Television has been crap lately. Without my beloved Blazers on I haven't really had much to watch. So help me out.

What's your favorite show, especially one that isn't absurdly popular. Yes I have seen the Office.

I vote for Always Sunny in Philadelphia (although how you aren't already watching it amazes me people) and my favorite show that doesnt get NEARLY enough respect..

Burn Notice!

So fill me in. What SHOULD I be watching.. since I have time to kill in spades.

Well folks, its time for a new JD.

From the sounds of the BEdge basketball game, some of our fellow junkers and posters and lurkers who played may need some motivation to get on with their evening. According to a trustworthy eyewitness, it was a lot of failed shots, questionable defense and wallet thieves were on hand.

So in their honor... let's all give them some motivation.

What are your favorite motivational speeches?

My Personal Fave: "Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else."

Here are some samples that will work...

1. Bill Paxton in Independence Day -
   Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in this history of mankind. Mankind -- that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps its fate that today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom, not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution -- but from annihilation. We're fighting for our right to live, to exist. And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive!" Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!
   
2. Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday -
   I don't know what to say, really. Three minutes till the biggest battle of our professional lives all comes down to today. Now either we heal as a team or we're gonna crumble, inch by inch, play by play, 'til we're finished. We're in hell right now, gentlemen, believe me. And, we can stay here -- get the $^!$ kicked out of us -- or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb outta hell one inch at a time. Now, I can't do it for you. I'm too old. I look around. I see these young faces, and I think -- I mean -- I made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make. I, uh, I pissed away all my money, believe it or not. I chased off anyone who's ever loved me. And lately, I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror. You know, when you get old in life things get taken from you. I mean that's...part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out life's this game of inches. So is football. Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small -- I mean one-half a step too late, or too early, and you don't quite make it. One-half second too slow, too fast, you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch, because we know when we add up all those inches that's gonna make the #$%@#^ difference between winning and losing! Between livin' and dyin'! I'll tell you this: In any fight, it's the guy who's willing to die who's gonna win that inch. And I know if I'm gonna have any life anymore, it's because I'm still willin' to fight and die for that inch. Because that's what livin' is! The six inches in front of your face!! Now I can't make you do it. You got to look at the guy next to you. Look into his eyes! Now I think you're gonna see a guy who will go that inch with you. You're gonna see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows, when it comes down to it, you're gonna do the same for him! That's a team, gentleman! And, either we heal, now, as a team, or we will die as individuals. That's football guys. That's all it is. Now, what are you gonna do?
3. Mel Gibson in Braveheart -
   Wallace: Sons of Scotland, I am William Wallace.
   Young soldier: William Wallace is 7 feet tall.
   Wallace: Yes, I've heard. Kills men by the hundreds, and if he were here he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse. I AM William Wallace. And I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You have come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What would you do without freedom? Will you fight?
   Veteran soldier: Fight? Against that? No, we will run; and we will live.
   Wallace: Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you'll live -- at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!!!
   Wallace and Soldiers: Alba gu bra! (Scotland forever!)

And some visual evidence-

AND FINALLY

Hey guys,

As a follow up to my earlier post, we will be doing our mock draft at 11am PST. I will post over here the results of who I select. We were allowed to make trades in our time leading up to the draft, and I completed one.. however because it was so large, it was disallowed as it would overshadow the draft.

You can follow our Mock Here if you want:

BlazersEdge Mock Draft

So from now until I post the results of my draft for OKC..

here was the proposed trade. Let me know what you think.

Toronto receives:

Jeff Green

Pick 3

Pick 25

Earl Watson

Chucky Atkins

Oklahoma City receives:

Chris Bosh (contingent upon him signing a long term deal)

2010 1st round draft pick (top 5 protected with an option for 2011 unprotected)

Thanks,

Great Oden's Raven

(UPDATE #1. With the Third Pick I chose James Harden. While I feel he is a bust waiting to happen, the fine people of WTLC have spoken, and James Harden it is. I will look for a shot blocking presence in the late first round.)

