Today we find out that the Millionaire Professional Basketball Players and the Billionaire Owners of the franchises they play for have once again broken off talks over just how many dollars of BRI the players should get and a few "system" issues.  This is one common mans view of this Lock Out...

I am a huge Blazer fan and have been since the beginning of the team.  As regulars know I am an emotional, dedicated fan who thinks Brandon Roy should be a Blazer for life even if there is an amnesty clause.  I also still believe that Greg Oden has tremendous potential and was the CORRECT choice in the draft with the information available at the time just like Sam Bowie was back in the day.  I don't question and distrust Paul Allen, I don't hate Nate McMillan because his offense is too slow pace and I love Travis Outlaw AND Steve Blake because they were members of the team I love...Not because I am ignorant but because I save my distrust, hate and second guessing for REAL problems in the world... of which there are many.

Two weeks ago I was LOCKED OUT!  After 5 years of working 60 hours a week and surviving a very rough economy... And after the last two years of record sales (I was the Sales Manager)...  I was fired because the owner of the business I worked for couldn't control his personal spending.  His greed and disregard for me and my family are a REAL problem for me!..  NBA Basketball and My Portland Trailblazers are a distraction from these REAL problems and I feel betrayed and insulted by these rich by any measure, spoiled, petty little people.  Do they realize how totally shallow and unnecessary they really are to REAL people?..  Do they understand that they are not curing disease... or solving world hunger... or bringing about world peace...  THEY PLAY A GAME!!!...  Even though I love Brandon Roy and LaMarcus and We$ and GW and Nate and support Paul Allen in his decisions the truth is that they are ALL being ridiculous and forgetting that if it wasn't for guys like me... and the rest of BE... there would be no THEM!

Sorry about the rant but this whole thing is surreal to me.  If these guys want some real problems all they have to do is keep this foolishness going and eventually guys like me... with REAL problems... will just give up and turn to Beaver or Duck basketball.  They're cheaper...closer...and playing for the right reason!

I have a hard time jumping on the, "I hate Paul Allen" bandwagon.  I don't have enough information to judge him or Pritchard on the handling of the big announcement but I do know one thing...  It happened and now it's time to move on.  All the hate for the Vulcans and PA and the gloom and doom predictions of us being back to being jailblazers in two years won't change it.

Kevin Pritchard did great things for the Blazers and was a big part of the "Rise"...  (but then so were Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster...)  None of us have been behind the closed doors to see how things progressed to this point but I have a very hard time believing there isn't much more here then meets the eye.   I am frankly a little shocked at how last years greatest owner in sports has become an evil enemy to some fans.  It seems some fans are almost eager to hate.  I actually saw someone say, "this organization sucks"!!!   This organization is our Blazers!  In the long run if the product on the floor is good...  the organization is good.   

The following is a post from get30 on Yahoo commenting on the firing of KP...  

Has nothing to do with Oden over Durant. Has everything to do with his and Penn's agent using a false offer from Minnesota to earn Penn much more money than he otherwise would have received. Not only that it was rumored his agent LeGarie was then going behind Larry Miller's back (Blazer team president) to get Penn promoted to general manager and Pritchard to take Larry Miller's job. Needless to say if that is true then when Paul Allen found out and Pritchard didn't fire LeGarie, Allen had no choice to fire Pritchard because there was no way he could trust him anymore. Plus that fact that LeGarie and Pritchard continually self promoted to the press and in the process threw Allen under the bus numerous times blaming bad moves and picks on the owner. Even this firing was leaked to the press by Pritchard and his agent to again make Pritchard look like the martyr and again Allen the bad guy. There is quite a bit more to this than meets the eye.

I happen to think that what he posted sounds not only logical but... but very possible.  Sometimes personalities get in the way of success maybe this relationship had simply soured and was damaged irreparably by this or some other set of factors. 

If two years from now we are a solid contender with a real shot at winning titles...  will it really matter who the GM is or how KP was treated?  It won't to me!

I've never tried a poll before...  Let's see what happens...

First things first...  I've never created a Fanpost and may never again but I owe the BE community at least one attempt. 

This post is an attempt to present a different philosophy of fandom not an effort to impose my views.  It is an alternate take on things and I fully understand that it may not be your take on things.  

I choose to judge the team I love, and have loved since its inception, in ways that some people do not understand.  In this winning is everything world character is as important to me as PER.   Loyalty and Hardwork are equal or greater than assists/turnover ratio or +/-.  I choose to not judge Nate for his decisions because I do not know all the factors that go into making them.  I refuse to call out Brandon Roy as selfish or inflexible because he was my hero last year and I have seen nothing in his actions or his words to change that.  I absolutely will not bash Steve Blake because, despite the flaws that have been sited here ad naseum he is a quality individual who takes the floor every night and gives 100% of himself.  He is well spoken and positive when interviewed and by golly he will take no guff from any opponent, no matter the size.  In short he's a great teammate and somebody I can be proud to pull for.  Guys like Steve were few and far between not that long ago on the Blazers and I take it personal when people take shots at him.

When I discovered this site I had already been to the infamous O-live for a few months and was awe struck at the intelligence and respect shown here.  After lurking for a short time I started to comment and interact with some very good basketball minds and writers like jscot and Storyteller...  minds that seem to be less and less prevalent here as this new age of posters has arrived.  A new group of people seem to have taken over BE.  A group that finds only fault in the team.  A group that says things like, "Steve Blake is Dead to Me" and "I hate the way Roy is playing".  This new breed has an apparent need to say negative things I find disrespectful, not to mention without merit, about the very building blocks that brought us from the dark days of Bonzi Wells and Rueben Patterson to the light of an open window of opportunity.

I'll get off my soap box now and leave you with these questions...  Is there room for fans like myself on this site?  Is this great community headed down the common road O-Live has chosen?..  or can the old and the new find a way to co-exist  here by sharing and respecting opinions without the repetitive and ugly bashing that now seems to penetrate every Fanpost and Comment section?

(I would like to also apologize for any anger or disrespect I have shown other posters on BE... My passion for the Blazers admittedly gets the best of me at times)