FanPost

What do We owe a Player and a Team?


As a fan it's easy to become passionate about a team, even infatuated, jaded, excited and all other sorts of adjectives one can recall. Most fans of the Portland Trailblazers emulate a bit of each of those emotions. And besides emotion what do we owe our illustrious team? Do we owe them anything more?


This commentary is born out of the recent comments made about the Blazers this year and most especially this month that I've read here at BE and on OLive. I wold argue that fans of the Blazers are some of the most passionate, loyal, easily excitable, obviously infatuated (you're reading this on BE right?), and possibly most jaded of any fan base in the country.

I'd also argue that these emotions have served us well for the most part in creating a loyal and extremely powerful home court advantage. One not seen in too many arenas below 5000 ft. Coming in to Portland for a Playoff series is like going in to Green Bay for an away game in January; you know you are in for a hell of a game!

When I was much younger I began to root for the Blazers. Despite all the media coverage for the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, NY and other franchises I used to support MY Blazers unconditionally. I still have that love for Clyde, Terry Jerome, Buck, and Duck. It lives with me and continues on in my fandom of the Blazers.

I now live in Atlanta and once a year I save my pennies, buy the best ticket I can - the one closest to the Blazers Bench - and don my obligatory Fan Apparel and proceed to act like a kid again even if it’s just once per year. I always have loved this team. I have rooted for them in good times and bad. From the Primetime years when I was in grade school when Clyde Drexler owned the City of Roses, to the mediocre years of P.J., Kenny Anderson, Gary Trent and company - to the thrilling on-and-off the court Blazers with Damon, J.R., Rasheed, Bryan Grant and Scottie; and yes even the hapless, embarrassing downhill Jail Blazers with Rasheed, Bonzi, Zach, Darius, Quintell, Ruben and others.

I can remember when Joel Pryzbilla came to Portland a quite a few years back. That moment seemed to turn the luck of the franchise. It seemed we finally had a straight-up leader again. Someone who would not back down even if his talents weren't what some of the other centers were in the league; that was a man you could go into battle with. Even with Joel on the team we were still the Jail Blazers both in and out of Portland, and there were still signs and billboards throughout Portland cursing the Blazers and Paul Allen for allowing OUR team to become a sleazy, no class team.

A couple years later came the annually celebrated "Steven A. Smith I apologize for being such an flaming arse on national T.V., who fell into relative obscurity thereafter - don't ever curse my team like that!" draft in which we were to choose our two leaders. 1st, LaMarcus Aldridge someone who most everyone knew would be some kind of a star someday, and one Brandon Roy; someone who had instant leadership and veteran talent but was "not" athletic enough to make it in the NBA at least according to wide spread media. Those in the PNW and astute NCAA's fans knew he would be a star. That day I knew our fortunes had changed.

The second those two stepped on the court the team instantly felt cleaner, better, more refreshed and you could feel the stench of the Jail Blazers starting to wash away. More than that the moment Brandon took court you could feel the old Blazers swagger begin again. It was like having Clyde in his rookie year and everyone knew it, yet we were still nervous and timid from our years as a national laughing stock and spectacle. One where every day you were nervous about reading the sports page only to find out some Blazers did some atrocious act and now the whole National Media would take pot shots and laugh at us, or even worse disregard and forget about us.

But somehow Brandon Roy erased all of that. He single handedly called out our best player when no-one would...not even the coach. He single handedly brought Portland out of the darkness using his integrity, play, and passion - and for that he was rewarded as an almost unanimous Rookie of the Year and had great performance in the All-Star Rookie Game.

That hope was compounded that year when we won the 1st selection in the NBA Draft and Portland began to take on a new mantle. We were not just a feel good story but we were now the "new" Baby Bulls - we were the heir apparent to the Lakers and Spurs and everybody in and out of Portland knew it.

I'd also say that hope and wonder and excitement also brought a lot of folks to join the Blazers in their excitement and brought a bit of swag or bit of pride to the fan base maybe even a slight bit of over-confidence. But we were in for some humility almost immediately weren't we? Greg Oden the most heralded college big man since Tim Duncan was injured immediately, but the loyal fan base rallied and said "next year big man...next year! We'll just enjoy watching the team develop this year".

Insert Brandon Roy: becoming a show-stopper and a legitimate NBA Star, what happened in December when the Blazers won those 12 games in a row was magic. You knew that Portland became a legit team that year. "Because we had Oden waiting and some kid named Fernandez - the best drafting G.M. and the richest owner in pro sports, and man we are going to be amazing with Brandon leading us! And if Aldridge ever develops a post-game teams are going to have fits with Portland - and OKC you can have Durant because we have Roy and Oden and Aldridge!"

But the next year was cursed too wasn't it. Oden goes down in his first game off of a dirty play by Andrew Bynum. However, Roy was ready and willing, and even LMA looked a bit better than he did the year before and Pryzbilla was now a legit NBA starter and we had few worries. Rudy came in looking like the steal of the draft and we had some young French kid named Batum that everyone liked. Even Travis was playing great, and Blake and Pryzbilla just played outstanding that year.

With Brandon firing on all cylinders, now a 2 Time All-Star and even looking like it in the actual game (which is more than I can say for the last Blazer to make it before Clyde - I'm talking about you Rasheed), looking evermore like the heir apparent to Kobe and the next DWade, we were set to make a run in the Playoffs and that's just what we did.

Portland blew more teams out that year than I can remember since the days of Clyde and Terry. We beat teams by 20 regularly and by 30 I think 5 times. It was heck of a run but the Playoffs were tough, even with Roy playing better than anyone else on the team. Houston might have been the toughest team that year and Yao would not be sent home unless he went home in a wheelchair (and that's what happened).

