Bracing for a year without Blazers

For the past two years I have been living in Medford, and it's become harder to follow my beloved Blazers.

Yes, I realize that the tool I am using to write this post is also part of the largest information-gathering resource known to man, the sheer magnitude of which is capable of shrinking the world in which we live. But for a sports fan, somehow, it isn't enough. We can find highlights, game recaps, interviews, commentary, fan discussions and more online. We can subscribe to satellite TV packages to watch our games from hundreds of miles away.

But to me, there is nothing like being in the city of Portland during the Blazers' season.

Getting up in the morning, and hearing the thunk of the Oregonian hitting the kitchen table. Flipping through the oily newspaper to find the sports section and read that day's game preview. Driving near the waterfront and seeing the roof of the Rose Garden rise up over the horizon. Seeing people walk down the street and wear the jerseys of players who joined the team after 1999.

There's nothing like being there.

I'm just a few hundred miles south in Medford, and it's like being on another planet. To people here, a Blazer is something you wear to a dinner party, not something you cheer for (unless you're at a really bizarre dinner party).

Around this time two years ago, I stumbled across an AM radio station here that broadcast Blazer games. It was my lifeline.

As I worked night shifts, I would drive to stories across the Rogue Valley, catching snippets of the games during the trip. In April 2010, I alternated between covering a welcome party for the troops and welcoming back Brandon Roy against the Suns.

I would wrap up an interview, then run back to the car to get an update. I would scream as I approached Grants Pass and the reception turned to a loud buzz, but I would strain to decipher any details through the static. I would linger for an extra few minutes in the parking lot at the end of the night so I wouldn't miss any of the action.

Hearing the sounds of Bill Schonely's voice interrupt the national radio show to introduce the Blazer broadcast was like Christmas morning.

I wonder if I'll ever hear it again?

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The chances of NBA basketball this season are not good. As what would've been the start of the season approaches, I'm suddenly realizing how much I'm going to miss my Blazers.

A few months ago, I wrote about how I would prefer a lockout over a Blazer team that looked unimpressive on paper. I was wrong.

Any Blazer team is better than no Blazer team.

It doesn't matter if they win 50 games or lose 50 games. They're still our team. I once rooted for the Blazers even as they slogged their way to a 21-win season, and I couldn't have been happier. In the end I was still able to root for my team no matter what happened.

This lockout takes that all away.

It could be an entire season without the Blazers. A whole year with no reason to pick up that newspaper. Nothing to keep be lingering in the parking lot. Nothing but static on the AM radio.

It's going to be a long, dark year.

Throw away the key

The NBA is officially locked out.

Look around on NBA.com, and you won't find evidence that the players even exist. Every image has been scrubbed from the Web site. In the place of the usual promotional materials, there are articles adorned with the words "standoff," "issues," and "uncertainty."

Until the owners and players learn to act nice, we're not getting any basketball anytime soon.

Good. Lock them out.

It will spare Blazer fans of another gradual step down before the team had even made it to the top.

It's hard to believe that a team with so much promise during the past four season only peaked with consecutive first-round exits. But here we are, during a time when the team would normally be preparing for the next season, and the team looks no better than when it was struggling to contain Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks in the 2009 playoffs.

Management has imploded, and the team still has no idea what direction to go in. All of the recent wheeling and dealing has just been sound and fury, signifying nothing. When the dust finally settled, the team had taken one giant step ... to the side.

Another year of the Brandon Roy Farewell Tour. He'll have a couple games where we catch glimpses of the amazing player he once was, but then force us to watch as he limps up and down the court, desperately trying to recapture something that isn't there.

Another year of Marcus Camby being a little bit older, a little bit slower.

Another year of relying on third-tier players to help win games, like Wesley Matthews and Raymond Felton.

Another season of backup point guard from Jarrett Jack, er... Steve Blake, uh... Sergio Rodriguez, uh...Jerryd Bayless, er...Patty Mills, er... Armon Johnson, er...Nolan Smith.

And of course, another year without Greg Oden.

The excitement has dimmed, and the lockout will save fans another season in which the team slips down another rung on the ladder.

Compare this to the last lockout in 1998-99, when Blazer fans were itching see the team take the court. The Blazers were ready for a full season with Damon Stoudamire, who at that time was still one of the most exciting young point guards in the league. They had Brian Grant on the boards and Rasheed Wallace starting to come into his own. Things were on an upswing after several mediocre years of watching Kenny Anderson and Gary Trent try to lead a middling team to the playoffs (two notable point guards of the era: John Crotty and Rick Brunson). Steps were finally being taken forward.

Who knows? Without a lockout, maybe this Blazer team would've been something. Maybe LaMarcus Aldridge would've elevated his game to an even higher level this season. Maybe Gerald Wallace would suddenly turn into a winner. Maybe Nicolas Batum will decide another year of erratic playing time is the catalyst to turn him into a superstar.

But is this team worth a fifth straight season of "maybe?"

Greg Oden: An epilogue

If nothing else, Greg Oden's career has been good at putting Blazer fans through the emotional wringer.

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When the Trail Blazers won the 2007 NBA Draft Lottery, and essentially the rights to draft the coveted big man, it was absolute, pure joy in Portland.

We cheered. We danced in our living rooms. We held rallies in downtown Portland to welcome our newest hero and to celebrate the return of Rip City.

It marked the start of a new era, the beginning of great things for the franchise after years of disappointment.

