Making Peace With Bill Walton
by Dave on Oct 17, 2009 12:36 AM PDT
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PrintReading the comments following Ben's fine write-up up the Bill Walton press conference yesterday it's clear that even thirty years after he last laced up sneakers for the Blazers Walton remains a polarizing figure. Hardly a surprise, I suppose. Even in his all-world days peopled loved him, hated him, or both at once. But the passage of decades usually dampens the intensity on such things and turns old combatants into comrades. Not so for many here.
In a way, I think Bill should be darn proud of this. Friend or foe, he's certainly made a mark on this town. How many people can say that? Guys like Walton make life more interesting. It's not like he's an axe murderer or Miley Cyrus. Everything--the joy and the annoyance--should be in good fun. Thirty years of good fun is a long, long run. If we can't have Playboy Buddy Rose making us boo and hiss, at least there's Bill.
That aside, I believe Walton has gotten a raw deal around here. If it's not fun for him to play the heel anymore we ought to let it go and embrace him for what he truly was: the guy who provided the most shining, amazing, defining moment this franchise has ever seen and a player of some of the most beautiful basketball ever known.
Mind you, I am not without misgivings about the Walton era. I was quite young when the Blazers won it all. That was my first exposure to sports and dreams and athlete-heroes. It was life-changing. I remember clearly my sister taking me to an autograph session where Walton and Maurice Lucas were signing. I was abuzz for days beforehand. I could barely sleep the night before. My stomach was performing a ballet on the car ride to see them. But when I finally got there I couldn't go up to them. I just stood six feet away staring, my piece of paper slack by my side in my right hand. My left hand was curled around my sister's leg. I literally could not move. Walton and Lucas looked at each other, looked at my sister, then laughed. They said something along the lines of, "Come here, my man! It's OK." I took some halting steps forward and they looked at me. They shook my hand and asked if I wanted them to sign my paper. I gave it to them. They smiled and as he handed it back Bill put a hand on my shoulder and said, "There you go!" The only words I could manage were the ones that had been drilled into my brain for such situations: "Thank you." Then I walked back to my sister. But inside I was ecstatic to the point of being out of my mind. Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas just shook hands with me! They smiled and talked to me! They even signed my paper so I could prove it!!! Unless C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien rise from the dead and invited me to a conversation over tea I don't think that moment can be duplicated in my adult life.
If you can understand that feeling you will also understand that the Blazers being eliminated in the 1978 playoffs by the Seattle Supersonics was one of the biggest disappointments of my life. It was the first big realization that the good guys didn't always win and that dreams often fall apart as quickly as they coalesce. And the guy that everyone tabbed for the '78 demise and the ongoing journey to mediocrity that followed was none other than Dollar Bill. Again, I was just a child and was far too young to form opinions on the subject. But I clearly remember hearing what people were saying even if I was not yet able to comprehend it.
"He's too lazy to come back."
"He just doesn't care."
"We're paying him hundreds of thousands of dollars per game played."
"He's ruined himself with that lifestyle."
"He hates the city and just wants to get out."
"He's a traitor to the team."
Through modern adult eyes these statements border on the ridiculous. Walton could have retired at any point and been comfortable. He battled back to play for the Celtics because of his passion and commitment to the sport and so he could go out on his own terms. The lifestyle comment is comical. Bill was a green granola dude at a time when nobody knew what those words meant. As for hating the city and the team...nobody can get in his mind but his own statements seem to show the falsehood there. Had things gone differently for him physically I believe Walton would have happily finished his career as a Blazer.
Blazers fans as a whole have learned a few things about the game and the league in the last thirty years. You have to remember that in 1977 even adults approached that title with a reverence near to my childlike wonder of the time. They were a far cry from the average wizened, stat-wielding, web-educated devotee you'll find haunting the halls of Blazer fandom today. Nobody had any experience with this kind of thing. Few realized why or how it happened...other than it was the Blazers and they were good! That was part of the magic that will never be duplicated, save among those who actually are wide-eyed kids when the Blazers next win it all. It also meant that the fanbase as a whole was not yet acquainted with some of the harsh realities of the league which would have helped their understanding of Walton's situation.
One of the more obvious realities is simply that seven-footers get injured. You can't run that fast and put that much of a pounding on that big of a frame without consequences. And when a giant gets a foot injury you can all but turn the lights out. The wheels are the foundation. Without them nothing else moves. You can't train a foot with cardio or lift weights to build it up. The solution to any foot injury isn't to work harder, it's to stay the heck off of it. This holds even with the advances in athletic medicine over the last four decades. Walton's era might as well have been the Dark Ages comparatively. He didn't have a chance. People heard "foot injury" and thought, "That's such a tiny thing. Why can't he just get over it?" The big things they were imagining would be harder to repair would have been far better afflictions for him to have.
Furthermore, I don't believe people understood (and some still don't understand) how much Walton meant to the Blazers. He's a victim of what he helped create, which was one of the most glorious, unselfish, court-flowing teams of all time. The Blazers were trumpeted as a team, celebrated as a team, and remembered as a team. It was the polar opposite of the Jordan Bulls two decades later. And this is exactly the way Walton wanted it, not only because he shied away from the spotlight but because he believed in winning and communal effort and Jack Ramsay five-man basketball. But that same corporate memory of the title team as a cohesive unit also diminishes Bill's perceived role in anchoring that team. Both Walton and Dave Twardzik were starters on that team, both have rings, and both have their number retired today. But that doesn't mean they were equally important. To illustrate who Bill Walton really was all I have to do is point out the records. Walton playing? A title and a 40-8 start the next season. Walton out? Same surrounding players, same coach, same uniforms and fans and Blazermania...an immediate single-series playoff exit and nobody gets within sniffing distance of the Finals for the rest of the era. This was a team because Walton helped make it that way. This was not anywhere close to the same team without him. He was everything to those Blazers and thus to the championship.
Neither did the general public understand the tenuous relationship between athletes and the media. We hadn't yet seen the Great Expansion in information dispersal. We hadn't become acquainted with the media's invasive eye. We hadn't seen enough blatant sensationalism to teach us to view media reports with healthy skepticism. Anybody with any sense nowadays knows to be at least a little afraid when the media come around. Therefore we expect some reservation from our athletes as public figures. Some players had that reservation in the 70's too, especially the ones who were countercultural (or, as Walton, afflicted with stuttering). But back then it appeared closer to treason than common sense. Whether Walton really had reason to be wary of the media and the public I am not qualified to say. But I do know it wasn't interpreted as, "That guy's being careful about letting too much out because of how he might be portrayed." Rather it was, "Walton is weird and won't talk to us."
