I AM FAN

I AM FAN

A FAN I AM

The battle cry from the Die Hard Blazer Fan as told if Dr. Suess were around to witness the future unfold.

I am faced every day with challenges that only a strong willed Blazer fan can withstand.  Of course, I am referring to the residual bad taste that has been left by the last regime.  

Today amidst the fanfare, the hope for the future of the franchise and my own rejoicing, I still hear the sounds of the nay-Sayers.

"What will Portland do to screw it up?"
"What are the Jailblazers up to now?"
"It won't matter, they're gonna move anyway."
"Portland would do better with Baseball."

I thought it was just one individual, but these sentiments plague many.  I can't help but think that this is due to ignorance or just plain lack of interest in the sport.  Painful as this thought might be, there are a great number of people that do not like the NBA.

Fine.  I can live with that.  I'm not a fan of baseball, but you are not going to hear me rip on the Mariners for being mediocre.  You are also not going to see me buy any Seahawks paraphernalia to show my support for a team that I don't watch.  That doesn't mean I don't want them to achieve success, it just means that I'm not going to put a lot of my emotional resources into supporting the team.  So as such, you can consider me a fair weather Seattle fan.  

But what we have in Portland is what I would equate to PTS Syndrome, Post Traumatic Stress.  

The average fair weather Blazer fan has suffered through years of hype, false growth and severe let down.  For the fair weather fan, the Blazer's aren't a team, but an Icon of Community failure.  Through the media, Portland has risen and fallen, in a sensationalized fashion, with the fall compared to that of the great Roman Empire.

To us true, hard working, dedicated fans, we saw the transition coming and prepared ourselves emotionally to handle the decline.  We ignored the extreme media scrutiny and sorted through the bulk of negativity to find the shining beacons of hope that would carry us past the gloomiest of eras.

Now is the time that the tarnish will be wiped away, that the gem known as the Portland Trailblazers again shine in the national spotlight.

But for the fair weather fans, they feel like they've fallen for this hype before.  Flashy trades, false hopes, shady business and bad chemistry have tarnished their perceptions of this franchise.  But what they don't realize is that it wasn't just the franchise that was responsible for this image.  The media had made its impact felt, continuously kicking the franchise while it was down.  

The machine that had perpetuate the image of this franchise through its decline had turned on them the way Brutus turned on Caesar.  The most prominent national icon that the city of Portland had, our beloved franchise, was now the epitome of failure in a league that had once sparked accelerated economic growth in for the city.  

The Blazers, suffering from the collapse of its deteriorated infrastructure now had a new enemy, its once former ally: the media.

The franchise did what it should have done; it turned inward, knowing that it could not take on the only major conduit between organization and Portland's fan base, without repairing the damage it had done to its own infrastructure.  The Blazers finally committed to redefining what Portland Trailblazer basketball was all about.

It wasn't just about winning, or all star players.  It wasn't about a fancy arena or flashy endorsements.  It became about the relationship between the fans, the community and the team. They finally understood that without the heart of the community beating fiercely in support, the team would not rise to the national prominence that it once owned.

What transpired was an epic battle of giants, between our most vocal media outlets and a leadership group that put financial interests ahead of fan interests.  And as the battles ensued, the fans suffered the most collateral damage.

Every move by the executive level of the organization was second guessed by malcontents in the media and spewed into the community for public consumption.

But with every battle, heroes emerged and villains were defined.  This became a conflict where money was not going to be the catalyst that would bring this team back to the community.  It would be the philosophy that the community drives this team and that this team feeds off of this community for support, and together they could achieve more success, than waiting for one or the other to take the lead.

The first step was to bring in Coach Nate, who has shown these young guys how to accept their roles and that as a team they will have a better chance at success, than they would riding in the wake of a star or two.  

Next, GM Pritchard has made it a point to stick to his guns and find guys that will fit into the "Blazer's" team mold and has had the courage to be patient, and not jump at the next big thing.  Choosing longevity over immediate impact, he has assembled a core of young, hardworking, intelligent players that share a common desire to win.  

But even as the detractors, Portland's media, still existed, McMillian and Pritchard's perseverance landed them major success in last year's draft.

Even now, as the one time combatants have agreed that a union of media and merit will bring a much needed revitalization to this city and the franchise, there is still a bubbling contempt between the Blazers and the media.  In time, hopefully, the bygones will slowly begin to fade into memory, and the focus can once again turn to hope and curiosity, rather than defection and failure.

Finally, Paul Allen, the benevolent king of his domain, has allowed himself to fall in love with the franchise again.  But this time, he hasn't alienated the core of Blazer's success, and that is the love of the Portland Fans.  

The Blazers have evolved into the franchise that belongs to the fans in Portland and a team that belongs in the spotlight.  

So implore the fair weather fans that seek the presumed demise, or have pessimistic feelings that there is still incompetence at the highest level of the organization, take the plunge.  Let yourselves be immersed in potential this one last time.  The joy you may feel with the success of this team will last enviably longer, than any discontent, if the team doesn't live up to expectations.  It has been a battle to get to this point, and I hope that you recognize that it was done for you.  Blazer believers such as me have always known that success would return, but the fans that have been disenchanted by the last 10 seasons can hope to find the renewed splendor or watching their team rise from the bottom and strive for the top.