It's hours later as I write this and I still can't believe we have the #1 pick. I mean, no settling...no "this is great but could be a little better"...no compromise or rationalization. We are in the catbird seat. Nobody has it better right now (draft-wise).
These things don't happen to Portland.
But it did.
And what a tidal wave it was. There were well over 500 comments on the site yesterday alone. BlazerNation and Fatty are blowing kisses and complimenting each other. Ancient rivals Damir and BlazerProphet are making plans to share tickets. If that ain't Blazermania, I don't know what is. Dennis Velasco from the NY Times website and guys from our own network are dropping by to offer congratulations. What a party around here.
And here's the thing: the best is yet to come. Unless something goes very, very wrong (and let's be honest...a lot of things can) this is only the beginning of what should be a nice upswing and a lot of winning, hopefully culminating somewhere down the road in something very special. Before we started last season I posted something to the effect that when the Blazers finally got better--when the veil lifted, the clouds parted, the golden carpet rolled out, and they were winning it all once again--every moment of sweat, every difficult game, every emotion-wringing post here would have been worth it and the victory would be all the sweeter because of what we had shared along the way. Yesterday evening we got a foretaste of what that could be like. And it felt good.
It's not time to count chickens. It's not time to talk smack. But it is time to crack the lid a little bit on the old chest of dreams. Maybe, just maybe, someday this could mean a championship. For those of you who have never experienced that let me summarize for you: imagine everything you felt last night when that last envelope was drawn and multiply it by a hundred. No, a thousand. There are absolutely no guarantees that we'll get there. There is still a LONG way to go and a lot of opportunities to fall by the wayside. But you know that light at the end of the tunnel we've been seeing grow steadily brighter this last year? We officially emerged from the tunnel last night. No matter how long the road is before us now, at least we can see it and plan for it. And yes, we can begin to talk about destinations too.
Enjoy the experience, fellow Blazer fans. Those seeds of Blazermania you've been keeping alive these last five years look like they're ready to sprout again. We'll continue providing your Miracle-Gro (tm) soil right here too. Saying we are going to have a lot of fun this year is like saying we got a relatively decent pick last night. The party officially began last night and it ain't stopping until we go all the way.
I'll start talking to the Powers That Be about getting us on a bigger server...
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)