Anyone heard anything new about Oden's recovery progress?

Back after he was injured this latest time, I recall his agent saying they were going to look at his balance, gait and other dimensions (keep your dirty jokes to yourself, please ;) to try to figure out what they could do to mitigate any further injuries.

I'm anxious to hear if they found anything. Any chance he'll be back for the playoffs? Why am I asking so many questions? Because I am curious, and I am a few words shy of 75 words.

I need help with something Blazer related, and who better to turn to than my enlightened, intelligent Blazer's Edge brothers and sisters. After unreturned emails to (probably) vacationing Blazer employees, I'm hoping you all can help.

What is the piece of music that is played behind the 2009 "Rip City Revival" video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOzySz5up-Y

It sounds very familiar, and I've wracked my brain trying to ID it.

I tried enlisting the help of a buddy of mine who is a walking, talking encyclopedia of movie soundtrack music, and he couldn't tell me. Can you?

Thanks,

Joe

This post was inspired by the Blazers as BEdgers post earlier today.


When our beloved Blazers lock their 'S-foils' in attack position tonight when they face  the Suns, I, in my total lack or work-motivation came up with the following Star Wars/Trailblazers comparison:

Luke Skywalker = Brandon Roy - With a midichlorian count as high as his, his nickname of "The Natural" is even more fitting.

Yes, the Force is strong with this one. His death defying last second winning shots, his ability to use "jedi mind tricks" while juking and pausing while attacking the lane is becoming legendary.

Yoda's comment, "Too young to train, yes, he's too young." is not applicable to BRoy..the man is young, yes, but he  is schooling many already. He is a new breed of Trailblazer, bringing light to the dark that was the Jailblazers era. He is the "New Hope"

Here are a couple of other brief comparisons:

Obi Wan Kenobi = Nate McMillan - Once a crafty and powerful young jedi (point guard), now training the latest Trailblazers in the ways of the Force. Apparently once called Tualatin a "wretched hive  of scum and villany" .. ok, kidding on that one.


Greg Oden = Anakin Skywalker (from the sucky prequels). GO at a young age has shown the potential to dominate. All he needs is proper training to take over the universe. I hope he avoid the dark side..


So, I ask my fellow BEdgers..What are your Trailblazers = Star Wars comparisons? Who is Princess Leia (how this person looks in a bronze bikini must be considered.)


Or am I WAY too geeky for you all? ;-)

Go Blazers tonight!

Joe

I was reading the usual morning NBA roundup and read the following in the New York Newsday:

" The Seattle-based group plans to boo both teams, especially the Thunder"

Read the whole article:

http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/ny-spknotes096030000feb09,0,6649169.story

That's rude, and ticks me off considering so many Blazer fans are just as angry about how the Sonics move was handled. Not a very nice way for guests to behave, if this is true.

Joe

Oh yes she did. She's mad too..

Hadn't seen a JD yet today, so I thought I'd take the opportunity.

I'm in Gresham "State of Emergency" Oregon..with 2-3 feet of snow on my side street, and and I'm stuck snowbound with my inlaws. I'm about to go curl up in my garage with a bottle of tequila.

Hope you all are staying warm and get what you want for Christmas!

I can't hold this back any longer.

i think 50% (based on the MSPs poll results earlier this morning) of Blazer fans need to chill the heck out. Apparently 50% of Blazer fans were disappointed in Greg's showing at FanFest.

The expectations on this kid are immense, granted, and partly due to the Blazer's own marketing efforts. But, we, ourselves are apparently inflating expectations beyond what is reasonable to expect.

Don't let those expectations blind you to his situation. Even though we all assume he's some Super-Being with Power and Abilities far beyond those of Mortal Men, he is a man who has spent the last year of his life away from the basketball court recovering from surgery. It's going to take some time for him to be dominant. It's clear he has the tools, and the abilities to become dominant, but for us to expect him to come out tonight at Sacramento and drop 30/14/6 assists and bench press Spencer Hawes in one hand while eating a chili dog in another is crazy.

I get the feeling many Blazer fans' blood pressure is needlessly being raised by these expectations and expectations of failure.If you have Prozac/Xanax/some other legally prescribed mood altering med, I'd say make sure your bottle is filled now, because what you see in this pre-season might freak you out. But I say, DON'T WORRY.

Since I care about my Blazer brothers and sisters, here is my advice. Do what I do. Sit back, realize the kid doesn't have his sea legs yet, and get back to me at mid-season (at the very least) to tell me he's a bust and that you're disappointed. Don't expect him to dominate tonight; temper your expectations for now, realizing that he's only, what, 20? Remember he doesn't come from Krypton, and can't fly.

Keep in mind, even if his conditioning is off, the sheer size of Greg is going to improve our interior defense.

