Celebrating the '77 championship

by mcmillion on Apr 5, 2007 9:29 AM PDT Comment 3 comments

In light of Lionel Hollins having his # retired, it brought me to a realization....

It would be nice to come to a point where we aren't celebrating every little bit of that '77 championship. 20 year anniverary, 25 year anniversary, 30 year anniversary, every player's number being retired... and so on. It was a great accomplishment, and something to always hold dear... but now, with all of it's fanfare in Portland, it only reminds me of our futility. We had about 3 or 4 very legitimate chances to win another title, and the team crumbled. Continuing to bring such beloved attention to the '77 title team only serves to remind me of those other blown opportunities.

Let's hope we don't have to celebrate the 40th anniversary of that title team. It was wonderful and served to develop a great culture in Portland... but I don't want that culture to be considered a losing culture.

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I think it's great

and I hope winning another doesn't change the celebrating; it shows the passion and kindness of Portland fans, while celebrating one of the greatest teams/stories in league history. The whole event and the circumstances make it hard not to celebrate.

Oh, Nancy! The Superpan is not magical, it will burn you.

by supremepuntiff on Apr 5, 2007 10:01 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Here's what I wrote in the main-page thread . . .

. . . which absolutely addresses what you're talking about, so I'll repost it here:

"For the 30th anniversary, if this is the last of the 1977 bunch to get it,
and especially if this is just starting to be the time to be
approaching the next one instead of looking back on that last one,
then retiring Lionel's number would be a fitting way to cap off the looking-back-at-77 era.

"Ring this season out with one last what-we-were binge,
then come strong next year, and for many years thereafter,
and don't stop 'til there's another banner in the rafters."

Yeah--I'd like to see this end.
This upcoming 30th anniversary celebration / Hollins retirement would be a good time
to put it to bed, especialy with the next era of competitive Blazers about to begin.

I think it IS time to move on--or at least, it will be, following this one last memorial blast.

(Slightly related note: During the pre-season this past year, after the good draft,
the Joel re-signing, the Ime emergence, and the obvious Darius absence,
I was fantasizing about a regular season home opener gala at the Rose Garden,
where Darius would be bought out to his face as a surprise party,
after which a huge banner reading "JAIL BLAZERS" would be lowered from a crane
and into that flame tower in that dancing-sprinklers thingy outside the Rose Garden,
whereupon it would be incinerated and put to bed for good.
Might be an even better time for it at next season's home opener.)

Tell 'em Large Marge sent ya.

by QualityPie on Apr 5, 2007 1:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Awesome Suggestion!!

"...after which a huge banner reading "JAIL BLAZERS" would be lowered from a crane and into that flame tower in that dancing-sprinklers thingy outside the Rose Garden, whereupon it would be incinerated and put to bed for good."

Love, love, love that idea! Especially after the group of guys we have this year are such 'choir boys' as Mike B. refers to them. I remember reading that Dan Dickau gets so bored on the plane rides cause no one else plays poker on the team too, lol!

I'm not a ZBO hater, but I think if he was traded in the off-season and Miles is bought out or retired, the Blazers management need to do something similar to your idea to thrill the fans who trudged through the Jail Blazers era until now!