You Care A Lot About the Trail Blazers

I think our situation is a little different from most other sports fans...

Being that we’re a one team state, the Blazers are our only real hometown team…which means the local papers are going to give more coverage of them (especially the Oregonian) than any other team, and doesn’t have to split its attention on multiple sports teams like a lot of big markets do.

by lefty6283 on Jul 12, 2008 10:38 PM PDT 0 recs

I've had conversations with non-sports fans who just don't "get it"

To say that the higher the level of fandom equates to a higher likelihood of an ‘empty’ life?

You can be very “busy” and not have time for sports and still be very “empty’.

What the non-sports fan doesn’t understand is how many of our core needs that being a fan meets simultaneousy.

Our need to pursue (winning is never a sure thing) , strategize, bond, celebrate, compete (vicariously), banter and most of all feel as if we are a part of something bigger than ourselves.

Those are some of my reasons. I’m sure there are many, many others.

I'm a little confused by your tactics

by oderiferous emanations 74 on Jul 12, 2008 10:45 PM PDT 0 recs

Very interesting post Ben. Here are my thoughts:

I don’t agree that being a zealous fan absolutely means my overall life is emptier. The rest of his quote hits home for me (I admit to an obsession over strangers who bounce an orange ball for a living). My problem comes when I’m not disciplined enough with my time.

I’m in Sales and I’m paid mostly through commission. I have 3 kids and we have just my income. If I decide to spend 75% of draft day ~~screwing around~~ reading rumors I am choosing to earn less money to support my family. Another example is when I decide to spend 10 minutes here at the end of my business day instead of leaving the office. That is 10 minutes I’m choosing not to be with my kids.

The solution for me is to come here outside of my normal business hours and after the kids are in bed. So If you see me post in the middle of the day PST please tell me to get my butt back to work.

by tweener on Jul 12, 2008 10:48 PM PDT 0 recs

AAAAAHAhahahahaha

dude, you make me feal sooooo guilty

"As long as Yao is in the league, Greg Oden will probably never start in an all-star game, because he doesn’t have 1 Billion people voting for him."
silkybrown

"Just so we're totally clear(, y)ou’re saying you want me to kill Yao, right?"
nightbluefruit

by ptwnblzr on Jul 12, 2008 11:10 PM PDT up 0 recs

to get a little post-modern...

Save joining the PeaceCorp or doing other humanitarian work… how is being obsessively interested in a sports team any more or less absurd than going to work every day, buying things made by people we don’t know (probably in other countries), and everything else about modern life. At least sports gives us a vehicle to feel community with those around us – something very important in a world filled with alienation.

I think the line where obsessiveness crosses into being very unhealthy is when: a) you aren’t able to function in the rest of your life (paying bills, talking to people about things other than sports, etc.); or b) you become over-invested in the players on the team and take actions to become involved in their personal lives that violate privacy and acceptable social norms.

And, on another front, sports provide an outlet to competitiveness that is safe – its not like international affairs and competition between religions and ethnic groups. This isn’t real war. In fact, when you look at sports, it has done marvelous things to bring the world community together.

by wilbjammin on Jul 12, 2008 10:49 PM PDT 3 recs

I the sense of community is what it is all about

The coming together is what is the best in sports and sports fans. How many times have you been walking in a store (or elsewhere) in your Blazer gear and someone sees it and says “Go Blazers” !! In a little way this rooting for strangers is way of connecting with other strangers ….in a great way

Mortimer: "It’ll be so nice I’ll need microfracture—ON MY WEINER."

by 92wastheyear on Jul 12, 2008 11:31 PM PDT up 0 recs

I was eating at Subway the other day just getting ready to bite into my sandwich

when a stranger approaches and asks me where I got my shirt. I happened to be wearing a Blazer’s Edge shirt that I had won. He thought the shirt was great and we talked about the team for a few moments.

I would have never talked to the guy otherwise.

The End

I'm a little confused by your tactics

by oderiferous emanations 74 on Jul 12, 2008 11:42 PM PDT up 0 recs

Couple days before the draft, i was trying to find a used video game...

Happened to be NBA 2K8 and the owner was trying to help me find it and in passing asked me if i had been following the Blazers pre draft. Talked to the owner for 20 minutes about prospects and how they’d fit in and our international development, etc etc etc. 20 minutes!

He didn’t have the game though, so went down the street, where my new friend had told me to check… lo and behold, the owner was a Blazer fan. There goes another 20min of my day. 40 minutes, two new friends i’ll always have something to talk about with. I was smiling for the rest of the day.

My friends and i have been “obsessed” as long as i can remember, and even in the during the bad times, i’ve never felt the Blazers did anything but make my life that much richer.

by fysho31 on Jul 13, 2008 7:08 PM PDT up 0 recs

Rec'd!

Community is the main thing for me. My time is limited durring the day, and the Blazer Community is a fun way to interact with other like-minded people, and still allows me to work and spend time with my family. Family and the work needed to support them are the center of my universe, and that leaves little time or money to establish deep roots in the community. Blazers Edge is an efficient use of my time, and it’s a hoot!

