I used to love golf. I only played a couple of times a year and it was good to get out and hit a little white ball as hard as I could. I was not very good, but I could hit the heck out of the ball. I never really kept score and I was VERY liberal with the mulligans. It was pure Joy! Well a couple years back I began to play a lot more( a couple times a week) and I started getting pretty good. I was bordering on respectability. This is where things took a turn for the worse. What was once a casual and therapeutic activity had turned into a maddening exerciser in anger management. Clubs where thrown, curses where hurled and the enjoyment was sucked completely out of the sport.

I have a similar relationship to this incarnation of the Trailblazers. Watching the young "retooling" Blazers was fun and breezy going into the season. I expected losses, so anything that resembled good basketball was just a bonus. Unfortunately, like my golf game, the Blazers became just good enough to be let down by.

Well Blazer fans, you will be happy to know that I have found my inner zen once again. All it required was a simple lowering of my expectation. I Just want to hit the crap out of that little white ball. I just want to see Lillard win the ROY. I just want to see Batum blossom into a top level SF. I want to see Leonard finish some alley oops, Clavor find his jump shot and Barton get all "and one " out there once in a while. Playoffs? eh, if it happens then great, but that will not be what makes this season enjoyable. We have a very likable group of young guys to watch and while they might not be the champions we all hope for they are a talented and exciting group. Thats enough for me...........this year:)