<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Trail Blazers stripped Maurice Cheeks of his coaching duties on Wednesday. Blazers President Steve Patterson and general manager John Nash called it a "sad day." And for Natalie, it was. Two years ago, she was the eighth grader wearing the black and white Jessica McClintock dress who froze while singing the national anthem at the Rose Garden. Cheeks saved her. And on Wednesday, as badly as she wanted, Natalie realized as she sat there staring toward the front of her class with watering eyes, she could do nothing to save him. "I guess they have their reasons," she said. "But I think it's a loss." So was it really a sad day? Or was it a day of liberation? Because as badly as you might want to feel for Cheeks, right now he is the luckiest man in the world. Let's see, no more 12th-place standing in the Western Conference hanging around his neck. No more Darius Miles tantrums to deal with. No more being told by management how to act, whom to play, or whom he's allowed to talk to. </div> Source