I’d also argue that it’s an indictment of society that virtual communities are more enjoyable, readily accessable, and ultimately safer than the real world.

by Steve The Hedge on Jul 13, 2008 9:47 AM PDT up 0 recs

He's not wrong

Look, we’ve all run into that guy in a bar who’s willing to do bodily harm to anyone who dares to speak ill of his beloved team. When loyalty to a team reaches that level of obsession, it’s probably a safe bet that there’s some kind of overcompensation at work there.

I’m pretty sure that this is the kind of fan that Halberstam was talking about in the quote you cited. I’m less sure that what he said applies to the typical fan who visits Blazers Edge – as well as the other more literate sports blogs – on a consistent basis. I get the feeling that for many of the regulars here, devotion to this blog is more diversion than obsession.

Judging by the many articulate postings I’ve read here, quite a few of the regulars on this site have interests that extend beyond the Blazers and hoops. I’ve read comments/diaries that have referenced politics, history, science, religion, and pop culture – and somehow cleverly manage to couch them all in a basketball context. I don’t think this level of discourse would be possible if most of the visitors here were the kind of fan that Halberstam was talking about.

At least that’s how I’ve rationalized it to myself, anyway…

by knickfan on Jul 12, 2008 10:50 PM PDT 3 recs

knickfan

you are fast becoming my fave blogger on this site.

as far as the post is concerned, DH is largely correct in his assumptions. Obsession is almost by definition an unhealthy trait.

I will say that my life improved exponentially during the time I spent away from blogging. There is no causation there, but rather my life was filled with more meaningful and productive activity during that timeframe that blogging became an afterthought.

Now that I have some free time to devote to this site again, I come to it with a more balanced approach and towards the Blazers and sports in general.

DH’s thesis is strong, but he chose to focus on the negative. What of the average, balanced sports fan that successfully juggles the responsibilities of work and family with his personal pursuits? Why no mention of that?

"Life is a meaningless sequence of events in between Blazer championships"

by broggerboy19 on Jul 13, 2008 1:18 PM PDT up 0 recs

Storytelling

Most of my passions involve some form of storytelling. Video games, or teaching, or watching sports all include opportunities for unique forms of storytelling. The ability to tell stories and to share greater truths through sometimes fictional tales and allegory is one of the most human of all traits—and arguably what makes us truly Human in the first place.

To be a superfan is to acknowledge and recognize and appreciate the stories of sports. One can easily ride the waves of home runs and dunks on a superficial level, but to truly understand how that dunk vindicates Webster as an example of his ability to show a killer instinct, and what that means to the team as a whole during that part of that season, takes dedication.

My point is that, if a life is to not be “empty”, then surely you would want to fill it with other Human endeavors. Those Human endeavors, by the nature of what I believe is most Human about us, will involve some form of storytelling. So if you get your romances and comedies from reading novels or helping at the dog pound, then why can’t I get my dramas and tragedies from watching the playoffs and analyzing summer league statistics?

Kevin Pritchard is a 4.0 Draft Day Student

by rmcdougall on Jul 12, 2008 10:55 PM PDT 2 recs

Nice, rec

"As long as Yao is in the league, Greg Oden will probably never start in an all-star game, because he doesn’t have 1 Billion people voting for him."
silkybrown

"Just so we're totally clear(, y)ou’re saying you want me to kill Yao, right?"
nightbluefruit

by ptwnblzr on Jul 12, 2008 11:06 PM PDT up 0 recs

Good drama...

The other day I was watching one of the summer league games on NBA TV and I notice Aaron Miles playing for one of the squads (I think it was Dallas, but I can’t remember for sure). So I turned to a buddy and told him the story about how two seasons ago The Blazers invited him to training camp but he wasn’t able to pass a physical, tweaked ankle or something, so the next guy we invited instead was Ime Udoka. We all know that Ime not only made our roster that season but started most of our games at small forward. However, since it was just a summer league game, and neither team were the Blazers it was just an interesting story with very little drama. That’s where being a fan of a particular team and becoming emotionally involved comes in. It ads the drama to a game, or a series, or a season that is comprised of a million different stories, and nobody can every really predict how it will all play out. That’s why I keep watching and routing. That’s why I try to find out everything available about my team. My life is not empty. I’d say my life is a healthy balance of family, friends, work, and hobbies. One of those hobbies is the Portland Trailblazers and that hobby I share with my friends and family, and even strangers on the internet. It’s a beautiful thing, far more than a mere distraction.

by MattyDread on Jul 13, 2008 9:46 AM PDT up 0 recs

I think the post directly below yours written by dave

answers this quite emphaticaly. his are not the musings of an empty man.

