Hi. Old Blazer Fan here. Just wanted to drop you a quick note after last night's gut-punching loss. I can see that look in your eyes. It's kind of a bleary-eyed, woozy, "what just happened?" look. Believe me, I know it. Being a fan of this team for nearly 40 years, I know it well. One of the first things that you are going to have to accept as a new Blazer Fan is a level of pain and agony. No, what happened to the Blazers last night and the game before is nothing new. Blazer teams have been doing this for generations: unlimited potential, high expectations, fighting hard, giving their fans hope, and then crumbling at the moment of truth. It's almost a tradition. Somehow, someway... when players don uniforms with the Portland logo on them, they turn into guys who fall apart under the big spotlight. They play well for 3 and 4/5 quarters in a game, but put the game on the line when it REALLY matters? Forget it. You might as well chuck the ball out of bounds and head to the locker room (which a couple of Blazer teams have actually done in the past). In reality, there's only ever been one Blazer team and group of individuals that have ever stared down the bright lights of clutch and rose above it. You might have read what they did in 1977. What that team did should not be understated, but then again, they didn't know any better. They didn't know that teams from Portland, Oregon are supposed to wilt under the pressure of the Big Game(tm). The Blazers were a green organization then, wide-eyed and ambitious. Karma, however, would pay that team and it's fans back in spades the following years. I could go over the vast number of data points in my theories of Historical Blazer Woe, but I've been there, done that, and I don't really feel like rehashing the obvious. Blazer history is littered with teams that have gotten in front of the national cameras and gagged like a Porn Star. I'm actually kind of heartened by the Team's performance last night: it shows they've done their research on what it is to be a Portland Trail Blazer better than I had thought. So in closing, New Blazer Fan, let me pat you on the back and say "there, there". Some of you won't last through many of these types of games, and will retreat to the safety of becoming a Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, or Cavs fan. But to those who stay, let me cheer you up by telling you that, for a lifelong Blazer fan, there HAS to be a finish line. I have faith in the fact that, before I die, the Blazers will somehow rise above the ghosts of their history and recapture the glory and the elation of the ultimate prize. There will be a team, hopefully in the near future, that will finally look into the cameras of ESPN, ABC, TNT, and the national media during the big, meaningful games and not choke, not be the ones with their heads hanging low after the final buzzer, being the team that Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Bill Simmons, and David Stern can honestly say "What a smart, intelligent, great team that comes through in the clutch!". See you for Game 5. Go Blazers.
Surprised it wasn't an offensive foul. Look at how brutally Oden is slamming his body into poor Yao. 1 fucking foul the whole game? And they whistle Oden and Joel for a foul every time they touched him.
Old Blazer fan, I don't buy it that the Blazers have always been choke jobs, except 1977. I am a bandwagon fan - I jumped on in 1989 when Clyde's team was going off and never left through the awful years. I wouldn't say they choked against an excellent Detroit team that won the championship two years in a row, or against Michael Jordan's Bulls two years later. Or even against Magic Johnson's Lakers in the WCF in the middle. We have had some really good teams do some really good things. There's only one champ each year, and a few great teams that fell just short. How about Gary Payton's Sonics . . . the first number 1 seed to lose to a number 8 in the first round - talk about suicide watch!. Or Stockton/Malone's inability to get past Michael Jordan either. The reality is that a lot championship-caliber teams couldn't get past Jordan for years. Even Scotty Pippen's Blazers did some good things. They weren't championship material but they were among the league leaders, they didn't just choke -they fell short. Of course we have had some dismal years, but that wasn't just a sudden choke job - they were shitty teams thanks to shitty management decisions. I don't think there's some jinx on us.
Yeah, okay, I might give you that . . . though I have often thought that the credit should go more to the Lakers for swarming and shutting us down. Of course, Blazers fans will always think of it as a huge choke and that's how it has gone down in (our) history. They might be right. But if the shoe was on the other foot, we'd remember our team stepping up and seizing the victory, more than calling the other team chokers. It was heartbreaking either way, because the finals would have been a cakewalk that year.
Great post. Funny but true. As for that "finish line," just remember the Chicago Cubs. They haven't won a championship in 101 years. We Blazer fans have nothing on the Cubs fans.
You know, it could be said the Lakers choked to the Celtics throughout the 60s, but that would be mostly inaccurate. The Celtics were better. Yes, the 2000 team missed some 4th quarter shots. They also lost to a team that ended up winning 3 titles in a row with two of the best players ever. Did our team choke in this series? Not even remotely. How anyone could complain after they won 54 games, tied for first in the division, and made a respectable showing in the first round, all while starting two rookies, is beyond me.
I like this team. You just need a starting lineup that has more than two scorers, and to get an experienced player who doesn't panic down the stretch. Roy, especially, has been refreshing. A guy who takes smart shots, attacks the rim, and can finish well around the rim. He'll be a top 10 guy in the league in 3 years.
