I understand now. You can pitch but aren't willing to catch. I'll be more careful of your ego and sweet little feelings going forward.
if often gets a bit lost in the hype and nostalgia about the Blazer championship, the celebration, the parade, but the appetizer to the championship was Portland sweeping the heavily favored Lakers in the WCF.
My dad bought season tickets back in 1974. I got to go to about 10 games a year with him. I was 9 when they won the championship. I loved collecting the basketball cards. Blazer posters all over my room. I've been lucky enough to meet a few of the championship team over the years - My son is now 22 and goes to the games with me. I'm hoping he gets to experience a Blazers championship in his lifetime!
Listen man, everyone else got the joke. You decided to try to insult me by... pointing at my post count. I don't know. It's a weird thing to randomly point out. Like telling someone that their tires look used so they should drive less or something. I still think you should lighten up.
5th wheel...and lawn is the great outdoors....which means you have a damn long way to go to get off it
We lived in Winston-Salem NC when Pops completed his medical internship and started receiving job offers in early 1976. If offered, the choice was always going to be where they honeymooned & visited multiple times afterwords. Besides my Mom, he was fish crazy and enamored with the spectacular Deschutes River, so Portland was the spot. I was 10 years old when we moved back to Portland from Winston-Salem NC in the summer of 1976. My new school was West Sylvan Elementary. I'd been indoctrinated by hoops crazies in NC but had had no pro team to follow prior. I'd heard about the genius/wild man Walton leading up to the season. Having no one to hang with the rest of that summer following our move, I percolated awaiting these mysterious Trailblazers. We had a black and white TV that was maybe 13". The knob was gone & we turned the channels with pliers. You'd have to use some finesse to settle on any channel, but properly tweeked Big Bill did not disappoint. He was like a captain on a ship charting the team forward. Not a scorer but by far the best player I'd ever seen, Hendrix vs Buddy Holly. But like you the L Train was my man. Remember that shot he hit against Chicago in the 1st round of the playoffs to close the series? I recall shooting the Nerf ball behind my head the way he did. that 76 Christmas I received a small radio with a single ear piece. I usually fell asleep in a too tall queen sized bed listening to Shonz. One night I rolled over and out, awakening half way to the floor. I recall going to parties/BBQs and literally everyone after asking my name, would ask me what I thought about the Trailblazers. Rip City this and Lickity Brindle that. Again, I knew no one, we'd just moved there... yet everyone seemed as one on the same page all about the PTB. I was completely on board too When they won it. Holy Shit! I'm sure someone somehow appreciated it more, but I jumped off our deck and ran around the outside of the house as fast as I could until I couldn't. Then the dog overtook me and licked my face forever STOMP
I was 61, 5 years before a heart attack would end my 47th life. Jimmy Carter had just become president earlier in the year. The top song was You light up my Life by Debby Boone. Rocky won best picture at the Oscar's. Anwar Sadat was Time Magazines Man of the Year. And I remember watching the Blazers on my 19 inch RCA television set. Nearly shit myself (as old people do from time to time) when they won the whole thing.
I was 23 and going to Portland State working on my Masters degree. I was crushed when the Blazers dropped the first two games in Philly and we had to listen to the national media telling us how unlikely it was for a team to come back from two down. They were blatantly biased for Julius Erving and the favored Sixers. The next two games in Portland went our way. I had to sneak a radio into my evening lecture to listen to Schonz call the game. Game 5 in Philly the Blazers built a big lead and held on as the Sixers rallied. Game 6 was close and the thought of having to win on the road again if they lost made it tense as hell. The Blazers held on and closed out the series. A friend and I went to the parade and battled the crowds to get a good position near City Hall. It was crazy and so much fun. We were sure that the Blazers were at the start of a dynasty run and never would have believed that 46 years later that would be the Blazers only title. Age doesn’t make any difference; every year I still feel that same excitement of new possibilities as the Blazers start a new season. I’d love to live long enough to celebrate another title.
