I just upgraded my phone and discovered I've lost my "old blazer theme" ringtone that I used for my most favored contacts.  Bustabucket.com (where I got it before) is no longer active.  There is one on Pisamba, but i have not heard of them so am a little reluctant to sign up and download.   Can anyone vouch for them?

I guess this must be it?   Less than 9 hrs left today, but I have an OT rant, so I guess I need to start one regardless.

I don't want to make light of a tragedy, but I just read the story of the shooting in AZ on the KOIN website.  As there are quotes from locals and no credit given to AP or other wIre service I will assume the story was written locally.  What annoys me is that the city where the shooting occurred was written as Tucscon, Tucson, and Tuscon - all in the same story.   Now I can understand covering your bases when you don't know how to spell it  - but what happened to looking it up???     The Foxfire spell checker even red-lined the first spelling for me (giving the other 2 as options)  - so the writer didn't even use a spell check?    C'mon people, this was a headline story, not a tweet or text where spelling is generally optional.   This kind of sloppiness totally negates any sort of credibility KOIN internet news might have had for me (and let me be the first to call me a dinosaur.)

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There are many speculations regarding the Blazer injuries – drafting/trading for players with previous injuries, incompetent training staff, offending the patella gods, etc. I've tended to believe it is just bad luck, but have recently wondered about something I haven't read about here (perhaps missed because the injury conjectures aren't one of my favorite topics) – and that is the floor(s).

I know that dance troupes will not schedule performances in some venues because the floors don't have enough “give”. I am curious if there is a standard for NBA floors. If there is, how much leeway is allowed? If there is a standard, how often is the floor checked and by whom? Has there been any separate research on basketball floors that share space with ice? How about our practice facility? Is that floor the absolute kindest for knees?  By whose reckoning? Is there any difference at all between the feel of the practice facility floor and the Rose Garden? If there is, could that cause problems?

Do all NBA floors have to have the same finish? Exactly the same? Who decides and by what measures? Is it a balance between sticky vs slippery? How about temperature/humidity combinations at floor level – could that affect the finish or spring of the floor?

What happened to the rule about “only basketball shoes on the playing surface”? I'm thinking of Rebecca and her stiletto heels and knowing there are many people on that floor not wearing specifically basketball - or appropriate – shoes. Or is that a long ago old wives tale long since debunked?

And what about shoes? Has there been any independent research into foot/ankle/knee injuries and the shoes worn either at the time the injury occurred or worn most often during practice and games? What about shoes and floors in combination? Are there certain types of shoes recommended for player weights and/or positions? When X shoe company comes up with a player shoe, has there been independent medical verification that this is absolutely the best shoe for the player with no trade off of safety for appearance? Is there a known point at which grip becomes responsible for twisted knees?   Or is this all still in the research stage and it isn't really known that, for example, big men should wear high tops and speedy players need different grip patterns from power players?

I don't expect anyone to be able to answer  these questions, I'm just throwing them out for thought - and maybe one of our students is looking for a research paper topic :D

I've always (well, since I first saw someone else do it) referred to that team down south as the L*kers (or even They Who Must Not be Named.) . I've even gone so far as to replace both vowels as one might do for profanities : L*k*rs. I thought it was funny (well, still do – considering them profanities or obscenities) but I'm changing my tactics.

I recently decided to re-read the Harry Potter series and at the end of the first book, Harry, although previously calling Voldemort by name, switches to “You-know-who” when talking to Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore chastises him and says, “Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”

I know it isn't fear of the team that causes us to not write their name, but I've decided that by changing their name we are giving them importance they do not deserve. The asterisk(s) actually draws attention to the name. I now choose to not give them that added attention. From now on I will refer to them as the lakers ; lower case because they are unworthy of upper case – just a generic team.   Many people don't use caps properly so I think this will slip by unnoticed.  I did consider writing it in a smaller font, but again, that would more likely to draw attention.

For me the L*k*rs are dead; may the new lakers long be unworthy of attention.

