Laughter is always welcome, so I thought I'd share a basketball story with you..

We were driving up to the NY area during the Spring of '08, and by we I mean my wife, three daughters(8, 12, 13)..and I started talking about Shavlik...I had just started working with him up in Philly, but he wasn't going to be re-signed, and I said, well next season, maybe Shav will be even closer to our family in NJ..the Knicks have expressed interest..

Being new to NBA basketball, my 8 yo daughter was like...Kicks...whats that?

So I'm like: theKNick...Knicks...NNNNew York KNicks...Na na na KNicks!

She thinks for a second and says"Oh..good thing they aren't from Deleware!"

Allright, I know -- this should have been a fan-shot...but I've been gone awhile and couldn't figure out the new SBN formatting - - (which made no sense at all to me btw)

Anyway, I was reading the July 27 ESPN magazine, and in an article called "6 Things You Should Know About Dealing Athletic Ice" ,  jewler Harry C. Glinberg says:

     "Most guys spend more on themselves than they do on on their women. But there are exceptions. Portland's Joel Przybilla is always buying things for his wife. He just picked out an anniversary ring that's 10 times nicer than most NBA wive's engagement rings."

Now we know the REAL reason she wanted him to not get suspended when he faced off with Chandler - - woulda messed with the gift budget...

 

Thought you all would get a smile from this - - -Greetings from NC - - DrC

 

4/23/09 Thank you for those who have read the long version. In an offhand way, thank you I guess for those of you who demonstrated in your comments here how easily we forget that  people  play on this team - - and in this league -- and reminded me why I felt compelled to write this n the first place. The paragraphs below can be summarized in just a few words. If I was Dmitri I'd draw a picture: Line crossing behavior: expecting them to be someone beyond themselves. Fair game for critique: lack of effort or focus, conditioning, preparedness, unprofessional behavior...

 

                           *%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%

 

I have found myself numerous times, on this site and in other situations, defending our players. I'm not talking about defending their actions, but literally defending them as people. I started doing it again a couple of days back out of reflex, and decided it needed a forum all its own.

We observers are here to stay connected to this team, to stay informed, and also to weigh in with our opinions, observations, expectations and recommendations. Without the need to do that, and to enjoy the discussion, debate, sense of community, etc. that develops around that, there would be no activity on the site.

What I have trouble with here is when too much attention is payed to what the guys aren't.  What they aren't able to do I guess is more specific. From there, the follow-on "if only we had ________ who could do what ____________ can't/won't/isn't doing. Which then leads to all the fantasy considerations of why all the best players should have on our black and red.

As individuals we all have our limitations. Few of us will rise to be amongst the very best at our chosen endeavour(s). We will rise to whatever level our talents, drive, curiosity and good fortune lead us. Along the way, you will learn that there are some things you are good at, some you are great at, some you pass by with and some you suck at.

We all wish all our players were fast as a cheetah, jumped like a kangaroo, had the work ethic of Tom Edison, the vision of an eagle, a warriors spirit, the gallantry of Lancelot and the wisdom of Solomon. They don't - - no one does - - they all have a set of skills and limitations that they operate with day to day.

While it is our right as fans to have high expectations, each player can only grow into what they can become. Their responsibility is to strive to continue to improve throughout their career, to maintain focus and intensity - - but not everyone will ever be all things. Thats what makes the very very few at the uppermost layer of the top league in the world so very remarkable. 

I feel as fans we have to be cautious to not "accuse" a player of being themselves. I'm going to use Steve Blake as an example because I found myself rolling my eyes again as a discussion emerged the other day as to who could/would do whatever better than Steve. It ended with a comment that was like "Hah! Imagine Steve guarding anyone!" WAAAAAAAYYYYYY over the line in my opinion.

Steve Blake's game is the best it has ever been. It mostly has measurably improved year over year since he started playing basketball - - he works hard, is a true professional, etc etc. He'll never be as fast as some point guards. He won't elevate like Jerryd - - but he is continuing to work at improving physically, working and expanding his skill set - - THAT GET'S HIM AN A+ PEOPLE!!

