Blazers fans!?!?!

[PapaG]

I, along with most others on this board and other board, have fallen into the "super fan/expert" trap of wanting to be right on the internet more than to just enjoy what I am watching.

Since I've changed that perspective into me now being content with things that I can't control regarding the team, I find that it is a much more enjoyable experience.

Instead of bitching about Miller, I now accept his flaws, but instead of dwelling on them every day, I can now appreciate his strengths.

Same goes with Matthews, and while I feel he is largely overrated for the most part, I do appreciate the effort he brings, and now that the roster is more complete, we get to see him play more to his strengths.

When the blazers lose, I just don't get upset any more, because there is always another game, or always another season.

And so on...

 

[HailBlazers]

Hmm? I wasn't saying I should make them. I was saying that I'm not in charge, so I'm not going to stress out as if it were my job.

To Clarify, I fully agreed with your post, I was just adding to it.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Look, I get why people want to look on the bright side, but that isn't the only way to approach things.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/26162/the-extra-2-and-the-nba

Sometimes, you have to admit there is a problem, and be willing to take a step back in order to move forward. As the article explains, Tampa Bay over-came some serious handicaps to build a competitive team. They probably cost themselves a few wins 4-5 years ago, in order to have a play-off team today.

Anyone who follows baseball can see the analogy to the Blazers. They are at risk of becoming one of those middle-of-the-pack teams that waste their resources on over-paid and/or injury-prone players, never take a major step forward, and spend their time making excuses instead of meaningful changes.

I follow baseball (Go Giants!) and I follow the Blazers, and I honestly do not see the correlation.

Baseball has no salary cap and it is also easier to build through the draft. And if you do screw up on a few players you have lots of other draft picks to compensate with. The NBA is star driven. If you screw up on one player it will cost you. And startiing over like Tamba Bay did would takes years. And what happens if the players you got when you started over got MULTIPLE KNEE INJURIES. Then it was all for nothing. This is basketball and one injury is brutal. Gambling on a player is risky.

Aside from all of that being negative does not help improve a team. We all know when our team has a problem. Pointing it out over and over and over does not fix it. It just annoys the fuck out of the rest of us. That doesn't mean we should never bring soemthing up that we disagree with, it just means that some fans need to get over themselves and post something interesting instead of sounding like a whinny old bitch.

Your post btw was interesting. Good job!

 

[e_blazer]

I think that one of the quirkier aspects of this board is this whole issue of optimist vs pessimist, realist vs. homer or however you personally want to characterize the dichotomy. It seems to creep into almost every discussion that we have around here. I just think it's rather odd that some people seem to think that if you're optimistic about the team's future, you're a hopeless homer. I think it's equally strange that if some people strong express reservations about the direction that the team is going, certain people don't consider them to be fans. Although I probably fall more into the first camp than the second, I don't doubt that others who may have a more jaundiced view of the team still want the Blazers to do well. Just a difference in personalities, I suppose.

Now, MIXUM gets a whole separate category all to himself and whatever other personnas he has bouncing around in his head.

 

[tlongII]

I think it's perfectly cool to want and hope for certain changes. That's the analytical part of being a fan...trying to understand where the team is and where it can improve.

But I think where this goes wrong is that you are not actually the franchise or the front office. None of us are. We can't make those changes. So we can analyze and provide our opinions on what should change...after that, why not just relax and enjoy watching basketball and discussing basketball?

I'm not saying that you, specifically, do or don't. I just get a sense that some fans feel it's almost incumbent upon them to not enjoy things to show that they understand that only championships matter. I don't really understand that mentality. I think, as a strategy, a team should do whatever it can to maximize the chances for winning a title (which generally means erring on the side of taking greater risks for greater upside), but I just want to enjoy watching games. Because I'm not the one who can make the decisions.

In the Nash/Patterson years, I was pretty harshly critical of the team. Because I thought they made terrible decisions. But I still enjoyed watching the games. You can do both. And, to be honest, the actual records of the team the last few years don't justify "harsh criticism." Some criticism? Sure. They've been far from perfect. But there's been more to enjoy in the watching than not, and much much more to enjoy than during the Nash/Patterson years.

I went to so many games during the PatterNash years it was ridiculous! You couldn't give the tickets away! I was getting lower level tickets for free at work and I even sat courtside a couple times.

 

[Minstrel]

I went to so many games during the PatterNash years it was ridiculous! You couldn't give the tickets away! I was getting lower level tickets for free at work and I even sat courtside a couple times.

Wow. I wish I had been in Portland and able to take advantage of that...just going to the games is a lot of fun, even if the team isn't great. And there's always something to appreciate...a nice Telfair pass or one of those pure Webster shots that made people overrate his actual shooting ability.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Here's a fundamental contradiction for you: personally, my frustration/anger is born of not being pessimistic enough!

If I really believed the team just sucked, then I wouldn't get upset when they get mugged at home by the Hawks and Rockets. OTOH, I couldn't enjoy the victories over Orlando and Miami, because I would see them as just "flukes" that the team didn't earn/deserve.

At the end of the Mo/beginning of the Nate era, my loyalty wasn't tested because the team was just plain bad. I could accept that.

Now, if I could just convince them to always play with the energy, poise, and teamwork they showed against Miami - my problems would be solved!

