Last Friday, the Oregonlive Blazers Blog made note of an Obama campaign voter registration event, Hoops for Change.  The event was held tonight in NE Portland at Self Enhancement, Inc., an organization started by former hoopster and Jefferson High teacher Tony Hopson.  If you're new to SEI and its work, I recommend checking out the following profile here for a quick introduction.

Pictured, from left: Oregon State University Basketball Coach Craig Robinson, Oregon State Senator Margaret Carter, James Jones, Antonio Harvey, Channing Frye, Obama for Oregon Organizer. 

The connection between the Obama campaign and the hardwood has been made repeatedly throughout the campaign (most recently in this video).  Tonight's 3 on 3 event featured teams "coached" by James Jones and Channing Frye; the game was reffed by Obama's Brother-in-law and new OSU Coach Robinson.  The event turned out 100 or so basketball fans and community members who cheered on the mostly high school players and enjoyed some face time with two of the most likeable Blazers.

Dave asked that I keep a close eye on Channing's coaching ability. I've got to say: given his performance tonight, Channing makes a better politician than a coach. He was too busy smiling and posing with babies to escape a pretty handy defeat at the hands of James Jones' squad.  Jones, for his part, made sure Channing knew the score, taunting him good naturedly throughout the two short games. 

Here's Channing celebrating a rare 3 by his team.

 

The goal of the event, of course, was to encourage attendees to register to vote. There are certainly better places than a sports blog to express personal political opinions, but I also encourage you to register to vote if you haven't already. 

For some reason, however, I expect that most BEdgers express their opinions as forcefully in the voting booth as they do in their FanPosts.

We now return to your regularly scheduled broadcast.

How 'bout those Hawks? 

Josh Smith for President?

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

How about this snazzy new site, eh?  Switching layouts is like buying a new leather recliner-- it's all about the acclimation process. I’m starting to get pretty-pretty-pretty comfortable. 

 

Before we get to the links, a quick follow-on Tuesday’s Memphis game.  Did you know:

-- Rudy Gay’s Mom is named Rae Gay.

-- Darko’s mom is named Zora.

-- Brian Cardinal’s nickname was “the custodian” as a rookie.

 

All true facts courtesy of the Memphis Grizzlies Media Guide. 

 

What a win it was Tuesday night and, in case you missed it, check out the quality content that the last home game of the year inspired:

 

-- Ryan White describes Jarrett Jack’s ridiculous outfit in the locker room postgame.

-- Sean at the Blazers Blog has video of Travis's twin tyrannosaurus dunks.

--  Read Nate’s postgame comments (transcription by Joe Freeman) or watch the video (taken by Mr. Steady Elbows himself, Casey Holdahl).

 

As for last night’s game, I hope you enjoyed the live blog experience with Bright Side of the Sun.  If you participated, please drop any feedback you had in the comments so we can pass it along to our hosts for future use.  Much appreciated.

 

Now, read the rest of these links while you’re still trying to figure out what… in … the… heck… is going on with Dave’s profile. 

 

-- The Portland Tribune’s Kerry Eggers on Brandon’s pouty comments: Water under the bridge?

-- The Portland Mercury’s Ezra Caraeff opines on the end of Darius Miles. 

-- Ezra also took some shots at Blaze the Trail Cat recently.

-- The Oregonian's Ryan White with an awesome D Miles quote.

-- HoopsWorld's Wendell Maxey with a report on Channing Frye's Future.

 

And, as a prelude to the Blazer’s Edge Season in Review, here’s a few:

 

-- Oregonian’s Season in Review.

-- HoopsWorld’s Season in Review.

-- The beginning of the You Be The GM series over at the Blazers Blog.  The first victim: Sergio Rodriguez.

 

Be on the lookout for Blazers Edge contributions to the You Be The GM series in the near future.

Feeling experimental for the last game of the year? Join with me in a Live Blog with Bright Side of the Sun...

Here we go...game 81 of 82!  Will the good guys be able to pull it off and reach that vaunted .500 plateau?  Or will we see another disappointing effort on the penultimate night of the season?

Register all of your pre-, in-, and post-game thoughts right here!

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

In the midst of preparing for their playoffs, which start this week in Bismark, ND, the folks in the D-League front office want to make you aware of a special opportunity.

They are holding a Pre-Draft camp...a tryout for anyone who thinks they have the skills to play in the D-League. The camp goes from June 27-29 but registration ends June 2.

Here is the link if you are interested:

Begin your journey to hoops superstardom here.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

Since the off-season is nearly upon us again we should pause for a second and look forward to what's happening at Blazersedge during the summer months.