There are valid things to complain about - - -(Steve example is over this is general again) - - If someone is inattentive, uninterested, out of shape, lacking hustle, not doing their scouting homework, being an ass off the court ....hey - they are fair game. But simply accusing them of not living up to your expectations in terms of what they can get done on the court ... this starts getting sticky.

I think the crucible test, the thing you should ask yourself before flaring off your commentary is: "

 Is this a player who knows this too, cares about it more than me, and is doing everything they can to work on their weaknesses and emphasize their strengths?"

Because if the answer to that is yes, you are wasting energy accusing someone of being themselves. And if I'm around, I will call you on it each time.

 

I'm going to avoid doing too much re-capping cause it's been done so well already. Suffice it to say this game was even more ugly in person. Besides that it was probably on of the worst officiated games I ever witnessed, and I think I've never seen a good one. Fortunately the last questionable call worked to the favor of Portland - -That  last shot Travis took he took at least 3 steps if not 4...of course how much him getting smashed across the chest had to do with the movement is hard to determine...looked like that third step was all him though..

Some of the early fouls on Greg & Joel were invisible...the non calls on a couple of LaMarcus drives were insane.  The offensive foul call on Channing was rediculous. There were a more than a few on the other side, too I just don't remember them as well. I sat with a drummer I met out here and took to the last game - - big Grizzly fan - - and he and I were taking turns complaining - - but both agreed that it was summarily awful.

Now that I got that off my chest, onto the rest of it.

The place was so empty at the beginning of the game that I swore I could hear crickets. It filled up some later, and I gotta give a hand to the Grizzly fans that were present cause they made ALOT of noise in the fourth quarter. The music that they play in between is piercingly loud - - probably exceeds and legal decibel limit that a reasonable place would allow, but Beale St is completely without reason. I spent some time listening to some music at a club there tonight (lost track of the Outlaw's after the post game), but got tired of fending off the panhandlers and hookers so I came back to my room.

Took too many pictures to look at them all now, but I'm gonna put up some Outlaw and a Lamarcus cause they weren't represented in the other post. I'll pick some out of the rest, but it will probably take a couple of days cause I tend to use up all my free time on these trips and gotta go back to being husband, father & doctor at least till the weekend .. :-)

Travis was again well represented - - not as massively as last game, but it was significant. All the folks I spoke with last time were all happy to see me - - we were running into each other around the place...

Got to actually spend some time with Travis and his family at the post game this time mostly cause I was already there talkin with them when he came out. They are without a doubt an amazingly fun-loving, close-knit bunch. I may have to get to this year's Travis Outlaw Day in Starkville just because I'll miss them by then.

Lamarcus came out to meet guests of Caleb who I believe were from Texas like him... here he and a little fella were doing the fist bump with a sizzle..was really special . . .  

                       

Trav spent some time with same little fella

 

 

   

I was privy to a talk between Monty and Trav's mom where she was thanking Monty for all the work he's doing with Trav . ."...especially the foul shots -- except tonight !"

  

Greg works on his jump shot while the Spanish Contingent catches up at halfcourt.. The vibration you felt was the shudder of the collective rest of the NBA while they considered Greg Oden with a jump shot...

 

 

Mike Barret was kind enough to invite me down to the media table...this is a picture of their "command central"

 

The "Player of the Game" gets a special ride to the airport

Slideshow at www.flickr.com/letsblaze/show

 

 

Thought that it would be best to start over here rather than cloud up that interview post with more stuff. It's 2pm here, and I'm waiting to hear from Shav re a pre game once over.  I've had some interactions with some team types, but have spared them the camera. Spoke with Mike Barrett and he invited me down to the media table at the game - - this might get interesting, we will see - - -maybe a BEdger TV interview... new epic ground?