Last, but not least, the endearing naïveté which made Portland fans so wide-eyed and giddy during the title run also led them to believe that potential championships were plentiful and the Blazers would remain tantalizingly close to all of them. I can still remember when we were kids talking back and forth about how all we needed was one player (ironically, a center) and we could vanquish the Magic-Kareem-Worthy L*kers and reclaim our rightful spot at the top. This innocence had a dual effect. First, it diminished the significance of what Walton and his team had done. Far from being an everyday occurrence, to this point the trophy coming to Portland is literally a once-in-a-lifetime event. Blazer fans were well-acquainted with how neat winning was but quite mistaken about how difficult of an accomplishment it was. If it was possible to be spoiled after only a season and a half of delicious success, Portland fans certainly qualified. And feeling entitled to championships made the lack of them more bitter. In the end, it was easier to cast blame than it was to smarten up and admit that our perceptions were in error. (It would take falling just short three years straight in the Drexler era to finally hammer the reality home.) The easiest person by far to pin blame on was Bill Walton, even after he was long gone from the team. Fairly or not, to this day Walton is known in equal measure for bringing one championship and for not bringing more...as if those extra titles were somehow our birthright that we were cheated out of.
Of course Walton suing the team didn't help matters. It kept the ill-feelings alive long past the end of the active relationship. Our lack of medical sophistication and our tendency to view the Blazers as sacrosanct made this the final nail in the coffin. When pushed to a choice we loved the uniform over the player and cast Walton out of our hearts.
Walton's semi-nutty public persona, particularly the hyperbole-laced analysis he offered during telecasts, gave Blazer fans few reasons to repair the relationship as years passed. Some considered him entertaining, others annoying. Neither falls anywhere near endearing. He was that crazy uncle your family only tenuously claims relationship to and who never gets invited to Thanksgiving. That his proclamations skewered the Blazers as much as praised them helped little. That he was sometimes correct helped less.
So now the Prodigal Center returns home. Or at he least stops back home for a minute to say hi. His speech is at equal turns apologetic, outlandish, wistful, and proud. How seriously to take it, let alone believe it, is a matter of taste. Bill Walton shares much with another former Blazer who has become part of the entertainment industry, Mychal Thompson. Either is liable to say anything at any time. I love Thompson, but he strikes me as the kind of person apt to say whatever he feels the listener will most appreciate whether he believes it or not. Walton, on the other hand, seems completely genuine, saying exactly what he believes. One has to understand, though, that he's likely to genuinely believe something different in ten minutes. In that way he's never lost that child-like aspect that made him a great match for early Blazermaniacs, whether they understood it or not.
As for me, I tend to take Walton at face value. He's funny, aggravating, but most of all expressive, talented, and distinctive. Like a Great Dane who thinks he's a lapdog he'll often overstep boundaries most would consider self-evident. But how you react to that boundary-breaking says more about your attitude than it does about the mastiff. He just means well. That is always who Bill Walton has been for this community. He's the guy who reveals who we are, for better or worse...and there's some of each.
If I stood before Bill today, I would probably just say the same thing I did thirty years ago...this time not because of nervousness, but because it really is the most appropriate thing to say. Thank you. For the title, for Blazermania, for the bike riding, for standing out, for not being afraid to be yourself, and for giving us the chance to celebrate, get frustrated, laugh, become annoyed, and simply gape in wonder and astonishment...thanks Bill. It's been a great ride.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)
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Thanks for this, Dave. I've always loved Bill and I identified
with him when I was a young hippie. He should be honored as one of the greatest Blazers of all time whether you like his broadcasting style or not. If a player today had the injuries he suffered and was treated the way he was there would be malpractice suits brought and won all over the place. I’m sure playing with the injuries he had probably contributed greatly to the issues he’s dealing with today. I don’t think he has anything to apologize for.
"Aneurysm".
When Outlaw wins a game on a last-second shot, it’s called an "annthefaneurysm". QualityPie
by annthefan on Oct 17, 2009 1:30 AM PDT reply actions 3 recs
Ann, regarding your comments about Bill:
I am in total agreement with every word.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
Thank you, Two.
"Aneurysm".
When Outlaw wins a game on a last-second shot, it’s called an "annthefaneurysm". QualityPie
I also agree with Ann totally
I’m from the 60’s and I’ve always liked Bill Walton. That he returned and apologized shows what kind of person he is. Some of the fans really have more reason to apologize to him. He lives life big. You can see that character in his broadcasting style. But this is exactly that same passion that drove him despite injuries and impassioned that team over the top to the championship.
I remember thinking that no one that big
Can jump that high with out it hurting when you land.I do think Bills feet would have been a problem no matter where he played and both he and the managment handled it poorly but I am more than happy to bury the hatchet and say welcome home.
by southern oregon on Oct 17, 2009 1:47 AM PDT reply actions
to make things worse
Bill’s feet have unusually high arches, they were just not ’built" for playing a sport like BB where jumping and landing (sometimes awkwardly) is so prevalent. He was blessed with a great ability and desire to play roundball, but cursed with literal “feet of clay”
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
The last two years that Walton was on the team
were the most beautiful basketball a Portland team played. Yes, the Drexler-Porter-Williams-Duckworth teams were a pleasure, but exquisite were the outlet passes from Walton to the breaking guards. Someone once observed that when Bill rebounded the ball it would leave his hands toward a breaking player before his feet touched the ground. That someone was right. Walton was the hub around which the team orbited. Positioned at the high post, he delivered passes to all over the half court, a point-center. He made everyone else better, at least as a basketball player. As a person, he was a little self-centered and that is what he apologizes for. A prodigy, he was indulged much of his life. His suffering has made him better. A basketball god gave him gifts, but another gave him pain in the balance. He was and is a complex and very human person. What else can we expect.
Perhaps, this is the truth.
by Trutherlizer on Oct 17, 2009 1:55 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Great minds think alike
or feeble minds run in the same rut, take your pick.
I just called him a point center, didn’t see your comment until after I posted mine. :)
I can tell you how to make an Excel spreadsheet that proves Portland wins 62 games this year.
Thanks, Dave, nice writeup
I think you pretty much nailed it. One minor disagreement:
To illustrate who Bill Walton really was all I have to do is point out the records. Walton playing? A title and a 40-8 start the next season. Walton out? Same surrounding players, same coach, same uniforms and fans and Blazermania…an immediate single-series playoff exit and nobody gets within sniffing distance of the Finals for the rest of the era.
This is overstating a little bit. In that single series exit, Gross was out, Neal only played three games and was a shadow of himself, Luke played and played well but really wasn’t back to full strength, if I recall.
We lost 2/3 of our starting frontcourt, the other forward wasn’t full strength, and our premier big man backup hardly played. That was a good, strong team outside Walton, but we were decimated by injuries. Even without Walton, if the others had been healthy, we’d have beat Seattle.
But we weren’t making the Finals without Bill, that’s 100% correct.
For one year, from the middle of the 76-77 season until he got hurt, Walton was arguably the greatest ever. There have been better passers, better rebounders, better scorers, better defenders, but Bill did it all sublimely fully within the team concept. If there was ever a player who made everyone else better, it was Walton, to the same extent (if in a different way) as players like Magic. Bill was a point center, he played the team game like no center ever has.
