Outside Perception

FAs go where the money is, or sometimes look for a ring. Besides, the players know who is or isn't a "bad guy'...moreso than the fans, many of whom just believe what they read in the media.

We are a small market team. We are never going to get any love from NBA officials.

Fans throw things because they are drunken imbeciles. The type of "fan" you refer to would throw beer on Mother Theresa - at least in the play-offs. Do you honestly think what happened in Houston was a product of our "image"???

 

If a cat always lands feet first, and toast always lands buttered side down, what happens if you spread butter on a cat's back and drop it? Will it just hover in mid-air? And can we harness that power to build a bullet train connecting Seattle and Portland?

 

Probably not . . . but these days we can probably get federal funding and give it a shot.

 

Lamar Odom had a chance to come to Portland, and he turned it down. Whether it was due to us being a small market, or getting too much rain, it certainly had something to do with our "image." Hedo didn't want to come here because he thought we weren't cosmopolitan enough. That's also an "image" thing. And I highly doubt that Kobe Bryant or LeBron James would come to Portland, because it would take them out of the limelight. That's also an "image" problem.

Image matters, that's the point. The Detroit Pistons still carry the taint of "Bad Boys," because of the dirty play of Bill Laimbeer and others on that team, and the way they walked off the court after they lost a series to the Lakers. Those championship Pistons will never rank among the all-time great teams because of their style of play and their "image." Dennis Rodman's great rebounding and defense will always be overshadowed by his "image" of a nutball and freak. Kermit Washington will forever be haunted by his image of a thug, based on one fight he was in. And Isaiah Rider will certainly not be remembered as a good player, but rather as a human disaster story.

Image matters. Period.

 

Fine, but it matters to a hell of a lot of other people. In fact, every NBA team has a director of public relations, and every team tries to develop positive relationships with the media. That's not a coincidence; it's because image is extremely important to the success of an NBA franchise.

Heh-heh. Sure, Ed, whatever you say.

I guess in your world, Dennis Rodman was a highly respected player and a positive role model who will one day replace Jerry West as the NBA logo. And the Detroit Pistons were the model of decorum and good sportsmanship. And Isiah Rider was a poster child for discipline, integrity, and personal responsibility.

Yep, that sounds like the real world to me!!

 

I think his point is that, on the individual level, it makes no difference to him (or me, for that matter). Who cares how Dennis Rodman or Isiah Rider are "seen?" How does that change our lives?

Your franchise level ideas of how image matters seem like pretty extreme stretches. Being located in a small town (relative to other NBA markets) is a fact, not an "image" issue. Trying to connect the team being seen as "Jailblazers" by fans with the willingness of free agents to sign with the team seems very tenuous. You can assert that it's true, but it seems far more likely that money and chances for individual and team success are the overriding factors, in general. City issues might matter (where the city is located, its ethnic makeup, its cultural/entertainment life), but those things aren't within the team's control (short of moving).

 

While I don't disagree with the position that having bad actors doesn't matter if the team is winning, I will point out that living in the city with bad actors is a lot different than living away from the city.

It got difficult supporting those guys (CTC and all), and once they started losing in the first round every year, people just got sick of their act.

 

Not to me. My favourite baseball and football team are in the same area as I live and it doesn't matter to me when they have players who aren't good people. I wouldn't want to be their friends but their off-court/off-field problems are between them and their families/friends or law enforcement. My relationship with them exists solely in watching them play.

Yeah, I realize it bothers a lot of people. Most fans have an emotional connection to their favourite sports team and for some/many, it bleeds over to the individual players. They want to like the people they root for. I understand it, it just isn't the case for me.

 

Image is nothing.
Thirst is everything.
Obey your thirst.

 

Ah, you're just jealous that I knew Roy was in town on Saturday, you tried to call me on it, yet I was right.

Seriously though, you've never seen a Blazer outside of the RG? You need to get out more, my man.

 

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Yeah, that's what I said.

May I ask why you spend thousands of posts commenting on and producing a message board dedicated to a sports team that you don't have an emotional connection toward? Or did I misread your post, and you only have an emotional connection to the name on the front of the uniform, no matter what?

 

I produce out of love for my fellow man (and woman). Ever the dedicated public servant (or community organizer, as it were).

And you're misreading my statement. I said "most fans have an emotional connection to their favourite sports team" (I am one of those "most") and "for some/many, it bleeds over to the individual players" (this is what doesn't apply to me).

So, I write so many posts because I really like A. basketball, B. the Blazers and C. talking to people.

 

So if you knew that Rasheed Wallace was guilty of rape or child molestation, it wouldn't bother you? You'd still be able to cheer him on and admire his 3-point shooting and sleep well at night? If you knew that Qyntel Woods was involved in dog fighting and abusing animals, you couldn't care less? And if Bonzi Wells was selling meth and crack cocaine to high school kids, you'd have no problem with that, and would be able to simply admire his graceful drives to the hoop?

Hmmm. Good for you, my friend. I couldn't do it, myself.

 

Shows how much you know. It's possible to know that a player is guilty of something without the general public or law enforcement knowing it. That's why I phrased the question the way I did. If any of us, as Blazer fans, knew that one of the team's players had been selling cocaine to high school kids (and had seen him doing it), wouldn't that rightly affect our opinion of that player?? This is the crux of the matter, and you're trying to avoid it with a technicality, as you often do.

There's no fantasy in my argument. Many players are guilty of breaking the law, and still remain on NBA teams. How many players do we know who have been busted for smoking pot, or speeding, or abusing dogs, or trying to smuggle a gun onto an airplane, or getting into a fight at a bar?? The examples are endless. My point was simply to see how far someone like Minstrel is willing to go when he says that a player's personal, off-court life is of no interest to him.