I decided to take a look at the T-Mobile rookie report and was surprised to see a shot of Greg at the top of the article.  I read further and found he still hadn't cracked the top ten.

Poking around in the NBA stats center I noticed these interesting tidbits concerning our big guy.

Among rookies -

Blocks 2nd

Dbl Dbls 1st

Eff 7th

FG% 4th

Pts/Rebs/assists 11th

Rebs 3rd

Pts 14th

Minutes 13th

Respect ?

And then there were the thunderous footsteps of the mighty Oden.   He arrived with more than just determination and skills; he came with confidence because of his brothers in arms.  

He had seen the leadership of Roy, had seen Brandon strike fear in the hearts of his opponents by simply touching the ball and looking into their eyes.  

He had watched Lamarcus launch seemingly feathered shots that tickled the bottom of the net and then crouch near the basket waiting to pounce with a vicious swat or a thunderous dunk.  

He knew Martell and Jones were lurking in the wings to drop daggers on the enemy like the steady drip of that faucet that won't quit.  

He saw Travis nearly salivating as he waited on the edge of the bench for his next chance to stuff the ball in the face of any hapless fool who ventured between him and the basket or elevate, limbs akimbo, towards the roof and throw DOWN a jumper.  

Jack and Blake nodded his way excited to see what could be done with so many more options.  

He had seen Sergio put out his cig and start running the floor shooting assists to whoever.  

Finally, with a non-foul, welcoming hug from the valiant and stalwart Przybilla, Oden began making opponents feign injuries so they could avoid the confrontations that would scar them, haunt their nightmares and make them question the existence of their manbacks.  

Book it.  

The Ducks play USF in the Brut Sun Bowl right down the road from me in El Paso, Texas this year.  If anyone's headed this way let's get together and talk Blazers and root for the Ducks.  I know some good breweries and restaurants in the area too.  Weather could be quite nice.  The game is December 31st.

This played today in the AM.  Once again, the spectre of Jordan was raised.  Some interesting info.  I imagine he really does feel sorry.  I am still very excited about seeing more of this guy.  I didn't see any links to it so check it out.  It seems worthy.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14412365

http://www.quantcast.com/blazersedge.com

I don't know if folks have looked at this already but it's kind of interesting.  What do you think about our profile?  It looks wonky to me.

Where did this info come from?  How does this work?  Educate me please.  

Have I reached 300?  By the way, I thought 300 was a crappy movie.  Abs and more abs and more abs and more abs and even more abs.

Living here in scenic southern New Mexico has many advantages.  Talking to other Blazer fans is not one of them.  While I love to visit Blazersedge and it does keep me informed and entertained (thanks Dave and all), I crave person to person conversation at the local brewery that is lacking.  

I try and try but there are only so many Bill Walton the counterculture icon,  Bill Walton the awful announcer, didn't draft Jordan, Jailblazers, number one lottery pick, and doesn't it rain all the time there conversations I can endure.  Converts are hard to come by and to make matters worse, despite our proximity to Phoenix, San Antonio, Denver, Houston, and Dallas, the place is crawling with LAKER fans.  Kobe jerseys are everywhere.

My wife tries but her fandom is limited and usually only surfaces when she sits in front of the TV or the team and watches them play.  She will also counter questions about Jack's ego and Przybilla's tendency to hug other grown men with smart aleck comments that expose her truly limited devotion.  I mean come on these are big issues.  My daughter is still a little young but I'm slowly bringing more Blazer paraphernalia to her attention.

So, my Blazermaniac brothers and sisters in distant lands, what should I do?  What do you do?  While "stop whining" might be an apt response, I'll just get it out of the way now.