so I will treat it as such.  Zach did some stupid things while he was here, but I didn't particular care about some of the more memorable stuff he did.  For instance the infamous Strippergate.  That didn't really bother me, I mean, I thought he was a moron but it didn't make me root for him less.  We've all blown off a day of work to do something different, or at least I have.

The stuff that did bother me was where Zach's actions negatively impacted other people.  Reckless driving and firing guns is not just Zach being a moron.  It's dangerous. Even if its not Zach doing it, he is responsible for what his boys do.  Someone could end up dead.  That was the kind of stuff that soured me on Zach.

I liked Zach. I wasn't bothered by alot of the stuff he did. He made some dumb decisions that I obviously don't support or agree with, but when you took a step back and looked at him, he seemed like a good nice guy. He wasn't some punk jerk.

I would take 12 zbo's or 12 dmiles. A guy who quits on the team. I would never want someone like that.

I would always prefer players who seem like role model people, like Roy seems, Wade seems that way, and alot of athletes are that way. But not everybody is, that's just the way it is. There are some things that would prevent me from rooting for a player no matter what.

Alot of rape issues I don't pay attention to, because I feel most the time the woman is simply trying to get money (i.e. I believe this about Kobe, and Zbo last summer)

Also, I'd rather have a team of 12 Roy like guys, who are only average or good, maybe a playoff round or 2, over a championship with 12 jerks.

One of my pet peeves is when fans say things such as "WE lost again" or "How are WE doing?" to which I want to ask, "How long have YOU been on the team?"

But the fact is, psychologically, when we root for teams we identify with them and they, on some level, become a part of us. Given that, how can anybody with self pride root for a bunch of bad characters simply because they're winning?

It's always been important to me to not only win, but to win right. I've always found dishonest victories to be hollow victories and having a team of bad apples flirts with that hollowness.

In the end, it depends on how bad the thing is that they're accused of doing. If they're doing something I could see myself doing (or doing at that age) then I can roll with it. I'm no angel, but on the other hand I've never been arrested or subject to a police investigation. Of course I've also never been a young multi-millionaire member of the ethnic minority in Portland either.

In the end, the character of the players does matter. You should have a team you can talk up to non-believers and bring them into the fold. You should have a team that you can share with children. You should be lucky enough to have a team like the Blazers have now become.

my 3 nephews look at me as their role*model,reason i work hard,take care them,and make sure they're happy.did i want to raise them on my own at i.st hell's no,but with my brother gone and their mom suffering from breast cancer at the time,my mom convinced me to raise them.that said i'll do zbo 1.st,he's seriously looking at a mansion about 10 minutes from my house.when he told reporters he want's to live in the country,and matthewc can agree with this 1.j.canzano article came to my mind about zbo's neighbors.i started laughing out loud.the knicks and rangers live up here in westchester county,miles outside the city.so zbo welcome to the neighborhood.and of course the old saying,you can take the boy out of the ghetto,but you can't take the ghetto out of the boy.he'll never change he'll just get away with it in nyc. and now for c.benoit,belive it or not more than 70% of the no-life wwe fans support c.benoit.why because they have no lives most of them.like the wwe itself the fans are making excuses for these guys.it's called no self esteem,i've been to wwe events and most of the fans are fat overwieght people with no lives,no social skills,and the others are outcast people or men*women who are over 30 and still think they're in high school. bottom line benoit was a sicko who if he was'nt a coward by taking his own life,america woul've loved to see him get a hangin..as for zbo he's a follower not a criminal,and needs to grow up and leave his buddies home in marion.just grow up zbo.

Character and Integrity doesn't mean a concern never arises.  In fact those attributes do not come to the fore until a concern arises.  Once a cup is shaken, then we all see what is inside.