It's been awhile since I've played around with anagrams and there are quite a few names that I never threw into the anagram machine.  For those of you who weren't around when I last did this,  Blazers Edge = Bald Geezers.  (As an unbald geezerette I know I don't belong.)

Some are really lame, others so lame I didn't include them.

Andre Miller = Mean driller

Brandon Roy = No randy bro  (don't remember this from before, maybe "bro" is a new add)

Elliot William = I wills toil lame. or maybe I will toils lame  (sounds like another B-Roy)

Luke Babbitt = A kibble butt  (he eats pet food?)

Marcus Camby = A crummy scab ... or if you prefer, A scrummy crab

Patty Mills = Mall typist (continuing to sit on a bench?)

Wesley Matthews = Why tweet meals? 

And then a couple that yielded all sorts of weird mental pictures

Nicolas Batum = A botanic slum,  musical baton, A talcum bison, A botulism can, Atonal cubism (I like the latter as I have no idea what it is but it sounds very sophisticated)

 And my favorite collection:

Dante Cunningham = Damn cheating nun, Nude man chanting, Unending chat man, The dancing unman

Last night was Blazer season ticket holder night at PGE Park.  Sat with my daughter's family ; a perfect night for baseball.  Too bad the game wasn't very good (bottom dwellers in 2 divisions) though one Beaver was thrown out at home on what would have been an inside-the-park home run.

First, who I saw:
When we were standing in line for "dinner" (hot dogs/hamburgers, baked beans, cookies and drinks) a very tan Mike Rice walked by and I heard him say to someone "we'll play a month longer in the playoffs this season."   Nice to dream about - wish we could write it in ink.  Terry Porter & friends sat two rows behind us.  As TP has always been my all-time favorite Blazer I was thrilled.  I thought about taking his picture with my phone but he was so close that I couldn't have done it without asking first and it would have been awkward.   My daughter and grandson were equally excited and I was surprised to see that my granddaughter noted on her Facebook status that we sat near him.  Maybe Porter fandom is genetic??   My daughter had hoped for a picture too, but they were gone before the game was over.

Second, a rant:
Even though baseball was my first love I hadn't been to a game in decades.  Some things were the same, some were quite different.   An unpleasant difference were the "games" played by a few selected fans between innings ; just like the timeouts at the Rose Garden.   We used to entertain ourselves between innings (and timeouts) without a problem - what happened?   Do the people who decide on these games really think we need to be entertained?  Do they honestly think these games are entertaining?   The one at the Rose Garden that really gets to me is the "guess the new price" of Home Depot merchandise.  It is blatantly a commercial and I resent it.  At home I fast forward through 99% of the commercials but don't have the option at the RG. There is too much noise to carry on a conversation with my companion and I will not inconvenience my neighbors by trampling their feet to get out. Are attention spans so short that we have to disrupt the flow of the game with something unrelated?  You used to be able to discuss what just happened in the game during these breaks but no longer.  Is this part of the dumbing down of society??    To whom would I suggest a night where we had to entertain ourselves during timeouts?

Rant ended until the next time I am seriously annoyed.

Because I usually sit in the 300's I never see the players up close so when I actually encounter one in street clothes I'm never quite sure if it's an actual Blazer or my imagination.  I've had two of those encounters this off-season.

I'm pretty sure it was Antonio Harvey in the produce section of Fred Meyer, but not positive. He always looks so spiffy in the Rose Garden and this guy was dressed in sweatshirt & jeans.  And couldn't remember if Harvey had facial hair which, of course, may change at any time so "what was" is no help.  But anyway, it was an extremely tall dude who I think was Antonio Harvey.

