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.

7th Heaven

As the two or three people who actually read this blog know, I had a birthday on Monday. It kind of turned into a weeklong celebration with different groups of my friends and family. I have come to the realization that most people think that the day of their birth is the best day of the year (See Amy). They probably have superficial reasons for their beliefs, but I am here to tell you that, to me, the seventh day of May fuckin' rocks.

Now there is at least one or two significant things almost anyone can find happened on the day they escaped the womb. People who were born on the day JFK was killed or the anniversary of the day they first produced Cocoa Puffs. There are events that happened on May 7th that you could argue the significance of, but I think they are worth mentioning.

1847: The American Medical Association was founded by Nathan Smith Davis.
1945: The Germans surrendered to the Allied Forces ending World War Deuce.
1946: Sony was founded. (Now can we be friends Japan?)

These are significant events in American (and Japanese) history. But the things I love about May 7th are the ones that are etched into your memories forever. I am fortunate to have my birthday fall during the NBA Playoffs, which is full of memorable plays and Charles Barkley trying to string together a sentence in English.

Two plays that nobody will forget happened on my fifth and twelfth birthdays, respectively:

1989: Michael Jordan, the greatest player to ever nearly kick Craig Ehlo in the face, hits "The Shot" whose footage becomes fodder for many an advertising agency.





Then, six years later, Reggie Miller capped off game one of the Eastern Conference semi-finals in Madison Square Garden by scoring eight points in a span of just 8.9 seconds.





So that's why I love my birthday. It's one of the only days that I can guarantee I'll talk to most of my family. Plus I get stuff.