I spent several years in Eastern Washington, so this week's weather hasn't been too bad, except for the whole "I'm getting old, so everything hurts when it is cold" aspect of life.  To add to the fun, I have to keep the ice broken up in the watering trough in the pasture for the goats, keep the propane heater going in the greenhouse so the veggies don't die and make sure the chickens don't lay ice cubes.  Ah, the joys of semi-rural life.  Is it spring yet?

On the plus side, watching the Blazers wallop the Kings was a joy, and I'm looking forward to a bit of revenge on the part of the Blazers against the Suns tomorrow night.  I'm just hoping they don't wilt under the pressure of national (TNT) exposure.  Let's also hope that Roy's knee (and finger), Batum's knee and Travis' buttocks feel better in time for the game.

Oh, and before I forget, please read Jorga's fanpost on coaching.  Nothing like bringing fresh perspective to the table.  Thanks, Jorga!

Bring out your junk!  Bring out your junk!

No, Tom, I didn't mean *that* sort of junk.

Did anyone else laugh at the the outtakes of Travis on O-Live yesterday (http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/09/part_iv_the_outlaw_out_takes.html)?  Especially when Trout was concerned for Bruce Ely's, erm...valuables?  Not to mention the ever-evolving story on how Trout scraped his arms.

Day two of kindergarten went well for Lily.  She had P.E. so she's already in better shape than me.

BTW:  I'm extremely disappointed that it is almost 9:30AM and there's still no junk drawer...

There has been quite a lot of speculation on KP trying to prise Deron Williams away from the Jazz.  I'd say the latest development in the story has pretty much killed these hopes.  Specifically, Fox Sports is reporting (http://msn.foxsports.com/other/wcStory?contentId=8118850#story=8356130) that Williams has agreed to a $70M extension (over 3 years).  I'd say that effectively puts him out of reach unless we want to go deep into cap space.

Is this an accurate assessment?  Do you think KP / PA would still be willing to pursue Williams now that his contract puts him into the same general territory as Chris Paul?

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/359651_sonicsvote19.html

Two things of note:

1. Just because the vote went in favor of Bennett et al doesn't mean that the court ruling with regard to the terms of sale will stand.
2. The two mavericks (pun intended) who voted against the move?  Mark Cuban...and Portland's own Paul Allen!

A sad day for Sonics fans, but I'm proud of Paul Allen (and Mark Cuban, though I'm loathe to admit it) for standing up to David Stern on this issue.

Notes from the Great White North:

<coo-roo-coo-coo-coo-coo-coo-coo!>

OK, eh.  This comes courtesy of the Globe and Mail:  

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080227.WBwbbasketball20080227143113/WBStory/WBw bbasketball/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080227.WBwbbasketball20080227143113

"FDFA star of the week: Travis Outlaw (23.0 ppg, .507 fg%): No other not-currently-elite player creates as much jump-shot space as Outlaw does with his Giant Steps Step-Back. He's a bit of a Bargnani, it seems - if he misses a couple, you don't want him taking any more of them - but when he's making them, he's tough."

Jason Quick has an article on LMA and Nate/Luke's work to try and get him to play deeper in the post here:  http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/119985271541860.xml&coll=7.  Overall a good article, but I'm a bit concerned about the following comment from LMA:

"I think you just have to take what they are giving you," Aldridge said. "I'm not going to try and force it (inside)."

I'd rather see him occasionally trying to force inside as I think with a little work he could be devastating from the post.

I realize that Power Rankings are about 75% crap and hype, but both Mark Stein @ ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking?season=2008&week=10) and John Schuhmann @ NBA.com (http://www.nba.com/powerrankings/) have dropped the Blazers one spot to 8 and 6 respectively.  WTF?  The Blazers won all three games since the streak was broken, and the last (WHACK!) against Utah without Roy.

The Blazers are like Rodney Dangerfield - no respect.

I didn't see this posted before, so in case anyone wants to see highlights of Martell's sick third quarter against Utah, nba.com has it on their video picks:  http://broadband.nba.com/cc/playa.php?content=video&url=http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbac om/nbatv_top10/top10_080105.asx&video=blank&nbasite=nba.

Enjoy.

This is just some filler for the 300-character limit imposed by the Ghost of Lenny Suckerpunch.

Jason Quick has a great story on JJ33 which talks about his shooting skill, his locker room presence and mentoring of Martell and the decision-making that led up to the trade that got him to Portland.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/01/the_essence_of_james_jones.html

Why there is a 300-word limit to diaries I have no idea as it only encourages a shameful waste of energy for people to think up interesting things to say.  Instead, they just come up with folderol as filler like I just have.

Per Truehoop (http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-29-10/Friday-Bullets.html):

"FreeDarko mashed together last night's two TV events: voting in Iowa and the Blazers vs. the Bulls. The result is PG-13 and includes, for instance, an artful comparison between Travis Outlaw and Mike Huckabee: "Anyone notice how Huckabee went from a fringe hick, to a novelty act, to a viable candidate who made the same old crap seem refreshing? That's a lot like Travis Outlaw: wasted draft pick, athletic cyclone, and now all of a sudden a deadly shooter and clutch item. But like Huckabee, the Fender-cranking preacher who somehow won a primary, Outlaw's teetering between incidental and truly original. Poor Man's Gerald Wallace (thanks, Ziller) or Rashard with a motor? Only God knows."

I find Steve Blake's entry to be the most amusing.  See it here at http://freedarko.blogspot.com/2008/01/this-is-not-live-blog.html.

Odenize.

Per Basketbawful:  http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/2007/12/word-of-day-odenize.html

Check out the muscle definition on Pryz in the photo!  Now let's breathe deeply and find our spiritual center.

<Just a bunch of random filler to defeat the evil tyranny of the 300-character limit.  The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.>

FYI - nba.com has a bunch of LMA highlight video from the Seattle / Portland game.  There are a couple of wicked spin moves and a great putback dunk for those of us who weren't able to make it to the game.

Enjoy:

http://broadband.nba.com/cc/playa.php?content=video&url=http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbac om/news/aldridge_getsbusy_071024.asx&video=&nbasite=nba

FillerForThreeHundredFillerForThreeHundredFillerForThreeHundredFillerForThreeHundredFillerForThreeHu ndredFillerForThreeHundredFillerForThreeHundredFillerForThreeHundredFillerForThreeHundredFillerForTh reeHundred

Courtesy of Fox Sports...the Mets' collapse is ranked against the top 10 collapses in sports history.  Any guesses as to what is ranked #10?

Anyone?  Bueller?  Bueller?

God, I'll be so glad when we win a championship so we can erase the memory..

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7286840?MSNHPHCP&GT1=10539

All the outpouring of emotion over the (latest) bad news from the Blazers' front office has gotten me thinking.  While Dave's idea about exorcising the bad karma via a bonfire has merit, it seems to be strictly reactionary - e.g. we have bad karma, let's remove it.  What about, on the other hand, if we were to be proactive in our actions?  Here are some suggestions:

1.  Everyone on B.E. (and I mean everyone - you too, Fatty - some of us still want you around) should send a get-well card to Oden care of the Blazers' front office.
2.  Dave - let's send Oden a BlazersEdge t-shirt in size XXXXXL (a.k.a. 'ginormous')
3.  Heck, while we're at it, we should send all the Blazers (even Darius) a BlazersEdge t-shirt
4.  Stop the 'we should have drafted Durant' talk.  It's water under the bridge.  The choice was made and Oden was looking good until this setback.  Besides, if we had chosen Durant, he'd be the one getting the microfracture surgery.
5.  Keep on doing what we're doing - supporting the team we love.