After all this time, Oden was the final piece of the championship puzzle. This was our time.

We all eagerly awaited the future success that seemed just over the horizon.

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When Oden went down with season-ending surgery before his career even began, we were shocked. How could this have happened? Why now? What does this mean? Fans were in complete disbelief, and angry that all of our optimism would now have to be put on hold as the Blazers try to recover from such a devastating blow.

I remember pounding my fists and cursing. This was supposed to be the beginning of our glory days! It isn't fair to us, the fans! Why do we have to continually suffer?

We just finished going through years of mediocrity. When will this disappointment end?

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When Oden finally did make his debut in the fall of 2008, our anger turned to frustration.

Briefly during training camp, when it was announced that Oden would finally see the court, we were excited. Finally, it begins now.

But it was our expectations that were to blame when we were so bewildered by the start of Oden's playing career. He could barely run or jump, let alone execute a low-post move. He often looked lost on defense and tried to force things on offense.

This was not the same guy we drafted. We've waited this long, and this is what we get?

Sportswriters called his performance "underwhelming." And fans were left scratching their heads. Was this just the immediate byproduct of his surgery? Does he just need time to recover?

Will we ever see the real Greg Oden?

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When the fall of 2009 rolled around, fans were ready for anything from Oden.

And suddenly, that joy from 2007 had returned.

Oden was delivering on the basketball court. His points, blocks, rebounds, assists and field goal percentage were all up. Finally healthy, Oden was anxious to show the world what he could do on the basketball court.

For fans, it was a wake up call. This is why the Blazers drafted him, for performances like this. Coming off several injuries and seeing him make this improvement was a sign that he was just starting to tap into his potential as a powerful basketball player. Fans knew that he was only going to get better from here.

But the best laid plans...

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When a freak injury broke Oden's kneecap and forced him to miss the rest of the season, it was the moment Blazer fans stopped feeling sorry for themselves, and felt sorry for Oden.

We saw what he was capable of. We saw the hard work he put into his return to the court. This latest injury was not this kid's fault, and he did not deserve another setback in the face of all he had done.

Fans started to put aside their petty notions that their fandom was cursed, and faced the realization that this was a young kid going through about a traumatic of a career as you could ever imagine.

Seeing the work of the past months and his inspired early season play derailed like this, it made Oden human in our eyes. This was real. This wasn't TV, or NBA 2k9. This was our brother who was in pain.

Throughout Oden's early career and the injuries and surgeries that accompanied it, Blazer fans always had a sense of "Why us?"

This was the moment were we finally asked "why him?"

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But when it was announced that Oden would need season-ending surgery again, even before he came back from his previous season-ending surgery, Blazer fans didn't feel sadness.

We don't feel anger, frustration, confused, or scared.

We feel numb.

It's almost as if we have been desensitized to the injuries, the surgeries, the rehabilitation, the apologies, the promises, all of it.

Oden's status has always been the cloud over the Blazers. Sometimes we've seen dashes of sunlight. Other times, when it's rained, it's poured. But Blazer fans don't want to keep looking at the clouds anymore wondering if we're going to get a good day.

Oden's career has given us the highest of highs. I'll never forget the optimism and enthusiasm that followed Draft Day 2007, the feeling of hope. We'll always hand on to that moment.

Oden's career has given us the lowest of lows. Injury after injury after injury, never allowing Greg to fully show what he was capable of.

Greg, the team, the management and the fans all deserve better. Maybe in time, the memories won't seem so bad.

But as of right now, we just don't want it all anymore.

Shock, but no loss for words: fans react to Pritchard firing

In the grand scheme of things, Kevin Pritchard was simply an NBA GM. There are 29 others in the NBA, and in the end, it's only a management position. If the guy puts a talented roster on the floor, then everything's gravy and the fans are focused on the on-court product. If the team is constantly awful, then the guy gets fired.

Kevin Pritchard helped rebuild the Blazers into a solid team on the rise during his tenure as GM, but the way he did it - through a unique sense of openness - endeared him to the fans unlike any other NBA General Manager.

At a rally in downtown Portland after the Blazers selected Greg Oden first overall in the 2007 NBA draft, fans responded to their GM with chants of "Pritchard! Pritchard! Pritchard!" It was a moment you would never expect for a member of the front office, but one that was deserving after the moves that Pritchard has made and the way he had done his job.

But three years later, on Draft Day 2010, Pritchard was given the axe; fired by owner Paul Allen for reasons that are still unclear.

And Blazer fans are, for lack of a better term, pissed.

I've never seen a fan base so taken aback by the dismissal of a front office executive. Tonight, friends of mine have been sharing their thoughts on Pritchard's firing, through Facebook, Twitter, text messages, and more.

The overriding feeling: why did this happen?

-Geoff Ziemer, the author of The 300 Level and my former mentor with the Franklin Post, responded to Facebook with the most disgusted (if slightly hyperbolic) reaction: "THE SKY IS FALLING. KP FIRED. You make me sick Mr. Allen. You better share with the media WHY this came about."

The last part I agree with wholeheartedly. The media cannot let this pass by without doing their job and continuing to ask the right questions.

-Anthony Mcfeters asked what we all have been asking throughout the duration of this mess: "I am so confused.... why is Pritchard fired?! He has without a doubt saved this franchise from a management standpoint."

-My brother Justin Sandberg had to come home from work to this ugly situation: "Leave it to Paul Allen to fuck things up for everyone." His night was probably completely ruined, especially with the trade of Martell Webster.

