, Martell needs to get somer sponsers with Got Milk, or wheaties or something! The guy is now 6'9! he was like 6'6 when we drafted him! I say we sign him longterm now, and teach him how to rebound so that he can be our center in a few years. Also with this added growth, he can now successfully play SF which will make room for one of his old friends from Washington,Roy to play the Guard. Martell has the highest ceiling in terms of potential on this team, Nate just needs to groom him right and we have our own personal Ray Allen.

Exhibit D - Zach Randolph

Awww, look at our Zachy-poo, isnt he just adorable now that he's got his huge monster contract? Well, you can't always guess how all deals are going to work out, and it's obvious now that PTB management made the wrong decision in signing such a young player to such a huge deal like that with guys like Sheed, Stoudamire, Wells, Miles around, because it will go to there head. There's still hope though, Zach is a very talented player, it's what got him his huge cotnract, because he was a premier PF.

Zach is a, how do I say this... Presence down low. He's the only PF I know that I can see him get about 5 offensive rebounds in a row on his own misses. Also, maybe i'm the only one here who falls in love with that sweet left handed 19 footer that he shoots from the right side of the court. Agreed he needs to charge in more and get to the basket, but man I don't see how people can turn him into a one dimensional player like that when I see that jay.

Then there's the attitude. Now this is my personal opinion, and many will disagree. Zach is a good person. Curious, stupid at times but inside he's a good person. He is still young, and he was given a contract before he was even allowed to drink. Now tell me, have any of you ever smoked marijuana before? (rhetorical question, don't answer that in fear of those damn coppers :P) Have any of you ever drank before 21? The same thing applies to Zach, just because he's got the wallet now doesn't change things, in fact it probably makes it harder. In a league where he's surroudned by older, rich people who do all those things must be a lot harder to resist, so there's my take on Zach.

Exhibit E and F - Pryzbilla and Magloire

Now I put both of them up for the simple fact that I have no idea which one will start, and frankly it doesn't matter to me. Both of them are good players and have great attitudes. Pryzbilla may just get it because he has seniority on this team. In terms of player skills, Magloire probably get's the nod just for the fact that he's one of the best rebounders in the league and does the "dirty work" snickers. So Pryzbilla has the seniority thing going for him, Magloire has the skill thing going for him, let's pick a number between 1 and 2 and see who Nate "Mcmullan" picks.

Ok, i'm tired, been writing this for an hour and 20 minutes when I could have been playing some quality poker :(. Took a lot of time into this and I would love to see some comments on it, agree/disagree + adding on whatever.

I'm going to go back to bed now, Junior Registration at my high school is in 6 hours and I need my beauty rest. This is Devyn... OUT

*Update* ESPN is reporting that Aldridge will miss 6-8 weeks.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2006-08-22-notebook_x.htm

"PORTLAND, Ore. -- Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge, the second overall pick in this year's NBA Draft, will undergo surgery to repair a small ligament tear in his right shoulder."

Uhhhh, this sure came out of the blue. Although it is a minor issue, and I know players have surgerys all the time and is a common thing in the NBA now, but having our number 2 draft pick center having surgery before he's even played a minute for us is shooting off all the loud alarms in my head.

I assume this happened in the summer league? If so could someone colaborate on this?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/basketball/nba/08/21/bc.bkn.trailblazers.ran.ap/index.html

"The Police Bureau will now confirm that on August 14, 2006, an officer took a report of a sexual assault and that the report involved Zach Randolph," Schmautz said in an e-mailed release. "However, the Police Bureau is not identifying Zach Randolph as a suspect in the criminal investigation."

Well, It's nice to see that he's not the suspect but this still does not sit well with me. How else can you be "involved" in a sexual assualt besides being the victim? Zach needs to get his head on straight and realize that he's expected to lead this team. Although against popular opinion, Magloire will not be Nates Captian, nor will captian Jarret "Jack".

It's our boy Zachy.

So what do we do with this situation here? I know PTB management has had enough with the crap like this going on and have no intention of putting up with it just by looking at how it went down last year (Nate suspending Darius and countless other things). They also are quite plumped at the PF/C position, and would love to get Magloire + Pryzbilla some time on the court together.

In my personal opinion, I think Zach needs a wakeup call. Nate should turn the team into Bootcamp, and force these guys to make the right decisions, or there will be severe reprocusions. The catch 22 with that is it's a risky move and could either work, or blow up in our faces. I can easily see Zach or Darius going off the deep end and becoming completely un-coachable, which would also probably make them untradable. But with our current situation, I don't see them getting any better on there current path and I definitly do not want them to rub off onto our young new core of players.

