What Needs To Be Said (with poll)

by jscot on Oct 9, 2008 8:52 AM PDT

On 11th October 2007, after our first preseason game, I wrote, Game One -- What Need To Be Said. I was right back then, and it needed to be said. And it needed to be said for our first preseason game this year, too. I was right, and my being right continues.

On 13th October 2007, after our second preseason game, I wrote, Game Two -- What Needs To Be Said. I was right back then, and it needed to be said. And it needed to be said for our first preseason game this year, too. I was right, and my being right continues.

So what? Well, just this.

On 26th October 2007, in a predictions thread, I predicted 39 wins. I was wrong. We got 41. Pessimism gets me every time. Everyone around here knows I suffer from pessimism. That's why I'm only going to rule the world, rather than the solar system (at least) -- simply pessimism. There's really nothing holding me back from a higher standard.

So what do old predictions have to do with anything? Well, simply this. The guy who nails the preseason (that's me, in case you couldn't figure it out) is right, but slightly pessimistic about the regular season. And this year, I'm predicting 55 wins. So, adding a 5% "pessimism" adjustment to the number of wins, we might be looking at 58. Get your bets in early and often -- it's probably safer than the stock market.

If you get rich, I'm not asking for a percentage. When I rule the world, it won't matter.

This sterling analysis brought to you by the jscot for world ruler campaign. I'm jscot, and I approve this message.

Poll

How do you feel about jscot's predictions in this post?

I agree with everything

4 votes

I can't disagree with anything

3 votes

I don't know, but I know it is always safer to agree with jscot

10 votes

I can't answer until I ask jscot how I'm supposed to feel about it

8 votes

I'm glad preseason is here, but if the regular season doesn't come soon, I'll be so desperate I'd even vote for jscot

21 votes

46 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 54 comments

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Comments

isn't this kind of asinine?

perhaps insipid too

I must admit, watching the Dow tank 500 points on Monday felt something like fun. All those dazed and confused investment bankers walking out of the Lehman Brothers offices with plants in their hands, scared about their future, not knowing how they're going to make rent on their $2,700 studio apartments--it was pretty freakin' sweet. These are the people who are happy to live in the Matrix and go along with the plan.

by bilingual octopus on Oct 9, 2008 8:55 AM PDT 0 recs

Those a crazy words. My head hurts

I'm a really really ridiculously good looking orange mocha frappaccino drinking manhammer sandwich

by hobobob on Oct 9, 2008 9:30 AM PDT up 0 recs

I can't answer

until I ask jscot how I’m supposed to feel about it.

Oh.

Um.

Yeah, I forgot.

He tells me to write: I’m glad preseason is here, but if the regular season doesn’t come soon, I’ll be so desperate I’d even write asinine and insipid stuff on Blazers Edge.

The most amazing thing about my amazing ego is I have amazingly little about which to be egotistical.
The pick and roll this year will emphasize "roll" followed by "dunk", followed by the wailings and lamentations of your women.

by jscot on Oct 9, 2008 9:33 AM PDT up 0 recs

ha ha ha

jocularity abounds on dear old Blazers Edge.

We cannot put up with this flagrant lack of accountability anymore.

by MT Suit on Oct 9, 2008 11:05 AM PDT up 0 recs

62 Wins

Didn’t the Blazers go undefeated in the preseason after they got Kemp?

Blazers Edge has an alarmist vision

by tominhawaii on Oct 9, 2008 9:08 AM PDT 0 recs

Undefeated...

…with the ladies…

(imagine the annoying copy guy voice or the ‘O Face’ guy from Office space saying that – then it works)

by DonkeyShins on Oct 9, 2008 9:44 AM PDT up 0 recs

Nice

Blazers Edge has an alarmist vision

by tominhawaii on Oct 9, 2008 9:47 AM PDT up 0 recs

The absolute, only, singular interesting thing about prediction threads...

is going back to look at them after the fact. Where is the official prediction thread for this year that will be safeguarded and time vaulted until next fall?

That said, there were some predictions closer than yours. : )

And no, I wasn’t closer. Of course I don’t have enough sense to predict anything further than I will be hungry sometime prior to lunch.

I wish all the talking heads in the sports media would display their accuracy from last year before dishing out another serving of ambiguity.

superfluous

by lukeyhere on Oct 9, 2008 9:14 AM PDT 0 recs

Yeah

I did pretty well on the wins, but some of the other stuff I said was, well, asinine.

Haven’t used that word in a while on BE, but I think it is my new theme word for a while.

by jscot on Oct 9, 2008 9:36 AM PDT up 0 recs

We'll be creating one

I created one for last year and updated half way through the season. I like to wait for preseason to end so it can be an evaluation based on what is seen and known instead of guess work.

