An inconvenient truth (about the Blazers)

by DropstepJ on Jan 2, 2007 6:06 PM PST

I was talking to my father today, who watched all 48 min of the debacle at the Rose Garden last night. After I finished ranting about the lack of energy and cohesion from this young team he pointed out what no one else had even eluded to...THEY WERE HUNG OVER!!
They were home for New Years Eve, young, loaded and ready to throw down. Zach Randolph 9 points? Huh, wonder why that is?
How about three bottles of Crystal.
All Nate could say was that the team looked "lethargic".
Yeah, real lethergic. If they were feeling anything like I was feeling then this loss is completely forgivable, because I had a severe case of assoncouchitis.
Lethargic.....funny stuff.

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Yeah, "lethargic"...

With my buddy Mike at the game, in the 300's - this is exactly what we thought - but it seemed to be a hangover phenomenon over the entire Rose Garden.

Only 8 Blazer Dancers? (mind you, 8 of these ladies is still awesome!)

In addition to the "lethargic" Blazers, Sea Bass seemed off -was he at Zach's crib with the Crystal, too?

The T-shirt frenzy was less than frenzied.

No crazy-a#$ dunks from Blaze before the fourth - he even missed his first behind the back, half-court shot. Was Blaze at Zach's crib too? Big pimp hat with a feather, bottle of Crystal and a schwaggy ol' baggie of cat nip?

The entire crowd seemed in a hangover haze - of course, some performance on the court would have snapped everybody out of their funk, I am sure...

Ball Don't Lie

by bothteamsplayedhard on Jan 3, 2007 7:18 AM PST reply actions

Athletes partying too much...

... is a common problem in all of pro sports. (And amateur sports as well).

As alcohol ain't a banned substance, either by the NBA or by the law, there isn't much to be done if certain members of the team decided to celebrate New Year in style (Bode Miller style, that is). An exception exists for MWeb, who has yet to turn 21...but he was one of the few Blazers who played well against the Celtics.

The good news, I suppose, is that this is hardly a Blazer-specific problem. Jocks getting blitzed the night before the big game happens all the time.

If there was too much partying going on, at least they all had enough sense to keep it off the streets. Of course, we'll likely not know for sure what transpired (and I'm sure much transpires 'round the league that we never hear about).

by EngineerScotty on Jan 3, 2007 9:27 AM PST reply actions

Agreed - not a "big deal,"

but as hungover as I have ever been, I have always reported to work ready to do my job. Should we not expect the same from our Blazers?

Drink as much Crystal as you can afford (that means alot), but get some buckets, and grab those boards.

Ball Don't Lie

by bothteamsplayedhard on Jan 3, 2007 9:35 AM PST up reply actions

We should.

The problem is--the Blazers aren't good enough to play with hangovers and win. The sign of a true superstar is that he can get drunk as a skunk the night before, have a five-alarm hangover, miss practice, get fined---and still kick your a$$ when the ball is tossed in the air.

Many star athletes do just that; in most cases, you don't know about it. From Ruth to Namath to Miller--partying hard is simply part of the gig. And not just for players but for coaches too; until his wife died a few years ago, Utah's Jerry Sloan was a notorious party animal (and one who can still probably drink any two of his players under the table, including the guy named "boozer").

This could be a motivational technique for the guys: Play harder, get that record above .500, and nobody will care what you drink. (Assuming it doesn't cause you to do something that gets you in trouble with the law, or otherwise subjects you to extreme embarassment...)

by EngineerScotty on Jan 3, 2007 9:48 AM PST up reply actions

what the hell is

to get hungover in mayberry
(pdx) usa are you guys
serious i could understand
if this was the apple or lax
but cowtown usa i really believe
you guys are really grasping
for straws...

by fatty on Jan 3, 2007 2:56 PM PST reply actions

Uhm

I can tolerate you not liking the Blazers, but now you are dissing Portland, and that's just stepping over the line. Keep your bullshit to yourself, because no you are making me mad.

ROTUNDITYDOTNET

by damir on Jan 3, 2007 3:22 PM PST up reply actions

Portland has many fine establishments for getting

hung over. Getting drunk is not something which is restricted to cosmipolitan places like New York--hell, getting drunk in NYC is *expensive*. (At least in Manhattan...)

If you go to the tiniest one-horse town in the backwoods of Eastern Oregon or some other place like that; I can guarantee you that one of the establishments that will be found is a place where the local sh*t-kickers can get sh*tfaced.

Of course, those with League Pass and a 7-11 within stumbling distance, can get perfectly wasted from the comfort of their La-z-boy.

What's it with you, fatty? You've been rather obnoxious lately...

by EngineerScotty on Jan 3, 2007 3:53 PM PST up reply actions

no you guys don't get

what i mean there's nothing
in portland to get drunk
over unless it's about this
sorry a### team in town so
i can understand why you guys
got drunk also for my money
vancouver,b.c. is a great
city to get wasted and
the woman are easy i love
the p.n.west love it and
damir why don't you pick me
up at pdx on the 3/28 and
party with the hansdsome 1....

by fatty on Jan 3, 2007 10:00 PM PST reply actions

No matter where you live...

...there's always a reason to get drunk.

And the great thing about sports is... win or lose, it's a great excuse. Win the championship? Celebrate! Your favorite team sucks? Drown your sorrows in this pitcher of amber nectar.

And we've got some of the best beer in any place not called Germany.

BC's a nice place, especially the Chinese food down in Richmond. As I'm married, I can't comment on your other observation concerning Vancouver. :)

by EngineerScotty on Jan 4, 2007 9:25 AM PST up reply actions