That concludes my rant. Thanks for reading.

Joe

On Wheels After Work last night...on (insert really deep voice here) 955 THE GAME Wheels alluded that 'progress' had been made on getting CSN carried on, what I assumed, where Dish and DirecTV. You could tell by his voice that he knew something that he couldn't reveal.

Last week on Courtside, I recall someone making a comment about some impending positive news on this as well...but details were kept very sketchy.

Has anyone heard anything more about this? I'm about to move into our new house and re-activate my DirecTV and would whole heartedly welcome this news.

As I pulled out onto the road this A.M. (partially conscious, as usual for a Monday morn), I noticed that the familiar voices of Kenny and Katy on 95.5 The Game (here in PDX) were replaced with some annoying L.A. radio personalities.

According to 92wastheyear, who heard the promo, Gavin "The People's Champ" will take over "The Morning Sports Page" sports talk.

I really enjoyed having a local sports talk show, and feared that once again Portland morning sports talk had been yanked. I didn't mind Kenny's slightly amateurish delivery, and the show had been growing on me lately.

How do you feel about this change?

Apologies if this has already been brought up (I searched, honest)..

For all you facebook aficionados out there, there is a I Read Blazersedge.com therefore I am a True Blazers Fan group (created by our very own Ben) you can join.

I must say, the readers of BE are a fine looking group!

Linky Link:

I Read Blazers Edge.com Therefore I Am A True Blazers Fan Group

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8084237975

First off, I realize I might rile a few of my fellow Blazer fans up with my opinion, but hear me out.

I'm tired of seeing people blame the Blazers for the channel not being picked up by satellite or other cable systems. It's misplacing the blame and is short-sighted. In reality, they only control the first link in the chain; the content. (And, in fact, even though they are the 'flagship' of the channel..CSN will also carry Ducks games, etc)

This is business, and how TV deals work. The Blazers simply provide the content which is distributed by Comcast. If Comcast sees no business advantage to offering it sat providers, they have no obligation to. I doubt the Blazers have had much leverage in the beginning to 'force' Comcast to allow carriage on other providers. Since comcast keeps telling us they are 'negotiating' with other carriers, that's what we have to assume they are doing.

Whose to say that DirecTV or Dish, or other local cable companies are even interesting in picking it up? Do you blame the Blazers for that? There's a ton of variables to consider in these 'negotiations'.

Personally, I have DirecTV, and it'll be below freezing in hell (or Los Angeles, - they are about the same IMO) when I move back to Comcast/cable. If the channel isn't made available to me on DirecTV, I'll continue listening on the radio and watching whatever TV networks are showing the game, just like I've always done.

Considering the travesty that was FSNW's (A.K.A. Fox Sports Puget Sound) Blazer's coverage, I'm happy that more games will be available somewhere. Hopefully I'll be watching it on DirecTV at some point.

I have a feeling a deal will be worked out for carriage on satellite systems, then our bickering and complaining will all be moot.

And no..I'm not a Blazer employee..just a uber-fan who is tired of the blamin'

My advice: Relax. Worry about more important things, like what are we gonna do about the point guard position?

(dons his asbestos suit)

My wife gave birth to our first child, a baby boy last Friday! He's already got a better jump shot than his old man ;-)

Anyway, as the season nears, do any of you have advice on how I can maintain my usually high level of fandom in the face of diminished sleep and dirty diapers? I must maintain my fatherly responsibilities (those are my most important duties, after all). But I still yearn to listen to/watch all those games!

Any advice on juggling Blazermania and fatherhood?

Joe

Steve will be working the Sonics games on FSN. I miss him covering Blazer games, but I really miss his "point/counter-point" with Walton on national games. Here's the link for more info:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sonics/2003872804_soni07.html

I'm glad to see that he's going to back on the air. What do you all think?

First off, let me offer the disclaimer that I bleed red and black. I'm a die-hard Blazer fan since I stood on my parents shag carpet at age 5 watching the Blazers win the championship.

Having attended college up in Bellingham, I have enjoyed watching Blazer/Sonic duels in both cities over the years. I've even endured razzing from sauced Sonics fans up north. Some of my best friends are Sonics believers.

Continue reading this post »

I submitted it! Anyone want an autograph? ;)

Ok, ok maybe I'm a little too excited. Long time reader, first time "diary poster" here in the 'Edge.

I read an interesting anecdote about Greg Oden offering a ride home on PA's jet to some KATU reporters from the draft in New York. I sent the link on to Henry, and it made the bullets. It comes from www.oregonmediainsiders.com, a fascinating site with 'behind the scenes' stuff about Oregon TV/newspaper/radio. You'll have to skim through a few comments, but here's the link to the entry:

http://www.oregonmediainsiders.com/node/1212