Bill Simmons gives Portland "some love" ???

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MIXUM

MIXUM

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More back handed.... compliments but i like the way this guy works lol


Q: Did your book tour include a stop at the Rose Garden for Pistons-Blazers last week? I hope you checked out the way the Garden treats Greg Oden. Every time he does something basic, the place explodes like he dunked from half court. They are just willing themselves to think he will be good.
-- David G., Portland

Yes, I did. And the best way to describe the crowd's support for Oden: It's like watching 15,000 parents rooting for their kid, only all 15,000 parents fathered the same kid. If he ever explodes for 30 points, 20 rebounds and eight blocks in a game, you'll have to carry each deliriously passed-out Portland fan out of the Rose Garden individually like they were victims of smoke inhalation in a burning house. (The funny thing is, everyone in Portland is nodding right now. And yes, I know he's had a couple of inspired games this season. You don't need to e-mail me the stat lines. No, really. Save us both the time. Let's not put too much pressure on him. Baby steps.) I also was startled by Portland fans arguably (see, there it is!) liking Rudy Fernandez as much as, and maybe even a smidge more than, the great Brandon Roy.

Two other things shocked me. First, that's the whitest NBA experience you can have that doesn't involve the words "Salt," "Lake" and City." They didn't play hip-hop either before the game or during the game, each team seemed to have more African-Americans than the entire crowd and the pregame video right before the introduction of Portland's starting lineup was a local grunge band singing "Ballroom Blitz." And second, during a second-quarter timeout, my buddy House and I ran into the concourse to grab beers and noticed there was NOBODY else in line for anything. We felt like Will Smith in "I Am Legend." There was no sign of human life other than the workers. Everyone else stays in their seats. At halftime, those same people pour into the concourse like it's halftime of a football game. I've never seen anything like it. I don't know whether the Blazers have the most loyal, passionate, dutiful fans in the NBA, but at the very least, we can say nobody else tops them.

Here's what I took away from my Rose Garden experience: Portland loves the Blazers the same way a single mother would love her only child. The city's revulsion toward the "Jail Blazers" makes a lot more sense to me now. The team and the city are intertwined, and if one side isn't holding up that bargain, it's even more painful than usual. Anyway, I couldn't be happier that I got a taste of it. Great NBA city.
 
Still sounds like backhanded compliments to me. This right here is a dig on Oden for sure -
"I know he's had a couple of inspired games this season. You don't need to e-mail me the stat lines. No, really. Save us both the time."


And this part . . . "If he ever explodes for 30 points, 20 rebounds and eight blocks in a game, you'll have to carry each deliriously passed-out Portland fan out of the Rose Garden individually like they were victims of smoke inhalation in a burning house." is interesting to me. Greg is going to have games like that - maybe this year. What's he going to say if/when Greg starts banging out "inspired games" on a regular basis? Will he admit he was wrong? He's gone so far the other way in his evaluation of Oden . . . it would require a level of humility that is almost unheard of from a sports writer. You know he wants Oden to fail so bad, or it makes him look like a total idiot. Well, I should say MORE of an idiot than he already looks like.
 
Simmons said:
Yes, I did. And the best way to describe the crowd's support for Oden: It's like watching 15,000 parents rooting for their kid, only all 15,000 parents fathered the same kid.
Click to expand...

He's a crummy analyst and a spotty comedic writer, but Simmons every once in a comes up with the perfect analogy. You can just feel the arena take a collective gasp every time Oden gets the ball in the post.
 
Several lines in there are dubious compliments at best, but the ending seems genuinely positive, at least. It's true that we Blazer fans can get a bit (ahem) "emotionally invested" in our team.
 
MIXUM said:

Two other things shocked me. First, that's the whitest NBA experience you can have that doesn't involve the words "Salt," "Lake" and City." They didn't play hip-hop either before the game or during the game, each team seemed to have more African-Americans than the entire crowd and the pregame video right before the introduction of Portland's starting lineup was a local grunge band singing "Ballroom Blitz."
Click to expand...
I think Portland and Oregon in general is white due to the terms providing for their statehood. Oregon joined the union on the eve of the Civil War in 1859. Oregon joined as a free-state, but the "compromise" was that minorities were not allowed to live in Oregon and this was actually in the Oregon constitution when it was admitted. I am not sure when this law changed to permit all races to live in Oregon. Sad but true history.
 