 

[HailBlazers]

I think that one of the quirkier aspects of this board is this whole issue of optimist vs pessimist, realist vs. homer or however you personally want to characterize the dichotomy. It seems to creep into almost every discussion that we have around here. I just think it's rather odd that some people seem to think that if you're optimistic about the team's future, you're a hopeless homer. I think it's equally strange that if some people strong express reservations about the direction that the team is going, certain people don't consider them to be fans. Although I probably fall more into the first camp than the second, I don't doubt that others who may have a more jaundiced view of the team still want the Blazers to do well. Just a difference in personalities, I suppose.

Hilariously True.

I went to so many games during the PatterNash years it was ridiculous! You couldn't give the tickets away! I was getting lower level tickets for free at work and I even sat courtside a couple times.

I know exactly what your saying (free work tickets)!, but believe it or not I would roll up to the RG, scalp the ticket's off like a drive through, and go have myself a very nice dinner. Worked pretty well when your club level tickets had the value written right on them, definitely helped with the negotiating.

It wasn't until Brandon Roy came along that I chose to never pawn Blazer tickets again!

 

[Weav]

When you have hope you see clips like this and they make you think 'what can be' instead of 'what could have been':



RIP CITY!

 

[mgb]

Look, I get why people want to look on the bright side, but that isn't the only way to approach things.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/26162/the-extra-2-and-the-nba

Sometimes, you have to admit there is a problem, and be willing to take a step back in order to move forward. As the article explains, Tampa Bay over-came some serious handicaps to build a competitive team. They probably cost themselves a few wins 4-5 years ago, in order to have a play-off team today.

Anyone who follows baseball can see the analogy to the Blazers. They are at risk of becoming one of those middle-of-the-pack teams that waste their resources on over-paid and/or injury-prone players, never take a major step forward, and spend their time making excuses instead of meaningful changes.

We already did the rebuild stage and loss games in doing so. I just think it's a bit premature to pull the plug or make any to drastic moves yet.

 

[BlayZa]

very interesting, but i have it on good authority that due to our schedule over the last month or so that our season is actually over already.

you may have not been aware of this, but i appreciate your effort regardless.

 

[MickZagger]

I, along with most others on this board and other board, have fallen into the "super fan/expert" trap of wanting to be right on the internet more than to just enjoy what I am watching.

Since I've changed that perspective into me now being content with things that I can't control regarding the team, I find that it is a much more enjoyable experience.

Instead of bitching about Miller, I now accept his flaws, but instead of dwelling on them every day, I can now appreciate his strengths.

Same goes with Matthews, and while I feel he is largely overrated for the most part, I do appreciate the effort he brings, and now that the roster is more complete, we get to see him play more to his strengths.

When the blazers lose, I just don't get upset any more, because there is always another game, or always another season.

And so on...

Did you start smoking pot?

 

[MickZagger]

I've heard so many 'fans' on The Game say "we're not excited about a win in Miami because this team will let us down", "Our upcoming schedule is too tough, we'll be lucky to get into the eighth spot", "Greg will NEVER play any meaningingful time EVER again, cut him", "Roy's knees are shot, trade him for Darren Williams" and "There is no way we win a first round series at all, we got lucky against the Spurs and Heat"...I just don't get it! The human experience is about experiencing highs and lows, so roll with it. I love the high I'm on now from this game and yeah, I think we can beat the world right now. Also, I expect some lows and they come and go. Basically, an optimistic fan always has hope, and I like hope!!! Roy will return to > 80% of his former self, LA will be an MVP (someday) and Greg will be an all-star! Ride the Blazer wave!

A pessimistic fan thinks the sky is falling and assumes the worst will always happen. What kind of miserable fuck just waits for his 'favorite' team to fail just so they can call a sports talk station to tell them "I knew this would happen..." pathetic. Ride the wave, Blazer fans...love the highs, hate the lows and don't think about it too much.

RIP CITY!

I liked this post. Kind of like a Blazer fan State of the Union.

 

[STOMP]

Look, I get why people want to look on the bright side, but that isn't the only way to approach things.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/26162/the-extra-2-and-the-nba

Sometimes, you have to admit there is a problem, and be willing to take a step back in order to move forward. As the article explains, Tampa Bay over-came some serious handicaps to build a competitive team. They probably cost themselves a few wins 4-5 years ago, in order to have a play-off team today.

Anyone who follows baseball can see the analogy to the Blazers. They are at risk of becoming one of those middle-of-the-pack teams that waste their resources on over-paid and/or injury-prone players, never take a major step forward, and spend their time making excuses instead of meaningful changes.

other then the unfortunate spilt milk that is Brandon Roy and his max deal, I really don't agree that they're in this position. Despite enduring waves of injuries, Portland has been an above the middle of the pack team for a few years now and with LA beasting and all of 25 years old, they have a hell of a player to build around... one of those rare superstars your link mentions that are so important for a team to have if they're to contend. I don't think Nic or Wesley have peaked at 22 & 23 years old respectively, and their games fit really well beside him too. Are any of those 3 overpaid and/or injury prone?

Two offseasons from now they'll be at the contractual crossroads with Rudy & Batum. I expect RF to head home to Spain and NB to be resigned. Miller & Camby will also be up contractually and may be done... but like JPEC was turned into a valuable piece, AMEC & MCEC might be as well. They've draft picks, a very promising athlete in Elliot Williams (please don't try to sell that two bad knees BS again), and of course PA's wallet to help facilitate getting the right pieces to put around LA. In the meantime we'll just have to put up with having a deep talented and healthy team heading into the playoffs

Instead of just random pessimism, whats your idea of the steps backwards they should do to make a "major step forward"? Package LA & Roy for expiring contracts & draft picks?

STOMP