So with that excitement we all knew that next year was going to be the year, and you started to notice some of the fan comments had a bit of arrogance and expectations in them. No longer would making the Playoffs be good enough with these Blazers I mean how could a team that had Brandon Roy and an up and coming line up just be happy with the first round? "So go get us a real PG and let's see what happens!"

Are you sensing a pattern here? Because the next season opened up like a whirlwind and Brandon all of a sudden seemed pensive and not too sure about this Miller character and Nate didn’t quite seem to have his rotations down and yet and LMA was good but still no Dirk and certainly no Chris Bosh. Yet Greg Oden came in and looked like the Championship Player that we drafted him for and he kept playing and the team began to click and all of a sudden the expectation and promise and joy began to come back to this franchise and we began to beat teams soundly and then devastation; because Oden met with tragedy in Houston one day early that December.

That kid can never catch a break and I guess it's up to Brandon to save the season once again, and by once again I mean 4 years of 4 years straight and once again he did just that. He averaged virtually 25 points a game over the next 20 games and even when our fierce warrior Joel Pryzbilla went down tragically, we looked like we might still have a chance even though we were seemingly losing everyone one of our players to leg injuries.

But Our indestructible Brandon Roy became mortal that year when he injured his hamstring and all of a sudden "who were these Blazers that were out there?" For a month we struggled both on and off the court. We had a lapsing GM, no superstar, an up and coming star in Aldridge but we were struggling to find our identity but the Brandon came back. No longer quite as dominating, but back for sure and now we had Marcus Camby to help out and then we began to roll.

But tragedy would strike again one in early April against a Laker team that seemed relatively harmless, and Brandon became a different player that day.

Brandon would still have his proudest moment of the season and with a 1st round playoff series on the line and the Blazers reeling Brandon Roy would make a selfless decision that became almost legendary (that is until this year). But the Blazer team was neither consistent, nor good enough to will this series away from Phoenix even with Brandon back and he took a lot of flak for his performance in game 5 where we see the "new" Brandon for the 1st time.

Somehow over the Summer a lot of fans became detached from Roy and the feeling seemed wit them was that with Matthews and Oden coming back this season and Miller that Roy is not as necessary as he once was. People began to call for Roy to sit on the bench even before the season even started. And once the season started we realized that we still needed Roy, as Aldridge looked average, Miller and Camby looked really good but not great and Matthews still looked a bit green. But Roy was starting to look off - maybe a bit hobbled.

It's 15 games in and the Blazer fan base is starting to ask for Roy to sit. This seems to be a dividing line for the fan base. Most fans were calling for Roy to take time off and look at surgery or other options. Some were clearly looking to get Roy out of the rotation feeling like he slows down the offense too much and they would rather have an up and down game, whereas others felt that Roy needed to sit for his own health and return to the starting lineup when ready - even if it were next season.

Roy takes a few games off and the Blazers begin to look better and more consistent. Now the comments seem to get a bit more jaded against Roy. It seems that some are feeling upset at the contract Roy was given and feel it's not worth it; but there was no one to say that a year ago when the contract was actually signed. Hindsight is always 20/20 isn't it? No contract for Roy and a big one for Durant - isn't that the way it should have gone?

Roy comes back looking just about the same and all the fan base begins to show concern; some for Roy, some for the current squad. Most all want Roy to take a breather. So that's what happens. But what happens next is so unbelievable to last year’s fans that it can only be a miracle.

And what happened you ask? Well in Portland they say, that Aldridge's heart grew three sizes that day. And then - the true meaning of Basketball came through, and Aldridge found the strength of *ten* Aldridge’s, plus two! And the "Who's" down in "Whoville" who were gathered for their feast finally got what they wanted, they finally got their roast beast!

And then the impossible happens: less than one year removed from his 3rd straight All-Star selection and only 30 games away from his miraculous return, fans start to Roy asunder. It starts as a low rumble in the "comments" sections and the fan base, shushed whenever brought up. But this feeling begins to grow, and Grow, and GROW. And now when Roy returns from surgery he doesn’t get his spot in the starting line-up back. Back from a 2nd year non-drafted player. Relegated to the bench - #6 and falling!

So that's where we are folks. And if you are still with me I would ask you to take a moment and consider what we used to be like as Blazer fans. We would never have cast Drexler aside in half a years’ time. We didn't even cast Rasheed aside even when he hated Portland. And we have never cast Greg aside even though he has been injured 4x more than he has played in 4 years; never winning anything of consequence for Portland.

I'm going to ask you to do the unthinkable and give Roy his moment tonight. I'm asking you to Rise Up out of your seats and give Roy his "Rudy" moment – where the clapping starts slow and builds into fury, and goose bumps and screams and cheers and elation and at last sheer joy for the player that single-handedly pulled Portland out of the darkness that Paul Allen and Whitsitt and Bonzi and Zach and Darius and many more led us into.

Stand up for Brandon when he needs it the most, because he has always stood up for you - his fans, and his team. He has stood up for the Pacific Northwest his whole life. Don't let false expectations and false hopes jade you from one of the great moments that could happen this or any year. The moment is there and there is no better time than to let this Blazer team know that we support EVERYONE who is on this team, through sickness and health!

I think that this is what we as fans owe a player and this team.

Be your best tonight Blazer Fans, because tonight is OUR night!

Side Note...If you have become a Blazer Fan since the Jail Blazers era I can only tell you that what Brandon said the other day was harmless compared with what used to go on, and it was more of a desperate plea from a proud man who entered THIS season an All-Star. The attention it got was also justified as most everyone inside and outside of Portland loves BRoy. And also know that most everyone outside of Portland empathizes and sympathizes with Brandon. When I talk to anybody about the Blazers out here on the East Coast the only thing they want to talk about is how sad is it about Oden and how great is Roy? That's what he has meant to our team.