Got to talk a bit with Damon Stoudamire. The pic below was a special pose for all of you back in Portland...he's about 20 feet from me right now talking playoffs with someone on the Portland staff...If only I had some high tech para-military listening device. They are actually talking about Greg...all good I assure you...Damon's sendoff was all about giving his best to all with the Portland organization and how he will be coming to one of the playoff games...

 Went to lunch with Shav and a friend of his from back home....got back to the hotel in time to see the team off....Got to talk to Jerryd a bit - - he remembered me from NJ game and came up and said hello...got big smiles and a handshake from Martell when I told him I WAS NOT going to ask him about his foot...

In all the single pics below I asked the guys if it was OK if I took a picture for the Blazer's Edge website - - I go out of my way to be unobtrusive - - no flash, ask first...I offer them editorial review if they want to make sure they like the picture.. 

 

4/6 3:02 EST On my way to Memphis, now bogged down in the Charlotte airport, victim of their weak wireless network. Decided to take advantage of the plug I found to charge up, then maybe move somewhere that I can get a signal and post. Hoping to reconnect with the Outlaw clan while out here, and get one last look at the team pre-playoffs.

NCAA finals tonight - - I’m wondering how Shav & Blake will deal with UNC - - somehow, there has to be some allegience to an ACC school, but Dukies are obligated to hate UNC and that may override any homegrown loyalties that Shav has - - and Maryland alumni probably would prefer to avoid giving those Tarheels anything to brag about…With any luck I may get to witness their reacton first hand

I was at Tyler Hansborough’s first game in the Smith Center in Chapel Hill and you could tell from the minute he hit the floor that he would be a special player at the college level. I doubt it will carry over very well to the NBA, but we will likely find out.

4:02 had enough connectvity to get out a couple of "tweets" . . . .seemed like I almost had Bedge for a minute, but it disappeared. Did you ever get the feeling that airports only exist to gouge people for $? Just finished my $6.50 quesadilla, contemplating a $2 bottled water, but I had one earlier so my water budget is kinda maxed. Very few people would get fat if they lived at airports - - finances would keep them lean.

9:20 EST About to go over to watch the game with Shav....maybe we will stay on live here....hafta see...

10:44 EST I'm here with Shavlik . . . any questions or comments....lets have 'em

2:05 EST Wish I had known in advance that we were gonna "Shav Live" but it just kinda evolved...it was alot of fun on this side too...will try to get some good pictures tomorrow (later?)...

 

I had the opportunity to get out to Memphis for the game on Monday - - - Met up with a BEdger (Heathos33 see below) from out near Little Rock and managed to meet - - -well - - a great number of Travis Outlaw's family, friends and followers.  Seems that a large part of Travis's family lives around the Memphis area

There were nearly as many Outlaw fans as there were Grizzly fans - especially if you used an enthusiasm factor. My seats were in the same section as one set of his aunts,  uncles, nieces and nephews. Before the night was over, any chance of me remembering most anyones name from his entourage was slim.

Everyone was so nice and kind and fun - - and everyone wanted to be sure that I met his mom - - so I'm putting her picture first

 

 Then of course they wanted to be sure  met his Grandfather who was getting in a little granddaughter love as I was getting his picture

 

Of course I wasn't the only one getting to say hello...the big blue "back" is LaMarcus, and I think you will recognize #7 in street clothes. The guy n the foreground with the very cool red  Trailblazer hat is Travis's brother.. 

I only saw Travis dad from across the room..he has the hat on and the coolest Travis Outlaw shirt on that ever was made...His uncle was telling me later that night that a good look at dad would give some clues as to the future upper body strength development that we should expect from Trav.

This cute little family group (Trav's aunt, niece and nephews) sat behind me during the game..the uncle was a little camera shy (I ALWAYS ask permission!!) but he softened up later...

Below is part of the group of 5 uncles and two cousins with whom I had the pleasure of taking in the sights and sounds of BB Kings Blues Club on Beale St. after the game...

We found Darius Miles car, but didn't see him....