If someone begins with excuses (like saying he was just following the crowd) then we don't need that person on our team or in our community.  If someone begins with ownership of their actions, then they are on the pathway to maturity.

i totally agree with you dude !!!!

it seems to be more and more important for me to be able to respect the players that I put so much energy into rooting for. When Whitsett's experiments first started going awry, I was pretty tolerant. I figured why should the players be held to higher standards than the rest of society. The team had some strong positive character (Sabonis, Pippen, Steve Smith, Brian Grant etc.) to balance the negative, their on court chemistry seemed good, and they were winning. As time went by they became too heavily weighted towards the negative. I started to become embarrased of my team, and became acutely aware that for alot of the nation, the "Jail Blazers" was all that people knew about Portland. I realized that we deserved a team that exhibited a strong moral character that was in line with what I feel is the predominant character of Portlanders and Oregonians in general.
 As far as the pot issue, I have expressed my feelings on this issue a couple of times on this site. In short, I suspect that there are quite a few NBA players that smoke, just as there are millions of Americans that imbibe, from all economic and cultural backgrounds.  I expect the players that want to do this to do it in moderation, and certainly not on game days, and to do it discretely. That is just my opinion, and I don't think it contradicts my desire for them to match Oregonian's moral character, because some of the most outstanding traits that this state has always held is it's progressive, independent thought, and it's committment to individual liberties.
Now I'm going to possibly open up a can of worms, but I think it's relevant. How confusing must it be for our young people to understand what is the appropriate moral character when we are faced with a government that is exhibiting such corruption, disdain for the law, disregard of honesty as a core value, lack of integrity, and motivation for seemingly nothing but financial gain. Even the debate over these issues leads to devisiveness and name calling, exageration, and lying. All traits not included in a healthy morality. This not only effects young fans, but the newest players coming into the league are a product of these times.
Confusing perhaps, but a solidifying and uniting force for us older fans, and apparently for the "new" Blazers as well.

when no one is looking, according to a very old saying.

Character is also who you are when everyone is looking and making demands of you - in other words, under pressure - which is why character should matter to sports fans.

GMs and organizations who choose to ignore character end up creating "teams" whose players implode under pressure and whose off-the-court actions make their fans ashamed of being fans.

I've been a Blazers fan since Rick Adelman was playing guard for them, and it took the Blazers organization many, many, many years to alienate me, but they finally succeeded three years ago and I simply stopped caring about them. As far as I was concerned, the Blazers were just a collection of knuckleheads, morons, and malcontents who exemplified everything that was and is wrong with pro athletes nowadays. My family would ask if I was going to watch the Blazers play and I'd shock them by saying "No". I wanted nothing to do with the "team" and the empty seats in the Rose Garden showed that I was not alone.

Thankfully, that is all in the past now. We once again have a real team with talented, hard-working players of which we can be very proud.

Thanks, KP. Thanks, Paul. It's good to be back!

Rip City!

cheer for head cases, malcontents, scalawags, and derelicts, but I do on occasion.  Why do I do this? Because they are good athletes and they help my team to wins (at least in the short term). And because, fans have to play the hand we are dealt.

Except now we have as clean a slate as we are going to get.  I hope the management continues to build this team with high character hires at all positions.

I always defended Zach while he was still a blazer but after "Strippergate," I just felt dirty. Granted the whole thing was ALLEGED, but just having it out there made me feel uncomfortable rooting for and defending him. I never thought he got a fair shake here. As far as his game was concerned I think that his image distorted how we interpreted it. But whatever, he is Isaiah's problem now... I just would have liked to see him stay to at least help us get back to the playoffs

I never got upset with the "jail blazers" teams, and even found their off-court antics amusing. I failed to see how what the guys did in their spare time had any effect on how they played for us (which is the only reason we would ever even know who they were in the first place). Their indescretions were their buisiness and had little effect on how I rooted for them. They were troublemakers off the court, but winners on it. They still got to the playoffs every season and even came within one quarter of the finals, which is pretty darn good in my book.

However, even though I will defend the "Jail Blazers," I must say that I feel much better rooting for this current incarnation of the team. The "new culutre" is indeed just that and I can't wait to see where the OAR core takes us

Screw ups such as J.R. Rider or Zach are frustrating for me as a fan.
But weedin' and wildin' aren't the only ways to show a lack of values.
Suffice it to say I will never root for or think well of Greg Anthony or Spencer Hawes.

is the best group of guys europeans can root for. america especially the bandwagon fans which makes up 95% of all nba fans.you don't have to look no farther than blazers.com since the lottery.you can't even get into the sire.anyway the spurs are the team we're trying to emulate and roy,aldridge, and treebeard are the perfect antidote for success .so jumbo you should become a pacers fan,or a nfl fan.we should fire stern and hire r.goddell,what a commissoner.boy the nba bandwagon fans would love that.san antonio oozes nothing but class and elegance.