However, it was definitely Channing Frye Sat. night at the emergency veterinary clinic. I was waiting for the results of blood tests on my cat when this - to quote myself - extremely tall dude walks in accompanied by an average height young woman and a short bulldog. When the man turned around I thought "Wow, he looks Channing Frye!"  They sat quite near me in the very small waiting room. There's sometimes idle chit chat (I've been there often) and the young woman and I eventually exchanged a few words.  Among them were, "we live in Phoenix..." so I got brave (I'm pretty shy/timid/reserved) and said something like, "Since you live in Phoenix I have to ask if you are Channing Frye."   "I am Channing Frye."  A woman a few seats over looked quickly at him, obviously checking out a celebrity in our midst, but since she didn't recognize him went back to her magazine. Anyway, they are here for the summer; "best summers in the world", said Channing.  They came to the clinic because the bulldog had an infected ear. They have a baby due in Oct. and don't know the gender.  Mom said, "Since it's our first, he's indulging me. I don't want to know."  He just shook his head and muttered.  The baby was quite active and Channing commented that it was a big one.  At that point the vet came out to see me so I had no more interaction with them. When I left, via the back door with empty cat carrier, I saw a lovely white Mercedes with AZ plates parked next to my ordinary vehicle. Talk about mixed emotions for the night - I went in worried about the cat, got excited meeting Mr & Mrs & Dog Frye, then had to deal with the decision - and aftermath - of having the sweet boycat, who I'd had for over 18 years, euthanized. Draining.

I laughed to myself this morning when I realized what I was reading most frequently in the comments to different stories & fanposts:
 1. Kevin Pritchard was the best thing that ever happened to the Blazers.
 2. It's time to trade Oden, Aldridge, Rudy, Bayless, and/or Miller

So I looked for specifics and found that while KP was the GM he drafted Oden, bought the draft rights to Rudy and Bayless, signed Miller as a free agent, and negotiated the big dollar contract extension for Aldridge.  I concluded that the two opinions cited above cannot coexist in the same person - and if they do, I'd love to know how.

Kevin Pritchard is extremely charismatic and most of us not only drank the Kevinade we became addicted to it. (I certainly am guilty.)  We loved his enthusiasm for his players and we saw the future through his eyes.  A dynasty in the making!   Even Blazer marketing bought into the excitement of The Big Three.  KP possibly was the greatest single influence on the return of Blazermania;  certainly the trio of KP, Roy, and Oden caught the imagination.  Were we duped?   Not intentionally, of course, but were those dreams created by KP's zeal for what he imagined he was creating?    I am sure he believed in his dreams, but I have a feeling that Nate never saw the pie in the sky that KP did - and he may not have been the only one.

As best I can figure out, this is Pritchard's record as GM (not knowing how much influence he had in his earlier years with the Blazers) :  Bought the draft rights to Petteri Koponen and Rudy (and got James Jones in the exemption - for which he thanked Tom Penn).   Traded for Channing Fry, Von Wafer, Ike Diogu, Michael Ruffin, Marcus Camby and the draft rights to Bayless, Batum, and Pendergraph.  Drafted Greg Oden and Dante Cunningham. (Missing this year's draft transactions.)  Signed as free agents : Steve Blake, Juwan Howard,  and Andre Miller.    Don't know how many free agents we gave offers to and lost - I can only recall last summer's Turkoglu and Millsap.  Bought out Steve Francis.  We got nothing for  RLEC - were there other expiring contracts that we lost?    I'd love to know how many trade discussions there were that went down to the wire - and which team was the one that eventually backed out. 

I've come back to Earth from my Kevinade high.   I don't feel disillusioned, but I know I was swept along in all the excitement.   I'm almost to the point of thinking that Kevin Pritchard was a better Marketing agent than a GM.  (Which is not saying he is a bad GM, but is a genius at marketing to the fans.)   Rich Cho doesn't appear to have any addictive substances to hook the fans - I hope his more grounded approach will yield successes that keep the excitement going.  Welcome, GM Cho - may your work keep Blazermania alive for a long long time. 

I'm pretty ticked off at the Blazers right now and I don't know whether to write a letter or just vent here.  I have no idea who was responsible for the mix-up so I wouldn't know where to direct my complaint, though I suppose I could start with my rep.

