Oregonlive has the story of Petteri Koponen going into the army.
Priceless quote:
While you're at it, learn to defend too!
Brian Hendrickson has a write-up on the new Blazer practice attitude.
Mike Barrett adds his thoughts on the same subject.
You know, we almost don't need the eye-witnesses to tell us about the new attitude because you can pretty much feel it all over the Blazer community. I don't know how to decribe it but there's a feeling of lightness surrounding the team now, like a big weight has been lifted off and things that were hard to do before (like practice or be a cheery fan) are now much easier. You can see it in the reaction to the Bonzi post below. You can read it in many of the diaries. Heck, you can tell it by what diaries are getting posted. How long has it been since you've seen a trade suggestion diary or comment? Those were coming five a day steady for the last year and a half...they were the bread and butter of Blazer discussion. Now...poof! Nary a one.
Pre-season injuries aside, it seems contentment is the order of the day. I don't expect to be thrilled by the coming season but at this point it really feels like it's all good no matter what. Or to put it another way...we've finally emerged from the tunnel and now we're standing around blinking. Once our eyes adjust to this new thing (I believe they call it light) the horizon is limitless.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)