"As long as Yao is in the league, Greg Oden will probably never start in an all-star game, because he doesn’t have 1 Billion people voting for him."
silkybrown

"Just so we're totally clear(, y)ou’re saying you want me to kill Yao, right?"
nightbluefruit

by ptwnblzr on Jul 12, 2008 11:04 PM PDT 3 recs

precisely

"Life is a meaningless sequence of events in between Blazer championships"

by broggerboy19 on Jul 13, 2008 1:19 PM PDT up 0 recs

Well I'm not the

fan who puts black and red paint all over his body. Has at least one room of the house adorned with Blazers memorabilia and owns at least eight jerseys. I am married (thats probably why) and enjoy my life but probably do spend too much time on this site absorbing Blazers lore. I don’t live in Oregon any more so I cant go to games
(I wish I could though). I did grow up there and my love for the Blazers is ingrained in my DNA. Good or bad they are the only team I am really crazy about. Things are in perspective though, my life is no where near empty and I could certainly survive without them but if anyone ever tried to take them away like what happened to the Sonics…. Well then I would gladly fly down to Oregon and join all the other fans chained to the Rose Garden in protest. We’d shut Portland down holding the city hostage make em call out the National Guard!!!

by lethaldose on Jul 12, 2008 11:18 PM PDT 0 recs

I love David Halberstam's writing but...

I find it kind of ironic an iconic sports writer is writing that sports fans overly interested in their cities franchises have no lives. He has seemed to make quite a living off of all these people with no lives.

I love this city and I love the Blazers, I check up on the latest news every day. I like to go out to parties, go to the movies, beach, play basketball and all that fun stuff. If that is an empty life then I want to know what else there is to life.

by BRoyInThe4th on Jul 12, 2008 11:21 PM PDT 0 recs

I just came back from a party

Suck on that Halberstam! If that is your real name!

/logs onto courtrivals.com

Crap :(

ROTUNDITYDOTNET

by damir on Jul 13, 2008 12:40 AM PDT 0 recs

I tend to question

those who would judge MY life, by standards they set. Who died and made them (insert diety preference here) ? Or to put it as my grandaddy did…”Opinions are like Flatulence Projectors; everyone has one and most of them stink”!

by coastrider on Jul 13, 2008 12:46 AM PDT 0 recs

The hypothesis is interesting

but the level of discourse and intelligence evident here make at least BE the exception. Healing takes many forms for many people.

Those who deal with stressful clients, customers bosses and employees may find distraction here from the weight of those demands. That can be healing.

Those who find their social lives patterned and repetitive may find the freedom to adopt a part of their personality here that differs from other situations. That can be healing.

Those who are in emotional or physical pain (or both) can focus away from the pain while focusing on the team. That can be healing.

This is a complex world with incredible demands and opportunities for learning and personal growth but the information age often projects us faster into this complexity than is healthy (normal chronological processes condensed) and stepping away from the should/should not and musts and judgments of others about our appearance, work, wit, etc while here among a few thousand friends can be healing.

This does not make us shallow people. It is how we choose to invest some of the downtime. Am I obsessive? Yes, of course. Including for the above reasons. Am I aware of my obsessions? Yes I am. They do not deprive anyone in my family as we have launched three find children into their own families and both my wife and I appreciate the solace from an intense life lived fully. I don’t know that I could or would do this 30 years ago when only the sports page and the evening news and the games were available (mostly radio). But we had fun. And if this is not fun now then I would reassess my involvement. If this were not healing now I would reassess my involvement.I assure you it is healing. Thank you.

Aldridge said. "We feel like we can beat any team. We feel like we can beat the Spurs, Suns, Lakers, Mavericks, whoever any night right now, and we'll still be here when those teams get old and their guys retire. We're going to be here for a long time."

by lee3022 on Jul 13, 2008 1:53 AM PDT 1 recs

I think healing

rarely comes from distracting ourselves from the issue. That is not to say that we sometimes need the distraction to keep us from going crazy. As much as I love sports and the Blazers in particular (as evidenced by scouring old posts like this) I do cringe at the thought that seems to be prevelent, if not with the readers of this blog than the country at large, that my team doing well will somehow make loved ones dieing, leaving, whatever bearable. What the HELL…

I am not as well spoken as most that post on this site but I hope you hear what I am getting at. I get sick of the over dramatazation of sports.

Don’t get me wrong I love to play and watch and read and listen and blog sports. I just think that we need to enjoy it for what it is and not try to pretend that it is even close to the most important thing in our lives.

P.S. If it is close to the most important thing in your life then you had better read the article refered to above.

by vullkem116 on Jul 13, 2008 1:52 PM PDT up 0 recs

I take your comments well

because you mean well. You don’t know me of course, nor I you. The most important things in my life are well beyond this blog. Perhaps you might read my comments again to gain the point I was making. I hear your point that it appears too important to some people. I do not disagree but suggest that the venting (over dramatization?) may allow the release of negative emotional energy and I do not take this venting personally. Dave does a marvelous job in dealing with those who go over the top against other members so I am not addressing any of this behavior. I also try not to judge what is in someone else’s life from their comments here.

Healers will tell you that the best anyone can do is to encourage an environment in which we heal ourselves, This is true for emotional, psychological and physical. It does not appear to be true for the spiritual but that is for a different forum. If you call this a distraction perhaps it is. But it can also (note the word “can”) be an assist in healing. Healing is not fixing a problem in our lives. It is repairing the damage from a problem or event. The problem may still need attention to resolve or it may only need time.