Thanks to Travis's family for making me feel like one of the gang...They were pressing me to come back for the 4/7 game, and I'm having a  hard time thinking why not...

Heathos33 & Blake from AK

Random Blazer Fans

Oden sighting

Blurry Roy & LMA

 

 

Darius vanity plate

Nobody's home

 Andy & 503  --- Pre Game

 

Andy & 503 post game

 

 

Photos are at Slide Show on Flickr UPDATED 3/20/09 2 Am East Coast time :-)

 

 

 

 

If you have ever been to Minnesota in February, you will understand the title. I have had that lovely experience, spending some days in Rochester, Minn at the Mayo Clinic with a sick relative...I could get into details about the brutality of the weather but will put it in a comment down below...

Thought this could act as a vent area to discuss if our gameplans and tactics are frozen in place - - seemed like alot of talk out here last night about how being more flexible with our rotations when things aren't clicking...and aside from Batum last night, I heard much more clanking then clicking...

I was curious too about people's basketball backgrounds - - for me, I started in organized leagues when i was 7 (1969-70) growing up outside of NYC. We played 12 months a year outdoors, clearing the snow and ice off the court, playing in gloves with the fingers off...Followed the Knicks as a young child, so got to watch the championship year in '73, witness Phil Jackson's rookie year - - Willis Reed's pressing through great pain to compete - - Earl Monroe's Globetrotter-esque dribbling and finishing at the rim...

Continued through to HS where a series of knee injuries relegated me to set shots only, and a state champ quality team with 4 going off to divI&II colleges kept me in the intramural league..Still shoot a bit most every day at the basket in my driveway, now semi-coaching my daughter's team(s) - She (and I) will be at Shavlik's basketball camp this summer ...

I think I'm just getting to the point in life where I've done any one single thing more than I've played hoops, and while I was never able to execute at a high level I can still do 75% from the line...

Poll

How involved in basketball are you currently?

6%

Play on HS/College team

4 votes

10%

Play in Rec/Intramural league

6 votes

17%

play recreationally 3+ times a week

10 votes

27%

play less than 3X per week

16 votes

3%

Coach a team/referee

2 votes

13%

Strictly spectator but every game I can find

8 votes

18%

Watch only Blazer games

11 votes

1%

Hate basketball - - only here to irritate people

1 votes

58 votes | Poll has closed

Tonight I get to enjoy a game closer to my east coast time zone...hopefully a big W..need to continue to redeem that letter..

Team was settled in there last night - - hopefully kept a repectable distance from Bourbon St. - - news from down there is always interesting

Bon-fire city style for instance...when I was down there in '98, the police arrested a local street fella for talking to me....felt bad cause I started the conversation...They watch out well for the tourists though, so that you can get plastered on grain alcohol and corn syrup without dealing with any lowlifes...

Great food, great music....haven't been back post-Katrina, but the French Quarter was largely spared, so I'm sure things are business as usual down town...Wonder if the still call their tall frozen drinks Hurricanes...

 

 

 

 

Complete RoadTrip SlideShow

It's taken a while to get back to this - wife, kids, business, farm - ya know - things can suck up your time...but I thought it time to get back and put a few more pictures up ... I guss I'll be sprinkling them out here for awhile - - I had nearly 600 when I was done - don't know if I'll ever get through them all myself even - - but I've tried to frame the story with this.

I charted my early day game day in Charlotte- - hanging at the hotel, watching the team get ready. .in a previous post...  thought I'd start with the trip over to the arena and some gametime shots.  The first pic is the guy that was behind the desk at the Days Inn where I stayed ... great guy - -the real reason for the picture was the great fun everyone was having in the lobby watching food channel. The synchronicity with our recent junkdrawer was startling.

          

I walked to the arena .. .took some pics of local clubs and architecture to give a feel for Charlotte - - lovely town, nice people, great atmosphere around town - - even after being crushed by the banking debacle 0f 2008, there were vibrant signs of resilience.

