SB Nation User Blog: zaruga

4/29 JD - Afterglow or Foreshadow

zaruga — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:00:24 -0000

So it's the morning after BIG win, obviously the biggest of the season thus far (hopefully the first in a series of wins of exponentially increasing importance). How are we all feeling, hmm? Elated? Relieved? Is this the kind of thing that will make things awkward at the workplace between us and the Blazers?

After the last win, I started work on a portrait series, hoping to immortalize our 2009 starting five, the first of which was Przy, who I posted in the game day junk drawer, foolishly, against my better judgment. Of course, we went on to lose that game in heartbreaking just too short come back bid (and then the next in even more soul tearing fashion) so I both haven't really felt like salting the wounds of those losses by being forced to stare for hours at those what treated me bad. ;)

But I've been busy nonetheless on them, and have just been waiting for a non game day to post, so I can avoid any possibility of being the goat in this series. ;)

So, next in line is LaMarcus. Based on some of the feedback from the Przy portrait, I decided to improvise a bit and stray from the "eyes on the prize" sort of deer in the headlight look that the photographs have taken. I can't say how successful I was, but the goal was a more intense and focused LMA, instead of a doe eyed one.

The next one is the one I'm most nervous about, given the potential disaster it will be if I've nerfed even a hair of sexiness from the French one. This one's for the ladies (or lady) so I'll let them be the judge. No intense soul devouring focus here, just straight up voulez vous couchez avec moi.

And a slightly reworked Przybilla for those who found his ogreishness lacking in the first iteration:

So, B. Roy's up next, and while I don't want to get ahead of myself (after all, if we lose one of these next two, it might be mid-Summer before I feel up to finishing the starters) I wanted to throw the reins to you guys as to what my next portrait will be in celebration if we make it to round 2 (think of it as a cosmic incentive for the fates to be kind. An offering to the basketball gods, rather than an arrogant assumption). Take your pick below. You can check out my other portrait work here.

As with many others, this is my first attempt at a Junk Drawer, so flagellate accordingly if I blow the poll.

Poll

What should Zaruga paint next?

The white team (first five off bench)

4 votes

Rudy as Michelangelo's David

33 votes

Oden, as a Viking War God

40 votes

Roy as a superhero who DOESN'T have an S on his chest

21 votes

Something far cooler that I will detail below

1 votes

99 votes | Poll has closed

Blazer Portraits

zaruga — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:01:12 -0000

Hey fellow Blazers faithful. Much like most of you, I'm still riding a wave of anxious euphoria as our first playoff game in what seems like ages. One of the things I do is portrait painting (mostly glamor and fantasy style. You can take a look at my gallery, here if you're so inclined). To commemorate this incredible season (hopefully the beginning of a new tradition of post season glory) I want to paint a series of Blazer portraits.

Over at blazers.com they've put up some badass images of the starting lineup matchups (on the left side). These are the best shots I think I've seen of our guys, with excellent lighting that will play really well with my style. If anyone knows how to extract these from flash, or of another place I can download the same images, I'd be much obliged.

The Measure of Success

zaruga — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:35:02 -0000

With all this talk recently of how many championships our fair team will or will not win in the next decade (so nice to be having these discussions with a straight face now, by the way) I've noticed the resurgence of one of my least favorite insinuations of the athletic world. That being the concept that only the championship team matters, and all other teams are also-rans. Pathetic losers to the utter superiority of the champion.

This is, IMO, a touch of old world thinking. We instill it into our children because we want them to succeed, and we don't want them to be satisfied with anything less than their best. The problem with this type of thinking is that it breeds within us the idea that unless we're the ultimate winner of any game, be it athletic or financial, all of our efforts are wasted.

Now, perhaps part of my contrary feelings on the subject are due to the fact that I'm a martial arts instructor. In the martial arts, the competition is most often with oneself and not necessarily against an opponent, (unless you're in the ring, or something has gone very wrong). Too often, kids come in and don't even want to try, because they're so afraid to get even 2nd place and be a disappointment to their parents, or worse; themselves.

When it came time for tournaments, I always taught my students that while the ultimate goal is of course to be the best in every event, and come away with the gold, the reality is there are dozens of other people, all training hard and vying for that same singular prize. Sometimes, the skillset of two individuals is a wash, and other completely random factors come into play, like a judge blinking at the wrong moment. Are the efforts of the other dozen or so competitors completely pointless simply because they didn't walk away with a plastic trophy? If you're the winner, that's a fairly arrogant (and potentially dangerous) way to look at things. And if you're not, well, that can be damaging too.

I always told my students that there were three things they needed to do at a tournament for it to be a success. Have fun. Meet someone new. And learn something. If you take 2nd, but learn as much as you can about what you did wrong and what the other guy did right, you've improved. And that is the essence of martial arts.

So, before I get called on the carpet for digressing too much, how does this apply to the Blazers? I remember with great pride and fondness the Clyde Drexler team, even though they never quite got over the hump. Those years were still magical to me, and I still have loads of great memories from them. The same with the Rasheed/Grant years, even though those came with a healthy dose of frustration. Even the doldrum years in between, I was still proud of my club for consistently fighting their way tooth and nail into the playoffs, even if the talent may not have been enough to get past the first round.

Should we as fans roll our eyes and scoff at the Drexler Blazers, marking them as a failure simply because they beat out every team BUT one, not once, but twice?

The more pertinent question I have to ask myself, and everyone else here:

If, fates forfend, this amazing new team, the Roy Oden Aldridge Blazers, consistently perform well, become perennial visitors to the WCF and occasional WCF champs... but never get that championship... will we look at them as failures, and complain about their shortcomings, railing and moaning about who should have been traded? Or will we bask in the glory of a new dawning dynasty? One perhaps without the benefit of the final crown, but a dynasty nonetheless.

Clyde and his compatriots were only WCF contenders for a scant few years, yet we look upon those days as the days of glory. Will we grant our new team the same honor?

Oh, and btw, long time lurker, fairly new poster and all that. :)