I went at my appointed time to Select A Seat today.  I wasn't expecting anything wonderful as it was the last day (I have no seniority).  I went just to see if I could move closer to center court even if it meant going further up or possibly upgrading.   I went to my current section and there was nothing, so I started walking around the arena.  Every seat I looked at (they have letter sized tags on the available ones) was Full Season.  (I have half).  Finally  as I was only a couple of sections away from where I started I found a rep.   He said, "Oh, we've taken off all the Half Season tags.  We were supposed to be through with the half-seasons.  Are you here at the right time?"   Yes, I showed him my appointment.   So he told me to go back down to check-out and they "might be able to pull up something on their computer."

I was in the 300s so started looking for a way down.   Came to one escalator.  It was on "up."    Found a set of stairs, walked down to main level, door was locked.  Went back up to 300 level.   Next escalator was on "up".   I was too leery to try another set of stairs because I was breathing pretty hard and didn't want to have a heart attack as I was yet again climbing back up to the 300 level if that door was locked.  How long till they found me??  Finally after a good half circuit of the arena I found a down escalator but it was another half circuit on the main level to take me to check out.   By this time I was dripping with perspiration, breathing hard, and thinking I was either going to have a heart attack or stroke.  (OK, I'm out of shape, but I can walk a mile or so without gasping for breath).   No, they couldn't find anything on their computer and the woman commented "I didn't think they were scheduling half seasons now."   Someone was going to be bringing by a list of half-season seats if I wanted to wait.   So I stood around (still dripping, but breathing easier) for 10 or 15 minutes.  The list appeared.   First woman handed me off to a second who started going over the list and comparing it to a seating chart.  Her phone rang, she handed me off to a third.    For the third time I had to explain where I was sitting now and what I was looking for.   She found me some seats that I thought might work, but the 2nd woman had reappeared and pointed out that those were only full season seats.  There were some decent upgraded seats, but they were twice as much as I'm paying now and even though I hope to get reimbursed more often for the 2nd seat I just couldn't do it.   

So after all that I left with the same seats I'd gone in with which didn't surprise me.  But the screw up of pulling the half-season tags off the seats while there were still half-season people scheduled really ticked me off.  (I know of at least two other sets of people who had the same problem as mine, plus we weren't even the last group scheduled.)

They've repriced some of their seating, adding a couple of new "colors".  I wonder if they grandfathered in people who kept the same seats or if they have to pay the newly upgraded price even though the seats are the same and the old color still exists.  I knew they had raised the prices of some sections, but I hadn't heard that that they'd carved some new (more expensive) sections out of existing ones.  Gotta wring out as much money as you can while the Blazers are a hot ticket, I guess.

Posts about trades are starting to fill up the sidebar again.   Please post all of your trade ideas here.  Any fanpost or fanshot about a Blazer trade posted after this one will be deleted without comment.   Generally any trade discussions involving the Blazers should take place here,  however there are exceptions.  If  you have a trade idea which has not  been discussed on this site ad nauseum and is logical and would work under all the guidelines for trades (reread the main page stories, such as this one), makes sense for both teams and you can write it up in a well-reasoned, intelligent manner (think a scout writing to KP) then you may post it individually.  Too much trouble to do the research?  Then it probably does not deserve its own post.  We're not trying to discourage posts about trades, just trying to corral them all in one place.

 if you only knew who I was talking about,"   said Pritchard to Canzano after hanging up his phone.    (Does one "hang up" a cell phone?   "ring off"?    turn off?.  End call?)   Anyway, to continue...

Maybe I'm reading more into that than is warranted, but it came across to me that KP was a little excited.    Now maybe he was talking about someone and the other end of the line was "no no no", but let's say the conversation was productive and he really was excited.

WHO would get Pritchard exited?  

Doubtful a draft pick because it would be hard to talk about a specific one unless you were talking to the GM with one of the top three picks.

A free agent?  (Would he be talking with the FA's agent now?)