Those of you who have been with us before know that the conversation continues unabated, and often enhanced, through the off-season.  Most of the major NBA and Blazer sources do a good job of recapping the season past but then they fade off into vacation or other coverage.  We don't.  In fact we never quit.  Six days a week, every week of the off-season, you will find new posts here.  Freed from the need to do constant game previews and recaps we explore the more philosophical, speculative, esoteric, historical and sometimes downright amusing aspects of the game.  I daresay that nobody does this better than we do.  We shine plenty during the season, but we're a neon lighthouse during the summer.  So don't despair...your chance to talk Blazers won't end just because the games do.  There is a LOT of stuff to recap and even more to look forward to.

Thursday morning you're going to get a recap of the final game of the season and the announcement of the Jersey Contest Grand Prize Winner who will take Fromagnon's place as the Poobah of Prognostication at Blazersedge.

Friday morning you'll get my recap of the season as a whole in broad strokes plus the invitation to the Second Annual Blazersedge Poet Laureate Crowning, marking the beginning of the end of Dr. Dave's tenure as BE Poet Laureate and the advent of a new Master of Verse to take us through the next season.

Beginning next Monday we'll do player-by-player evaluations including a detailed recap of their season, opinions on their progress, salary/contract information, and prospects for next year and beyond.

And all of that is just in the first couple of weeks.  We'll have lottery and draft coverage, Summer League talk, Olympics coverage in August, and all kinds of goofiness to speed us through the dog days of summer.

Of course this is also the chance for YOU to shine and weigh in on all of these topics.  In the absence of concrete games honing our opinions night after night one person's thoughts become nearly as good as another's.  We highly encourage creative thinking around here too!  

I look forward to spending the summer with you.  Enjoy the last couple of contests in 2007-08!

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

Would anything that happens with this team surprise you anymore?  The book says that we should easily beat Memphis at home tonight and then lose to Phoenix on the road tomorrow to finish out the year with a 41-41 record.  I'm not going to predict that.  Are you?  After all this is the team that in the last week alone flushed the L*kers and Mavericks but came out with one of their worst efforts of the season against...the Kings.  Would it surprise anybody to see something weird happen?  Losses inverted?  Both wins?  No wins?  Whatever happens there's always the tendency to let the last couple of games, good or bad, influence one's perceptions for an entire summer.  Resist it.  If Travis scores 40 in each of the next two games that doesn't mean he's the next coming of KG.  If Roy can't muster his usual effort that doesn't mean he's a bum.  All of the questions that can be answered have been and those still without answers won't find any in the last 96 minutes of the year.  The only thing at stake is whether we'll finish at, just above, or just below .500.  I don't know about you, but it would make me feel pretty good to make it "at" or "just above".

Which brings us to tonight's game...the final home contest of the season.  Memphis isn't that good.  22-58 will tell you that at a glance.  They don't rebound well.  They turn the ball over too much.  Their defense borders on atrocious the same way Hillary Swank borders on being a little manly.  They're soft inside.  They're not shot-blockers.  They don't have experienced guys running the offense and their passing is spotty.  They have basically no way to control a game or bend the opponent to their will.

That doesn't mean Memphis is a pushover or that they're not dangerous.  They can do one thing pretty well, and that's score.  Teams that can score always have a chance.  Every once in a while they'll pop off with 110+ on an opponent.  It's easy to lose when that happens.  All you have to do is have a little bit of an off night.  With a team like Portland every night is a coin flip.  If the wind blows right and our sails are set wrong we could go home disappointed.

The chief cause of opponents' misery is Rudy Gay, who has parlayed his deep athleticism into rock-solid, occasionally scary production.  Giving this guy any kind of daylight is a bad idea.  Letting him near the ball when he's on the run is pretty much suicide.  Portland just does not have an athlete with the physical skills and chops to stop him.  Sweet shooting forward Mike Miller has had another nice season for the Grizz but he's been out with back problems.  His absence would go a long ways towards helping Portland's cause tonight.  After that you get into the realm of the occasionally good players.  Hakim Warrick and Kyle Lowry can score in droves on the right night.  Rookie Mike Conley has been tearing it up lately.  Of particular interest to our short-handed center corps might be our old friend Darko Milicic.  He appears to be in the coach's doghouse lately as he hasn't played much in April.  However he's not a complete patsy anymore.  He could drop 20 on you if you don't pay attention.

There's no doubt that Memphis will have to bowl over us in order to win this game, simply out-racing us to points.  But there's also no doubt that they could conceivably do it.  If we want this game we should be able to take it, but the last time I said that was against the Kings and you saw what happened there...