I had been predicting between 48-52 wins this season. Like Jscot, i was one off at 42 wins predicted for last season. The year before that I was dead on with my season prediction. Once of the reasons I post a prediction entry so it can be archived. that said, this year… i’m upping my prediction from 48-52 with 48 being the numbered I settled on to 52-58 with 52 being the number I settle on.

This team is going to be amazing when it comes together. We’re going to have some beautiful moments and moments that make us cringe. It’s the nature of youth, but I LOVE this team.

We haven't done anything yet... but don't blink.

by ratbastird on Oct 9, 2008 9:50 AM PDT up 0 recs

Deja Vu: A jscot production of a Nate McMillan film

Again? We won the first game, and lost the second? Again? Didn’t you ask me that before? There is only one conclusion: We will see another 41-41 season. And since I’m also rather pessimistic, this will mean 46 wins.

Odenied: If you're given lemmings—make lemming-ade (Bow4Meow)

by Norsktroll on Oct 9, 2008 9:26 AM PDT 0 recs

I'm so pessimistic that my prediction of 82-0

probably means we’ll win like 7 or 8 million games. Way more pessimistic than you.

On the plus side jscot, if you rule the world, by default, you’ll rule the solar system. As yet, we have opposition to Earth’s dominion of it. That could all change with the Kilng Ons get here, but they come off rude and arrogant in debates, so I’ll probably still vote for you. That is, unless, you get all speciesist on us and start making fun of those wrinkles in their foreheads. If it turns ugly like that, I’ll probably just not vote at all.

I'm a really really ridiculously good looking orange mocha frappaccino drinking manhammer sandwich

by hobobob on Oct 9, 2008 9:33 AM PDT 0 recs

Oh no, I claimed the moon and mars.

Jscot can’t have those.

We haven't done anything yet... but don't blink.

by ratbastird on Oct 9, 2008 9:51 AM PDT up 0 recs

You can have them

Martians? Who cares? Venus might be interesting, though.

by jscot on Oct 9, 2008 9:54 AM PDT up 0 recs

too gassy for me.

We haven't done anything yet... but don't blink.

by ratbastird on Oct 9, 2008 11:24 AM PDT up 0 recs

I find I fit right in.

Word.

by joelor on Oct 9, 2008 12:46 PM PDT up 0 recs

The proper way to call something is to say, "dibs"

merely asserting that you claimed the moon doesn’t mean you get it unless you say “dibs” followed by “on the moon.”

I'm a really really ridiculously good looking orange mocha frappaccino drinking manhammer sandwich

by hobobob on Oct 9, 2008 11:03 AM PDT up 0 recs

i dibbed the moon and mars

Either way, they’re still mine.

We haven't done anything yet... but don't blink.

by ratbastird on Oct 9, 2008 11:25 AM PDT up 0 recs

Good luck

When Ming comes around to collect the rent

by southern oregon on Oct 9, 2008 8:11 PM PDT up 0 recs

Earth dominates the universe?

Perhaps you are only looking at the sunny side of things?

when you’ve been in a dry land even a little dew looks inviting —Dave
"When you want to win a game, you have to teach. When you lose a game, you have to learn." - Tom Landry

by lee3022 on Oct 9, 2008 9:09 PM PDT up 0 recs

1 win.. book it

now thats pessimism

"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcreaft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. [speech at GOP Presidential Convention 1992] Rev. Pat Robertson

by BlazerFan1 on Oct 9, 2008 9:53 AM PDT 0 recs

Ha ha ha

That was HIGH-larious.

You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose.

-- Unknown

by SloppyJoe on Oct 9, 2008 10:11 AM PDT up 0 recs

I read that as "I win"

Being not optimistic is not characteristic for you.

Odenied: If you're given lemmings—make lemming-ade (Bow4Meow)

by Norsktroll on Oct 9, 2008 2:02 PM PDT up 0 recs

but sarcasm is

"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcreaft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. [speech at GOP Presidential Convention 1992] Rev. Pat Robertson

by BlazerFan1 on Oct 9, 2008 4:27 PM PDT up 0 recs

HA!

My response was dead on too.

We haven't done anything yet... but don't blink.

by ratbastird on Oct 9, 2008 10:03 AM PDT 0 recs

jscot

has consistently been one of the most astute contributors to this blog. Although he and I have frequently found ourselves on opposite sides of an argument, his reasoning is always solid and well articulated.

Considering that these qualities have been notably lacking in our current crop of leaders, I hereby endorse jscot in his bid for world ruler. Especially if he promises to appoint me basketball commissioner upon his ascension to power.

