A Big Pile of Icing....

{insert ne ner ne ner ne ner comment here}

Might people get too discouraged and decide to spend their money elsewhere? I know Bedge has seemed to me, more quiet these days. Not that there is a direct correlation between Blazer revenue and fanposts on here, but I have sensed a dramatic overall drop in Blazer interest from a lot of blazer fans I talk to after the news about Brandon and Greg’s knees.

If revenue is dramatically affected I think Paul will be forced to do something pretty major to try to salvage what was a track to profitability. Yes, I know PA also wants to win a championship, but I’m sure he is tired of losing money with this team and would really like to see a profit.

Create a team that is a legitimate championship contender and the casual fan interest will once again return…and The Rose Garden will once again be instantly packed.

  As a fan, I perhaps selfishly divorce myself from worrying too much about fan interest or attendance….I’m interested. I’d hope a baseline of support is maintained for a team that is talented and deserving of fan support.

  It bothers me when I see leaked memos, given to Blazer tickets sales of what to say to IMO horrible fans that are trying to get out of season ticket purchases because they now perceive this team isn’t what they thought…

   IMO you keep supporting the team.

  I also think most fans severely overestimate the impact their decision to either purchase or NOT purchase a seat and a beer has on the franchise. Yes, it’s important. And I’m sure Paul Allen and The Blazer as a franchise and corporate entity would like to move towards being as profitable as possible. Sold out Rose Gardens and hyper demand for the product is a good thing. BUT a lot of fans act like their personal decision to deny Paul Allens’ Blazers their hard earned entertainment dollar is going to bring his empire to it’s knees….it’s not….

  I’m NOT a casual fan, as I think most people that bother to frequent this site are NOT casual fans…but it shouldn’t be unexpected and it’s pretty basic. No budding superstar Oden? Hobbled superstar in Brandon….around a .500 team? Not going to garner as much enthusiasm with the marginal fans, or casual fans, I think that’s too bad and regretable, because this is a fun team to watch with a lot of talent despite the change in immediate fortune…

  I ALWAYS worry about what Paul Allen thinks. Because he’s the lifeblood of this franchise. The closest this franchise came to non-existence or a corpse like 1/2 life existence was when he was threatening to sell.

  But he’s demonstrated over the years that The Blazers can struggle and while I’m sure not ideal, wanted, or desired….he has in the past been willing to funnel the resources not only to keep the franchise afloat, but to often seed it’s chances of improvement. Somewhat selfishly , I hope for the continued application of this approach.

The big question to me is whether Brandon can get to his old self. I, for one, believe he can if his minutes are limited to around 25-30 per night. Having both Wes and Rudy both being more than able to step in and help at the 2 is a huge.

I think Greg was a big part of the formula, but Marcus has shown that he hasn’t lost a step and he can give us another year minimum until we know whether Greg is going to be back or not. Joel’s return is also going to have a big impact on our interior defense. Guys like Westbrook won’t be able to drive in the lane without getting knocked on their butts.

Icing would be offensively-talented players (Roy, LMA) who are below-average defenders and not usually “scrappy”

teams like San Antonio realize the value of both, and fortify their roster with veterans who are happy to play a role, and do whatever it takes to win

Portland has a few of those in Miller, Camby and Przy. They don’t have a lot of playoff experience, unfortunately, but now that post season aspirations have dropped (due to injuries to Roy and Oden) the best that the Blazers can hope for is a first round upset of a 2-4 seeded team. That’s the goal, so they might as well keep pushing for it

As far as blowing up the roster and starting over is concerned, that’s not something any GM would ever advertise that he’s planning to do. If Cho pulls off a deal that improves the roster by removing some of the previously-considered “core” players, then we can conclude the team is “going in a different direction”. But you’re not going to gain a lot of traction speculating about this happening, beforehand; you might as well be tossing darts at the wall

Let me add this and also use cake in this analogy.

If you have ever watched the food network, you have most likely seen shows like Chopped, The Next Iron Chef, and any of the “Challenge” shows. I know, cheesy.

Lets say PA is a judge on one of these shows. I like to think of him like the crotchety old woman judge on the cake challenge show. KP is a contestant. He comes in with his rendition of a cake. He picks out the best ingredients, even trades with a few of the other contestants and makes lemonade out of what the other people thought were lemons. Things seem to all be going in his favor. Its his contest to lose.

While he is in the heat of it all, he finds out one of the aspects of his cake isnt working out. He didnt take into consideration the temperature difference between his kitchen and the studio kitchen. Its amazing what happens when spotlights heat things up. Well, that giant intricate tower made of candy just cant seem to cool down the way it needs to be and topples every time he tries to put it up. His sous chefs are there and they are trying to finishx everything else, but without that tower, everything else just seems out of place. So he improvises a little to make it all work. But its not the same, and in doing so the cake just never seems right. And although it may still look ok and taste good, its not an award winning cake.

So its judging time. They look over at the other cakes, and they are just what they were advertised to be. In fact, in the kitchen right next door, there is a sous chef that is really doing some amazing things. He gets quite a few accolades from PA in the design and presentation of the product he has helped build.

It is up to Cho now to make a new cake. He may or may not use the same ingredients. We may not like the direction he is going to go because we are used to the KP cake, but it will be his goal to produce an award winning cake for all of us to be proud of.