We try not to be too self-referential around here but forgive me if I take a moment to be colleague-referential as we close the fortnight surrounding the Blazers' Summer League outing.
When Ben Golliver came on board way back when his job description was simple: be the guy in the trenches, doing the legwork that I couldn't do from afar. He was our eyewitness, our up-close connection to the organization. A ton of work, sleep-deprived nights, and thousands of words poured out before you have gone into that assignment as all of you have no doubt seen (and benefited from). As I've read through Ben's material this week, I couldn't help but notice how far the process has come...an eventuality we shouldn't take for granted. What Ben gave is these last two weeks was the best single-team access and reporting you could find anywhere. He observed and got quotes from every game the Blazers played. He gave us lengthy interviews with nearly every major figure the team sent to Vegas. He broke the news that Rich Cho was Portland's next GM. He accompanied Cho on his first day on the job. And all of this comes in the dead time of the year for NBA coverage. If you can find somebody who's put in more work and produced better results...well, forget it. You can't.
For his work these last couple of weeks and throughout the year Ben deserves a hearty thanks from this community and really from anyone who is interested in the Blazers. And I think that deserves to be on the front page of the blog he's helped make so successful.
Thanks, Ben.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)