SB Nation User Blog: premthegrem

Junk Drawer 11/16

premthegrem — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:28:18 -0000

First thing, folks.

Why is College Football more popular than the NBA? Every day, every hour it's BCS, BCS, BCS on national media. It seems like Notre Dame not sucking as much as normal is bigger news than NBA basketball, and I just don't like it. While I am as big a fan of the Trojans as anybody and appreciate the national attention, the ongoing love affair with college football is frankly becoming nauseating to me. Colt McCoy burps and its national news. I am admittedly a bigger basketball fan now than I am football, so my view may be biased, but the comparable lack of attention in national media to the NBA (other than Kobe/Shaq) seems obscene to me.

This leads to my second issue, which is MMA/UFC. I heard Canzano go off about MMA a few weeks back, and I heard whisperings about how there was a big fight recently (yesterday). I am not a big fan of stuff like that, (never was), but I thought it would be interesting to get a gauge of what kind of interest the blazer fanatic average sports fan has in this kind of stuff. With that said, please answer the following poll:

Poll

How interested are you in UFC/MMA?

It's Lesnar, not Lesner, you retard!!

8 votes

I thought Brock was a pokemon trainer?

18 votes

Did you see Comcast's newest tv option? You can get CSNNW underground, straight to your nuclear shelter! Did I mention that I am a blazer fan?

9 votes

35 votes | Poll has closed

Blake or Bayless? Take >1,000,000,000

premthegrem — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:29:54 -0000

The starting point guard issue has been covered pretty thoroughly in several past fanposts, but I thought there might be one deciding factor that hasn't been discussed as much. Everybody seems to think that how well both players play with Brandon will make or break their starting opportunities, and nobody has addressed the issue of how they play with Oden. Oden arguably isn't going to be a dominating offensive force from day 1, but just as Chris Paul makes a significant chunk of bread with alleyoop lobs to Tyson Chandler, it may be that the guy that meshes with Oden first will be the starting point guard for this team. Whether it is more important to mesh with Roy or with Oden from an offensive standpoint is debatable at this point, but what cannot be ignored is the fact that Blake has been noted to have already started a cameraderie with Oden, and I certainly haven't heard anything about Bayless doing the same. So while Bayless may complement Roy better than Blake, it is possible that Blake maintains the starting role if he works well with Oden.

Gold Medal Thoughts (K@be haters do not read this)

premthegrem — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:55:07 -0000

2 points:

First: some love for Rudy

I'll be honest, I was really excited when I heard that Calderon was out of the game, because that almost guaranteed that we'd see some combination of Rudy+another Spanish SG. Lo and behold, Rudy came into the game in the 2nd q playing (at some point) alongside Navarro, which was the perfect opportunity to see him shoulder part of the pg duties with Navarro. This was really the moment in the game that made me start salivating. Wouldn't you, considering that Rudy played the way he did against Team USA with Navarro as his backcourt mate? Switch Navarro with Roy and decrease the opponent's defensive intensity by a factor of 10, and the sky is the limit for Portland's backcourt dominance of the NBA. Also those 3 NBA 3's didn't hurt either.

2nd: Taking the asterisk out of K*be

I don't know if the Kobe we saw yesterday is the Kobe we will see for the rest of his career, even in the NBA. When he hit that backbreaking three against Rudy which gave him a 4pt play AND kicked Rudy out of the game, I was simultaneously thrilled and devastated (as any patriotic but laker-hating blazer fan would understand). However, from just that game, I can no no longer hate Kobe Bryant as a player. The guy is not Michael Jordan, and will never be, but he put the Olympic team on its back in the 4th quarter along with Dwayne Wade, and his tenacity and clutch play is impressive, although heartbreaking as a Blazer fan. I had no idea how to react when watching Nate hugging Kobe after the game, in fact i broke down into almost hysterical laughter. There seems a subtle, but yet powerfully tangible change in the NBA from yesterday to today. Blazer fans can finally put the nightmares of Shaq to rest, as his career is slowly dying, and his reputation in tatters. And the K@be that beat us in 2000 isn't the Kobe that won a gold medal yesterday. I may be putting the cart before the horse here, but the L@kers don't frighten me at all anymore (and that's not just because of Rudy), and that means that I can't bring myself to hate them. You love and hate players/teams that you respect as threatening, and although they're good, I just can't see them dominating the NBA in the next 5 years, especially with the blazers. LeBron may be the best candidate there is to hate/respect in the NBA now, especially if he ever gets a supporting cast wherever he ends up. I just don't feel like Kobe is under the umbrella of the L@kers anymore, so much as he has enveloped them under his world-wide stardom, culminating with this Olympic Gold. Thus I see these current WCF champs as Kobe and the L@kers, rather than just the L@kers. He's almost a separate entity from them now, and that as much as anything allows me to appreciate his momentary triumph with that gamebreaking 3 over Fernandez, and the shushing motion he made afterwards. Kobe the Olympian is a player I can appreciate.

