The Rattler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the spirit of posting threads about former Blazers every time they do something. Here's my tribute to former Blazer Theo Ratliff - who tied his season high tonight with 10 points on 5-6 shooting and had 2 blocks. Way to go RATTLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPMRyiawrIc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aCz-Yepz-0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uajY58xD_Ug

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnKRYhp7Tqs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQhXa_69jMU

This is fun! Up next, former Blazers Tyrus Thomas and Randy Foye.

BNM

 

LOL at Tyrus Thomas.

 

BNM

 

You can get pissed all you want, BNM, but in the case of Outlaw and Blake, we're talking about players WHO WERE JUST HERE! Blake was giving his all for the Blazers less than two weeks ago when he dropped 20 pts and 12 assists in win at Phoenix. I can't be rooting for a guy for three straight years and then suddenly not care about him. Even moreso with Outlaw. Outlaw was with the Blazers for over 6 years. I can't suddenly stop caring about him. I like the guys. I wish them well. And I hope we get them back in the summer. Clippers will probably want them too much though.

 

I feel the same way. It was exciting watching Camby block shots and nab boards the other night (although he missed 3 or 4 shots RIGHT at the rim that he normally makes)

I wish Blake well, and I thank him for his effort here. He never dogged it, and I will always remember him for his scrappy, gritty, & gutty play. He just had no ability to create anything, which might have been okay if we had another guy who could get his own shot besides Roy. Steve really is a pro's pro, and he's one of the better b/u PG's in the league. He protects the ball, can knock down open shots, and works hard on defense.

Outlaw. "Big Shot Trav" is truly an anomaly. Take last night for instance - in his 1st game back he scores 10 points in 16 minutes (4-6 from the floor, 2-3 on 3's) Not bad, right? Now look at his rebounds and assists. 1 board, 0 assists. What is he? A SF? A PF? Neither? The guy can score, and has ice water in his veins in crunch time. But that's all you get from him. No defense, no rebounding, black hole. At $4 million/year, he's a pretty good bargain. You can live with his deficiencies. But he'll want more than that this summer, and I think he'll get it. A lot of teams are clearing out cap space for a Lebron, D-Wade, or Bosh . . . after the marquee guys are signed, the teams (with cap space) who missed out on the big names will take a look at Trav - an athletic swingman who can get his own shot and has a history of making big shots. Kind of like Detroit signing Charlie V and Gordan last summer - they had to get SOMETHING with all that cap room. I wouldn't be surprised to see T.O. get $6/7 million. Too rich for our blood. Just like Blake, I wish him well. He was a good guy in the locker room, and never complained about anything - pretty rare by today's standards.

Both Blake & Outlaw are just nice guys that you hope do well. I think most Blazer fans feel that way. Polar opposite of watching an ex-Blazer like Z-Bo, who I would like to punch in his fat face.

 

BNM, there is a differnce between Theo and Blake and Travis . . . you don't see this?

I'm guessing you are really a black and white kind of person

 

Can we please keep this thread on topic? This thread is about Theo Ratliff. There are already multiple threads about former Blazers Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw. If you wish to discuss their post Blazer success, or reminisce about their days with the Blazers, please do it in those threads and not here.

BNM

 

Yes, of course I do. Give me some credit. Theo is a center. Travis is a forward and Blake is a guard.

Can we please keep race out of this. I am a fan of players of all colors.

BNM

 

Yea OK . . . I think I get what you are doing. You don't like these kind of threads so you decide to start one.

Not what I consider the most effective way of handling the situation or most mature way of making a point . . . but whatever floats your boat . . . and personally the more threads on this forum, the better.

So to this thread.

About Theo, what a strange stint he had in Ptd. He went from being embrassed by the fans to most wanting him to have a one way ticket out of here. Personally he never showed much pride in being a Blazer, kind of was pussy, and I got the feeling he could care less if he was here or with some other organization . . . so I wasn't a big fan.