I’m thankful for what Walton did that year, not just in bringing a championship but in buying in to the team game. It was beautiful basketball, on a level I’ve never seen since in the NBA. I appreciate the memories.
What happened after that was so incredibly disappointing, both on a basketball level and in my estimate of Bill as a person. If he is really taking responsibility for his part in what happened, and not placing all the blame on others, I’m happy for him — he’ll be better and happier for having that load lifted. When you focus on blaming others when you are part of the problem, you just weigh yourself down.
For my part, I hold nothing against him. It’s too bad it happened, too bad the team didn’t handle it better, too bad Bill didn’t. So what? Life is too short to waste time resenting somebody who isn’t part of your life, or for that matter, somebody who is part of it.
OK, back to work.
I can tell you how to make an Excel spreadsheet that proves Portland wins 62 games this year.
Nicely stated Jscot, except:
I’m thankful for what Walton did that year, not just in bringing a championship but in buying in to the team game
Bill Walton was the epitome of a team player during his incredible 4 years at UCLA as well…..Johnny Wooden style. He did not simply blossom into a premier team basketball player under the tutelage of Ramsay, he was already that kind of player. What made that Blazers team so great was that he and Ramsay were on the same page with their basketball beliefs from day one.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
Agreed, he bought in before he came to Portland
(As much as I hated him at UCLA. :))
I didn’t mean to imply that this began in that year, rather just to emphasize that it wasn’t just the winning, it was the way it was done, that was wonderful.
I can tell you how to make an Excel spreadsheet that proves Portland wins 62 games this year.
That sums it up pretty well
it wasn’t just the winning, it was the way it was done, that was wonderful.
I’ve been thinking that perhaps all the longing for a championship sort of misses the point. A championship is merely the metric. The goal has to be unparalleled excellence. I dream that in a season or two our guys play so beautifully that they become the gold standard for measuring all teams for the next century.
We lost 2/3 of our starting frontcourt, the other forward wasn’t full strength, and our premier big man backup hardly played. That was a good, strong team outside Walton, but we were decimated by injuries. Even without Walton, if the others had been healthy, we’d have beat Seattle.
One of my memories of the end of the ‘78 season was that the front court was so decimated by injuries that the Blazers called Dale Schlueter out of retirement to fill in duing the final month of the season. I remember one fast break in particular, the ball was passed to Dale and it clanked off his hands and out of bounds. I also remember thinking to myself "Bill would’ve had that!" when key rebounds went to the opposing team.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/POR/1978.html
It was quite a “come-down” from 50-10 to 58-24. Everyone was hoping that the team could “pull it together” during the playoffs (I think Portland even had a “bye” in the first round) But the Sonics were an up-and-coming team and even a gritty effort from the Blazers wasn’t enough to get past Seattle. The magic was gone; reality set in. The Blazers were never as “bad” as they were before ’77, (until ’04, anyway) but they were never as “good” again as the championhip team, although they came close in the early ’90s.
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Old School
Where the well runs deep.
Bill gave those of us who were lucky enough to be here, the greatest singular moment of our sports loving lives.
Nothing else that big red did or said afterwards lasted but mere moments to so many of us. The glory that he delivered to all of us stands forever so bright.
Walton brought an unparallel beauty to the game of basketball that rivals only a handfull few of the greatest players of all time. By comparison, Brazil Futbal in its 40 years of greatest moments ain’t got a single thing on our 1976-1977 Portland Trail Blazer team.
For this post Dave, maybe more than any before, I say thank you. The heart and soul of our beloved city is relishing in your words and thoughtfull wisdom tonight.
The Oden Era, Day 851
Wow
That was a fantistic read Dave. Very well written, thanks!
by coolguyrob on Oct 17, 2009 3:32 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
Walton, the best ever!
Both as a Blazer playing team basketball under Ramsay and as a UCLA bruin. At UCLA: consecutive 30-0 seasons. 88 game winning streak. 2 national titles. College player of the year in all 3 seasons that he played on the varsity team. And unless I get Alzhimers I will never,never forget that NCAA finals (I think it was the finals) victory over Memphis State where he made 21 of his 22 field goal attempts!!! The most awesome sports performance by a single player I’ve ever witnessed.
What set him apart I believe, is that he was (and is) extremely quick minded and intelligent. To me, Bill Walton was a god and he still retains that status in my mind today.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
he was (and is) extremely quick minded and intelligent.
While this is probably the case, wasn’t there a quote from Wooden to Ramsay in one of these recent articles about Bill being a “slow learner”? Walton certainly had the court vision of a PG
One of Wooden’s pet phrases was “goodness gracious, sakes alive!” which was as close a John ever came to swearing. I remember listening to Bill during a broadcast, as we watched a player throw an outlet pass to the other team, exclaim “goodness gracious, sakes alive, Walton!…You can’t throw an outlet pass diagonally across the court!” After all those years, he still remembered Wooden’s lessons from those UCLA practices.
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Yep, the court vision and the mental quickness
to react in a micro second nano second pico second to what he was seeing.
If you’ve ever heard him speak much, you also come to realize that he has an extremely impressive memory of so very many details and an extraordinary ability to quickly verbalize them. I suspect he has a well synapsed large brain.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
like all great playmakers
Walton saw the play developing and anticipated the open man before he needed to deliver the ball. I don’t know the point where intelligence stops and instinct takes over, that’s one of the great debates in all of sports
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
More than that.
I remember plays where the ball would be fired into Walton but in a split second he would decide against catching the ball and instead tap it to a teammate he saw out of the corner of his eye cutting to the basket. Some of those plays just amazed me. He had a couple of those in that phenomenal 21 of 22 field goal game against Memphis State. He always has been capable of extremely rapid decision making.
There’s another Blazer who has a similar quick mind, superior intelligence and the physical attributes to go with it. It’s kind of coincidental that this just appeared in my local paper’s Thursday edition: “…..but Romar (UW coach basketball coach Lorenzo Romar) still remembers how Roy learned the Huskies’ offensive system in 45 minutes after joining the team in January of his freshman year, after NCAA issues over test scores delayed his debut.” Walton and Roy, these two guys possess more than just BBIQ.
It should be obvious by now that I was and remain a big Walton fan who I consider to be the best player in Blazer history …. by far. When I hear many say it was Drexler, I just chalk it up to them being too young to remember Walton’s play (although Drexler certainly did have more Blazer longevity). There is a player who could unseat Walton from that pedestal I have placed him on, and you’ll find his name below in my signature. He too is a special special.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
I refuse to choose between Bill and Clyde
Walton was absolutely great, but his “sweet spot” was only for 18 months in a Blazer’s uniform
Drexler was awesome, but he didn’t put out in practice and would shoot the Blazers “out” of some big games. Plus, his team never won it all
Like you, I’m hoping that Brandon will “settle” this debate. But I’ve gotta admit I didn’t like what I heard from Roy, this week. There was too much “I haven’t found my rhythm” and not enough “this is what we’ve got to do to get better” If Brandon doesn’t embrace the changes that Miller was brought in to make, this season could wind up falling ’way short of expectations. And that would be a shame.