-Mark Nelson provided the only laugh tonight through this exchange on Twitter:
Me: The Portland media should camp outside Paul Allen's house until we get answers.
Mark Nelson: He'll sick the robotic Richard Simmons on them.

-Kevin O'Brien from Remember '51 gave me perspective on what other fans around the country probably think of the Blazer organization: "The fact that you guys fired a top-10 GM (perhaps even a top-5) shows how big of an ego Paul Allen has." Time will tell just how big of a negative impact this will have.

-Faris Tanyos predicted that Pritchard would be fired after the draft, but never imagined it would happen the day of): "Paul Allen is insane. I'm in complete shock."

-And Bill Christensen could only feel sympathy for the man who lost his job for reasons seemingly unknown: "I'm sorry Kevin Pritchard. I as a devout Blazer fan, I am extremely sad to see you go. THANK YOU for getting this franchise back on its feet and I am sorry that 'someone' lost their minds and let you go."


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Pritchard is gone, and judging on how fans in Portland respected him, I'm sure they won't stop talking about this for a very long time.

Paul Allen's fall from grace

Billionaire Paul Allen bought the Portland Trail Blazers in 1988, and it clicked right from the start.

The Blazers were a team with a strong nucleus of talent who had been on the verge of breaking out for several years. Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter and company were an exciting bunch coached by newcomer Rick Adelman, but they were a team that had been in the middle of the pack in the Western Conference. They just needed a little something extra to put them over the top.

Enter Mr. Allen.

He had the deep pockets to purchase the talent that the team needed. He had the business savvy to make the right moves on the basketball and management side of things. And he had the passion and the knowledge to continue to push the organization toward new heights beyond its tiny northwest borders.

And immediately it paid off. The Blazers went to the NBA finals twice, and were one of the NBA's elite teams.

And Paul Allen was there along for the wild ride. He was a billionaire software developer, but there he was in the front row, sporting a blazer sweatshirt and hat, cheering his head off for his team.

He was a fan who had the money and the means to make his favorite team better.

In other words, the most powerful man in the room.

Somewhere along the line, that turned out not to be the case anymore.

The Paul Allen that runs the Trail Blazers now is a different man than the Paul Allen from years past. He still has the money, still has the courtside seat, still has the power, but his actions - and inactions - have made him seem like a shadow of his former self. And what he has been apart of over the past few months is the bitter climax of his downfall from the man he once was.

His sudden and bizarre treatment of Kevin Pritchard over the past few months have surprised and confused many, while offering solid answers to no one. Pritchard may soon be out of a job, and no one really seems to know why.

I'm not even sure if Paul Allen does.

For the past few days, speculation has run rampant that Kevin Pritchard will be fired as Blazers GM - surprising, considering what he has done for the team over the past few years.

When he was hired on as GM, Pritchard spent the next several years molding the team and the organization into something the city could be proud of. Through a series of shrewd moves that GM's across the league still envy, Pritchard was able to piece together a solid young roster of budding stars, while jettisoning horrible contracts and players with bad character. Through it all, Pritchard did it with amazing charisma, and did it with a complete openness toward the fans and the media. Nothing was off limits. Pritchard wanted people to see how this organization was being turned around from the inside.

In the metamorphosis from Jail Blazers to the "Rip City Uprise," Pritchard was the one who built the organization's chrysalis.

Now Paul Allen wants to fire that man.

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This is not the same Paul Allen that Portland has known. Through the years, he has always tried to build up the organization.

Sometimes he would make moves that were unpopular, but they were always for the best. When the Clyde Drexler-led teams of the early 90s started to show their age and slip into mediocrity, Allen blew the team up, in order to get some slight return and begin anew.

He loved his team, and wanted what was best for them.

At some point, something changed. Maybe his multiple business ventures began to be too much for him. Maybe being the owner of a basketball team no longer excited him. Maybe the rise of Apple drove him insane. Regardless, he was a changed man.

In the mid-2000s, he began making moves like a man who didn't know his organization anymore.

He hired two men in Steve Patterson and John Nash to clean up the franchise. They only succeeded in driving it further into the ground.

He handed out monstrous contracts to Zach Randolph (a ball-hog only concerned with himself), Theo Ratliff (an aging center who blocked a few shots in a contract year) and Darius Miles (a lazy head-case who berated his own coach).

And after all this, he tried to convince the city of Portland that the Blazers were losing hundreds of millions of dollars and needed to be bailed out, or else.

His disinterest was costing him the team he used to love so much.

That's when whatever was left of Paul-Allen-The-Fan woke up inside. He saw the mess he had created with his own team, and vowed that this was not the way things should be done.

Paul Allen was going to save the Portland Trail Blazers. And everyone would realize just how much he cared, after all.

So he went about building the team back up again. He brought in his own company, Vulcan Sports & Entertainment, to help him run the organization, which would show that he was willing to be hands-on with the team. He personally bought the Rose Garden Arena in 2007 to prevent it from being sold and to protect the "long-term health of the franchise."

And after the debacle that Patterson and Nash caused, Allen promoted an upstart employee named Kevin Pritchard to General Manager. Pritchard had proven his talent at scouting and immediately built the Blazers into a young, promising team on the rise.

All was finally well with the Portland Trail Blazers. And as Paul Allen finally rested, he basked in how he had saved the franchise. The fans, he thought, would embrace him as a hero.