Nowhere above have I wanted to imply that sports or fandom is the most important thing in my life or is best to be in anyone’s life. Only that following sports can be healing at times. I have been blessed with a full rich life outside of sports and also have used sports to assist others (youth baseball) in gaining perspective on life itself. It is one vehicle to do so.

Aldridge said. "We feel like we can beat any team. We feel like we can beat the Spurs, Suns, Lakers, Mavericks, whoever any night right now, and we'll still be here when those teams get old and their guys retire. We're going to be here for a long time."

by lee3022 on Jul 13, 2008 4:22 PM PDT up 0 recs

Many of these comments seem to be pointing towards

a general philosophical assertion. There is there is a difference between something you grant importance to and something you look towards to give you importance. The first is a shared expression of wholeness, emanating outwards. The second is a confession of emptiness and lack, sucking inwards. The place you’re coming from will determine not only what you get out of it but also what kind of conversation you have.

I suspect that those sharing and giving of their fullness here are the overwhelming norm, so much so that people who try to drain the community for self-centered gain stick out like a sore thumb. The irony is if you just spend a minute giving you find yourself filled up to the brim.

—Dave

by Dave on Jul 13, 2008 2:14 AM PDT 0 recs

I can´t tell a general philosophical answer to Ben´s question

until I have an answer to the “meaning of the life” question. Actually i have answer almost for nothing (did i say almost?). On the other hand, I like the biological perspective, because seems rational, which could mean that feelings are biological tools developed by some forms of life to survive and spread themselves. Your can say: sex, love, appetite, group sense, pain, passion, fear, etc,etc. They can seem primitive but are very very effective and most or all human cultural products are related to them. It is a very widespread opinion that those tools should be used with measurement. Who knows, but it is what I´ll say to my children.

The Midnight Rambler

by amlmart1 on Jul 13, 2008 3:50 AM PDT up 0 recs

The meaning of life

in a broad “including all living organisms” sense is to reproduce, to add some organization in the face of the chaotic universe. That’s why a virus isn’t alive. It just kinda happens to reproduce accidentally, but it doesn’t actively reproduce like bacteria.

As for human life, the meaning of life is to fulfill your purpose. That of course raises the question of “what is our purpose?” I can’t tell you your purpose though. It’s unique to every individual so you will have to figure it out on your own.

As for sports, I’m a firm believer that a healthy mind can enjoy anything in a healthy way. It’s only an unhealthy mind that gives too much emphasis to sports, and even in those cases if it wasn’t sports, it would be something else.

by Gargen on Jul 13, 2008 3:10 PM PDT up 0 recs

I agree with the importance of personal purpose.

But i wonder about the effect of order and chaos in humans. Keeping apart the concept of a Supreme Being, and considering “Life” has a kind of will, it seems that its goal is to spread itself everywhere. Also seems, and this is the difficult part, chaos is as much important tool to pursue the goal as organization, like death is as important as reproduction. In a perfect order there´s no evolution and life might not progress and give birth to new forms of life, so chaos is needed to destroy, but new forms of life can´t spread themselves without a kind of order, so organization is needed too. The biological laws of order and chaos are extremely visible in humans because we are a extreme form of life, the first form of life that we know has sent life to the space.
We collectively practise extreme forms of order and chaos and we project that duality to all our cultural products, including philosophy, religions, law, nations, arts, politics, etc. We as individuals carry order and chaos inside too. As life has not mercy when follows its purposes, it is important for me that i identify the level of order and chaos in myself and in my life at any time, at least for feeling me rational while they are controlling me. That´s why i can´t give an answer about where other humans should get their lifes.

The Midnight Rambler

by amlmart1 on Jul 13, 2008 4:18 PM PDT up 0 recs

Well reasoned

The reflection of chaos and order within and in nature as well is also reflected in the spiritual side of man as we seek to find order to the chaos and more often create chaos to that order.

So some seek order through sports and find that duality there as well. It might be why Baron Davis is in San Diego to play with Elton Brand and Elton Brand is in Philadelphia instead. I try to see these reflections in the events that transpire rather than attempt to impose my order upon the events. The team does not have to win. But it is enjoyable to watch when they do. The team losing is not the end of order. It is merely a reflection of life with some order and some chaos. Perhaps gradually coming to grips with our own inability to create order are the most useful lessons in life? If so the following of a sports team surely produces a wonderful laboratory for these lessons.

Aldridge said. "We feel like we can beat any team. We feel like we can beat the Spurs, Suns, Lakers, Mavericks, whoever any night right now, and we'll still be here when those teams get old and their guys retire. We're going to be here for a long time."

by lee3022 on Jul 13, 2008 4:39 PM PDT up 0 recs

Well reasoned?

Put the blame on the online translator. I like how you took it to the sport.

The Midnight Rambler

by amlmart1 on Jul 14, 2008 10:39 AM PDT up 0 recs

well said, dave

as usual

"Life is a meaningless sequence of events in between Blazer championships"

by broggerboy19 on Jul 13, 2008 1:21 PM PDT up 0 recs

Lots of good comments

I’ll just add this one.