Roy needs to get better at making his teammates better, especially Oden. If #7 keeps putting his head down and driving to the rim and never looks up for the easy lob pass to Greg along the way, then 10 years from now we’ll still be having the “who’s the best Blazer ever?” debate about Bill and Clyde
don’t make me go there, B-Roy
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
by two4larue on Oct 17, 2009 11:05 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I should have added this:
The UCLA streak contributed to a personal winning streak that lasted almost five years, in which Walton’s high school, UCLA freshman (freshmen were ineligible for the varsity at that time), and UCLA varsity teams did not lose a game from the middle of his junior year of high school to the middle of his senior year in college (thank you Wikepedia)
This guy has met with some success on the basketball court.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
to the middle of his senior year in college
The Bruins lost to NC State, David Thompson, Tom Burleson, Monte Towe.
No Wikipedia required.
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
You actually remembered Monte Towe?!
That was a sad game for me.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
you never know what useless bits of trivia
are rattling around up there in my grey matter
I can also remember in an earlier game that year a highlight of Thompson jumping so high that his legs got caught on the shoulder of one of his teammates, which caused him to lose his balance and take a nasty fall on his noggin. Unfortunately for UCLA, Thompson recovered in time for the semifinals game
The Bruin’s players recalled that Wooden didn’t call timeouts and change strategies as much as normal during the game against the Wolfpack. The post-game feeling was that John thought the players had begun to get big heads and he was saying to them (by his silence) “if you guys think you’re so great, then get yourselves out of this mess!” Wooden is an extremely nice person, but like all great coaches of that era, he could have his stubborn side…
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I think I take Walton's side
If I remember right, he always blamed the Portland trainers for giving him painkillers and playing him on the bad leg, and I suspect he’s right about that.
I also remember Larry Bird criticizing him publicly for not trying hard enough when he was injured in Boston, which was stupid — Bird got a taste of the same in his last years, trying to play around his own failing back.
Walton did everything his body would allow. I have only good things to say about him.
If I remember right, he always blamed the Portland trainers for giving him painkillers and playing him on the bad leg, and I suspect he’s right about that.
It wasn’t like they held him down and gave him those injections, against his will. Walton knew about the risks, but his competitive juices got the better of him because the playoffs were right around the corner. After he was hurt and couldn’t play, he blamed the Blazers medical staff and sued the team for malpractice. Maybe nowadays they would’ve handled it more conservatively like Portland did with Martell, last year. But even with Webster they let him back out on the court and he reinjured his foot last December, so who knows? Bill seemed to have the same fate as Achilles: he won everlasting glory on the battlefield, but his career was short-lived.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/POR/1978.html
One thing’s for sure, the ‘77-78 Blazers weren’t “run into the ground” by Jack playing them excessive minutes. Nobody averaged more than Hollins’ 33.8 mpg! The team was so deep/good that Ramsay could substitute freely and give everybody plenty of rest. Only the players’ desire to dominate kept them going back onto the floor when they weren’t 100% physically. And for whatever the reason (bad karma, basketball gods, rotten luck?) the team crashed and burned just as quickly as they had rocketed to glory, 12 months earlier.
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Remembering the GREAT ONE!!!
I to remember 1977 with much fondness. Game 5 was the night of my High School graduation. We were all in the Home ED. room getting into our caps and Gowns, listening to the game on AM radios stations all around the room. It was late in the 3rd Quarter when we had to start the ceremony and we were all bummed because we would miss the rest of the game. Some enterprising younger student later came in during the ceremony and hung a banner on the back wall that was about 15 ft. long with the final score on it. A big Cheer went through the whole building that I can still hear 32 yrs. later!!
I've never blamed Walton
I think he was wrong in thinking the team doctors knew he had a fracture in his foot when they gave him the painkilling shot – I think they just plain missed it when they looked at the x-rays. But I can’t blame him for being bitter about it, and ready to believe the worst.
I’m just grateful for having had the chance to see that team play, for the short time it lasted. I’ve never seen any other basketball team play such a beautiful game as that one did. In an era when the NBA was dominated by bumping, grinding, predictable low-post play, they played a style that was pure poetry – and were able to dominate.
This is the sticky part
Bill sued the Doctors for there treatment of him. I remember reading a Sports Illustrated article about the lawsuit and it was not very complimentary towards Walton. I believe the main Doctor involved had spent time in Vietnam treating our soldiers was highly respected.
As for the basketball portion, Bill had no peers when he played.
Dr. Cook it was.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
Many mixed emotions.
As a BB player, Bill had the mental facilities but not the physical facilities to keep up with his athletic abilities. As stated he was a one of the best BB player of all times. If not for his injuries who knows how great he would have been.
As a person back in the 70’s, hippies and yuppies were frowned up on because of our browbeating as to not going against the establishment. We were somewhat in the dark ages in the cultures that make up of civilizations of the United States. I myself had misgivings of his attitude and life style. Therefore I was as Dave said I loved him and hated him at the same time. As Bill got older and wiser, I did also. So in my book as of today he does not need to apologize any more then I do.
I am noted for getting violently defensive for attacks on big men and their injury problems. Everybody hated Greg and Bowie. Much as we hated Bill. Read the things that the fan’s said against Bill and Bowie and read the today’s fans that attack Greg. It seems like the same o same o.
I learned my lesson with Bill. We the fans may have easily been the blame of his anger and hatred for Portland. So I ask you Bill, to please forgive us also.
hg
Very good point.
Everybody hated Greg and Bowie. Much as we hated Bill. Read the things that the fan’s said against Bill and Bowie and read the today’s fans that attack Greg. It seems like the same o same o.
"Aneurysm".
When Outlaw wins a game on a last-second shot, it’s called an "annthefaneurysm". QualityPie
As I remember it
He broke his ankle I think? After that I beleive he felt they either rushed him back to soon, or they botched the surgery. Later when Sabonis got here, we were told he had the same injury as Walton, but had skipped the surgery, which was thought to provide a 50/50 chance that the patient would walk correctly afterward. Walton didn’t.
When trying to learn something of the past that can teach us today, and comparing the times i beleive you have to look for things that show patterns or matches bewteen say 09 and 78-79. The time then was like the time now in this sense. We really can’t step out and look at ourselve’s right now. But to look BACK on ourselve’s now….. I can see us. I can see us getting into a tizz about Andre Miller, over probably nothing. Not that the Walton thing was nothing, not that the scales nessecarily match here, but maybe this is how we have always been. Really passionate about all things Blazers.