(UPDATE #2. With the 25th pick I chose Taj Gibson from USC. I think he would be an excellent pickup for you guys in the late first round. He isnt as strong as some of the other PF/Cs in the draft, but he has excellent rebounding and shotblocking (3 per game this year!!!!) and would be a great backup at C to allow Collison to play PF)

Well it's that time of year. The Draft approaches and as is fairly common across SBN... we are doing Mock Drafts. Over at Blazer'sEdge, I have drawn the task of selecting for OKC. Now being a archrival (at least formerly) I have a pretty decent idea of your team and where they have strengths and weaknesses. I could make my pick I think pretty accurately on my own, however, that is only an outsiders view. So if you don't mind, help me out here...

Who are the top 5 players you want in this draft at #3? Who do you want at #25?

And most importantly what are the things you need the most to complete your team. I know your record was god awful, but I think OKC is ready to make a leap into the 30 wins next year and into the upper 40s in 2 years if they play their cards right. I have great respect for Presti and I am sure he knows what he is doing.

If you were to trade the 3rd pick, what would you look for? I know thats like 5 things to ask, but I have heard OKC is looking to move their pick and I want to cover all my bases.

Thanks for your help, and if you have any Blazer q I will be glad to answer..

(EDIT: ADDED A POLL)

Props to Brooks for busting out the bowtie. I was impressed. He is now a viable option at point guard after that move. That sealed the deal.

I was just in Oregon for the first time this year this last weekend. I was in a wedding. It was nice weather. It was a lovely ceremony. Laurelhurst has too many hippies. that was a nice group of single statements in a row.

Maybe its just me, but I am not sold on the "ZOMG! WE HAVE TO DRAFT DEJUAN BLAIR!!!" camp. I like the kid, don't get me wrong. But I don't think moving up is somethign we have to do. If he falls to us, take him, but I don't really see the need to move up much in the draft. I would rather get a free agent to fill the backup PF role. There are some good ones out there. I have seen too many guys just like him flame out. Not to say he will but i have seen it happen.

go ahead disagree with me.. i dare you..

Lets say for a second that the draft plays out perfectly for YOUR player. you know, the one that you PRAY somehow falls to the 49ers. If you had your choice of player, who would you want? I know we want a tackle, but lets assume that Jason Smith, Aaron Curry and Eugene Monroe are gone.. every other player has been mocked ahead and behind us, but those 3 are ALWAYS mocked above #10. So.. who would you want? Discuss below

Yeah well since no one has done one today. here it is.. add at your own will.

Blazers had a huge streak of luck with a win by Portland and a loss by nearly every other team in the playoff race. Except San Antonio.

I watched Rambo First Blood today. Oregon Sheriffs are jerks, hassling Vets like that.

Michigan State and North Carolina are in the title game (NC likely). Has anyone else noticed this has been the most boring freaking tournament ever? Part of that is also because CBS sucks. Show us the 5-12, 7-10, 8-9 games. We dont want to flippin watch 1-16... even 2-15.. cut to it if its close, but cmon... CBS pretty much sucks royally at all sports. they have crappy HD for football too.

well that is my junk for the day.

Now I am sure many of you will instantly recoil at the headline. It happens. This site claims to not like homerism yet refuses trade offers of dwyane wade for jerryd bayless. Here's the truth though, while Rice may be a homer (no debating that) he does it with class and without demeaning the other team. Yes I know he butchers names and his confucious parody is painful, but during the game, at least you know you will get analysis as opposed to plain ole kissing donkey.

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Hey all,

I was just pondering over a trade in my head. I believe the Mavs probably finish about 6th in the west and get Portland in the first round, but I really dont think anyone outside of the L-word or Spurs make it out of the west. I have read before that you guys have pondered the idea of blowing it up and getting younger and making a push for down the road. Here is a trade thought I came up with. Now this requires you to move Dirk. So if he is untouchable at this point in your mind, then this won't work for you.