Q: Did your book tour include a stop at the Rose Garden for Pistons-Blazers last week? I hope you checked out the way the Garden treats Greg Oden. Every time he does something basic, the place explodes like he dunked from half court. They are just willing themselves to think he will be good.
-- David G., Portland
Click to expand...

:lol:

Now that's funny. I will say that the crowd is willing themselves to think Oden will be great; he's already good.
 
dont we go crazy when pryz dunks it too? or martell? or aldridge??
 
I haven't been to games, not living in Oregon, but from TV, the crowd seems loudest when Rudy hits a three.
 
Zybot said:
Portland fans go crazy for t-shirts and chalupas too.
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lol, i swear some people are more interested in chalupas then winning the game...if the game is close, and we're about to score 100, i could give a fuck about chalupas lol i want the win
 
Here's what I took away from my Rose Garden experience: Portland loves the Blazers the same way a single mother would love her only child. The city's revulsion toward the "Jail Blazers" makes a lot more sense to me now. The team and the city are intertwined, and if one side isn't holding up that bargain, it's even more painful than usual. Anyway, I couldn't be happier that I got a taste of it. Great NBA city.
Click to expand...
I think this is a very fair and accurate paragraph. I am happier with Simmons now for it.
 
"THE" HCP said:
See, you are a racist too!
Click to expand...

I am not a racist. I am un-patriotic. Get your facts right! Remember, I'm a mail-order groom!

VIVA LA REVOLUTION!
Click to expand...

I have no doubts I am going to be among the first with the back against the wall, when the revolution happens. C'est la vie.
 
mook said:
He's a crummy analyst and a spotty comedic writer, but Simmons every once in a comes up with the perfect analogy. You can just feel the arena take a collective gasp every time Oden gets the ball in the post.
Click to expand...


I think ppl need to remember that Bill Simmons writes like a sports fan, not an analyst. Hence him being on ESPN Page2, not the ESPN nba section.

He's a really good blog writer who makes some keen observations and takes some giant leaps of faith that certain things will happen. Sometimes he hits, sometimes he misses.

ppl get too hurt by his negative comments towards their teams/players but he's a Boston fan who loves his teams first and the sport second.

I agree about 50/50 with what he says, but still enjoy the ways he expresses his thoughts and observations.
 
Celtic Fan said:
I think ppl need to remember that Bill Simmons writes like a sports fan, not an analyst. Hence him being on ESPN Page2, not the ESPN nba section.

He's a really good blog writer who makes some keen observations and takes some giant leaps of faith that certain things will happen. Sometimes he hits, sometimes he misses.

ppl get too hurt by his negative comments towards their teams/players but he's a Boston fan who loves his teams first and the sport second.

I agree about 50/50 with what he says, but still enjoy the ways he expresses his thoughts and observations.
Click to expand...

I don't expect him to write like an analyst, but I do expect him to know more about the league than he always seems to, which is always my issue. For as much basketball as he supposedly watches, getting paid to watch it, basically, he seems to know his Celtics, and not a ton else.

I suppose that's fine. People like his comedy writing I guess. I just think it seems more suited for a Boston site, and not ESPN. Abbott is a Blazers fan, but not to that level. Just seems odd that they would select a columnist that is just a huge fan of one team, and not someone that is at least a big fan of the NBA in general, or, while being a fan, understands more of the league than he does.

But, to each their own. I stopped reading him a while ago, when the jokes got stale(although will admit I read most of his article/mailbag today since it was on the front page), and I see he still is making his Rocky IV jokes. It was funny the first few times. Still talking about Rocky IV gets lame after a while. But the jokes got tired, adn his view of the sports world outside of Boston seems ever diminishing.
 
Bill Simmons is fine. He doesn't pretend to be anything other than what he is. I don't particularly agree with a lot of stuff he has to say, although he's frequently funny, he just loves to needle people and get a reaction ... Blazers fans are some of the worst I've ever seen at biting at what he prints; let it go people.
 
ehizzy3 said:
dont we go crazy when pryz dunks it too? or martell? or aldridge??
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I think Simmons' point is that there is a buzz every time Oden gets the ball in the post that simply isn't there for any other player, except perhaps Roy isolated in the 4th quarter. I would imagine that that pressure helped contribute to some of Oden's offensive problems at the start of last year.
 
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