Most obsessive sports fans aren’t obsessive about the TRAILBLAZERS.

That makes all the difference in the world.

I ~~think~~ ~~hope~~ pretend.

Other people don't have as much practice at being wrong as I do -- HT, timbo

by jscot on Jul 13, 2008 2:43 AM PDT 0 recs

love

Love is what heals. Love is the background for all things. Love can take many shapes and forms. but what is great about love is it will transcend all shape and all form. To become all-encompassing and everlasting. It can start with the love for a sports team. or perhaps the greatest sports team of all time. (ahem.) but that love can flow into all corners of your life. to become who you are. Love in action. My brother just sent to me the picture of B-Roy on the cover of NBA live 09. It gave me chills. Chills of love. Me and him live thousands of miles apart, and yet are brought close through the love we share, which (as indicated by our arms) often takes the shape of love for the most beautiful team. And while it is nice to imagine future glories. The thing to remember is the NOW. We can be in love right NOW with this team. And the more we stay in that love. The more that love become the world entire.

Write it down: rings in 2010. ODEN = BLACK LINCOLN!

by nep4life on Jul 13, 2008 3:30 AM PDT 0 recs

Love is many faceted

But usually used in terms of possessiveness. This is not the love that heals. Healing love is unconditional. With unconditional love we accept events for whatever they are. Love that decrees an outcome may be ego instead, imposing our will over another’s will. For every moment of triumph we feel our opposite number for the other team may feel despair. What is healing is the environment of love. When we are in such an environment and embrace it, we can release that egoistic need to impose our will and enjoy the contest.

However I am appreciative of your pleasure in the team and embrace it wholeheartedly even if I do not call it love.

Aldridge said. "We feel like we can beat any team. We feel like we can beat the Spurs, Suns, Lakers, Mavericks, whoever any night right now, and we'll still be here when those teams get old and their guys retire. We're going to be here for a long time."

by lee3022 on Jul 13, 2008 4:49 PM PDT up 0 recs

A counselor once told me...

(on behalf of a friend) that 180 degrees out from insanity was insanity. If the obsessed sports fan has a problem – and depending on the depth of the obsession it can be argued that they do – then the person who completely devoids his/her life of all outside stimulus from sports can also be said to have a problem.

I think that obsessiveness, not sports, is the real problem. Being overly obsessed with anything, whether sports, politics, religion, or the number 4 can be a sign of mental illness. On the other hand, everyone needs their diversions. Balance is the key.

"I love this game!" -Moonbeam, from 'Rollerball' right before he was knocked into a permanent coma

by -ken on Jul 13, 2008 6:11 AM PDT 1 recs

I think it's at least partially true for me

I think it’s at least partially true for me. I’m about to get a bit personal here so if you aren’t into that move on to the next comment.

Sports has been a welcome distraction for me during the past few years. 4 years ago we had to watch my brother die slowly from a brain tumor. I thought that could possibly be the worst thing anyone should have to live through. Then 15 months ago my brother in law was killed in the Virginia Tech shootings. It was worse. And while I fully agree that sports does not heal those wounds and is a distraction, sometimes you need a distraction. Nothing is healing those wounds except time. If you can rally around something that is enjoyable for you and distracts you from the pain in your life then you should do it. Of course that doesn’t mean you get to completely ignore issues and work for healing in your own life, it just means that it destroys you if all you do is think about the pain and you don’t have anything to distract you from it.

by danielfarrell on Jul 13, 2008 6:54 AM PDT 1 recs

That is so hard to understand why these things happended to your brothers

You & your family will be in our prayers.

by tweener on Jul 13, 2008 9:20 AM PDT up 0 recs

Well said and I am saddened by your losses

and thankful you see also beyond them.

Aldridge said. "We feel like we can beat any team. We feel like we can beat the Spurs, Suns, Lakers, Mavericks, whoever any night right now, and we'll still be here when those teams get old and their guys retire. We're going to be here for a long time."

by lee3022 on Jul 13, 2008 4:52 PM PDT up 0 recs

I think the key to Halberstam's comment

is the phrase “crazed superfan”. I’d like to know how he has defined that. Would he have looked at BE and said we are that? I somehow don’t think so.

I think Ken, the voice of reason, nailed it with his “being overly obsessed with anything…” comment. One can be overly obsessive with just about anything; sports is not the only “guilty party.”

And now, danielfarrell’s personal comment just popped up and I agree with him; you need something to take your mind off of sorrow now and then. But if you are obsessive about it, you are only hindering your recovery.

I’m sure that Halberstam was concerned only about the fans who use sports to ignore reality. Problem at home? Stop off at a sports bar so you don’t have to be at home . Money problems? Solve them all by placing bets on sure things. Don’t want to write that paper that’s due? Go to the game – it’s your only chance to see LeBron in person this season.

"We will do nice things!" - Rudy, 07/01/08

by jorga on Jul 13, 2008 7:05 AM PDT 0 recs

Pursue your passion...