But as Paul Allen sat in his ivory tower reflecting on his own ingenuity, the fans found their own hero in Kevin Pritchard.

He was the golden boy, the face of the franchise. And why not? It was his moves that netted the Blazers Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge in the same draft. It was his call to draft Greg Oden with the number 1 pick. And it was his skill that landed the team veteran influence with Andre Miller and Marcus Camby. The fans idolized Pritchard, chanted his name at rallies, and left messages on his office voice mail (Author's note: Guilty). Pritchard sat courtside with his pink good-luck-tie, pumped his fist, and cheered his team on.

The way Paul Allen used to.

And as this was happening, Allen and his Vulcan flunkies sat and stewed. "After everything I've done, why should Pritchard get all the admiration?" Allen wondered.

The Vulcan yes-men, brought in to run the company, only compounded these thoughts of egocentrism and self-pity, showering Allen with false priase as he sat isolated in Seattle. "Boss, you're the best owner there is. That's why we work for you. If anyone deserves the credit, it's you." Like Wormtongue whispering into a powerless Theoden's ear, the Vulcans fed Allen's ego, telling him exactly what he wanted to hear.

Allen knew what he needed to do. He needed to take the reigns again. How dare Pritchard take credit for this? Allen was determined to do something.

He wanted to be the hero. Again.

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So shockingly, maddeningly, the rumors arose that Pritchard was on his way out. There were assistants fired. Rumors of massive egos and botched moves. Houses being sold. Headhunting organizations being hired.

Allen's jealousy is palpable. He doesn't just want Pritchard out, he wants to humiliate him. As the rumors continue to swirl, Allen will neither cut Pritchard lose, or give him his confidence.

And as he hangs his once-golden GM out to dry, Allen is putting his hands in his pockets and pretending his is innocent of the whole thing.

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We may never get a true answer from Allen as to why he is doing this.

Short of an Al Davis-like tirade about his fired employee, Allen looks like he wants to control the flow of information. Nothing will be allowed to come out that could be potentially damaging to Allen's image or ego.

But soon Pritchard will be gone, and everything he built along with it. And sometime in the future the team will begin another rebuilding effort aimed at convincing fans that the organization is committed to success.

And Allen will once again be at the top of it all, sitting at his desk with an empty smile, believing with all his heart that his actions have made him what he has always aspired to be.

A hero.

Oden's injury tells a different story this time around

In 2007, when I first saw the news that Greg Oden would miss his entire rookie season with a knee injury, I fell to the floor like I'd been shot.

I screamed.

I pounded my fists against the ground.

I cursed in front of my journalism professor.

In short, I was angry. Angry at the world, at the basketball gods, at everything.

I was angry at the thought of the Blazers' number 1 pick being a bust. Angry at the uncertain outlook the Blazers' season now had. Angry at the concept of a year full of "Sam Bowie" quips.

It was simply a searing, unrelenting anger at it all.

But last night, as I received the news that Greg Oden would miss the rest of the 2009-2010 season with a knee injury, I had a different reaction:

I sat quietly, hung my head, and felt nothing but emptiness.

There was no anger this time. Only a sense of unfairness, and sadness.

Man Blazer fans are feeling the same way right now. "How could this happen to Greg?" We're wondering. "After everything he's been through, after everything that has happened in the last 3 years, why? It's not fair, not fair at all."

Unlike what we felt two years ago, the emotions we're feeling now aren't anger, but regret that something so bad could happen to someone like Greg Oden. As bad as Blazer fans may feel about the ramifications on the team, fans are feeling even worse about how this could happen to Greg.

To me, those feelings - regret, sadness, sympathy - speak volumes about just how important Greg Oden is to the Portland Trail Blazers, and how much he means to us fans.

Two years ago we didn't know Greg Oden well, and when he was injured we quickly let anger flow through us, because that was all we had. It's easy to get angry over someone you don't know.

But in the time since then, we've gotten to know Oden. We saw his heart, strength, and determination in coming back from knee surgery. We saw his commitment to returning to the team and helping the Blazers get better. We saw him strive to improve his game. And we slowly saw his wonderful personality shine through again. With every step he took in his return, we saw the dedicated person that Oden is.

He earned a spot in the hearts of Blazer fans.

And that's what made it hurt so much to see him writing on the floor in pain Saturday night. Here was a young man who did everything right: he bided his time, waited his turn, worked hard every day, and was finally starting to reap the benefits of his long journey back. We were there along with him every step of the way, cheering him on and encouraging him, because, well, he's family now.

Seeing him clutch his knee in agony was one giant gut punch for Blazer fans.

My friend Alex called me shortly after it was announced that Oden would miss the rest of the season. We talked about how the Blazers will adjust and any moves they should make. Then he asked me whether I thought it would be wise to extend Oden's contract next year, considering his number of injuries.

I immediately answered yes.

The feelings that Blazer fans have right now after his injury prove that he is someone worth keeping around.

The fact that we can be so heartbroken over this, instead of feeling angry or jaded, shows that on some level we have acknowledged the tremendous strides Oden has made, and the great things that are still in store. We've seen Greg grow both in his game and personality, and we've seen the beginnings of a franchise cornerstone.

The situation is making us feel so empty because we know how great things are going to be. We've seen the first steps being made.

Right now it's a devastating setback, but Blazer fans know that Oden will be worth the wait ... again. It may kill us inside to not see him on the court this year, and we may be filled with doubt and uncertainty until he takes the court again, but there's a reason we're feeling sad instead of angry.