 

    

They have their practice facility built right into the arena and all glassed open - -

The dancers were out meeting people as you came in - signing propgrams and such - the girl with the curly hair was in charge of promotions - -

  

   
our Few, our Proud were there. I can love the boys and not the mission. Hopefully the new commander-in-chief will have better discretion. I've put post game pictures up already . .

Sooooooo...

Timeout or Not???

 

 

 

I've included one from the Stache collection for you Northwesterers..he looked like he has put on some muscle and lost a bunch of hair probably a net neutral in total wieght...guess there's only so many endorsements available for the hippie burner look..."like, dude. check out these SUNGLASSES, man...they're like....awesome!!"

 

    

 Then a couple of action shots: the first Greg Vs Charlotte

And a couple of late game Roy manuevers..

 

Complete RoadTrip SlideShow

 

Click on the link below if you want to see all the pictures I've put up of the three games so far...

                                         Updated photo slide show on Flickr 

I finally figured out how to get the links to open up in a new window, at least in a post..

Snow here will keep things from getting started in the morning, so maybe I can churn through a few more of these. . .

These first 4 are the additions...

Shav says Speights sold him a load of crap the whole time he was on the floor

via farm4.static.flickr.com

Iggy Roy Jbay and Williams

Roy getting re-taped

 

4th q action

via farm4.static.flickr.com

First Timeout

 

 Greg's exit in the first quarter

 

Concerned group, ay?

 

Huddle late in 1st quarter

 

Late 1st quarter inbound play

 

This was the end of the 1st quarter

 LMA free throw...

Bob Hannis with Greg Rudy and Shav 

via farm4.static.flickr.com

 

 

OUCH!!

 At least THEY  are happy

So was World B. Free

 

Clean up crew D-ing up

 

 Clean up crew - - check out Frye/Evans

Gratuitous re-typing of link for those who want to review  Updated photo slide show on Flickr 

 

 

 Click this link for my Flickr account:

Blazer Photos 

I'm skipping a step because the in game stuff you've already seen in a sense if you watched the game, and those picture will take more time to sift through and edit. Thought you might find the post game meet and greet with players to be more interesting.

I managed this time to get one family of four Blazer fans into position to come down there... 

Update: realized I forgot to move this picture over. It is a good friend of Nate's -- we met at the will call line and they were delightful. they were very excited to get their picture out here on the website! sorry guys - - I'm far from a pro at this...I wrote their names (somewhere!) I remember Anthony, but I don't remember if it was dad or son....but they were very cool and offered me help when my ticket was late coming down to the window...

 

Saw this group in line - - - the guy on the left was the one getting Shav's autograph below

  

gave my extra pass to this group of Portland fans, but didn't see them after.

 

Also, I hosted a little fella named Joshua who is a big Trailblazer fan,  walking him from player to player to make sure he got his autographs. It was a bit of assertiveness training for him walking up to these huge guys. He got so good at it by end, that he had Channing go down for him to get Monty's autograph! (pretty funny, ay?)

Josh & Dad       

Greg listening to Josh 

                              

Monty's technicolor dreamcoat

Channing get signature for Joshua - - -Thanks Channing!!

Check out that smile!!!!!!!

Shav signing for group I snuck in

 

Channing & friends

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Everybody loves Shav

  

This is Nate with his sister-in-law Tisha. When she heard I was taking pictures for Blazers Edge, she approached me, asked if I would take her picture, and called Nate on over. Then she made sure I had her name and spelled it right. Ain't it great! 

 

1/16/09 6:00 Charlotte Time

decided to continue the trek - - changed my flight to early morning, got to Raleigh, got in the car and drove to Charlotte - - been chillin here working up the energy to try and summarize things up to now...

Yesterday was another remarkable day - I met Shav over at the hotel and spent an hour or so catching up - - Jerryd was a late add-on for the ride to the arena - - -heard Shav was going early, and jumped on the chance. He was all business as that picture going in shows...and the results proved it out - - It wasn't hard for me to predict the outcome - - you woulda said the same thing..

