Astonishing, isn't it? Are you among the few that thought that when the ghost of Dick Clark rang in the new year, as the Times Sqaure ball fell, that the Blazers would have their collective heads above the waters of break-evenness?

Even I, an optimist by nature, had no visions of playoff-level standing for Portland dancing in my head when the season started, yet here they are, walking above the Lakers and their multi-headed superstar monster, above the Timberwolves who tried desperately to steal Nicolas Batum (or Nicholas Bahdumb, if you're an ESPN announcer), above Utah, above Dallas, and yes, even above the mighty Washington Bullets Wizards.

As we slowly come to grips with the fact that the Mayans were wrong, the 2012 doomsday predictions have failed, and we aren't being slowly raptured (leaving behind empty piles of clothes and half-eaten Subway sandwiches), we should take some time out to give credit where credit is due: this team, with an inexperienced coach, a rookie point guard, and a bench so lacking talent that the Generals crack jokes about it, has weathered injury to starters, ridiculous road trips, and home crowds that were at times less interested in winning than Chalupas to a winning record.

To this I say: Bra-VO good chaps! There will be time for nitpicking in coming days, and surely being a single game over .500 less than halfway through the season can't predict what horrors may come...

...but, for these last days of 2012, I say we sit down, pour a Dead Guy, and clink our pints to this team which is inexplicably, if not remarkably, exceeding expectations.