We've seen Greg Oden experience daunting obstacles before and emerge from them. We know he can do it again.

We're not angry that Oden will never enjoy amazing heights in his career - we're sad because he has to wait a little longer to reach them.

Blazers are partying like its 1995

That's right, Juwan Howard, star of the Michigan Fab Five teams of the early 90s, is officially a Blazer. No word yet on whether Jimmy King or Jalen Rose will be signed to the final roster spot.

Howard will be filling the Channing Frye role of "big man who can't rebound," albeit with less personality.

Today's signing got me thinking of the Blazer teams of the early 00s, who had a knack for signing aging superstars who were years past their prime. The Blazers of 2000-01 fielded a roster that included Scottie Pippen, Shawn Kemp, Rod Strickland, Detlef Schrempf, Damon Stoudamire, Stacy Augmon, and Steve Smith. All of them were great players ... before they joined the Blazers. By that year, they were either aging veterans with little left in the tank (Augmon, Strickland), on the downswing of their careers (Pippen, Stoudamire, Smith), or legendary examples of a superstar who wasted his talent (Kemp). I remember saying to my friends "man, imagine if this team was together in 1995? They would be unstoppable!"

The Howard signing today makes me realize just how many of the great mid-90s players played for the Blazers at one time or another. It's just too bad none of them played here at the top of their game.

That's why I'm pulling for a Juwan Howard Comeback Tour, 09-10!

Juwan, don't go quietly into that good night, like so many others before you! This is your chance to reassert yourself as the superstar you once were! Make the most of this final opportunity! Exclamation points!!!

The mid-90s will always be my most memorable era of the NBA. Growing up in the 90s, my friends and I collected so many basketball cards that I could look at a picture of a player from 15 years ago and tell you exactly who he was. Names like Grant Long, Carl Herrera, and Todd Day are still familiar to me (and yes, we still thought they sucked even back then). And to this day, I still have a soft spot for the superstars of the mid-90s. The leading scorers, the all-stars with cactus uniforms, the cast of NBA Jam for Super NES, those were the biggest names of an era.

Believe it or not, Juwan Howard is one of the few remaining links to the superstars of the mid-90s, even if he is a shell of the player he once was. There's only a handful of those players left in the league.

So Juwan Howard, I'm pulling for your comeback. Bring a little of that 90s talent back to the league as it approaches a new decade. Make every night Turn-Back-The-Clock Night, and give a little nostalgia to those of us who have an old book full of worthless 90s NBA trading cards. Do it for all the people who saw you team with Chris Webber and Gheorghe Muresan on the Bullets.

Better yet, why don't you bring back big Gheorghe with you? We could also get Muggsy Bougues, and Loy Vaught, and Jamal Mashburn, and Dino Radja, and Penny Hardaway, and Glenn Robinson, and ...

How the 05-06 Blazers got me through college

The 2005-2006 Portland Trail Blazers were bad.

Really bad.

They finished with a league-worst record of 21-61. The Rose Garden was like a morgue, with the team dead last in attendance. The roster was littered with forgettable players like Sergei Monia, Brian Skinner, and Juan Dixon. They were lit up by Minnesota's Richie Frahm for 18 points in the first game of the season. Charles Smith was actually thought to be a good option as a starting shooting guard.

Yeah, that bad.

Most other fans have forgotten that team long ago, and with good reason. But that year, the 2005-06 Trail Blazers meant more to me personally than many teams before or since.

Let me explain.

In the fall of 2005, I had just arrived to Gonzaga University to start my freshman year of college. Everything that was happening at the time was new to me. I had never been away from home before, especially 350 miles away. I had left behind my family and friends. And my girlfriend and I were attempting a long-distance relationship. I didn't know the town of Spokane, I didn't know the people at Gonzaga, and yet here I was, thrust into college and forced to survive.

Needless to say, I was scared, and I was miserable.

Those first couple of months were the hardest of my life. Homework was piling up. My roommate and I weren't exactly friends. I was missing home terribly. I missed my girl. At times I considered transferring to a school closer to home, but I knew how much harder that would be on me academically and decided to stay at GU. Still, things were hard.

And then basketball season started.

I found myself needing an escape from my predicament, and it came in the form of the 2005-06 Portland Trail Blazers. I scoured the Internet for Blazers news. I made Mike Barrett's blog a regular destination. I searched box scores, read recaps and previews, and found myself engrossed in the team.

Before the first game of the season, I discovered a "listen live" link online, and after that I listened to every Blazer game I could. The volume wasn't very loud, and I had no speakers, so I plugged in some headphones and pressed them against my ears to hear Brian Wheeler call the action. Every so often, the audio would suddenly cut out at a crucial point, and I would scramble to refresh the page so I wouldn't miss anything.

Every game, I could feel myself in the Rose Garden, watching the Blazers. I cheered for every clutch 3-pointer from Steve Blake. I could feel the blocked shots from Joel Przybilla. I crossed my fingers for every Zach Randolph 20-footer.

They were my team. My Blazers.

Every negative feeling that I had at the beginning of that academic year went away when I sat down at my computer to listen to the Blazers play. For a couple hours, my thoughts weren't on homesickness or classwork, they were on whether Darius Miles could keep up his hot streak, or which point guard should be starting.

