Book Review: Red Hot and Rollin'

It's not very often that I read a book...ever, unless there is some information I need to have before a test. If that's the case, I still don't really read, I skim. Skimming is a wonderful, and often tricky art that takes eons to master. Anybody can skim, but to skim and extract useful information, that's another ballgame gentlemen!

As I was boogey-boarding (or surfing) the Internet, "reading" about the Trail Blazers' thirtieth anniversary of their lone championship, I discovered that someone had edited a collection of stories written by journalists and/or regular people who re-lived their Blazermania. They told you what they were doing and how they felt when Portland made its unprecented run at the NBA Title in the Summer of 1977.

One of my favorite entries is written by "The Enforcer" Maurice Lucas. He talks about how the Blazers turned the series around in Game 2 when he punched Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins in the head after Dawkins tried to punch teammate Bobby Gross. The Blazers were about to lose by twenty points and fall behind in the series 0-2 when Lucas had had enough of the Sixers rough play.

...it was our defining moment as to what our characters were going to be, and I was like, "I am not going down like this!" if nothing else, we were coming out fighting.

The Blazers would win four straight after that and win the Championship in six games. The book also includes a DVD called "Fast Break" that pretty much follows Bill Walton around has a few great highlights from the playoff run and downtown parade where over 250,000 people sweated and cheered as Walton and Lucas dumped Miller High Life (before Portland became the PBR capital) on the NBA trophy.

It's a great book and definitely worth the read if you're a die-hard Blazer fan.

Saved by greGODen!

Yes the day has come and gone, and it was as sweet as I imagined it would be. The Trail Blazers selected Greg Oden on Thursday and also picked up some good players while dumping Zach Randolph on Isiah Thomas. Although we picked up Stevie F***chise (I wouldn't dare declare him our fran***se player...I can't even say the word.) I have a feeling that he'll never wear a Blazers' uniform, but he's still the guy who cried when he was drafted by the Vancouver Grizzlies. He cried like a bitch because he didn't want to play in Canada. I guess nobody told him they grow herb in the B.C. too. I don't want to comment too much on the rest of the roster until it's completed, but I have never been as anxious for the season to start and to watch the man in person. I can't wait until he dunks on LeBron. I'll be there to see it.

I wanted to see him on Friday at Pioneer Courthouse Square, but a sleepless night left me tired as hell and in no way wanting to get out of bed. But, from the picture below, I can tell that this guy has pumped the city full of Blazermania once again.

Ode-n To Joy

Will somebody please mark down May 22, 2007 as one of the greatest days in Portland Trail Blazers' history? I know it's not a dream that we will have the choice of either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant in the June 28th NBA Draft. I know my suffering has ended as a loyal Blazer fan. I've seen us lose twice in the NBA Finals. One of my earliest memories was dancing around the living room when the Blazers beat the Utah Jazz in the 1992 NBA Western Conference Finals to face the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan, the guy who won a championship (and would win 5 more) for that city instead of ours. I then remember burying my face in the couch when Michael went for 35 points in the first half of Game 1.

I've seen the Blazers make the playoffs and continuously shown the door by the Lakers. Memorial Day Miracle?...Yeah, I was watching. I still can't look at a picture of Sean Elliott and keep my composure. If only Rasheed Wallace had a longer arm! Western Conference Finals in the year 2000? I was watching. I watched as out 15-point lead in the fourth quarter turned to shit. I've never gone from a state of depression, to jubilation, to enraged, to joyous...and back to depression in such a short period of time. I still grimace when I see Kobe toss a perfect alley-oop to Shaq's bear-claw of a hand as he slammed it home and the city of Los Angeles erupted.

Let me take you back...back to June 19, 1984. I was just 43 days old when this franchise made its biggest blunder ever. Picking Sam Bowie over Michael Jeffrey Jordan. Experts will tell you that any other team in Portland's position would have done the same thing. It's all bullshit to me. We fucked our franchise that night. Sure it would have probably meant the end to Clyde Drexler in Portland, and I would never have known the joy of watching him dunk over Bill Cartwright. Maybe we could have won the title in 1990 against the Pistons or in 1992 against...probably not the Bulls. They'd probably be in the lottery.

We have the potential to erase Sam Bowie from our memories (and nightmares). I am confident that with new GM Kevin Pritchard running the show (the same guy that got us Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy, along with First-Team Rookie LaMarcus Aldridge) we can turn this wagon around and get back into the playoffs. Everybody thinks that we're going to take Greg Oden with the first pick, and I'd like to think that we might do something conventional that way. But I have a feeling that Mr. Pritchard's wheels are turning and he's going to shake up the Draft like he did last year and we'll get some quality players out of a trade. As for the Kevin Durant-Greg Oden debate, I personally like Durant. He's got a great shooting touch and rebounds the basketball. Although at 6'7", he's a little short to be grabbing 11 rebounds a game (Jason Kidd doesn't count here because, although he can average over 10 rebounds a game, he still is a wife-beater).

I don't know what the future holds for my beloved Blazers, but I do know that it is getting awfully cozy on this Blazer Bandwagon. To all the people that called them "Jail Blazers", and all the people that told me the Blazers sucked and that they would suck forever...and all of this city's fair-weather fans that only turn out if the team has anything positive going on, I have just one question. Where were you while I was suffering? Where were you when we lost 61 games in one season? Where were you when the Blazers were in danger of leaving this town?
In the immortal words of Jack Johnson, I was sittin', waitin', wishin'....I believe in superstition. I didn't watch the lottery like I did last year when the Blazers fell to the number 4 pick. I knew I'd suffer again. But there is hope in Portland, hope that a savior will come on June 28th. Will it be Oden or Durant? Right now, I can't say that I care. All I know, is that we're going in the right direction.



*The Blazers' Good-Luck Charm does it again.