Some people have absolutely no interest in sports yet they go after the interests in their lives with full abandon. I admire those who wring out of life all they can get (as long as they respect others along the way). I am generally drawn to the world of sport because of this very principle. It is filled with people who are striving for excellence. I’m at the age now where my participation in sports is limited but I give much of my time and energy (and money) to that world. Is it the ultimate? No. Could I survive without it? Yes. To the degree that my soul is satisfied with a great play or a new record or a redeeming human interest story, yes…sports can be healing.

As for Halberstam’s comment, he’s just a guy with an opinion.

by Dr Dave on Jul 13, 2008 7:15 AM PDT 0 recs

Passion or Obsession?

I now live in the southeast. All you hear about all day at work, on the radio, and TV is College Sports, Nascar, and Bass Fishing, and Whitetail deer hunting.

Now those people are obsessed!!!! I have actually been told people lose their jobs, get divorced, etc…. for not wanting to watch Nascar! Or the UGA/LSU/UK, etc.. game that weekend, or not thinking bass fishing is the best outdoor sport in the world.

I am a Trailblazers Fan. I have been that way all my life. I watched the 77 championship. I have watched the ups and downs for over 30 years, now. I read, and watch anything and everything about MY team. However, I would not divorce my wife because she could care less. OR change jobs because the boss is a L@ker fan(well maybe) :)

So no, I do not think he is writing about this sight or our team. But there are places and people in this world that need to read that article and then apply it to themselves.

Oh, and I am a new poster, been reading a long time. Decided to get on the band wagon.

Killer instinct. When you have your opponent down, you do not help them up. You step on their throat!!!!!!

by Misplaced Blazermaniac on Jul 13, 2008 7:38 AM PDT 0 recs

"Sports Do Not Build Character

They Reveal It.” (John Wooden)

Ben, your post opened another window on the soul of BE.

In “Rumor of Angels,” Peter Berger wrote about play being a signal of transcendence. The spirit needs play, the freedom to be impractical, to enjoy what isn’t productive. In “Sports in America,” James Michener wrote, “I find competion to be the rule of nature.” Michener survived a tought childhood with a basketball, going on to play that game in college.

"There's something in my library to offend everybody" Washington Coalition Against Censorship

by OBJuan72 on Jul 13, 2008 10:45 AM PDT 0 recs

The way you approach sports reveals it as well.

I think there is a qualitative difference between the fan that wants to understand how the game was played versus the fan who’s only real interest is in the highlight reel and the final score.

And I must admit, the love poems to Brandon Roy that appear here with surprising regularity causes me to avert my eyes and feel just a little embarrassed. But that’s a small thing.

by raoulduke on Jul 13, 2008 11:37 PM PDT up 0 recs

One of my favorite quotes is on this topic

It is by Roger Angell, one of the greater baseball writers of all time. It reads:

“It is foolish and childish, on the face of it, to affiliate ourselves with anything so insignificant and patently contrived and commercially exploitive as a professional sports team, and the amused superiority and icy scorn that the non-fan directs at the sports nut (I know this look - I know it by heart) is understandable and almost unanswerable. Almost. What is left out of this calculation, it seems to me, is the business of caring - caring deeply and passionately, really caring - which is a capacity or an emotion that has almost gone out of our lives. And so it seems possible that we have come to a time when it no longer matters so much what the caring is about, how frail or foolish is the object of that concern, as long as the feeling itself can be saved. Naivete - the infantile and ignoble joy that sends a grown man or woman to dancing and shouting with joy in the middle of the night over the haphazardous flight of a distant ball—seems a small price to pay for such a gift.”

We love the Blazers because they make us happy. I don’t see how this can signify an “empty” life.

by SteveScheffler on Jul 13, 2008 11:20 AM PDT 0 recs

I think it's ironic that this was posted at 10 PM on a Sat night

That was the absolute worst time to post this. Think about the people who decided not to do anything social on this Sat night and were maybe feeling a little bored or maybe just a tiny bit “empty”. Then they get the urge to check out this blog and they come here only to find that someone else is also telling them they lead an “empty” life.

While I disagree with the author and agree with the comments, I can’t help but wonder how many fans were turned off by this post, and thus, promptly turned off their computers.

Both Teams Played Hard
Both Teams Played Hard
Both Teams Played Hard

by Kelsoballa on Jul 13, 2008 11:52 AM PDT 0 recs

Not worried. Sometimes a short term disconnection feeds a long term relation.

The Midnight Rambler

by amlmart1 on Jul 13, 2008 12:20 PM PDT up 0 recs

ironic or intended?

the worst time to post it or the best?

"Honor Terry Porter." Email me with your TP stories and memories.

by Ben. on Jul 13, 2008 12:45 PM PDT up 0 recs

I tend to err to the side of genius

when contemplating your intentions…; )

After all, you may end up getting TP’s # retired and more importantly you have unearthed a photo of KP sporting a full-on Camaro Cut.

"Life is a meaningless sequence of events in between Blazer championships"

by broggerboy19 on Jul 13, 2008 1:31 PM PDT up 0 recs

I they did turn them off perhaps

the article served its purpose? Causing us to think and react sure beats the current horror movie experience imo. Blazer fans still can only get the best from here!