Yes I remember the grown ups saying Walton “betrayed” us. I don’t see us react any differently to things today. We still circle the wagons. Your one of us till you ain’t. The story I think tells more about us as fans and as the city of Portland then it does about the athlete/media relationship. It’s not a good or bad thing. Its the way we change and the way we never change. But hopefully the old guys can forgive. I want to be riding my bike with Bill on the streets of Portland for the parade, crying tears of joy, when we win the next one. Sorta like standing at the Grateful Dead show looking over at the soundboard to see the Big Red Head jiving to the jam. It kills me that Bill Walton is not a legend in this city. As a Blazer fan he brought us everything we could have ever wanted. Its time to forget 78 and just think of 77.
Believe me,
not all of us “old guys” need to forgive. I was never on the hate wagon. I sided with him regarding his frustrations with Dr. Cook and the medical staff and didn’t blame him for pulling out on us. I think however he has long felt that he made a mistake by doing so.
I don’t think it would have made much a difference in playing career had he stayed. He kept trying to play in San Diego, but was always thwarted again because of that bad wheel. When he eventually went to Boston with that fused bone in his foot, he was no longer mobile—only a shell of his former self. As a player off the bench, he played a considerable role in helping that team win a championship, but his contributions were based more on smarts and guile than on his athleticism of days gone by.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
What a great write-up
and service to Bill Walton. How much has Bill given to this franchise and its fans? His contributions to all of Blazerland were a blessing and I’m thankful for the gift he was to us. I’ve always thought any fan who criticizes Walton ought take a long look in the mirror.
Love ya Bill. Truly.
I did not say this. I am not here.
I've got no problem with Walton the player
Clearly he was one of the greatest centers to ever play the game, a top 10 guy at his position, and yes, facilitated a fantastic style of ball that I’d rather watch than almost anything else. That he brought in a title is ginormous cherry on top.
Walton the person however does not appear to me to do anything like “shying away from the spotlight.”
Was going to quote from “The Long, Hot Winter” here, the Jaynes-penned Adelman first-person look at the ‘90-’91 season, but I can’t find my copy right now. Basically Adelman writes that Walton launched his commentary career writing some nastily hypercritical columns for The Oregonian. I don’t think his commentary style has greatly improved since then.
So basically: Walton the player? Incredible. Walton the pundit? Not credible. And kind of a jackass.
Unfortunately the latter is the only side he’s been able to show for the past quarter-century.
My abiding memory of Walton is in two parts
Part One: Bill was the 1st pick in the draft. He came from UCLA as the dominant college center. Under Coach Wooden Bill was always composed and neatly groomed. When he got to Portland something released and he became extremely self-centered. He played in only 35 games as a rookie and 51 games as a 2nd year player because of injuries. One injury seared in my mind was the broken foot/tow that he sustained while running barefoot in the dark and tripping over a sprinkler. He truly appeared to not care about the team. He was a shock to all his UCLA admirers for his radical transformation. He seemed to go out of his way to diss the team and the city.
Part Two: The arrival of Coach Ramsey coinciding with the arrival of Maurice Lucas seemed to wake him up. I remember the presser with Coach when he first arrived from coaching Buffalo and Bob McAdoo. He described McAdoo as a black hole that sucked the life out of the team for never passing the ball once he got it. So the credit for Bill’s transformation seemed to go to Coach Ramsey. Playing with Luke seemed to bring out the unselfish passer and team player of our championship year.
These two parts could hardly be more disparate and when Bill broke his foot in 1977-78 season he seemed to revert to the selfish player in part one, never considering anything except his own ego, I cannot help but be repulsed by Walton in part one. I thrilled over Walton in part two. That he reverted to part on was the most disappointing. That seemed to carry over into his broadcast career but the broadcast time is not what I chose to remember – only part one and part two.;
"Either way we have two phenomenal units. I'm excited to play with either one." - Martell Webster
My recollection of Part One is different, lee.
I remember Bill in college saying he wished he could grow his hair long but Coach Wooden wouldn’t let his players do that. Bill was a counterculture guy even then, but he wasn’t allowed to express that side of himself until he turned pro. The transformation to the guy we saw in Portland was merely Bill being Bill. Some of us embraced his counterculture eccentricities; some did not.
I have never and will never understand how fans can turn on an injured player, who because of his injury cannot do the things he did before. They say he doesn’t care anymore, say he’s useless, make fun of him, and so on, when the guy probably shouldn’t even be on the court until his injury is healed and is only doing so because he loves the game and his team and wants to contribute whatever he can and please the fans. I don’t remember what if anything Bill said during the time he was injured and taking heat for it, but if he responded with some less-than-Pollyanish whitewash, the media and fans probably had it coming.
by MiledAnimal on Oct 17, 2009 9:23 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
You are likely accurate as well about UCLA
His national reputation was apparently better than his local one.
I don’t remember Coach Wooden letting athletes interview?
As far as turning on an injured player see two4larue’s notes below for the reason. It was not about the injuries but his attitude toward getting and staying healthy. His running in the dark barefooted outside was the incident that I remember (non-basketball injury).
"Either way we have two phenomenal units. I'm excited to play with either one." - Martell Webster
He must have made that comment after he'd left UCLA then.
Re his foot injury: at least he didn’t hurt it riding a moped. Too bad sprinkler heads weren’t in his contract.
"Credit for Bill's transformation seemed to go to Coach Ramsey".
Nope, he was a wonderful team player on Wooden’s UCLA teams. It’s just that Walton and Ramsey had total agreement on how the game should be played. That’s why he flourished,. and also of course because he was finally healthy.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
by TwoDeep on Oct 17, 2009 10:10 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Wasn't it Bill that led the insurrection at the NCAA Final 4 when UCLA players refused to play the 3rd place game?
That was seen as shock to fans across the country who still believed in sportsmanship. It was also the end of that game 3rd place game in future tournaments.
"Either way we have two phenomenal units. I'm excited to play with either one." - Martell Webster
Here's the definitive SI article that describes Walton "part 1" experience in Portland
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1089459/index.htm
(As an aside, what teenager wasn’t in “love” with Cheryl Tieggs, back then?)
As the Portland Trail Blazers warmed up for a home game just before New Year’s, the band blasted into Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home? Then the musicians put down their instruments and started singing some lines they had just written. As the Blazers caught the words they began to smile and stopped shooting. A hush came as the full house strained to hear the lyrics:
Won’t you please play, Bill Walton,
Won’t you please play ball?
We moaned a whole month long.
We paid two million for you,
Why don’t you play?
Well even throw in a song.
Less than 30 feet away from the band was a bearded young man resembling Ichabod Crane outfitted as a hippie lumberjack. Bill Walton sat motionless on the Portland bench in his flannel shirt and jeans, a bandanna wrapped around his long red hair. Obviously unable to shut out the lyrics, he showed no reaction.
Bill’s teammates were also sympathetic to his injury plight.