Here are the reasons why I think this works. You get younger, you get more pieces and you get more cap flexibility. You get more than equal amounts of scoring back (allowing howard I am sure more shots) and you get a local kid in the process to cheer for. You get a starting PF, a starting SG (unless you really want to start Wright, which i know no one does, and Terry is best off the bench) and a proven backup PG to cover 55 year old Kidds afternoon naps. You also get stackhouses 7mil per contract off your books.

I think the Blazers would have to really consider this deal. I know it would force them to win right now, instead of plan on winning down the line. It closes their window by quite a bit due to Dirk's age, but also frees up playing time for some of the other players hidden in their lineup.

What do you guys think? Would you do this trade?

Trade between Portland and Dallas

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Some love him, some hate him, but Bill Simmons "The Sports Guy" is one of the most widely read sports columnists out there. He singlehandedly keeps page 2 on ESPN afloat, writes for ESPN magazine, has a podcast, and is both beloved and hated in the blogging community.

This morning he wrote a piece about Greg Oden. The jist of the article is that with great centers you can usually tell by first appearances how they will turn out. Bill was underwhelmed by Greg to say the least. He goes on to discuss how the league NEEDS Greg to be good because of his personality and his one of a kind talent, but just doesn't think his body will let him do it.

Here is the article: Story on Oden

What do you think?

I tend to agree that his body doesnt seem to be built for the long haul, but I truly believe that the kids work ethic and desire to be good will allow him to excel in the NBA. Many players with far less athleticism have become great. I think we should keep hopes high and continue to hope for the best, but at the least, Simmons DOES have a point.

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As I was reading this Marc Stein Article talking about the most anticipated games of the season, I was ecstatic to see that Marc is as excited as we are about the Blazers this year. We are mentioned numerous times and he seems to love the fact that Oden gets to match up against quite a few great centers. However all that was tempered by the fact that at every chance he gets, he mentions Odens health.. roller coaster of emotions. Yes we got mentioned.. ARRG stop bringing up the knee!

I'm a little sensitive on that topic.

However this brings up the fact that not only are going to be on national TV often (good times for those of us not in Portland) but we are a marquee attraction. Sounds like a good start to a season for me.

As we are expecting two new players with no nicknames (Batum I believe we have covered extensively) Ike Diou and Rudy Fernandez, I suggest we all come together and select some new nicknames for the guys..

Fernandez should be easy because any cool nickname sounds cooler in spanish. Almost like a boxer.

"El Pesadilla" The Nightmare etc..

Diogu is a little bit harder. He is from Texas, went to Arizona State, and is renowned for his low post scoring.

So.. what do y'all got? In BEdgers I trust.

Hey guys,

Someone help me out. I don't live in Portland anymore, so I dont get the joy of hearing the inside scoop on the radio unless you cats throw it up on here. So.. my brother (who still lives there) was telling me that Quick had mentioned that a long term plan was in the works for a star. Something that basically insinuated that in a year or so we would do something drastic and that would be part of this many year plan that KP has been working on. My brothers first inclination is that KP plans on making some kind of play for Deron Williams. I haven't the slightest if that is what he is planning.

So the real Q is: Did any of you hear this interview (it may have been Friday or Saturday?) And have any of you heard anything further on this and what it may be. Rumor is acceptable since obviously no one in KPs camp is gonna say that publicly, but did you hear the interview and did I get that wrong? Sorry if I did, like I said, second hand knowledge.

What if we traded Trout, Frye, Sergio and a #2 to Detroit for Prince. Would they take that?

I think I would have to do that trade on our end, I know some Blazer fans wouldn't want to do it, but in the long run that 5 time ECF experience should help. If we were able to substitute Diogu for Frye I would but I think that would lessen the possibilty of this happening.

Bayless/Blake/Koponen

Roy/Fernandez

Prince/Webster/Batum

LMA/Diogu/RLEC

Oden/Pryzbilla

Two extra spots.. who am I missing?