That's just my 2 cents, let's hear yours.

P.S - Can't wait until we get our guy back tomorrow, or someone new. I cannot live without this place man!

note I posted this on scout.com forums as well.

If any of you were listening to the A's vs Angel's game today, you would know why I'm asking this.

Scotty Mcclain has been playing in the minors since 1990 when he was drafted by Baltimore in the 22nd round.

Up until 1996, he was considered a minor league fill-en, a scrub so to speak.

In 1997, he began to improve by getting 120 hits and 21 homers respectivly in 429 AB's. He posted a .370 OBP% as well as a .280 AVR.

In 1998 he exploded. in 472 AB's, he hit 34 HR's, as well as 35 doubles. He posted a .385 OBP% and a .299 AVR all while in AAA-Durham!

In 99, He became more of an Adam Dunn type player, posting near the same HR's and doubles, but increasing K's and decreasing AVR. He would post a career high 156 SO's which led him to a measly 251 AVR.

In 2000, he would improve to a similar like season in 97, where he would hit 25 HR's and 25 doubles to go along with his 276 AVR.

From 2002, to 2004. He would play in Japan. There in roughly 500 AB's over his short seasons there, he would hit 32 combined HR's and 24 doubles. Although his power numbers looked good, his AVR would suffer tremendously by hitting about a combined .200 in his time spent in Japan.

Finally, in 2005. He decides to go back to Iowa where he has a monsterous year. in 423 AB's, he hits 27 doubles, 2 triples, and 30 HR's. He does this while cutting his SO total in HALF from his 99 season with 84 whiffs.

So the question remains, can a 33 year old player still be a good player in the majors? Or has his time run out? Can older more washed up minor leagues still be effective major leaguers such as what Aaron Small did last year for the yanks?

I'm probably blowing this out of proportion, but im just really siked up for the upcoming season. :D

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/worldclassic2006/news/story?id=2307629

"Pitchers in the first round of games, scheduled from March 3-10, will be limited to 65 pitches. The amount rises to 80 pitches for the second round, set for March 12-16, and 95 for the semifinals on March 18 and the championship March 20."

The whole 95 thing still scares me. Having our beloved Haren pitching 80 then 95 pitches after 4 days rest. This can still be abused.

"All games will use designated hitters. Games will be stopped after five innings when a team is ahead by 15 or more runs and after seven innings when a team is ahead by at least 10 runs. A game can be stopped in the middle of an inning if a team reaches the threshold."

Good idea, realisticly if anyone get's ahead by that many runs, there not coming back. Good job to prevent injury.

The Red Sox announced today that former general manager Theo Epstein will rejoin the organization in a full-time baseball operations capacity.

He won't be the general manager, it seems, but there's a good chance he'll have as much influence when it comes to baseball decisions as anyone in the front office. The team said further details about Epstein's return will be announced next week.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playernews.asp?sport=MLB&show=AL

My thoughts - Looks like the soap opra shows are prime time now!

Melhuse agreed to a 1 year deal today http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060117&c ontent_id=1296684&vkey=pr_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak

Now we have 1 player left which is Ellis. Think we'll sign him long term? I guess it all depends, Melillo should be ready in 1-2 years. And then we have converted 2b Pennington that should be here in 3 or so years.

In Billy we trust...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AmAOx0BZOhtONgdOf6A53IsRvLYF?slug=ap-marlins-oregon&prov=a p&type=lgns

 Personally, i'de love to see this happen since im an Oregon native. Really is sad how all Portland has is a Padres minor league team and my pathetic Trailblazers.

 Also, what do you think this would do to the NL West? I really don't see any of the teams getting younger in the west except maybe Arizona.

Would there be any chance they would come to the AL though? It would hurt if they did with all those damn good prospects coming up. :(

Apparently the a's are getting Craig Wilson of the Pirates for Kirk Saarloose and prospects will be exchanged. Heard a little about it about 40 mins ago and had to go and confirm it, and well, KNBR confirmed it.

Personally I don't think this trade makes any sense unless we trade off Payton. He will be another Outfielder, and another DH, something that we don't need. And the pen takes a big hit losing Saarloose.

This will also put DJ into a platoon situation with Wilson which will stunt both Wilson and DJ's growth.

Gonna keep listening to KNBR, freaking Rose Bowl crap is taking up 99% of the air-time.