I have been a Blazers fan my entire life (I am 34) and yesterday had to be one of the worst days in franchise history. It was breaking news after breaking news of bad news, none of which was really "new" but same ole, same ole: Brandon's knees - been there, done that; L.A.'s arrhythmia - been there, done that; Greg's...everything - been there, done that. Paul Allen's aversion to conversing in productive ways with the media during significant moments in franchise history - been there, done that.

It's moments like these that test the staying power of Blazers fans. Yesterday felt like losing three straight at home to Detroit in the 1989 finals when "The Microwave" couldn't miss. It felt like MJ hitting six three in the first half, while Uncle Cliff looked on helplessly. It felt like Kobe lobbing to Shaq as the L*kers came back from 15 down in the Western Conference finals, helped by a Brian Shaw three point bank shot...a bank shot!

It felt like seven-foot-four Sam Bowie crashing to the floor, pounding the hardwood with his fist in attempt to alleviate the pain in his knee. It felt like trading Clyde for Otis Thorpe. It felt Jermaine becoming an All-Star in a Pacers uniform. It felt Sean Elliot hitting that three in the conference finals of the last strike-shortened season. It felt like Sheed tantruming before a national tv audience. And in a lesser way - a much lesser way - it felt like the day I heard Big Duck passed away and Luuuuuuke's cancer was back.

For us life-timers - who will stick with the Blazers even when the national media doesn't, even when there is no "upside" to fulfill, even when we have no GM to one-up other GMs - when our beloved franchise suffers there is a little part of us that does too. Because when life is hard it's best when being a Blazers fan is easy. That wasn't the case yesterday. But I will trudge on. We all will.

I will sift through the press releases. I will read the transcripts. I will pay attention to the development of our youngest players. I will learn how the new financial rules impact the team. I will listen to games on the radio. I will buy tickets to games. I will wear my Blazers gear. I will do these things because I am a Blazers fan and this is what we do.

Rip City. Eternally.

Greetings,

(1) I was wondering if anyone could tell me of a sports magazine that consistently covers MLS. I subscribe to ESPN and that has hardly any coverage, and SI, that I know of, doesn't cover MLS consistently (not positive about that). I did a Google search and discovered some "Major League Soccer Magazine" but the web pages were dated. I do read about MLS online, but I guess I'm old fashion in that I still like books and magazines. I'd like to read about "stories" to go along with "posts."

(2) I was also wondering if anyone has book recommendations that are about the history of MLS or MLS-centered biographies - something along those lines.

If anyone has any information, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

I used to ask the question, "What would have been, if it weren't for the misfits on the court?" I really hope that in the near future, I'm not asking the question, "What would have been, if it weren't for the misfits in the front office?" Like has been said many times on BE already, we don't know the whole story and we probably never will. That said, I have found reasons to support KP over others involved.

(1) I think there is enough evidence to conclude that Paul Allen's management skills leave a lot to be desired. It's clear that he's done well for himself financially; it's also clear that having a lot of money doesn't mean the decisions you make are wise. Two decades have shown this to be the case. Re-signing Darius Miles, for instance, and not re-signing KP (as of yet) seem to be subjective whims of the owner, because they are certainly not due to performance.

(2) KP does the hard parts of his job better than Paul Allen does the hard parts of his job. At least KP is man enough to be present at a hastily arranged press conference. Of course, Paul Allen is courageously battling a horrible disease, so if that plays a part in this, I understand. But Paul Allen has a history of staying out of the spotlight. True, he doesn't have to be Mark Cuban, but he doesn't have to be a recluse either. The press conference yesterday was obviously not called by KP; he hardly had anything to say other than "I want to be here." Someone else, behind the scenes, is pulling the strings -  and if it's not Paul Allen, it's certainly with his approval. It seems Vulcan handcuffs KP and then makes him the face to their mismanagement. The faceless and unsavy personell at Vulcan do not have the respect of this life-long, die-hard Blazer fan. Man up, Vulcan, show KP and Blazer fans some respect.

(3) No GM is perfect and I'd rather have my GM's flaw be telling people he'd like more money, than have my GM's flaw be making moves that negatively affect the roster and/or the franchise. KP has done neither. If it's true he complained to others in the league about his salary, he shouldn't have done that. But it's also true he deserves more money and who knows if someone in the league threw KP under the bus by exposing a private conversation. Perhaps not everything KP has done has been above reproach, but perhaps communicating - something which Paul Allen and Vulcan seem to be poor at - is the answer, rather than this mess they've created recently.

All this said, I would still want Paul Allen as my owner and not just because of his wealth. I remember when he bought the team and starting coming to the games in the Coliseum. He had a big red beard, and messed up hair, and dark glasses, and some kind of Blazer shirt on and he'd cheer on the team passionately. I wish him 100% recovery from the horrible disease he's battling as well. In this situation, my opinion is that - once again - he's guilty of great mismanagement of this organization that I love so much.

I am the pastor of a medium size church about an hour outside of Portland. I usually sit in the 300 level at Blazer games, yet have a frontrow seat to the struggles families are having in such a difficult economic time. Not only are bank accounts suffering, but so are family relationships.

Last spring, I took 8 economically disadvantaged kids to a Blazer game verses the Suns (the one where Joel and Shaq went nose to nose). It was the first Blazer game for all of them. A 4th grade boy was one of the kids who went. I didn't know him well then, but I knew his parents, whose marriage is struggling as a result of trying to survive a difficult economic time.

