Hi friendly BEdgers!  I was just thinking about the great contributors who frequent this site.  Some are exceedingly witty and clever in their remarks, others have fantastic Blazer related stories to share, and still others put in a lot of hard work to provide insightful analysis.  Some fortunate souls bring all of these enviable talents to the table.  As a reward, these individuals receive accolades from the rest of us in the form of rec'd posts.

Then there is the rest of us.  Perhaps we think our content is valuable, but few others agree.  Or maybe we know we're not bringing much to the party but like to hang out anyway.  Never had a post garner enough recs to turn it an envious green?  Good chance you never will?  Well your luck has just turned, my friends!  Here's your golden chance to sport a moldy post!  Consider it a 2 for 1 deal... the long wait for the Blazers to resume their epic adventure is over AND you can get a rec'd post!

(To be honest, I don't know if this will catch on at all.  It's going to take a few others to play along.  Oh, and if you post something offensive, don't blame me if it fails to get rec'd, even in such a favorable environment.)

Post away!

Suppose you could choose between two scenarios:

1) The Blazers make the playoffs but are eventually eliminated while the Lakers go on to win the championship.

2) The Blazers don't make the cut in the competitive west but the Lakers get knocked out in their quest for the crown.

Personally, I'm torn.  Of course I'd like our crew to make the show this year, but I don't expect much out of them if they do make it.  They're not likely to win more than a single series, if any at all.  Since another year or two of seasoning may be needed to get into contention, a part of me would be willing to sacrifice the post-season to keep the hated hamster-defiling Laker fans down.

But, on the flip side, the playoffs are fun and it's about time we get the chance to cheer our team on again.  Not to mention, if we don't make it this year, what does that say about the development of our potential-laden roster?

 

 

Poll

Blazers in playoffs or Laker championship?

87%

Blazers qualify for post-season but LA ultimately wins it all

124 votes

12%

Blazers have yet another long summer but at least the Lakers aren't champs

18 votes

142 votes | Poll has closed

As we now know, mark twain is one of the few on this site to root for the Lakers in these playoffs.  Uggh.  Well, in his case and for pretty much everyone else on this site, the team we end up pulling for happens to be the one we despise the least.  Why not list them in the order that we are rooting against them?  Here's mine...

 

Lakers

Celtics

Spurs

Hornets

Pistons

 

... so I guess I'm pulling for the Pistons.  They already have a championship and I figure what's one more, even with all Sheed's baggage.  Part of me knows I really shouldn't pull for the Hornets because in all likelihood we'll be rivals for years and it's only a matter of time until I really hate them too.  It'll probably be right around the time that CP3 punches one of our guys in the balls (although I don't hold it against him for going after Bowen's jewels -- that should happen at least once a week).

Poll

Who do you want to win it the least besides the Lakers?

43%

Celtics

40 votes

29%

Spurs

27 votes

17%

Hornets

16 votes

10%

Pistons

10 votes

93 votes | Poll has closed

I was telling a buddy of mine about the game a few days back when GO was hanging out with Tony Luftman and Michael Holton in the studio.  I think it was the pregame for the March 2nd Lakers game.  At any rate, there were a few awkward moments, like when Tony asked if Greg enjoyed hanging out with them during the segment, putting GO on the spot to say something positive even though it seemed pretty clear to me that he thought they were a couple of hacks.

Anyway, I seem to remember GO mentioning something like "packing the paint", and Michael Holton responded by throwing out a couple other "packing..." cliches.  I swear the guy ended by saying "packing the fudge" or "...chocolate" to Greg, at which moment Oden responded with "That's gross.  Don't talk to me anymore."  Hahaha, classic.  Well, I don't think Michael realized what he was saying, but I'm wondering if I even remember this correctly since I can't find any reference to it.  I'd love to have this short clip posted on YouTube, but the site I visit that archives games doesn't have the pregame included.

Does anyone remember that exchange like this?  Is there a clip out there somewhere?  My friend thinks I'm making stuff up (again).

This seems like a nice parallel seeing how most of us are in Portland...

Lets say you're the kind of person who enjoys strip clubs.  And lets say you visit your local Acrop or equivalent one fine afternoon to find two stages.  A dance is starting at either stage.  What do you do?  Do you:

1. Go to the stage where our lady friend is immediately removing all costume apparel in the first song?  That would be instant gratification.  As the last item goes flying off into the front row, you sit and smirk at the unfortunate patrons at the other stage who are subjected to the still partially clothed (although maybe more attractive) entertainment.  Those suckers may never see the goods, and it's obvious to you that you made the right choice before the first song even ends.
2. Or perhaps you prefer to visit the stage where a garment comes off early, then another in the next song, and although you had to wait for it, it just keeps getting better and better right up to the final song.  Now instead of seeing the same routine over and over (with the exeption of the occasional added titillating move in later songs), you've had a significant improvement to look forward to for each number played.  And if you sized up the talent correctly while they were clothed, the last song was worth waiting for since you positioned yourself front and center for a mind blowing acrobatic performance.

While it may be comforting to know your top draft pick is a star right away, I'm looking forward to longer term improvements that promise new excitement every season.  Yeah, I know it's not fair to suggest that Durant will top out right away, but it made the story easier.

Oh, and the idea was not to actually picture Durant and Oden as the strippers.  That kind of ruins the whole concept.  Good luck shaking that visual.

Pretty funny YouTube clip of images put to a Colin Cowherd rant.  Cowherd is disparaging Durant's lack of strength shown at the Combine, going off on the kid for a several minutes.  The barrage of images gave me a chuckle.  Of course Cowherd has several hours of airtime to fill every day, so he has to rant about something.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LulSsTbflGU

I'm not sold that Rashard Lewis is the type of player the Blazers need even we could arrange a trade or if we could get him for a reasonable salary.  However, after leafing through a Sonics forum a few minutes ago, I saw a topic that made me think of another potential bonus in attaining Lewis.  The thread discussed whether or not Seattle fans would continue rooting for the Sonics if they move to OK City, and to my surprise in this small sample there were not many that would still support the Sonics... many said they'd pull for the Blazers.

If the Sonics do move, stealing Lewis away would be one less reason for Seattle fans to root for their transplanted team and one more reason for them to transfer their loyalties south.  Considering that we seem poised for success, it may not be that tough to turn us into a much bigger market while and if Seattle is NBA-less.

Here's the topic...
http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=666953

Do other Sonics forums or blogs show similar opinions?  Could this even play any role in going after Lewis... a few more seats sold and a bigger broadcast audience, perhaps?  Would Lewis even matter?  Perhaps Seattle would fall in line anyway.  Could a teamless Seattle, drawn in by the  enduring dynasty 200 miles south, rediscover their passion for the NBA and find the road back to having a successful franchise?  Wow, I get ahead of myself.  I must remember the sun does not revolve around the Blazers, the sun does not revolve around the Blazers...

For those of you who would like to provide the rest of the country some intelligent discussion on the Rookie of the Year, here is the forum that was just created a couple days back:
http://my.nba.com/forum.jspa?forumID=400003613&start=0

Gotta make sure our boys get plenty of love!  Can't let the Canadians have all the say.

Wow, am I glad we don't have Foye.  The last thing we need with our new and revamped Blazers is to have one of our prize rookies decide it's a good idea to swing his boot at some cops.

Since Roy has been playing the way Roy plays, it's a no brainer we're glad to have him instead of Foye, but this news just cements the deal.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2763121&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

300?