The losses piled up, but that didn't matter to me. It was more about the feelings I had from following my hometown team despite the geography between us. The Blazers were my link to something normal, something familiar, while I was in an ufamiliar envrionment.

And as the year progressed, things started to change. As the Blazers kept me going, they also allowed me to ease into the new world I was in. I found a group of friends down the hall of my dorm, and the five of us remain friends to this day. I got involved in the campus TV station and newspaper. Suddenly things weren't so hard anymore, as I began to find my place at Gonzaga. And as the Blazers' season ended in April, I was just beginning my new life at GU.

But I still think that it was the '05-'06 Blazers who helped me through it. When things were tough, or when it felt like I was in over my head, the Blazers were there to help keep my spirits up. Yes, they lost a lot of games, but I had so much fun that season cheering them on. The team was filled with young players, rookies, and nobodies, and they were having a tough time on the court, but I felt a connection to them because of that. We were both going through tough times, but we were going through them together.

With all the success and growth the Blazers have had the past three years, it's easy to forget just how far they've come. But for me, they were the team that got me through my freshman year of college, and I'll never forget them for that.

The 2005-2006 Blazers lost 61 games and were the worst team in the league. But to me at the time, they were the greatest team in the world.

The case for the Blazers staying put

With NBA free agent signings now official, it's becoming clear which teams have gotten better, worse, or are standing still. But as this years free agency has shown us, simply signing free agents doesn't equate to a team getting better.

For example, the Lakers got better be replacing Trevor Ariza with Ron Artest in a simple upgrade. Meanwhile, the Clippers got better by trading away Zach Randolph, an example of addition by subtraction (and on the flip side of that deal, Memphis is now worse off with Randolph taking shots away from Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo). Toronto paid more than $50 million for Hedo Turkoglu, but had to renounce 14 players to do it (bad move). And the Pistons signed Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, and possibly Big Baby Davis, and transformed from a bad team to an average team.

And in the middle of all of this is the Portland Trail Blazers, who are still yet to make a move in free agency this offseason.

The only actions the Blazers have taken part in was a courtship of Turkoglu (who they seemingly had, until he bolted for more money in Toronto). Other than that, things have been very quiet on the Blazers' front.

So what now? Well, you have to look at the facts; you have to weigh the Blazers' performance and future against the current free agent moves being made by other teams.

And in reality, the thing the Blazers should do now...

...is nothing.

The Blazers have one of the youngest, most talented teams in the league; a team that will only get better so long as the core is intact. Just look at the past 3 seasons - the Blazers were the worst team in the league in 2005-06, with only 21 wins. Yet since then, the Blazers have improved their win total to 32, then 41, and finally 54 wins last season with a playoff berth. All of that was done by creating a core of young players and letting them develop their talents together.

Why ruin a good thing?

The uneasiness about the Blazers taking this route comes from the uncertainty it brings. It's very rare that an NBA team slowly builds itself into a contender, developing young talent while biding their time before the success arrives. Aside from the San Antonio Spurs, it's an uncommon practice, as most other teams choose to make a big trade or throw money at a marquee free agent in order to quickly change their fortunes. Every year, several different NBA teams acquire a big-name player in the hopes that he will put them into the finals. But really, it only works for two teams every year, with most of those big free agent moves not working out.

The Blazers are in largely uncharted territory, but based on the path they've been traveling on so far, it seems to be the correct course heading.

What the Blazers shouldn't do is look at their lack of free agent moves and panic. Just because other teams are loading up on free agents doesn't mean that they have made themselves better that what the Blazers currently have. Teams are grabbing up anything they can just so they can say they didn't pass up on a sale. But the Blazers already own enough good pieces, and don't need to spend any more on stuff they don't need.

Yes, I was a proponent of signing Turkoglu, but that was because I was more of a proponent of the Blazers signing a piece that could help them, as Turkoglu could. With Hedo off the market, the Blazers shouldn't suddenly lose track of their goal to sign a missing piece in order to sign someone they don't necessarily need.

If there is a free agent out there that make the Blazers better, then they should obviously sign them. But don't sign somebody simply because everyone else is doing it. If everyone else paid $50 million for Chris "Birdman" Anderson, would you do it?

The Blazers should take what they have, realize the potential this team has, and stand pat. Rather than throw millions of dollars at Andre Miller or Brandon Bass, let's focus that money on contract extensions for Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Let's see just how much better Rudy Fernandez, Nicolas Batum and Jerryd Bayless can be in their sophomore season. Let's see if Martell Webster can come back from his foot injury and start bombing 3's again. And let's see if Greg Oden becomes the center Blazers fans hope he can be.

The Blazers have done nothing but improve for the past three years, so let's see if the trend continues in year 4. If things go stagnant, they can always go after the big names in the 2010 free agent crop. But for right now, let's see how much better this team can be. Don't mess up the chemistry and talent you have right now in a meaningless attempt to "keep up" with teams that aren't necessarily ahead in the race.

It hasn't been done much before, and it's an uncertain future, but sometimes the biggest rewards are won by taking the road less traveled. That mindset is what defines Portland's basketball team:

Trail Blazers.

"Sources" ruin it for everyone

Earlier today, I read on ESPN that Hedo Turkoglu had agreed to a free agent contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. The ESPN article reportedly got the information from "sources."

After reading this news, which had supposedly been confirmed, I wrote a column about what Turkoglu brings to the Blazers, and what the gamble will mean for the Blazers future.

The time spent on that column, apparently, was all for nothing.