And, oh yeah, that 55 win prediction? I think it’s very attainable so long as they avoid significant injuries to Roy, Oden, Aldridge & Fernandez. Especially Brandon. If last night’s game is any barometer, the Blazers look to be a sub-.500 team without him.

by knickfan on Oct 9, 2008 10:14 AM PDT 0 recs

What, then the Knicks win the title every year.

Jscot, this may affect your approval rating with Blazer fans.

I'm a really really ridiculously good looking orange mocha frappaccino drinking manhammer sandwich

by hobobob on Oct 9, 2008 11:05 AM PDT up 0 recs

yeah

some dude above even said the whole fanpost is asinine and insipid. that must really hurt.

We cannot put up with this flagrant lack of accountability anymore.

by MT Suit on Oct 9, 2008 11:07 AM PDT up 0 recs

I like to ignore bigger words in favor of smaller ones. I'm busy (and POTUS shhhhh)

I'm a really really ridiculously good looking orange mocha frappaccino drinking manhammer sandwich

by hobobob on Oct 9, 2008 11:08 AM PDT up 0 recs

Especially hurt

since it was true. I shall never recover.

by jscot on Oct 9, 2008 2:23 PM PDT up 0 recs

My dear hobobob

This was a particularly asinine comment on your part (I’m using that word today, it fits in this thread quite well, don’t you think?).

If I rule the world, and knickfan is commissioner, the Knicks will NOT win the title. Even knickfan would not want the current Knicks to win the title. They aren’t his Knicks. They aren’t worthy of the jersey.

Knickfan, as commissioner, would be delegated by me to oversee the rebuilding of a once great franchise, but it would take time. In four or five years, he would have the great honor of seeing his team take the floor in the NBA Finals against the undefeated defending champion Portland Trailblazers. The Trailblazers, of course, would take the ball, the baskets, and the airways, while the Knicks would be floored, but that’s how it goes.

You have to read knickfan carefully. Of all the fanposts in which he could have referred to me as astute, using solid reasoning, and well articulated, he chose this one. That should set off warning bells in everyone’s mind. I know what he really meant. He compared me to “our current crop of leaders”. Saying that one is better than them is, well, hardly complimentary.

Make no mistake. Knickfan just insulted me. He’s just so sneaky about it that no one else but me noticed it. If you all look carefully, though, what he just said is that I SHOULD be world leader. Kind of a low blow, don’t you think?

…

Will the real season ever start?

by jscot on Oct 9, 2008 2:35 PM PDT up 1 recs

Oh and, do you think an Oden playing 35-40 minutes a game with no Roy would make a 500 team?

Just looking at his stats, it looks like once he’s in shape, he’ll contribute MUCHO MAS (that’s for Rudy and Sergio and Aml1mart). His conditioning is integral to this teams success. I don’t think either games has shown what this teams in store for. Oden’s going to be a MONSTER the likes of which the league hasn’t seen since Shaq-fu and Shaq-zam.

The question wasn’t rhetorical.

I'm a really really ridiculously good looking orange mocha frappaccino drinking manhammer sandwich

by hobobob on Oct 9, 2008 11:07 AM PDT up 0 recs

Yes Oden will make a huge difference even if Trout flops and Roy got hurt

e cannot underestimate the influence of Oden on the effectiveness of everyone behind him. We could probably make it to the playoffs without three or four of our supporting cast so long as Oden stays healthy.

Well, maybe not. I agree that Roy is almost necessary. A lot of that is veteran savvy though, and that is something that the Blazers could obtain in a trade.

The perfect is the enemy of the good.

According to James Kunstler, who writes a well-respected if slightly profane financial blog whose title I cannot repeat here, "The Republicans must be clearly identified as the party that wrecked America... it's hard to imagine the American people giving the clean-up task to the very group that created the mess -- no matter how many cute little faces Sarah Palin can make on TV."

by vavoom on Oct 9, 2008 11:14 AM PDT up 0 recs

so...

you’re trading Roy now?

We haven't done anything yet... but don't blink.

by ratbastird on Oct 9, 2008 11:27 AM PDT up 0 recs

No

What I meant to suggest is that if Roy got hurt we could trade Outlaw or Martell and RLEC for a savvy veteran and that might still be enough to carry us into the Playoffs so long as Oden and Aldridge and Rudy stay healthy.

Don’t forget we have Frye coming back soon and he can play a few minutes at SF too. So the Martell injury is not as devastating as some folks are making it out to be.

The perfect is the enemy of the good.

by vavoom on Oct 9, 2008 3:02 PM PDT up 0 recs

Name that savvy vet for 10!