A non-FA player?   Talking trade?

Many of you have already said who would excite you if we added him, but think outside your fan box.  Ignoring logic and logistics, just knowing the player might be available - who would get KP excited?

The first name that came into my head was Chris Paul.  
Now it's your turn.

EDIT:  OK OK.  I can see from the first few posted comments that what I intended did not come across well at all.

I am not asking if you believe what Canzano wrote is indeed the BFT.   I am not asking if you think KP's quote was a cover-up, spin, or red herring.   Just suspend all judgment and PRETEND that KP is actually excited about a player he just learned might be available.    Don't use logic (would this player fit - if KP is excited it means he figures he can MAKE him fit - maybe by trading someone we love);  don't use logistics - if KP wants someone he gets him.   

And to repeat myself - not who would excite you - who would excite KP?

(Maybe this was a stupid question to ask of a mostly-guy fanbase?)

“The smart approach with the game on the line is to assume that the referees won't call anything.” This was almost a throw-away line from Henry Abbott  this morning, but it got me thinking.   Wouldn't this be a smart approach all the time? On offense as well as defense? Is there too much focus on “getting the call” or “avoiding the call”?   Are the Blazers tentative because of this?

I'm coming at this with complete innocence, never having been a coach or player. I'm throwing it out here so I can learn. I guess what I'm really looking for are good reasons why this would not be a good whole-game approach.

I've heard MB say some players (not specifically Blazers) are “worried about getting his shot blocked”. Do you play differently when there's a proven shot blocker on the opposition? Doesn't his presence mean different game strategy to begin with? Why would you be concerned about getting a shot blocked? It that more shameful than missing a ten foot jump shot?

I've seen comments here, and noticed it myself, that Brandon is now arguing (or commenting on) more non-calls. I think it was even a subject of an Oregonian story – his becoming more vocal with the refs. Unfortunately it puts me in mind of Zach Randolph who often would be slow getting back on defense by arguing with the refs about a non-call.  I'm not saying the commenting slows Brandon down, but if he continues to question every non-call it eventually will, particularly when we start playing faster. Wouldn't it be smarter “to assume that referees won't call anything”?

I've noticed that Oden & Przybilla both play more tentative defense when they have a couple of fouls. Travis too. Is this something that is taught? Are you really supposed to ease up a little when you have 3 fouls? Joel certainly learned to avoid his bear hug fouls (remember a couple of years ago when he'd start every game with 2 or 3?) Greg is learning to keep his arms UP. Isn't it more about learning to play better rather than playing to avoid fouling? (These are two different things in my opinion, though playing better can include avoiding fouling.) Again, shouldn't you play assuming that nothing will be called?  (Not advocating mean & nasty, just legal defense.)

It seems to me that the only guy who doesn't seem to be thinking much about fouls  is Bayless who plays with reckless abandon. And  I guess I'll add Blake to that.    BRoy is thinking about drawing a foul every time he drives, but he's not assuming nothing will be called - quite the contrary.   Is LMA one of the players who doesn't want his shot blocked - is that one reason he settles for jumpers too often?

I wanted some cool new shoes to wear to the playoffs.  I craved some solid red ones, but as I waited till this afternoon to look that was not to be. I did find a nice pair of white and black Adidas with red trim. I even splurged on a pair of red shoelaces to spiffy them up. (I'd post a picture, but camera batteries are dead and I'm running out of time.) As I was putting the laces through the very last holes I noticed that on the underside of the tongue it said HOUSTON ROCKETS! Now there are 29 other NBA teams - why why HOUSTON?

I'd feel guilty wearing them.  I can't return them - they are from Joe's liquidation - besides they are Blazer colors.  Can I pretend the label is underfoot and I'm trampling them?   What can I do to make these Blazer shoes!!?   Attack the label with my black marker?   Cut out the label (and leave a fringe?)    I see they are made in China - is this conspiracy of die hard Yao fans?   

Alas, whatever shall I do?!