It may have been the crushing 39 point loss or the infiltration of soft euros. Possibly the taste of Shaq's rear in Kobe's mouth was too much. Maybe Wilt, Magic and Kobe's infidelities finally were enough for this loyal family man. As a general sports fan living in Oregon, the Blazers are unavoidable. They are the only big time game you can see in person. They are making brilliant moves with fantastic likeable young talent. Maybe it was the last 12 months of riding my longtime friend & lifelong laker fan that did it. Whatever it was....... a bona fide laker fan has heard the message and accepted the gospel of blazer basketball!

Before you write this off as another fair weather casual Laker fan following the fair weather...

 Please consider the following:

• He was born in Magic's rookie year and rooted for every laker team he can remember
• He is going against father, brother & cousin(all laker fans)
• He has been to Laker playoff games in Portland, Minnesota & LA
• He is a former all state forward in Oregon (Class 2A) that knows and loves basketball

I NEED YOUR HELP HERE

To consumate this properly I will be drafting a Declaration of Blazer Devotion that I will ask him to sign. He has already agreed to turn over his powder blue Kobe # 8 jersey for my creative disposal. I invite your suggestions on the Declaration and jersey disposal. I will take video of the jersey disposal and post it here for your enjoyment. A big thanks to anyone who has ideas to help with the big day.

I've about had it with Big Suke & Ropp from 1080 the fan.  Today they blathered on for 20 minutes about how dangerous it is for "bloggers" to have media credentials to be in the locker room.  Their point is that soon the Blazers will be letting just anybody in and that Bloggers cannot be trusted to use good judgement in reporting.  I couldn't help thinking that this must be directed squarely at our very own Ben Golliver.... and that really ticked me off.

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This is from my lovely wife of all people.  I was bemoaning the Blazers 9 of 12 and 5 straight losses.  Then I was talking about how great it was when they were 25-16.

She compared the Blazers season to the infamous cough-fart.

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By my estimation over 70% over the blazersedge community is expecting Rudy Fernandez to be a significant contributor next year.

Of course I hope he will be a great player, but I don't expect it.  Here are my concerns:

He is very thin with a narrow frame.  He is hyped as a great finisher based on his youtube highlight reel.  I don't think he will get the easy open court dunk opportunities.  He won't be able to strongly finish in the NBA.  When he dunks he usually gathers and then uses both hands.  He needs a fastbreak or alley oop to finish and we are not headed to that style of play.

His shooting.  I really have no idea what his stats are.  My concern is that his shot is different each time and he will struggle to consistently hit set shots.  I am guessing he is a streak shooter.

Management, Media and fans are all buying in.  What am I missing about Rudy.  I hope you can convince me, because I would like to share in the hugely optimistic future getting even better.

The biggest difference for me this year is how the wife enjoys the games with me.  Now, the wife has no interest in sports and generally prefers that I do something productive with my time.

Last year Z-bo had a game winning shot... she didn't care.  This year Travis hits the game winner & she almost dropped the baby while hollering.  This change for her is that we have likable players.

I've got a long ways to go before she joins blazersedge, but I also never thought I would come home to see her watching the pre-game show.

Many of us argue that Steve Blake helps us by not hurting us.  When he is shooting 30% on wide open threes that is the difference between winning & losing these close games.

I'm afraid he is always wide open because the defense just isn't that worried about him.  Because they aren't worried about him they are shutting down the lane.  

I expect that Blake will start shooting a little better.  My big concern is that he will never draw the defense and therefore he hinders our offense.  Am I underrating his great ability to run our offense?  I'd love to hear some other options because our offense is somewhat pathetic over the last 7 games.

Right now Blake is hindering us.  I hope he can recover and play well enough to not hurt us.  I don't think he has the potential to be a difference maker for the future.