What I'd Like To See

1.  We need energy and purpose tonight.  To that end I'd like to call out one of our hidden assets:  the crowd.  This is the last time you'll see this team play in person for the next six months.  This is the last time you'll see this particular group of guys together in person ever.  Any way you slice it, this has been one heck of a season.  I would expect the crowd to be in this game from the get-go and appreciate everything the guys do out there.  I would also expect that a rumbling swell would begin in the Rose Garden at the two-minute announcement in the game and get louder and louder until the final horn...culminating in a massive standing ovation for this squad and what they've done this year.  (On your feet at two minutes and don't let up!)  Maybe that energy will transfer to the team.
2.  Winning the free throw battle should go a long way towards winning the game.  The side that dominates is getting more of the right kind of shots.
3.  Be aware that Memphis frustrates easily and is not really good at helping each other out of jams.  Double-team strategically (Rudy) in order to prevent their main guys (Rudy) from getting points easily (Rudy).  Keep the ball in the point guards' hands and make them dribble out a lot of clock and then make tough decisions.
4.  Get back in transition!  No easy buckets for Memphis equals an exponentially longer road for them to 110.  We've been masterful at holding teams down in transition the last few games.  Keep it up tonight.
5.  If anybody sees a defender on the Grizzlies, raise your hand.  Everybody with your hand up go and get glasses immediately.  And don't drive yourself either!  Portland plays two kinds of offense...brilliant and DumbChuck.  There is ZERO excuse to be DumbChuckers tonight.  Drive at least two out of every three possessions and either score or dish for an uncovered mid-range jumper.  If we play smart we will not be stopped.
6.  Did I mention the crowd should be loud?

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

In case you haven't heard yet, the unconfirmed is now confirmed.  Darius Miles is done as a Portland Trail Blazer.

With a head bop to A.E. Housman...  

--------

To An Athlete Dying Young: A Defense of Darius

THE time you won your town the race  
We chaired you through the market-place;  
Man and boy stood cheering by,  
And home we brought you shoulder-high.

Darius Miles was a dream.  All arms and legs and vertical leap the man should have, would have, could have.  I guarantee at some point you cheered for him.  His grace.  How could you not?

To-day, the road all runners come,          
Shoulder-high we bring you home,  
And set you at your threshold down,  
Townsman of a stiller town.

The news came down and you could almost hear the cackles from certain corners, those who have twisted his life, health and well-being and held it up as a symbol of violence, lawlessness and "what's wrong" with the Modern Athlete.  So quick they will be to bring Darius home.  

Smart lad, to slip betimes away  
From fields where glory does not stay,    
And early though the laurel grows  
It withers quicker than the rose.

The fall from grace and glory was a vertical asymptote, plummeting ever-downward. Darius kept his smile throughout this season. He gave it a go.  The knee couldn't take it.  In a life with few guarantees, there's no doubt Darius is thankful for his guaranteed millions. He isn't taking it for granted.  When you come from East St. Louis, no matter how many years later, you appreciate and cherish money.  Flaunt it, too?  Sure. But can you really, truly blame the man?  "If you walked a mile in my shoes, you'd be crazy too."

Eyes the shady night has shut  
Cannot see the record cut,  
And silence sounds no worse than cheers  
After earth has stopped the ears:

Is he aware of everything that was said?  The negativity?  The contortion and distortion of his image?  Did he hear the cheers? Why hasn't he let us know? Why the silence, Darius?

Now you will not swell the rout  
Of lads that wore their honours out,  
Runners whom renown outran  
And the name died before the man.

Darius was a dream and the dream is now dead.  It's possible that in 10 years a new generation of basketball fans won't get Van Wilder, they won't practice the head bop, they won't even care.  The franchise is quickly outrunning the individual accomplishments of Darius and company.  Does that mean those of us who did know should simply forget or turn our back?

So set, before its echoes fade,  
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,  
And hold to the low lintel up  
The still-defended challenge-cup.

Darius did things that would impress even the mighty Oden.  He remained an enigma to the last second.  He comported himself this year with complete dignity.  Perhaps this new-found character is the prize he holds most dear.  

And round that early-laurelled head  
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,  
And find unwithered on its curls  
The garland briefer than a girl's.

Long live the dream.  Long live the garland.  Long live the headband.  

Darius was misunderstood by a city whose living history is different than his in almost every way.

Portland: unpretentious, easy-going, suburban. Darius: flashy, quicksilver, street. Housman can be read as precautionary; let's hope, for the sake of the next generation, Miles can be too (I'm looking at you, Carmelo, with the same innocent braids, the same nickle-and-dime problems, the same Hollywood aspirations).

In the end, the epitaph should not be: "Blame Darius," he doesn't deserve it, or "Pity Darius," he has no use for it.  It should be, "Remember Darius" ... young, brilliant, smiling, on top of the world. Remember when.

VIDEO UPDATE:


--Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Ian Thompson at SI.com has an interview with Greg Oden up today.  

Thanks to Keith for the find!

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

Since there are only two Jersey Contest Playoff Contestants left it's pretty easy for me to sort their scores out.  So we all can play along with the final two games if you want.

Keep in mind there are no prizes associated with these games outside of the ones the two finalists can win.  It's just for fun.

If you happen to predict higher than they do, don't get too cocky.  Like professional poker players they may not win every time.  Their longevity and consistent greatness have gotten them where they are today.

Good luck to CBASS and Fatwansaboni!

Here's the form.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)