Aldridge said. "We feel like we can beat any team. We feel like we can beat the Spurs, Suns, Lakers, Mavericks, whoever any night right now, and we'll still be here when those teams get old and their guys retire. We're going to be here for a long time."

by lee3022 on Jul 13, 2008 5:01 PM PDT up 0 recs

I'm rather fond of the blazers but...

find time to travel and explore new places
dress as a pirate and raid down town portland
go hiking in the wasatch mountains
play some basketball, baseball, and soccer
cook new dishes
read various books
go to school part time
work full time
tend my garden
go out with friends
run screaming through sprinklers
watch fire works
drive all over SLC
ski
snowboard
pick my nose
massage my girlfriend
take out the garbage
eat ice cream
watch buffy and west wing
finger paint with pudding
and clean out my car.

Ford: Bill, you're claiming victory already? Have you had a "Mission Accomplished" banner printed yet?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/columns/story?page=DraftDebate-080624

by ratbastird on Jul 13, 2008 3:03 PM PDT 0 recs

So what you're saying is that you have a life outside of the Blazers?

I'm a little confused by your tactics

by oderiferous emanations 74 on Jul 13, 2008 4:35 PM PDT up 0 recs

I was worried about him

until he said he picks his nose.

Other people don't have as much practice at being wrong as I do -- HT, timbo

by jscot on Jul 14, 2008 1:08 AM PDT up 0 recs

how not to act

Just had a talk with a friend who is living in Boston for a year,he told me that you can get in a fight any day of the week by wearing a Yankee hat,how lame is that?

by southern oregon on Jul 13, 2008 3:47 PM PDT 0 recs

A dissenting view

All in all, Ben, I think you should just chalk it up as a bad week for sports journalism. In writing what I am sure were two deeply felt essays, I feel you have gone too far, both to our detriment and your own.

First, you took such personal umbrage over the anti-blogger comments of one of your professed erstwhile favorite sports writers, one Kerry Eggers, that you assert you will henceforth never again read his columns. Now, you are so dismayed over certain sentiments expressed by David Halberstam, one of your favorite writers (and mine), that you set up a straw man for your blogging clientele to argue against the least important point of an article he wrote some six years ago, knowing full well that your audience would be predisposed to make that argument most heartily and thereby angle toward your own position. I could write a few dozen graphs on these subjects in rebuttal, but allow to me condense them with impunity.

As regards your personal banishment of Mr. Eggers’ writings to the pile of burning books, you should instead be appreciative that you and he share a common value (whether he cares to realize it or not) – the freedom to write one’s beliefs in an open society, a value that in your particular case is part and parcel of one of your own roles in our community. To henceforth ignore all of his writings simply lowers yourself to a level beneath his own prejudiced and irrational selective anti-press sentiment. And in so stating this in your own blog you do a public disservice to the very press-freedom ideals of which you yourself richly benefit. Equally as tragic, you personally insulate yourself from certain outside opinions that may (or may not) contrast with your own. In the long run, this personal imprisonment can only injure both you and us by directly narrowing your own reading universe and thereby indirectly narrowing ours.

As regards the late Mr. Halberstam’s distant discussion, you have latched onto his notion that growing and widespread sports fanaticism detracts from a healthy societal interest in more serious issues. Your disagreement goes over the top. As you and I both know, Mr. Halberstam loved sports, and more specifically, the lives of the people involved in them. He was absolutely correct in his obervation that when community sports interest evolves from diversion to obsession, as it indeed has for millions of Americans, it goes too far. In particular (as to that specific Halberstam article), organized sports then ceases to be a healing force in our society and, instead, becomes inherently destructive to the degree of the opportunity cost incurred by our failing to do more worthwhile things.

It should be noted that Mr. Halberstam did not argue that all avid sports fans slot into this category; rather he basically, and correctly, observed that there is simply a positive correlation between the degree of sports fanaticism and the amount of harm done to society when that fanaticism intensifies and broadens radically as it has done here during our lifetimes. (I’m sure he would have broadened the argument to areas beyond sports given alternative writing venues.) In many cases our infatuation with sports has overwhelmed greater personal and community interests. The point seems so obvious as to border on a tautology. Nevertheless, it ill behooves you, or the great mass of Blazer bloggers, to take too personally this observation. Instead, from time to time it would simply serve us all well merely to take in Mr. Halberstam’s larger point that there are other, more important, things to be involved with in our lives – both personally and globally – in addition to an interest in sports.

by blazerwizard on Jul 13, 2008 7:08 PM PDT 0 recs

PS, Ben

Did you enjoy The Coldest Winter?

by blazerwizard on Jul 13, 2008 7:24 PM PDT up 0 recs

ahh man ok

FWIW … KE and I have made a private peace.

your points are well taken and i thank you for them.

first off, the good part is that dave will have you covered when it comes to referencing KE’s work. you can also always find his writing on www.portlandtribune.com.