*Additional note*

First of all, thanks for those who read this post, (especially those that rec'd it). I realize that this issue is a controversial topic for many of us as blazer fans, which is why I wanted to post it in the first place. That being said, I was getting ready to go to work when I published this post, so I didn't get a chance to expand on what I thought was the most important issue about the gold medal game. I don't know about you, but I feel that there are some games that have moments that have significance beyond the play, beyond the game, and have unseen and yet far-reaching consequences on the future. I believe that Kobe's shot over Fernandez is one such play. In my mind, that play signals the passing of the guard in the NBA. Shaq, SSOL, the geriatric spurs, Pistons as perennial ECF losers, KG, Ginobili the these are all iconic parts that made up the NBA's first decade in this millenium. Shaq and Duncan dominated the 2000's in terms of winning championships, but Kobe was really a true megastar. With the 2008-2009 season getting ready to start in a couple of months, chronologically the 2000's aren't really over, but there is a palpable sense of change, with the curtain falling on the game's older stars and rising for the new. One thing remains the same though. As in the 2000 WCF, for the next couple of years, the fate of the Blazers seem inextricably linked to Kobe.

Olympic Basketball or the NBA?

premthegrem — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:14:10 -0000

With Olympic fervor reaching a crescendo in this past week and continuing into next, with more tuneup games in Macao and Beijing, I though I'd devote this fanpost to an interesting poll proposed by the Bucks' Brewhoop community on SB Nation. Anyway, the Brewhoop thread had a long discussion about the import of Olympic basketball on fans in different countries, and fans here in the US. For us, it seems that local team success takes precedence over national olympic success, and I thought I'd put it to a vote here.

Poll

What resonates more with you as a Blazer fan?

Team USA winning gold

5 votes

Portland winning the NBA Finals

109 votes

114 votes | Poll has closed

7/28: Junk goes in this box

premthegrem — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:09:03 -0000

No, this is not a reference to the SNL skit. Anyway, I was wondering if anybody knows what happened with the Spain/Argentina game? I've been watching that thread, but it seemed like the comments stopped before the game was finished broadcasting. If anybody knows what happened and the relevant Rudy stats, I'd be much obliged.

Hmm, some more words eh? Oh ok, Rafael Nadal won another championship, this one on hard court. Ho Hum...

What do I do to watch the Blazers this year?

premthegrem — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 06:40:54 -0000

Here's my problem. I went to 4 games at the Garden last year, and was planning on buying something like the pick 6 this year so that I can get a chance to watch the really hyped games coming up this season. Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy season tix this year because the ER job I am working goes on shifts, and the schedule is set up on a monthly basis. What that means in a nutshell is that I can't hammer out a schedule through next April so that I can set aside time to go to whatever blazers games I want. Thus, I would prefer the flexibility associated with buying a small set of tickets and choosing the games I want to go to, rather than getting a rigid package and finding out that I can't trade out shifts. Anyway, I am concerned that with the rapid rate of season ticket sales, the blazers will be sold out completely before the season begins. Is this a legitimate concern? I haven't bought tix on a regular basis, so I don't know what the situation is.