As his depression deepened, and his injuries lingered, the Blazers continued to play without Walton, and his relations with his teammates worsened.
At one practice on the morning after a game—in which he, of course, had not played—Walton came to the gym full of pep and proceeded to block his tired teammates’ shots in layup drills and make a general nuisance of himself. “Why don’t you run by yourself, Dollar?” snapped John Johnson. Other Blazers tried to ignore his presence. But when Wilkens left the floor to go to an appointment, the players suddenly surrounded Walton, grinning slyly. “Let’s take our frustrations out on Captain Flake,” someone said, cocking a ball behind his ear. “Yeah, give me your paychecks, too,” shouted Walton. “You already got ’em!” answered Johnson, and the first ball whistled past Walton’s head. Another caromed off his leg. Soon the air was filled with sizzlers as every player blasted away at the dodging, swearing center. They chased balls into the stands, laughing like maniacs, and returned to throw them at Walton, again and again.
I can’t resist pointing out that Wayne Thompson insisted that John Johnson be included in the “top 40 Blazers” list, published this week.
The Blazers have greeted Walton’s return with a wait-and-see attitude. Said Petrie: “Certainly Bill can fit into this team. But I think he has to earn the respect of the team first. And I don’t think it will be easy. He has to mold himself with this club. He has to make himself stronger. I think he has to make some compromises.”
Some who have witnessed the season thus far doubt that he can make it. A man who has dealt with him throughout his career said, before Walton had started to play again, “All things considered, I think he’s gone too far to function in the NBA again.”
Meanwhile Walton has found a new lawyer—Black Panther Party attorney Charles Garry—and a new spiritual leader. Jack Scott, the anti-sports Establishment author, has moved in with Walton and his “family” and appears to be calling some of Walton’s shots.
Obviously, Petrie got it right. I remember reading a book by Jack Scott which was a “behind the scenes” look at the championship season. Scott also “liberally” mixed in his political views in, with the game commentary and quotes from the players. Walton laid out the welcome mat at his West Linn home for members of the anti-establishment, counter-culture movement. Back in those days, most of the Portland area was more conservative, politically. So, Bill’s “friends” rubbed native Oregonians the wrong way, even as his string of injuries (coupled with his large contract) made local fans disappointed with the guy his teammates nicknamed “Dollar”
All of this changed in ‘77 of course, but it wasn’t “forgotten” 2 years later, either
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
by two4larue on Oct 17, 2009 12:16 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I remember having some of the reactions to that era you describe, Dave.
The elation in 1977. The heartbreak in 1978. The frustration and disappointment when Walton left town the way he did. I didn’t feel at the time that he was a bad guy. I just didn’t know what to think. Bill said one thing, the team said another, and the sportswriters jumped in with their opinions. Fans were on the outside and in the dark. The whole thing left a bitter taste in my mouth toward the team and I drifted away from the Blazers for a few years after having lived and died with them in the 1970s.
Walton being upset at his foot injury seems understandable now. The guy was the ultimate basketball junkie. He truly loved the game, and he was hearing that he might never be able to play again. Add to that the burden of being The Man on a team everyone figured would be winning multiple titles and anyone in that situation would have freaked out.
Those Blazers, with their focus on passing, defense, and team play, were the spiritual heirs to the great Celtics teams of the 1960s. A former Blazer great, Geoff Petrie, modeled his 2000-era Sacramento Kings on that same blueprint. All three teams thrilled fans and changed the league. Here’s hoping the new Blazers can do the same.
by MiledAnimal on Oct 17, 2009 9:12 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Always a Walton fan
As a grade schooler born and raised in L.A. it was natural for me to be a UCLA fan as they were in the middle of their glory days. I remember our 6th grade basketball team going to a UCLA game at Pauley. They allowed people to stroll around the courts then and we camped by the basket standard watching the team doing their layups to warm up. Walton came through on the layup and bumped up right against me. I remember looking straight up his chest. Dude was tall (from the 6th grade perspective especially).
Those UCLA teams were amazing. Of course I was a Laker fan back then, but always had a soft spot for Walton and by extension the Blazers. Despite being a Laker fan up until they got Shaq – which was the last straw – I’ve always been a Blazer fan to some degree and that all started with Walton.
Of course now the Blazers are the only team. Glad to see Walton reaching out to the Portland community to mend fences and hope the community is big enough to do likewise.
As usual, well put Dave.
It doesn’t appear you’ve missed a nuance in summing up Walton – as a player, as a Blazer, as a public personality, and as a man.
Thanks as always for the insight and level-headed perspective.
Tie down the furniture kids, it's time for another ride down Ulcer Gulch!
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by DMKPDX on Oct 17, 2009 9:29 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
Excellent Piece
I’ve grown up an lived in Portland, and I suspect Dave and I are close to the same age. I have very similar memories of our Championship and those days surrounding Bill Walton.
I am not one to quote the bible, but I think my evolution in relationship to being a fan and my feelings towards Bill Walton fit within this passage well, " When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things " .
I remember as a child being very upset hearing about Bill Waltons departure and desire to leave. I remember hoping, making myself believe that Bill Walton was just going to change his mind. I remember tuning into the sports reports on television nightly waiting and expecting the news that Bill had changed his mind. I fully expected the interview or press conference where he simply said he loved this franchise, city and state too much to leave. I remember the sting and hurt when that never happened and Walton became “gasp” a Clipper . Plus years later I remember a disconnected almost numb feeling as I watched Bill Walton in Green and White helping The Celtics to another title.
But the years have passed, and even as a young child I never hated or disliked Walton. On television in any capacity he always spoke so supportively and glowingly of the 76-77 championship and the city and fans, that I re-embraced Walton as a Blazer easily, despite the sting of his departure.
As a man, it’s fitting and easy for me to look back and know that Walton didn’t leave Portland to hurt a franchise, a state, city, or a 10 year old fan. He left for a lot of “grown up” real reasons. He left for a lot of personal tangible beliefs he held at the time, he did what he thought was best for himself and his career at the time. Nothing more, nothing less.
No, I think those fans still harboring animosity or negativity towards Bill Walton need to put childish things away. Bill Walton has long been a vocal supporter of The Blazers and long been a supporter of Oregon. Did he ever claim to be perfect? Does anyone live their life in unfolding perfection? To believe so, would be childish. To expect it of Bill Walton was a childish thing and I have put that away.
I’m glad for Bill Walton that it seems he has continued to evolve. I’m glad he feels he can come back to Portland and Oregon and re-embrace those memories and feelings. But in the big picture as a Blazer fan, Bill Walton never left. Some “childish” things make that last forever, like sitting in a crowded Paramount Theater and watching Bill Walton dunk over Kareem…..
"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"
by Krang on Oct 17, 2009 10:19 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
+32 Krang!