for myself: at this point it comes down to a matter of self-respect… i chose to stand with bloggers and against stereotypes in this situation and all others. it’s philosophical: his statements stand in the way of bloggers being respected and, indeed, being able to provide the coverage that we want to provide. marginalizing bloggers, if such a sentiment took hold (as it has in some cases), prevents bloggers from having the access and an equal playing field to write opinions and game reports. that is a very real consequence that affects this site in a much greater way than my personal omission of one writer’s work. this is unacceptable to me. my choice to not read one individual based on his statements do not prevent you from reading him or him from writing them. i am willing to sacrifice reading his work to take this principled stand despite being a long time reader and huge fan of his work, at least until there is a public statement from him acknowledging support/respect for bloggers. i am always willing to reconsider.

also as a side note i believe that i should take his (and other) criticism personally, as should any blogger that respects himself and respects and encourages other people’s writing. if the criticism is valid it must be considered. all writers should hold their writing sacred.

as for DH i never said his comments were right or wrong. i merely threw the quote up for public consumption as i love DH and the quote surprised me. clearly there is context around that quote which i think you hit on very well. that is why i linked to the whole article and made note of the time he wrote those words.

if i’m being honest with you, while i spent hours on the post about KE, i spent only minutes on the DH one. it was a line floating in my head all week and i thought it might intrigue people. i still have not really reached a conclusion about it, but it is an interesting quote and judging by the response i think people enjoyed the discussion.

on both posts it sounds like i engaged you and while we may disagree philosophically, the engagement makes both successful posts to some degree. my hope is that you thought about some big picture things that you might not have otherwise.

if you continue to feel that my writing is a detriment to you, i invite you to simply skip my posts.

"Honor Terry Porter." Email me with your TP stories and memories.

by Ben. on Jul 13, 2008 9:09 PM PDT up 0 recs

Your writing is not detrimental to me

I enjoy your posts and will continue to read them …. and occasionally comment, if you don’t mind. A little disagreement now and again is good for the soul, don’t you think? I do realize there is nothing to prevent me from from personally reading KE’s pieces, and your criticisms of this particular one do not, in and of themselves, prevent him from writing. As a journalist, however, you should appreciate that any criticism of a writer that invokes or infers censorship is dangerous for liberty (and you must appreciate that your personal estrangement from KE may well persuade other BE readers to evolve similar sentiments). It is for this reason that I personally try to make a practice of going out and buying any book that is censured - England occasionally bans a book, for example - or worse—The Satanic Verses. If I were in your position I would try to beat the hell out of Mr. Eggers’ obviously stupid point of view through rational argument and rallying blogger support to try to change his mind on the subject, however impossible that might seem, as well as to present your points directly to his readers by appealing to his editors.

BTW, I have read a majority, though not all, of David Halberstam’s books. As he is arguably (though to me, inarguably) America’s greatest sports journalist, and as you also really like him, I would love to see your rankings of his sports and non-sports books, respectively, to help determine which one(s) I (and our other readers) should read next. (Personally, I think his two best in the sports field were Breaks of the Game and October 1964. In the general realm, I thought The Coldest Winter, which he finished the week before he died, was brilliant, and certainly educated me on an historical subject of great contemporary relevancy that I had missed.

Keep up the good work on your blog.

by blazerwizard on Jul 14, 2008 5:20 AM PDT up 0 recs

gotcha

i hear you on censorship. i like the idea of buying any censored book as a statement. that is a tactic that i might need to borrow!

i have co-opted my stand from those who have suffered at the hands of disenfranchisement. it has not been uncommon for those who are disenfranchised to call into question, or “boycott” if you will, those establishments or people that are directly or indirectly denying access or equality to them. obviously this is not life, death, the voting booth, or a lunch counter. as far from it as you can get. however, when security guards are called in to prevent Henry Abbott, one of the most respected journalists in the game who just happens to write for a blog, that indicates to me that something very unfortunate is lurking. that’s the spirit of my protest; it’s not malicious and, indeed, it’s not permanent.

through rational argument and rallying blogger support to try to change his mind on the subject, however impossible that might seem, as well as to present your points directly to his readers by appealing to his editors.

i completely agree that those are my best methods as well. i worked hard to ensure the piece would receive notice throughout the blogosphere, first by writing it as thoroughly as possible, obtaining quotes on the subject, and second by dogging major bloggers via email to place it on their sites. i’ve worked for months to build relationships with the major national bloggers… by virtue of being mentioned on true hoop and thebiglead.com last monday 100,000s of people were presented with the argument. that kind of thing doesn’t happen overnight. judging from the email response from both other bloggers and readers, this has had some effect.

i also made an effort to appeal to DJ before and after my piece because we have talked previously and i knew where he stood on the subject of blogs. the fact that he was willing to speak on the record to us says a good bit about him as a stand-up editor as well as his respect for blogs. however, this is not a vendetta, both sides have spoken and it is what it is. they see where we are coming from. that might not have been the case a week or two ago.

whether this deserves some follow-up is debatable. at this point, i’m ready to let it go publicly.

as for DH, i’ve yet to find something of his i didn’t deeply appreciate, but like you i have not ingested his entire catalogue yet.

"Honor Terry Porter." Email me with your TP stories and memories.

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