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/trademachine

Blazers Edge has an alarmist vision and a poet's heart.

by tominhawaii on Oct 9, 2008 4:33 PM PDT up 0 recs

LeBron

LeBron could fight for minutes with Batum, which will probably help both of them develop. Oh also…THE TRADE WORKS.

This is kinda what I was thinking when I heard Gavin on 95.5 demanding that we trade some guys for a veteran that makes us win now….ok great theory…but who’s that guy?

superfluous

by lukeyhere on Oct 10, 2008 7:50 AM PDT up 0 recs

Until I see otherwise

Oden will not carry this team offensively.

Without someone to get him the ball consistently deep in the low block, it just won’t happen. It didn’t happen at Ohio State and won’t happen in the NBA.

A healthy Roy will be integral to Oden’s offensive development. The idea that he would somehow be able to put up Shaq-like numbers singlehandedly is wishful thinking.

Oden couldn’t even carry his college team offensively because he

by knickfan on Oct 9, 2008 11:40 AM PDT up 0 recs

he what?

I never watched in college. I’m going purely off the idea of 13 and 14 points in 20 minutes when he’s tired. I really want to know why he can’t put up serious points. It’s like in chess when you know you’re missing something, but you just can’t see it. that’s what I’m thinking here. I’m missing something, but can’t figure out what.

I’m not saying Roy isn’t integral. Nothing of the sort, but I’m thinking the rest of the team may be better than 500 without him. Maybe…. I wonder.

Oden will

I'm a really really ridiculously good looking orange mocha frappaccino drinking manhammer sandwich

by hobobob on Oct 9, 2008 12:35 PM PDT up 0 recs

Oden Will...

Word.

by joelor on Oct 9, 2008 12:48 PM PDT up 0 recs

yes...

yes he will.

We haven't done anything yet... but don't blink.

by ratbastird on Oct 9, 2008 12:48 PM PDT up 0 recs

The real question is...

what won’t he do?

Word.

by joelor on Oct 9, 2008 1:28 PM PDT up 0 recs

+1

by Griff on Oct 9, 2008 12:38 PM PDT up 0 recs

+1 to knickfan's comment, that is.

by Griff on Oct 9, 2008 12:38 PM PDT up 0 recs

Martell - you omitted Martell

when you’ve been in a dry land even a little dew looks inviting —Dave
"When you want to win a game, you have to teach. When you lose a game, you have to learn." - Tom Landry

by lee3022 on Oct 9, 2008 9:11 PM PDT up 0 recs

Shaq needed K*be

Oden needs Roy.

Only difference is these 2 will go together like peas and carrots,

Not like the oil & vineger the L*kers had to deal with.

What day is it? I know that you know that I know its….

The Oden Era, Day 469

by Heymoe on Oct 9, 2008 8:31 PM PDT 0 recs

you heard it here 2,161st...

82-0.

The magic eight ball says it’s a lock. Book it.

"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car"

by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Oct 9, 2008 9:37 PM PDT 0 recs

oh cut it out

quit making asinine predictions

We cannot put up with this flagrant lack of accountability anymore.

by MT Suit on Oct 10, 2008 11:43 AM PDT up 0 recs

geez...

I’m looking for the comment from you where you said the same thing cuz that means we’re on the same page being goofy and all…

but I’m not finding one, in which case, DANG! Chill out, bubs, thems is jokes, yo, hence the fact that I’m the 2,161st person to say that.

As I’m still not sure if you intended to actually come down on me or if you’re jokin’ too, I’ll clarify my stance on the matter. My prediction remains 50-32.

"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car"

by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Oct 10, 2008 1:23 PM PDT up 0 recs

That's asinine

you forgot the playoffs. 98-0.

by jscot on Oct 11, 2008 12:53 AM PDT up 0 recs

right...

I’ll have to reset my thinking on how this works now and reform my Patriotesque mindset… you know, historically winning out the regular season only to lose when it matters and all.

"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car"

by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Oct 11, 2008 9:18 AM PDT up 0 recs

I can't believe this actually got 50 comments

I blame knickfan.

Will the regular season ever start?

by jscot on Oct 11, 2008 12:54 AM PDT 0 recs

hang in there...

we’re only 17 days away… 17 DAYS!!!

"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car"

by you'vegottomakeyourfreethrows on Oct 11, 2008 9:18 AM PDT up 0 recs

44-49 Wins

Thats all i am going to give the blazers until i see them all with everybody in their right spots giving 100%. we havent seen the full force blazers yet and we dont know how they will work together so 44-49 games is descent prediction for very talented young team

by bowdown on Oct 11, 2008 11:49 AM PDT 0 recs