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
Nice
+92 for your +32
"And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make." -The Beatles
by 92wastheyear on Oct 17, 2009 10:37 AM PDT up reply actions
...and as far as Walton not dealing well with the media
during his first couple years with the Blazers. Many people put much of the blame on Wooden who always almost totally protected his players from the Media. When he came to Portland Bill just didn’t have any experience at dealing with the hoards of scrutiny he was put under. Then there was the extreme stuttering problem he had at the time. It was instrumental in his shortcomings at dealing with the press…..a press who insinuated his injuries were imaginary (as much as he loved to play basketball, I never came close to believing that garbage.)
I’ll bet I’m not the only one who remembers his post game interviews with Bill Schonley at mid court sitting on those tall stools. I would just feel so bad and nervous hearing him struggle to get out the most simple of sentences. Years later when I read that he was giving speeches to various groups all over Southern California, I was totally flabbergasted and so very happy for him on this unbelievable turnaround.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
post game interviews with Bill Schonley at mid court sitting on those tall stools. I would just feel so bad and nervous hearing him struggle to get out the most simple of sentences
Schonley has told the story about how Bill overcame his stuttering. A guy named “Marty” (somebody) from back east got together with Walton and coached him on how to speak without an impediment. The results were dynamic, as everyone soon noticed. The Schonz went on to joke about it “when Walton first came here, we couldn’t get him to say anything. Then afterwards, we couldn’t get him to shut up!” Bill also talks about how Walton was told (by Wilkens, I think) to leave the bench area during a game. The redhead went over to sit next to Schonz and was coaxed into putting on a headset, and that was the beginning of his radio “commentary” career
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Bill was a member of the best team I ever saw...
The 86 Celtics.
When Walton came off the bench and paired with Bird, time stopped for me. In those days before DVR’s, I literally stopped doing whatever I was doing – reading, eating, whatever – when those two were on the court. I didn’t dare miss a second!
Bird was one of the most clutch shooters ever, but what really made him excel was his incredible court vision, and ridiculously high BBIQ. His court vision enabled him to not only make incredible passes, but he also could move without the ball better – smarter -than anybody I’ve seen other than Reggie Miller.
Except for moving without the ball, in those later days, the same could be said of Bill Walton. Huge BBIQ. A true point center. Fantastic outlet passes. Great hands. Great pick and roll passes. I still remember one play where he picked for Bird, Larry got it, and whipped it backwards over his head to a waiting Bill for the dunk…
The 86 Celtics team oriented, selfless, fantastic passing basketball exhibited by Walton and Bird is still what I use as the barometer for judging basketball. And is one of the reasons why I’m so pumped up over the acquistion of Andre. I really hope that he can teach this team how to pass like the Walton-Bird Celtics of my youth…
Go Blazers!
Sabonis and Rod Strickland
had some of that same non-verbal BB magic, the short time that they were teammates
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I still say it’s partly Waltons fault for the team coming up short in ‘90 and ’92. It’s the curse of Bill Waltons foot. He did try to sue the team because of it. Maybe with him coming to Portland and the team welcoming him back will help to break it.
Damn the Blazers. Damn them to hell. - 'The Sports Guy' Bill Simmons
It was rip city showtime - fully fantastic - positively Portland - slam bombastic!
by doublezeroduck on Oct 17, 2009 11:15 AM PDT reply actions
break the injury curse
I remember saying 2 years ago after Oden hurt his knee that someone needs to grab Walton and hold a Blazer big man curse-breaking ceremony. Everyone remembers Walton, Bowie and Sabonis being beset with leg problems, but another injury that gets overlooked was Mychal Thompson breaking his leg in the Bahamas and missing his entire rookie season. It seems that just about every big man that has been drafted “high” by Portland winds up on the extended DL (even LMA had the shoulder injury and a heart scare)
Here’s hoping Bill’s visit this weekend has exorcised some of those old ghosts, because it’s getting tiresome building up expectations of a dominant Blazer frontcourt, only to see them go down in a heap, time and time again
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
missing his entire rookie season.
I meant to say “his entire 2nd season” Sweet Bells had a pretty nice rookie season
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/POR/1979.html
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
In the 70's
We had not been introduced to vegetarians much before then. I read time and time again that Bill’s problem was because he was a vegetarian and his bones couldn’t be strong because he never had the right nourishment. Now it is just the opposite. It has been said that Greg has bad bones, because he eats to many fried hamburgers.
I believe that Dave is right. There is to much weight and impact on the bones of a big man. Now, at 5’ 10’’ anybody over six foot tall was a big man. Otherwise to quote from the past “From where I am all the players are big.”
hg
Walton was pretty skinny, though
Bill used to complain about the way the other players smelled in the locker room “there’s sure a lot of meat eaters in here!”
The vegetarian craze took ahold while Portland was on their way to the championship. One of the writers remarked that all of the vegetarian dishes were ordered on a plane flight the team was on. That just goes to show how folks will "copy’ any fad that’s popular, while the team is having success. (Years later, courtside fans began wearing headbands in various colors, in honor of Cliff Robinson…)
Walton was listed at 6’11, 210 pounds (that’s about what Brandon Roy weighs now!) NBA big man weren’t as bulky, back then (Lucas weighed 215, Lloyd “bottom” Neal tipped the scales at 225…Darryl Dawkins looked huge but was “only” 251 lbs) At the time, folks thought that if Bill added more protein to his diet, he might stay healthier, longer
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I think you are right about the perceptions of protein deficiency
My vegatarian friends tell me that bean and other plants provide plenty of protein.
If Bill had foot trouble at 210 pounds think about the pounding Greg is having at 285! We know Yao has serious foot issues and many other bigs have preceded him with similar problems. The ability to jump so very high with that kind of weight (not Yao’s problem I think) must put enormous pressure on the small foot bones on landing. I have broken my foot (stress fracture) – the same bone Martell broke – and I don’t jump at all.
As far as big men go in that era the only guy I remember that was clearly bigger was Artis Gilmore at 7-2. 240.
"Either way we have two phenomenal units. I'm excited to play with either one." - Martell Webster
Kareem too.
Walton was listed at 6’11", but I read somewhere once that he actually was over seven feet tall but insisted he was not because he supposedly believed that when you are less than seven feet tall you are just tall but when you are 7’+ you are a freak.
thanks dave
this post gives a great look into the early days of the blazers and the championship. for those of us who weren’t even close to being born in 1976, this is a great look into the finest moment in blazer history. two years ago i watched the fourth quarter of the game 6 of the finals at a video library in new york, amazing. blazer fans are unlike any other fans in sports, and i can’t wait to get that second championship, GO BLAZERS
wizened? and the Walton legacy
average wizened, stat-wielding, web-educated devotee you’ll find haunting the halls of Blazer fandom today.
I’m 39, and technically eligible to remember how those Walton teams affected my wardrobe (anyone else have a red Blazer lifejacket – err vest??) However, I refuse to consider myself withered or shriveled for at least another 40 years. Viagra was invented to prevent that wizened condition well into the senior years – and I’ll bet that the average Blazer fan has probably deferred that condition for a while as well.