ESPN is now reporting that Turkoglu has ended negotiations with the Blazers. Again, the article cites "sources." The sources aren't named, nor are they identified as being close to the team, the league, or the planet earth. They are simply "sources."

That sort of lazy reporting, spreading false information by not confirming the reports, is an insult to readers and the profession of journalism.

Now, I understand that, in the grand scheme of things, the mis-reporting of a basketball free agent signing is not the end of the world (and I admit to being mad about writing a whole column that is now worthless), but this does bring to light some of the problems with reporting using unnamed sources. I fully understand that journalism is a deadline-driven business where timing is everything and the pressure to break a story is high. But that doesn't excuse reporting something false.

They teach you in journalism classes that all stories need to be confirmed by two sources close to the story. The "closeness" factor is extremely important. If an NBA team signs a free agent, the people who can confirm a story are people high up in the organization who had or saw direct contact with the decision. The receptionist, or an intern cannot confirm the story, because they might not know all the facts. IN the case of the Turkoglu/Blazers story, the "sources" cited didn't know what they were talking about.

I know that journalists will always need unnamed sources if they want to report certain stories. People and organizations are always so desperate to control the flow of information that they will reject comment on a story and instruct other employees to do the same. Sometimes, it is necessary to have someone confirm a story off the record, simply to get the truth out.

But a level of professionalism must be kept, and that means that the use of unnamed sources must not run so rampant that the wrong facts are reported. I understand employees don't want to lose their jobs, so if they must go off the record, the journalist must give the readers something in order to save face: the areas or departments the sources work in, or how high up in the organization they serve. That way, if something wrong does come out, we know where the misinformation is coming from.

It's either that, or wait until you can confirm the story with 100 percent certainty. That might help.

When I was working for the Gonzaga Bulletin newspaper, a breaking story arose right before a deadline. Apparently, a student had been hiding explosive materials in his dorm room, and may have been responsible for a Molotov cocktail found in a parking lot. The Bulletin reporters called anyone close to the investigation, went to a press conference, and even went to the dorm hall in question. The reporters wrote their story based on the information given to them by authorities, specifically citing where they had received their information.

But much of that information turned out to be false. Rather than dismiss this, the Bulletin acknowledged its mistakes, and continued to report the story as it unfolded, citing the sources of new information and explicitly explaining where the incorrect information came from.

That experience proved to be a lesson for all of us on staff - that if we were clear with the readers in our reporting, we remain truthful and credible in the eyes of our readers and the subject of our stories.

But when reporters get lazy, the publishing of mis-information spirals out of control to the point that everyone else follows your lead.

Just because you cite new "sources" after learning of your blunder or re-write your lede after following the blunders of others doesn't make up for bad reporting. If you break the story, you're responsible for what happens if you get it wrong.

Readers deserve better. Fans deserve better. Journalism deserves better.

(And you made me waste a whole afternoon writing that column. Damn it.)

Blazers hope Turkoglu brings a payoff

ESPN is reporting that the Blazers and Hedo Turkoglu have agreed on a deal that will bring the 30-year-old forward to Portland. Turkoglu was looking for a five year deal worth roughly $50 million, and all accounts are saying that the deal with the Blazers will probably be for that amount.

The Blazers had been looking for a veteran. They got one. They were looking for experience. They got it. They were looking for someone to take the scoring load off Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Check.

The Blazers got their big-name free agent. Now they need to hope for a payout.

Throughout the entire courtship process the Blazers have had with Turkoglu, I've been surprised at how polarizing of a figure he has been. Not necessarily because of his play on the court, but because of the proposed contract, and whether Turkoglu is worth it.

It's reportedly a five year deal. That's betting a lot on him staying effective for five years. Is a 32-34-year old Turkoglu worth more to the Blazers than developing players like Martell Webster, Travis Outlaw, or Nicolas Batum? If that's the case, the Blazers need to win soon, or else it will all be for nothing.

Patience had been thrown out the window. The Blazers no longer want to sit and wait for the team to get better on it's own anymore. This move was designed to help the Blazers now.

It's a gamble. The Blazers had grown accustomed to beating the odds in recent years with the continued progress of a young team. But this is the first time in recent memory that they're taking such a risk. Kevin Pritchard, Nate McMillan, and company have won with small wagers the past few years, now they're pushing their chips to the center of the table and betting big.

Some call it gutsy. Some gasp. Some call it stupid. And some are thinking "let it ride."

Like all good bets, it's being made after carefully considering the odds and the opponents. The West is still getting tougher, with the Spurs landing Richard Jefferson and the Lakers adding Ron Artest. The Blazers knew they needed to get better, and finally took at look at their roster and their needs in order to decide what necessary steps needed to be taken. Ultimately, Turkoglu was the pick.

General consensus among fans and media is that the Blazers are paying too much, and I happen to agree. Five years and $50 million seems too high for a 30-year-old player with career averages of 12 points, 3 assists, and 4 rebounds per game. It's a huge risk, but the Blazers knew they needed to do something to stay in the game, and weighed the pros and cons.

He averaged nearly 17 points per game, but what about that 41 percent shooting? At 6-10 and 220, he's hard to match up against, but can he tell the difference now between a good opportunity and a forced shot? Can Roy and Aldridge coexist with him?

