Have you been a witness?

by Blazer on Aug 7, 2007 3:52 AM PDT

Lately I have been seeing and hearing a lot of buzz around the Blazers, and rightfully so. So much of it that is has caught the attention of a very VERY picky sports fan in my family, my father-in-law.

He is purely a college basketball fan. He cant stand the way the NBA overpays the players and you end up getting a buch of crybabies never playing to their full potential.

And I agree with him.

However. With all the publicity around our team this year, and the stories that are comming out of the woodwork about the caliber players we are recruiting on our team, I am seeing more talk out of my father-in-law about how he loves this Oden kid. How he cant wait to see what Oden is able to do. Its as if the "mania" is starting to grab hold of him. You can tell in the way he talks about the Blazers now, this long time Laker fan is starting to turn.

Thats right, a Laker fan becoming a Blazer fan. And not just a Blazer fan, but a possible NBA basketball fan again. Something he hasnt been a fan of in at least 8-9 years.

Is this a sign of the times? Have you been a witness to similar changes? If so, who are they, and whats their back story? What makes this persons transformation so unique?

Its a great time to be a Blazer fan!

Tweet Comment 9 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

The women in my life

You know the kind, the ladies who do not go online or the local paper to read the sports headlines first.

They can best be described as the "casual" fans, they do not fit the dreaded typcast "Band Waggoners".

At work I see them glancing at the sports page. They don't even pretend to know that much, but they do know one thing; They like this young kid Oden. They actually ask me "what's new" with the Blazers.

At social events, the ladies now add a comment or two to any Blazer conversation. Unheard of (except for the dreaded typcast "J.B. Zer" in recent past) in last 6-8 years.

Mt wife, she absolutely, positively "cannot wait" for the season to start. She listens to (nearly) all of my exited latest summaries of our guys current story lines. I see her stop and watch the sports section of the local news when "Blazers" are mentioned.

It's the very, very casual women fans, who are now starting to throw thier support this way. This only adds more fuel to an already burning (not Red Hot yet by any imagination) love affair.

P.S. The women are more tolerant of the learning curve and waiting for rewards period that lies ahead. Thus keeping the men more willing to be patient. I mean c'mon, if we can talk Blazers AND keep the ladies interested in what we have to say? (ie: we look smart and have something interesting to say when we open our mouths)

Sports talk, no wait even better, Blazer talk. Does is get any better when it comes to conversing with the fairer sex?

A sign of the times they are changing for the better to be sure! This I have witnessed.

The Oden Era, Day 40

by Heymoe on Aug 7, 2007 7:25 AM PDT reply actions

dude

when you can get women involved in liking a team.that's not called badwagon,that's called making the next move dude.

by fatty on Aug 7, 2007 9:37 AM PDT up reply actions

Hah

Home opener, two 100 level tickets that I'm buying... :) She'll be wearing my Blazers jersey.

ROTUNDITYDOTNET

by damir on Aug 7, 2007 12:46 PM PDT up reply actions

thats called a little slice of heaven

oh yeah when the women get involved...its lovely

if it can be conceived it can be achieved

by lyfefindsaway on Aug 8, 2007 1:18 AM PDT up reply actions

agreed

My fiance escorts me to the games...most of the time. She is also a casual fan. She was rooting for Roy for ROY, sad when Ray Allen was traded (she grew up in Seattle), happy Zach was traded, etc... But ever since they drafted Oden, she has become more excited and knowledgeable about the Blazers. She is excited for the season to start, and recently even asked me who I thought should start at point guard. She said, "The blazers should trade for Steve Nash...because what's the point in being 2nd." Never in the 5+years we have been together has she been so adamant about the Blazers.

by clonigro on Aug 7, 2007 3:28 PM PDT up reply actions

Help. I'm confused

And I have no idea how to reply to this.

by ladygonegrey on Aug 8, 2007 1:07 AM PDT up reply actions

Almost forgot.

The Oden Era, Day 41

by Heymoe on Aug 7, 2007 7:27 AM PDT reply actions

why should

i be a witness,i've never left like a lot of so called fans.i was there during those sorry a** nights in april between 04-07.so this does not apply to myself personally.

by fatty on Aug 7, 2007 9:35 AM PDT reply actions

My stepfather is like that...

I've always been the hardcore blazer fan, but for years if I mentioned something to him about the Blazers, he would talk about Rasheed, or Bonzi, or Zach, or whoever, doing something bad. To him character matters more than to me. I mean, I like having good guys on the team, but I loved that '99 team with J.R. Rider too. But he just can't help bringing up and disparaging the off the court stuff the Blazer players do when I bring up the Blazers, so I have sort of refrained from doing that. Even last year, when I would bring up Roy and Aldridge, he'd be talking about Zach's sexual assault case. But right after we won the lottery, I called him up and he was excited. This was before the Zach trade. Since then, if I talk Blazers with him, it's actually about basketball. Now that Zach is gone as well, I'm sure that will continue, but it seems like he just wanted the team to have some luck. For years, we fans have been kind of unlucky with what's been going on with the Blazers, and that seems to be changing now.

by ranma on Aug 7, 2007 11:03 AM PDT reply actions