On another note -
Friend or foe, he’s certainly made a mark on this town. How many people can say that?
Would it be a stretch to say that the Oden vs. Durant decision was heavily influenced by Walton’s effect on that championship team? I realize that a dominant big is widely considered a shortcut to success in the NBA – but I don’t think you can practice professional basketball in this town without the twin specters of Walton and Bowie being something that every team has to live up to and live down.
Oden – with all his potential – could be the silver bullet that finally exorcises the ghosts of big men past. I don’t really think that Oden was selected to heal these wounds, but the serendipity is difficult to ignore.
Would it be a stretch to say that the Oden vs. Durant decision was heavily influenced by Walton’s effect on that championship team?
Yes that’s a stretch. Someone asked Phil Jackson last year “if you had any player to start a francise with right now, who would it be?” They thought he would have to decide between K*be or LBJ, but PJack answered “Dwight Howard”! Even the former coach of Michael Jordan recognizes that dominant big men are the most-proven ticket to NBA success
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
OTOH, the drafting of Bowie was definitely a result of Ramsay's earlier success with Walton
Dr. Jack’s offense called for a superior high-post passing center, and Sam had that ability (although not as good as Bill, only Sabas and Alvin Adams were in Walton’s category as passing post men) In addition, Kareem was still wreaking havoc in the WC playoffs and the feeling was that Portland needed a center who was better defensively than Thomson or Wayne Cooper…so after Olayuwon was drafted Inman chose Bowie
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Oh, Dave, come on now — he was a FRICKIN' HIPPIE at a time when EVERYBODY knew what that meant!!!!!
Bill was a green granola dude at a time when nobody knew what those words meant.
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
Dave is too young to remember a lot of the the things surrounding
those years I suspect, but yeah, the hippie lifestyle was anything but obscure.
Brandon Roy just destroyed everything in his path. There's your rational analysis -- Dave
Also: COMCAST SUCKS!
"Hippie"
is an over-simplification. The world hadn’t yet seen the juxtaposition of the “hippie” counterculture with material success, power, and mainstream publicity in this way. That’s exactly what disturbed people about Walton. He was neither fish nor fowl. Nowadays it’s commonplace for young, successful people to also have an element of counterculture to them…to the point that it can hardly be described as counterculture anymore. Back then such things made him an enemy to some and a discomfort to more. I believe this is part of the reason people latched on to Jack Ramsay so easily…as he was an authority figure who, despite the crazy pants, fit the culture much more neatly and indeed, seemed a master at harnessing the various oddly-cultured members of the team.
—Dave
Looks like he could also be good friends with Kevin Love's dad
"I think he can still play" - Kevin Pritchard on Juwan Howard
My personal .02
I have had the pleasure of waiting on Bill and his wife at the restaurant that I work at here in San Diego (well until recently the restaurant was sold) and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the man. I was actually rather geeked to wait on him the first time because of 77. Great man I will always love his ramblings we need him healthy and broadcasting.
, I don’t believe people understood (and some still don’t understand) how much Walton meant to the Blazers.[/quote]
Agreed. I would also add that most people (here and elsewhere) don’t understand how much of a cultural icon Walton was in those days. People couldn’t look beyond the injuries, the crazy hair & beard, the problems with management, and the stuttering problem… they couldn’t see what a fascinating individual he was (and still is).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exOxUAntx8I&feature=channel_page
by The Cactus Leaguer on Oct 17, 2009 2:00 PM PDT reply actions
Thanks Dave.
I’m sorry for Bill Walton that he’s had to go through so much pain. I really cannot imagine undergoing that many surgeries. He was close to being the greatest player ever, but his body couldn’t take it.
Now when he mouths off and exaggerates as an NBA announcer, so what? He’s having fun. Good for him. I wish him well.
ignacio
On the Mark as usual Dave....
Bill never needed adulation. I suspect he would love our respect if nothing else. He has mine. Nothing more joyful for me than a big man who can outlet pass on the dime and then run the floor with fluidity. Love him or hate him, he has been a GREAT ambassador for the game we all love. Besides, he still says stuff that makes me go “Wha?” That is priceless.
RoadBlazer
I would like to join Dave for tea time with the Inklings.
As far as Walton is concerned, I actually lived in Pennsylvania and Dr. J was my hero when the Blazers won it all. I was too young to know any of the other players besides my unbeatable superhero.
When I moved to Portland and eventually worked for the Blazer organization and learned the entire history of Mr. Walton I was initially impressed. I liked the hippie personae and the dominating highlights but then Walton became an NBA announcer and I have disliked him ever since. =p
Unless C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien rise from the dead and invited me to a conversation over tea
I can’t imagine too many situations where I’d feel more out of place with English-speaking gentlemen than at Oxford cloister smoking room conversing about philosophy and religion with Clive and Jack. (BTW, I suspect their beverage of choice would be brandy or sherry, not Earl Gray.) I’ve read a good deal of what both men have written and I have quickly come to accept that they are literally as high above me as the eagle is to an earthworm.
I would however like to recommend a modern day author named Stephen R. Lawhead, if you have taken a fancy to Lewis and Tolkein’s fine works of high fantasy.
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Well I was hoping that between discussions of the battle of Helms Deep and the Four Loves we might get their opinion on this years starting line-ups.
=)
by RastaMonsta on Oct 18, 2009 12:51 AM PDT up reply actions
Wasn't old enough for the Bill walton era Blazers. Drexler was my childhood hero. So I don't remember the drama.
For any spat, difference, whatever Bill had with the city, he brought us a championship. End of conversation. He made Portland a champion, something that no one else has done before. He is alright in my book.
Picture of Bill and Luke at the PF today
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
http://twitpic.com/lw423
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Very cool
But does the moral of the story mean that Oden and LMA have to become like brothers? That Oden’s child must be named something derived from “Aldridge”?
lol
X-man
Blazers win!
by The X-man on Oct 18, 2009 2:59 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
maybe LMA could call his son
L’il Wayne?
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
just looking for a job?
Is this all real? Is Walton looking for peace, or is he interested in getting a coaching job with Greg Oden? I’d be cool with either.
bb
Bill the champ
Heartwarming.I watched him win the championship then.It was one of my best sports moments Thanx for that,Bill.I appreciateyour uniqueness and unpredictability.
by DowntownVinnie on Oct 18, 2009 10:23 AM PDT reply actions
Never understood the dissing of Bill
but I just had a passing interest in basketball when I was younger. But even as a kid I didn’t understand how people could be mad at someone for being hurt…
"No disrespect to Jeff Blake"
by Eat Politicians on Oct 18, 2009 5:14 PM PDT reply actions
Testing the photo option
I thought I would post a photo, but it suggests I needed to set up a web account first. Here is my attempt!
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