In the end, Portland knew what they were getting: another piece to the championship puzzle. Let's look at Turkoglu for what he is: a shooter/scorer who can also post up and put the ball on the floor. His 6-10 frame means he can play 3 positions, and he just helped the Magic get to the NBA finals. He's not a superstar, or a dynamic point forward who will facilitate the offense (Point forward? He's not Scottie Pippen. Pip looked graceful and smooth when he handled the ball. Turkoglu's main strategy when handling the ball is to use his size and back it down the court before handing off to someone else in the halfcourt).

Yes they're overpaying for just a piece, but a team on the rise like the Blazers is only a piece away from serious contention. This isn't like the Blazers are going to the roulette table and betting it all on 15, instead, it's like a single hand of blackjack. The Lakers have been winning big all all night, and have a 7 showing. The Blazers have been slowly accumulating chips and now hold a 16. If the Blazers want to play it safe, they should stay, because the odds are against them that the card they'll get is a card they need. But there's a chance the Lakers could be holding a 17, and be in prime position to win. The Blazers need to hit, and take the big risk.

Turkoglu is the Blazers hitting on 16.

The bet may pay off, it may not. That's the chance you take on a gamble like this. The only thing left is to see how it all plays out.

And even if it doesn't work, the Blazers can always go back to the ATM with Paul Allen's PIN number.

Portland Trail Blazers' draft history, 2000-present

With Draft Day 2009 rapidly approaching, I thought I'd take a look back in time at the Blazers' draft picks. I've decided not to talk much about jobbers like Nedzad Sinanovic, Ha Seung-Jin, or Sergei Monia, despite how hilarious they were, and focused simply on the first-round or high-profile picks.

Nowadays, it seems that the Blazers use the draft to make trades to retool the roster, rather than relying on their draft potision alone. But before Kevin Pritchard took the GM job, the Blazers had a dubious draft history in the 2000s, picking duds and missing out on stars like Chris Paul. It took two special GMs to screw up as many opportunities as they did. Bob Whitsitt and John Nash, everybody!

2000 - Erick Barkley, St. Johns
Sat on the bench for two years, then shipped out for nothing. What a throwaway pick! In college the guy shot less than 40% and averaged only 4.5 assists per game, he also had an assist/TO radio of 1.8! Who thought this guy would even turn out OK?


2001 - Zach Randolph, Michigan State, and Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, Georgetown
After breaking out in the 2003 playoffs, Randolph won the Most Improved Player award in 2004. But, like so many other young, up-and-coming Blazers at the time, he developed a fondness for trouble (and in Randolph's case, strip clubs). If someone wants to go to a strip club on occasion, that's their business. Just don't do it when you say you are on leave to attend a funeral.
He was also fat, unathletic, and became a black hole on offense, more concerned with his own stats than his team's play. As New York and Los Angeles found out, old habits die hard.
Boumtje-Boumtje is most known for getting a basketball thrown at his head by Rasheed Wallace in practice.

2002- Qyntel Woods - Northeast Mississippi CC
HE WENT TO COMMUNITY COLLEGE! AT LEAST HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS STILL HAVE PROMISE!
Woods was supposed to be the shooting guard of the future, based on his play against washed-up never-will-be's at community college. Oh, he also staged dog fights and once presented his basketball card as identification when he was pulled over.

2003- Travis Outlaw, Starkville (MS) High School
The guy is a human question mark. He's gone from benchwarmer, to bust, to The Future, to inconsistent, to clutch performer, to trade-bait, in six years. The jury's still out on if he really is the right small forward for the Blazers.


2004- Sebastian Telfair, Lincoln H.S (Brooklyn, NY)
New York high school basketball prodigy + insane hype + book deal - shooting ability - ability to run offense = traded in 2 years.



2005 - Martell Webster, Seattle Prep, and Linus Kleiza, Missouri So.
Webster apparently has a great shooting touch, but because of injuries, minutes, and inconsistency, we haven't seen the whole package yet. Webster was predicted to have a breakout year in 2008-09 but hurt his foot and played only 1 game (and re-injured his foot). Will we ever see him put it all together?
Kleiza was traded to Denver for Jarrett Jack, a move that looks worse and worse as the years go by. Jack never ended up fitting in the Portland system and was traded, while Kleiza turned into a decent role player and 3-point shooter for the Nuggets.

2006 - Tyrus Thomas, LSU, and Randy Foye, Villanova
Through wheeling and dealing, were turned into rookie of the year Brandon Roy and rising star LaMarcus Aldridge. So essentially, the Blazers' most successful draft picks! Sergio Rodriguez was also acquired through a draft-day trade, but aside from some glimpses of promise, he doesn't seem to be in the Blazers' plans.

2007 - Greg Oden, Ohio State
(Laughs nervously)









2008 - Brandon Rush, Kansas
"Great," I said on draft day. "We drafted a young shooting guard to play behind our young superstar shooting guard (Roy) and our Spanish import shooting guard (Rudy Fernandez). Great move." But then on draft day, the Blazers shipped Rush and Jarrett Jack to Indiana for the rights to Jerryd Bayless. It's still to early to tell with Bayless. He's got the determination, but he never got the consistent minutes to showcase his game. One thing's for sure, if he can't learn to run the show as a passing point guard on occasion, he's going to find life with the Blazers very difficult.

As for 2009, no one seems to know what the Blazers are up to. Some sources say they're looking to trade out of the first round. Others say they're trying to move up in the draft. Whatever way the draft turns out, one thing is clear: if the Blazers decide to draft or acquire another young point guard, they'd better be sure that the sixth time's the charm!