Anyway, the possibility of going to the Garden is one option for watching the games. My other problem is with trying to find out how to lock up a subscription for tv coverage. As a dish network subscriber, Comcast has me by the balls, and until they get a deal worked out with satellite providers, I won't have a shot at watching any games on TV outside of national coverage on TNT or KGW (I don't know if TNT gets any blazers games) or through NBA TV. From what I hear though, NBA TV is only a legitimate option for road games, because Comcast blacks out the home games. Can anyone shed some more light on this issue of tv coverage? Any idea of what games are available for a dish subscriber, or an NBA TV subscriber...etc.

Food for thought: Do you want Jerryd to play on USA Select?

premthegrem — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:57:40 -0000

http://www.nba.com//summerleague2008/summer_league_selection_poll.html

Ok, I posted this like 4 minutes after the first post about this topic, so I'm changing it. Read the post before by Wilbjammin and then check this out if you want to answer the poll. I'll leave the nba.com poll up if you want to check the source. I was honestly shocked by how lopsided the poll is. Bayless was getting 34% of the votes last time I checked, followed distantly by K Love at 18-19%.

Poll

If Bayless is invited to play on the Select team, would you want him to play? (I don't know if he would have the choice of declining without having a real good reason, but let's say he does).

Of course. This would be an excellent measuring stick to determine how he plays with and against tier 1/2 talent in the league

97 votes

Thanks, but no thanks. While it would be an honor to get involved with Team USA, we shouldn't risk any more Blazer injuries.

1 votes

Doesn't matter, Rudy will destroy all comers anyway.

9 votes

107 votes | Poll has closed

OT: Spain's Glory Continues...

premthegrem — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:29:20 -0000

After watching Roger Federer win 5 consecutive wimbledon titles, it was clear that he was the favorite to win again in England this year. But in a magnificent championship match, Rafael Nadal continued Spain's championship run from the Eurocup by bringing the Wimbledon trophy to Spain. Hats off to Nadal: a guy barely a month older than I am at the age of 22 beating the current tennis "god" is no small feat, not to mention the fact that he's won 4 french open titles in a row as well...

On another note, I wonder if the championships Spain has been collecting this year will translate into some Olympic bling....maybe a certain countryman who will don the scarlet and black this upcoming year will will Spain to medaling? Here's to hoping that Rudy caps off a stellar career in Spain with individual domination of his counterpart in Team USA...K*be Bryant. Congratulations Spain, now I can only hope that Andy Roddick has a miraculous return to form and wins in New York this year, it's about time an American wins the US Open once again.

Kevin Pritchard = Chuck Norris?

premthegrem — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:49:11 -0000

I was just reading the sactown thread that was a response to our thread "How the other side lives". I had a nice laugh when otis29 suggested that it's about time Chuck Norris jokes are converted to Kevin Pritchard jokes. Then I thought a thread about this would be hilarious for a little while, and so I have started this fanpost for people to publish some funny chuck norris style jokes about KP. Here's the first one, from Blazerholic...kind of paraphrased When KP calls, he doesn't leave messages. He leaves warnings.

OT: What if D'Antoni was coach?

premthegrem — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:19:23 -0000

So, let me preface this fanpost by acknowledging that I'm a Bedger, and am kind of getting antsy about what my team's gm (KP) is going to do. So, I decided to jump around other teams blogs and see what they were up to, and had an interesting thought about how easy your team's selection would have been if D'Antoni was the coach.

Here's my reasoning.

D'Antoni loves to run and play quick strike offense.

He loved the Matrix (Marion).

Beasley is supposed to be a Matrix clone, and had the best statistical college season in history (which is why Pat Riley is having trouble deciding what to do in Miami.

Chicago has a pg and a sg (Heinrich/Gordon) that would be ideal for transition play, but have always been kind of weak in frontcourt.

Ergo: The entire nation would have known 4 weeks before the draft that D'Antoni was going hard after Beasley, and then the rest of the draft would have been WAY clearer. SSOL (Seven seconds or less) would have arrived in Chicago, led by Kirk Heinrich and Michael Beasley.

Wow, D'Antoni is a dumba$$.