 

You all remember this product:

Making good with Ratliff
Blazers officials reward the veteran center's actions on -- and off -- the court with a three-year contract extension
Wednesday, September 29, 2004

The extension has given Ratliff financial security he once feared he never would have. Three years ago, Ratliff had a career-threatening hip injury that forced him to miss 79 of 82 games. In 2000-01, he missed 28 games with a broken wrist; in 1999-2000, he missed 25 games with ankle problems.

All of those injuries, Ratliff said, can be traced to his being diagnosed two years ago with having the early stages of osteoporosis, a disease in which bones become brittle and subject to fractures.

Ratliff became involved with Youngevity, a mineral supplement company, that he credits for his last two injury-free seasons. The company, which signed Ratliff to a 10-year endorsement contract, features a sports energy drink -- Rebound Fx -- with Ratliff's picture on the bottle. He also takes daily a series of four pills to boost calcium and essential fatty acids and a gelatin that promotes cartilage growth.

"Without this product, I wouldn't be getting this contract," Ratliff said.




I think Oden shoud look into this youngevity. Wait a minute if I remeber right this signing of Ratliff was a bust, never mind. In fact do the Blazers just ignore the fact some players are at a much higher risk of injury than others.

 

Any correlation between Oden and Theo:

broken wrist, ankle injury, weak bones?, major injury that kept them out a full year.

The comparisons are kind of scary.

 

Theo got his contract from the Blazers and then mailed it in until he was traded away 4 years ago in the deal that led to Roy. Theo also has played for 6 teams since playing for the Blazers.

Steve and Travis played their asses of for us and were traded away last week. Travis has known no other team, and Steve was a Blazer for the second time, and he was one of the few year-round inhabitants of the Portland area on the team. To some people, this is not a point of distinction. To others, it is a point of distinction. C'est la vie.

 

Good lord people. Are you all so uptight and humor imparied you can't recognize an obvious parody when you read one? For those unfamiliar with the concept:

parody - in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation.

I guess I should take heart:

Often, the most satisfying element of a good parody is seeing others mistake it for the genuine article.

Folks, this is a thread about THEO RATLIFF. How can you possibly take it seriously. The thread was started with tongue planted firmly in cheek. If the main subject and the overly excessive use of exclamation points weren't obvious enough clues, I thought the mention of "ex-Blazers" Tyrus Thomas and Randy Foye would be a dead give away.

Yet, here I have multiple people explaining to me the differences between Theo Ratliff, Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake. Good lord, way to over analyse the obvious.

Come on people, LIGHTEN UP. This is a thread about THEO RATLIFF in an internet discussion board. Stop taking this shit so seriously. It's supposed to be FUN.

I mean come on. Theo Ratliff who has bounced around the league like a ping pong ball in a hurricane since the Blazers traded him, suddenly breaks into the starrting line-up the VERY SAME NIGHT Sergio cracks the starting line-up on his new team and Travis plays for the first time since coming back from his injury. That was just too much of a coincidence to pass up.

Sorry some of you actually took it seriously. No, I'm not. You should know better. When someone has to explain a joke to you you're better off pretending to get it, even if you don't. So, let's all have a good group chuckle and get back to lamenting about trades that either happened, or didn't, criticizing our coach and GM, discussing Oden's latest injury and/or revealing photos - you know, the stuff that makes this forum what it is.

BNM

 

I understand all that. However, Theo Ratliff wasn't very good as a Blazer. Do we need a whole thread on him?

 

Slaps forehead in amazement....

Unless you are just kidding. In that case:

BNM

 

Yeah, I was having a little fun with it.

 

AWESOME! Any player who has a G.I. Joe attack jet named after him is bound to be a future all-star.

Oh, wait. Theo was already an all-star (2001). Never mind.

BNM

 

It's cool. I suspected as much. You seem to like to dish out the tongue in cheek one liners from time to time.

BTW, Theo was good as a Blazer - for that first half season. He had a PER of 16.8, had 4.4 BLK/G and had an incredible BLK% of 10.4 (Oden was leading the league this year at 7.6 before his injury).

Then he got the big contract expention from John Nash. Game over.

The best thing Theo ever did for Portland let us use his ridiculous salary to help land Brandon Roy. For that, I am grateful - and I actually did love watching him swat shots like crazy that first half season in Portland.

BNM