Didn't know you could really define Ha's time with the Blazers as an "era"...it seems more like a blink of an eye.
The funny thing is, all the people who said they wouldn't support the team while they had all the thugs, none of them showed up after the thugs were gone. Most of them didn't start coming back until the team started winning again. At that point they all came charging back, "we love this team! They're all so wholesome! Finally a team we can support!" Such bullshit.
god I actually went to a summer league game at the Long Beach Pyramid to "scout" Ha. I was super excited about it too.
In the grand scheme of things, the Blazers lows of the 2000s WAS a blink of an eye. If you compare the Blazers to a team like New York, we only were out of the picture for a few years. The Knicks haven't been good for most of the 2000s, and they sure don't appear to be on their way back (unless Amare is just a god for that team).
While I agree for the most part, really, the thugs weren't really gone until the team started winning. Counting Zach and Darius as the last two remaining. But yeah, people left because of the losing more than anything else. And came back because of the winning.
I really fucking hate it when national broadcasters say shit like "the fans of portland deserve these good community guys after the jailblazer era".
Reading a lot of these comments, I don't know how many around here would consider me a fan, but I consider myself a fan. On one hand I watch and have watched at least 80% of the games since 1985. I read articles and this forum and follow the team during the offseason. One the other hand I have never owned any Blazer memorabilia or Jerseys unless they were given to me at a game. I enjoy the wins, but an hour after I have moved onto some other subject. I don't like losing, but I shrug my shoulders and remind myself "it's just a game", and move onto some other topic. I am not a bandwagoner, and I am not a casual fan who just watches from time to time. I watch almost every game, go to a handful live each season, and can ramble off stats for Stacy Augmon or Rick Brunson. But I CHOOSE not to be what I deem overly attached emotionally to the team since I have zero affect on the Blazers. In the moment of the game, I am there, cheering and happy, but when I leave I detach myself as best I can emotionally.
I think it would. I would revel in it as best I could, but years of forced partial detachment would make me look at the championship as "the team I love won" verses the superfreak who would view it as "WE won"
"Bubblegum" James? Holy crap that takes me back. Remembering Ha, Viktor, Telfair, Z-Bo and the rest of the misfits, thinking back on the sheer mediocrity of that era. Reminds me of one simple fact... I love Brandon Roy!
I loved the Blazers during that 21 win season. Zach Randolph was my favorite. Had his jersey. Of course, I was in 7th grade..
ohhhhhhh thats a fun one. Blazer jerseys I have owned over time. Although I have never once bought one. Bonzi, Z-Bo, Ratliff, Roy, Oden
My fandom began at probably the age 5. My grandma was a "blazer Grannie" and they had season tickets at the Colisem. I used to go to a handful of games with her every year when my grandpa didn't go. She would give me all her Franz cards. I would listen to every game on the radio even at a young age and stay up late to listen to the 5th quarter with Scott Lynn. Losses were tragic to me (still are to a certain extent). I remember staying up late and listening to a game that Sabonis won in the final seconds in his rookie year in overtime against a stacked Houston team. My grandma is in her late 80's now and is still just as much a fanatic. I actually told her about this site, she's hardly computer literate, but she said that she checks it out everyonce in awhile, but doesn't read for long. She like going to blazers.com to get her fix. I think in like 92-93 my aunt and uncle had Blazervision (or BlazerCable whatever it was called at the time) and I used to go over to their house, which was just down the street and watch the games. I seriously think since I was 5 years old I've maybe missed out on watching or listening to a Blazer game maybe a handful of times. That said, I've owned one Blazer jersey in my day and it was a Rod Strickland that I think I let a friend borrow and never got back. I've never really been "that guy" who buys jerseys and rocks them around everywhere. So basically, I'm a true Blazer fan and the rest of you are phonies.