The boy brought an 8x10 of Brandon Roy to the game that he wanted to get autographed. I explained to him that the players aren't as accessible as they used to be. I enjoyed telling about the days of the Coliseum where as a kid I hung out around the door of the locker room and got the autographs of Terry Porter and Jerome Kersey. I also told him about the time Rick Adelman asked for some of the Skittles I was eating.

The boy didn't get Brandon's autograph that night, but we began a friendship that is still growing today. The Sunday morning following the game, he gave that 8x10 photo of Roy. On the back of it he had written me a thank you note for taking him to the game on the back of it. It hangs in my office. Our friendship has grown from going to the game together and having a mutal affection for Brandon Roy. He got to baptize him in June. His parents, however, are still hanging on. It's hard, though.

I don't know much about running businesses and franchises. But I do know that Brandon Roy means more to this city, and Blazer fans around the world, than merely playing 2-guard for the Blazers.

Please give him the fifth year.

Watching KG dunk, swat, and talk his way through the Celtics/Pacers highlights this morning was a reminder that a player with that kind of on-court demeanor is often an important part of successful teams.

The questions for the Blazers right now is not what can take them from a lottery team to a playoff team, its what can take them from a playoff team to a contender. A bully on the court can make a huge difference for this Blazer roster, especially when teams try and take advantage of their youth and inexperience.

Consider that in the Hornets game last Friday night, David West fouled Brandon with a little something extra. To his credit, Brandon got in his ear and asked, "What was that about?" It was great that Brandon didn't just walk away. He needs to stand up to cheap shots. 

But if teams mess with Brandon during a November game, what will they attempt in May and June games? In the bigger picture, Brandon needs a Rodman to his Jordan, a Laimbeer to his Isaiah, a Bowen to his Duncan. Also, the bruiser role often comes with foul trouble, T’s, and even suspensions, which the Blazers can’t afford to have happen to their best player and team leader.

Ideally Greg, who unfortunately is getting every other dunk attempt rejected by an opponent or the rim, would would bring a hard-nosed attitude to the court, but it doesn’t seem likely he’ll develop that by the end of this year. At this point, though, it’s not a strike against Greg - he may be a sleeping tiger - its hard to know right now.

And in Greg's defense, its worth remembering, especially for Diesel-haters like me, that even Shaq submitted to Hakeem - like lap dogs do in the presence of my German Shepherd - the first time he made it to the Finals.

The 1977 Blazer team was the youngest team to win the title in the history of the NBA, and after Raef gets traded, this Blazer team will be the youngest in the league. Maurice Lucas, and the KG-esque attitude he brought to the court (or should I say KG's attitude is Maurice-esque?), was necessary to that team’s playoff success.

Case in point: In Game 2, "The Enforcer", used some 76ers’s face as a punching bag. The Blazers would go on to lose that game and go down 0-2 in the series, but then they won four in a row and had a parade downtown.

So could anyone else on the current roster fill that bruiser role? Since Bayless’ attitude doesn’t come in a seven-foot frame, the best candidate seems to be Joel. He doesn’t back down from anyone in the league, which is great, but would he be willing to put in elbow in Kobe’s temple or undercut Deron Williams?

Let’s hope so.

With Martell returning soon, Nate has a dilemma concerning how to disperse minutes at the forward position. The wisdom in Blazerdom (thanks in part to Mike Barrett comments a few Monday nights ago) seems to be that Channing Frye is bound to lose minutes.

The logic goes like this: If Nic Batum and Martell share the bulk of the minutes at the three, Travis will back up LA at the four, which in turn, would eliminate Frye from the rotation.

But is this the right adjustment?

The question when Martell comes back isn’t Martell or Travis. Its Travis or Channing. In short, who’s the best back up power forward? Comparing their stats so far this season cannot be done straight across because Channing plays 12 fewer minutes than Travis on average each night, approximately 27 minutes to 15 minutes. Therefore, their per-48-minute average is worth considering as well as what the team needs from their second-unit power forward

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Channing’s per-48-minute rebounding average is greater, 9.6 to Travis’ 7.2. Offensive boards alone is Channing's again, 3.3 to 1.5. Consider, too, what the Blazers need the most from the back-up four spot. The Blazers are 21st in the league in total rebounds, while division rivals Utah is 17th and Denver is 13th.

Looking to the playoffs - and we all know they are inevitable - boards will be like gold against teams like Dallas (2nd in the league in total boards), the Lakers (1st in the league in total rebounds), and the Rockets (7th in the league in total rebounds).

Travis and Channing’s per-48-minute scoring average is nearly a wash, 19.2 and 18.8, respectively. Channing’s field goal percentage and free throw percentage are slightly higher than Travis’.

Travis’ three-point field goals per game increases (as do the attempts), but will that be needed with Martell coming back, Batum shooting 42% from behind the arc, and even Channing himself shooting 38% behind the arc this season? (Albeit Channing is 5-13 and Travis is 27-54, but again, Travis plays double the amount of minutes.)

I have to admit that the per-48-minute stat has always been suspect to me. It never seems to actually come into play, but it can reveal nuggets of insight about players who get an unequal amount of minutes, which in this case I think it does, particularly in the rebounding category.

Defensively, when it comes to guarding others fours Channing has two inches and nearly 40 pounds on Travis. Travis’ perimeter defense is better, but how often will that come into play guarding other fours? Most likely, the players Travis is guarding now, will be defended by a combination of Martell and Batum.

Someone is the current rotation will be sitting more when Martell returns. Unfortunately for Travis, he doesn’t seem to provide the Blazers with anything unique as far as shooting goes, while Channing looks to be able to snag valuable rebounds.

Good luck, Nate! You earn your pay!