I anticipated being able to get better tickets than the Nets were giving the players, so I bought one outside for $60 that put me first row across from the bench at the baseline - - it came with a pass to the MGM Grand Club (free beer wine & food for first 3 quarters). I was right - - the player comp tickets were  24 rows up, off to the side and behind the basket...Pretty weak for a game that you could get tickets on Ticketmaster for 75 cents..(really!!)

 I was one seat away from to relocated Oregonians wearing B-Roy  and Oden Jersey's. (pic)

 

Two more Portland fans were one row behind us -  a couple more right in from...several little kids with Fernandez #5 Jerseys...people with a Spanish flag...one guy with an handmade Rudy jersey from Spain (pic)

 

 - - I gave him a post game pass ( i had 2) so he might get it signed...Rudy never came out, and the guy offered to sell it to me after for $40 cause he didn't want it now that he couldn't get it signed...he's gonna get in touch with me in case any of you want it (I'm looking at you Twiggs)

I grabbed the 4 Blazer dudes from my section and managed to get them all in to the post game with my one pass.. one guy was around early enough pre game to have B-Roy sign his shoe (he brought them there for that) after the game he got Greg to sign the other one...Extra wild cause one had a Roy jersey the other the Oden..Those have an amazing collectible upside I'd say...

 

I also switched tickets with them and let them hit the club a couple of times. We were sitting right where all the dancers and mascot and such comes out . . . to get to the club, you had to walk through the "backstage" area ... I think I'm those two guy's new hero...  

We were so loud and pro-Blazer that we got alot of attention, including getting pelted with pretzels at the end of the game. Folks had nothing to say though - - -we were just boosting our guys, not bashing theirs (well...a bit...)...Bayless actually aknowledged me from the floor... Shav told me after that they could hear us clear over at the other bench - - in fact he recognized the 2 guys I brought over to the post game..

I never witnessed anything like Jerry'd dunk in person before - - it was sick. He also had the crowd go OOOOOOOHHHHHH on one of his early crossovers . . .that says alot in an opposing arena...

Please please please no more Carter to Portland trade talk . . no way that personality would/could work here..you are wasting your breath...or fingertips while bothering to type that.

Chris Rock was sitting twenty seats to my left -

O and note from Philly game Marrese Speights has some skills! Shav said Speights was selling him a whole bunch of crap - - think MS is getting ribbed as a rookie that the team shoulda just kept Shav and felt like he wanted to get at him on the floor and show Shav up - - Shav thought it was pretty funny.

The other Sixer players (beside Speights) were so happy to see their old buddy - - his "career ending" injury happened in practice so everyone was extra pleased to see things going well..look at the face on Lou Williams (23) vs Speights (16)

 

Tonight I'm going out to dinner with Shav & family & friends...I'm not sure if there will be other players with us or not. . If you don't know, he's from around these parts, so this is a homecoming thing. What a cool trip for him - - extra day in NC, extra day in Philly, PT - - nice - -

Plan so far is to have me drive Jerryd  again (why not??!?) but the arena here is right in the middle of town so we won't have long . .and he might make other plans - -

 There was a definitive Haarlow sighting:

O and Ben - - This Ones for You : Shav's Shoes

 1/17/09 - 8 AM

Had dinner with the Randolph's last night - Mom, Dad, sister, brother, best friend - - and me...It was at a different hotel than the teams at so no other interfaces there. . .Thinking about going to breakfast over at the team's hotel (with the camera of course)...anyone interested in helping finance a zoom lens for tonight? Got pretty reliable word that tonights comps will be worse than the ones the NetZ gave out (and that it is done on purpose to opposing teams...booooooo), so I'll be negotiating a front row out in the parking lot or on Craigs list...Fortunately I got a wonderful wife who wil not even ask about the budget for this, but I gotta reign it in somewhere . . got some nice pics of Shav and family, but haven't asked permission yet to post any... 

