quick memo to my fellow Blazer fans...
Blazers have been through worse.
Years back, I watched Portland oozing admiration towards Zach Randolph, while ignoring his horribly disturbing dog fighting racket with Qyntel Woods. ZeBo got caught with guns, got felony charges dropped after assaulting a stripper, sucker punched his own teammate, plus ZeBo's other bad things i'm not aware of. All the while "Blazers media" told us how impressive Team Captain Zach Randolph's double doubles were, even though the Blazers got their doors blown off almost every game.
The tail end of Jail Blazers era was absolutely brutal on fans. I would go to games on occasion, because Blazer fans couldn't stand the players on the team. They'd hand me good tickets for free.
The giant and relatively new Rose Garden arena had maaaybe... 3000 fans in attendence. Food & beverages was dirt cheap. Portland was spending a bunch of money on posters and bobbleheads etc. They were trying anything to keep Blazer fans engaged.
This current Blazers team is in reset mode. They get stomped by stronger opponents, they go through rough shooting patches, and the defense gets pummeled because there's too many players that are only somewhat good at offense.
Portland is an unorginized mess. The talent has been improperly distributed. A bunch of guys out with injury obviously doesn't help the excitement factor.
Losing for better rookies sucks. Though it did work to dislodge the before mentioned Jail Blazers era. Drafting Brandon Roy & LaMarcus Aldridge brought a much needed fresh perspective. A big dose of hopium.
Right now we're looking for the little steps that will make this squad more exciting. The Blazers media overdoses us with positivity before/during/after losing efforts, which can be extremely annoying. But i can indeed root for this team, because they're good kids. Not wannabe thugs with million dollar Blazer contracts.
