FanPost

Bye-Bye JailBlazers

Much has been made of the fact in our local rag that now that the Blazers have officially cut ties with Darius Miles, that for the first time in 15 seasons the team does not have a player who has been suspended or arrested.  I have pretty much had enough of the tired discussion about how nasty the Blazers had gotten and dwelling on the various caustic personalities that have graced the home team locker room at the Rose Garden for the past decade.  Similarly, I get annoyed when the national media continues to refer to the "JailBlazers" moniker as if to continually remind those around the nation that doesn't follow the Blazers on a daily basis, that the team is moving in the right direction but hasn't yet turned the corner.  Parting ways with Miles, should (forgive the pun) go miles toward redeeming the Blazers in the eyes of the nation.   But even before the Blazers let Miles go, I came across this line on ESPN:  "The Pacers have become the Cincinnati Bengals of the NBA." (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3289243&type=story)  Take a moment to reflect on this.  While I do feel sorry for the good people of Cincinnati for now owning the title of having most dysfunctional personnel in American sports, it amazed me to see that an NBA team that is similarly personnel challenged is not being compared to the JailBlazers of old, but instead to the Bengals in the NFL.  Bravo to the Blazers management for successfully re-inventing the team that we can feel good about loving again.  It looks like the nation is getting ready to embrace the lovable Blazers too.