This was one of a group of guys who recognized Shav in the hotel lobby

 

BTW notice no drink in Shav's hand...at the club we went to after this, not only didn't he have any alcohol, he wouldn't even have a non-alcoholic beverage in a glass that LOOKED like it might be a drink...

Team has an 11 AM EST mini-practice, so if nothing else I'll try to be there as they come down to the bus...more later...

1/18/09- - 6 am EST

Added during the day comments below as day went on...decided to goto the hotel where the players were and interface a bit - -seemed easy, right? WRONG! Started with the sound of drums..a parade! First the circus in the arena, now the parade! Well, the Martin Luther King day parade closed off a huge area in down town...lucky us - that included everything from my hotel to their hotel - - and the arena was in the middle...I got there - but later than I thought - - -and then...

Did I mention earlier the 500 or so cheerleaders at the players hotel? And all the hotels? There was a competition in town ...ages like 8 to HS...and boy do they love to play with elevators! AND the hotel was having some construction done AND the elevators were "out of synch" (the 50% of them that were in service)...

It could take 20 minutes of waiting for an elevator...20+ floors - - -stairs not impossible except 30 peoples luggage from a long trip...It was madness...THEN by the time things were getting going the road out of the hotel (at the only entrance the bus could get to) was CLOSED!

Fortunately the arena was 6 blocks away....unfotunately it was like 5 degrees with the wind chill..I'm not gonna make excuses for the loss - - but this sure didn't help anything - - But it led to alot of standing around waiting for me - - which led to alot of interaction with the team..

Players made it back - - in dribs and drabs...first Trav (pic) and Brandon? whom I'm guessing just counted on walking from the beginning..

 

Then Nic  and Channing..The pic of Chan got a bit messed up, but I made up for it late at the post game...They guy in front of Nic is Bob Hannis who has been doing security for the team for a long time - - watches over the player, keeps them out of trouble. The grey hair came all at once during the Jail Blazer era..He and I spent a good deal of time talking as he had to wait for everyone to make it back. Jerryd got held up at he arena so long, that he just stayed as far as I can tell.

 

Found myself hanging around the area with a family of 4  - -turns out they were good friends with Bob Medina, The strength and conditioning coach..They get into Charlotte once a year to see him and catch a game....

 

I got to meet Coach Nate while waiting - -the second picture is of his shoes (Do I love ya or not Ben??) You can tell from his face that he had already had a long day, and this was only about 2 o'clock..But he was real nice about letting me get a quick pic - - trust me I was fast, inobtrusive, and used no flash.  Didn't want to make any of these guys days harder than it already was.. 

 

  

I'm gonna start another thread for the trip to the game and my post game adventure so that I can get this up and running...

 

Jan 14, 11am EST

So let my personal road trip begin … I have survived all the prep and planning which has been no easy thing…got good feeling that Shav could be in uniform for the Philly game with Rudy's foot situation So the stage would then be set for what would really be a remarkable return..spent time last night pressing him to at least float the idea out there how he’d love a chance to torch the old team….we’ll see…It would definitely get us some great PR which we could really use…

I’m flying in to Philly, and renting a car to use and then get me to NJ game tomorrow. Shav’s real excited because the team got an extra day in Philly and will have an extra day in Charlotte so this trip is a great chance for him to catch up on family and friends. (3 years on Sixers and he’s from NC)…I’m steering clear until they leave for the game to not interfere with Sleep Doctor recommendations…hope to chauffer him over to the game and see if I can a chance for a pre-game chiro tune-up. Starting to get real excited about the game itself - - These are the two teams I know the most about because of my work here last year with Shav, so it is going to be extra interesting….and no I won’t work on any of the Sixers till AFTER the game…

My wife is jealous because I get to see Greg Oden again before she does…Watch it GO, I got my eye on you…

Part 2: 4:30PM EST

Sitting in Starbucks charging my camera - - feel like the Chris Farley character on SNL - -"been downstairs drinking espresso for the last 6 hours..." didn't get in on any pre-game work, but planning to jump in to the arena as soon as doors open. New camera should provide a good vehicle for capturing and sharing this..I'll be directly behind the bench...tickets say row 1, but there may be lettered rows - - I'll be wearing (blazer) black: if I knew a universal sign for BE I'd flash it, but I'm not sure...I'll try sign language B on one hand E on the other...tall, thin, brown hair and square glasses - - loudly applauding all Blazer action..

 Part 3: 1/15/09 1:04 AM EST Wachovia Center

First let me say I'm sorry the team lost. It was despite my best efforts of loudly counting down the 24 second clock, reminding people to get back, asking the ref if he lost his whistle, etc...shouting, clapping, encouraging...I tried. I'm going to avoid analyzing the game and what went wrong - - you all will do a better job at it anyway, and I don't want to comment on lineups, quality of play coaching decisions - - I want to try to give you the feel of this..

I listed the ticket on Craigs List Philly to no avail . . Had no patience to stay around and sell it so I gave it to a parking attendant so he'd let me into VIP preferred . . he was floored...Ended up sitting next to a Portland fan who bought it for $35....I was the first one through the turnstile and walked immediately down to my seat which I was overjoyed to find was indeed in the first row in the corner by the visitors tunnel...I bought this ticket off Yahoo Sports for $125 w/tax and shipping (below face) - - HIGHLY recommend experiencing a game this way at least once..

Sergio was practicing his shooting with a coach putting on some D  {pictures)- - I counted off his streaks for him in two languages and tried to encourage him - -6 in a row once - -  5 in a row twice

 

...he signed some autographs as did Steve on their way back to the locker room. (picture) . .Shav saw me from the tunnel and I got my first fist bump since September..

via farm4.static.flickr.com

I spent my time waiting for them to come out for shootaround hanging out with Nate's cousin..he showed me a picture of Nate around 4 years old..wouldn't allow me to take a pic of it for you - - Monty and Luke wanted to take it from him, but he held fast....Nate tried to grab it from him but the dude had quick hands :-)...My other companion was the Sixers owners son Mark, who I got to know up there last year...So began what was a true Forrest Gump night...I'm gonna see if I can get some pictures to upload...

 

Gregs Mom (with permission)

The view I had was quite remarkable...This was in the tunnel right before they came out

 

Nates cousin (there with his local boys basketball team) had a picture with him of Nate at I'd say age three to four...He would not let me take a picture of it to stay out of trouble...The picture below was taken after he showed it to Monty & Luke ...They REEEEAAAAAALLLLY wanted to get their hands on that thing..

Everything was so smooth until the game started... 

One for Twiggs :-)

via farm4.static.flickr.com

Well another night, another victory - - so glad we have something to talk about besides medical retirement and Brandon's hair stripes ...

In fact lets try to keep this a DM free zone and keep those comments inside one of the 15 current posts about that...

Hope everyone can have a relaxing Sunday....I'm hoping to be getting some pictures from last nights game that I can post here later, hence my desire to "Junk Up"...My wife is now a die hard Blazer fan - - -"Greg Oden Rocks" was the text got from the 10th row of the Rose Garden last night...

This is a video of why you need to have Sarah Palin as a neighbor as these people had a unwanted moose visit...

http://www.cnn.com/video/savp/evp/?loc=dom&vid=/video/us/2009/01/10/brunetti.loose.

This story shows why a little plannning could go a long way...

http://news.aol.com/article/cops-say-masked-robber-waited-in-line/300347

I will be joining the gang in Philly & NJ and probably in Charlotte too now that my wife is a convert (Thanks extra to the team for such an entertaining game!!!)

 

 

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Who will fill that last roster spot?

4%

Luke Jackson

5 votes

38%

Steven Hill

41 votes

49%

Shavlik Randolph

52 votes

7%

None of the above

8 votes

0%

KP will surprise by waiving someone else and keeping two

0 votes

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