All the Ducks ever drafted into the NFL

I just saw that the Blazers beat the Lakers. Without R-O-Y. And Zach is unbelievable. He is phenomonal. I love this team.

I found this chart online and decided to just use it instead of making my own, because it is really thorough.

Year	Round	Pick	Player	Name	Team	Position
2006	1	12	12	Haloti Ngata	Ravens	DT
	2	17	49	Kellen Clemens	Jets	QB
	4	14	111	Demetrius Williams	Ravens	WR
	7	27	235	Justin Phinisee	Buccaneers	DB
2005	3	30	94	Adam Snyder	49ers	G
	7	9	223	Marcus Maxwell	49ers	WR
2004	2	3	35	Igor Olshansky	Chargers	DT
	2	4	36	Junior Siavii	Chiefs	DT
	4	9	105	Samie Parker	Chiefs	WR
	6	33	198	Keith Lewis	49ers	DB
2003	4	7	104	George Wrighster	Jaguars	TE
	4	8	105	Onterrio Smith	Vikings	RB
	7	7	221	Keenan Howry	Vikings	WR
2002	1	3	3	Joey Harrington	Lions	QB
	2	22	54	Maurice Morris	Seahawks	RB
	3	14	79	Rashad Bauman	Redskins	DB
	4	5	103	Justin Peelle	Chargers	TE
	6	16	188	Wesley Mallard	Giants	DB
	7	36	247	Steve Smith	Jaguars	DB
2001	5	24	155	A.J. Feeley	Eagles	QB
2000	3	19	81	Reuben Droughns	Lions	RB
	4	34	128	Peter Sirmon	Titans	LB
1999	1	3	3	Akili Smith	Bengals	QB
	4	38	133	Josh Bidwell	Packers	P
	7	2	208	Jed Weaver	Eagles	TE
1998	2	12	42	Patrick Johnson	Ravens	WR
	5	23	146	Blake Spence	Jets	TE
1997	3	22	82	Paul Wiggins	Steelers	T
	3	34	94	Kenny Wheaton	Cowboys	DB
	7	3	204	Tony Graziani	Falcons	QB
1996	1	11	11	Alex Molden	Saints	DB
	4	8	103	Ricky Whittle	Saints	RB
	7	6	215	Jeremy Asher	Redskins	LB
1995	6	24	195	Dino Philyaw	Patriots	RB
	7	1	209	Chad Cota	Panthers	DB
	7	12	220	Herman O'Berry	Rams	DB
1994	3	10	75	Romeo Bandison	Browns	DT
	3	35	100	Ernest Jones	Rams	LB
1993	6	21	161	Eric Castle	Chargers	DB
1992	9	25	249	Muhammad Oliver	Broncos	DB
	12	19	327	Matt LaBounty	49ers	DE
1991	4	23	106	Bill Muscrave	Cowboys	QB
1990	3	25	78	Latin Berry	Rams	RB
	4	24	105	Chris Oldham	Lions	DB
	8	24	217	Curt Dykes	Eagles	T
	11	10	286	Daryl Reed	Seahawks	DB
1989s	8	0	0	Brett Young	Bills	DB
1989	2	22	50	Scott Kozak	Oilers	LB
	3	2	58	Matt Brock	Packers	DE
	6	9	148	Thom Kaumeyer	Rams	DB
1988	2	8	35	Anthony Newman	Rams	DB
	4	6	88	Rollin Putzier	Packers	DT
	8	23	216	J.J. Birden	Browns	WR
1987	1	13	13	Chris Miller	Falcons	QB
	3	18	74	Clifford Hicks	Rams	DB
1986	5	28	138	Lew Barnes	Bears	WR
	9	19	240	Tony Cherry	49ers	RB
	11	21	298	Drew Smetana	Chargers	T
1984u	1	3	3	Gary Zimmerman	Giants	G
1984	3	19	75	Steve Baack	Lions	DE
	6	23	163	Dan Ralph	Falcons	DT
1983	2	22	50	Mike Walter	Cowboys	LB
	3	27	83	Steve Brown	Oilers	DB
1982	4	12	95	Reggie Brown	Falcons	RB
	6	12	151	Vince Williams	49ers	RB
	11	21	300	Stuart Yatsko	Broncos	G
1981	6	18	156	Bryan Hinkle	Steelers	LB
	12	21	325	Kevin McGill	Browns	T
1980	4	14	97	Terry Dion	Seahawks	DE
	8	4	197	Don Coleman	Broncos	WR
1979	10	18	266	Bruce Beekley	Falcons	LB
1978	7	9	175	Fred Quillan	49ers	C
	9	3	225	Reggie Grant	Jets	DB
1976	1	18	18	Mario Clark	Bills	DB
	8	23	232	Ron Hunt	Bengals	T
	12	3	322	Ron Lee	Chargers	DB
	17	17	476	Chuck Wills	Redskins	DB
	17	27	486	Stan Woodfill	Cowboys	K
1975	1	16	16	Russ Francis	Patriots	TE
	11	2	262	George Martin	Giants	DE
1974	5	18	122	Tim Guy	Bills	T
	16	10	400	Jack Conners	49ers	DB
1973	2	26	52	Chuck Bradley	Dolphins	C
	3	8	60	Tim Stokes	Rams	T
	3	12	64	Dan Fouts	Chargers	QB
1972	1	4	4	Ahmad Rashad (Bobby Moore)	Cardinals	WR
	1	22	22	Tom Drougas	Colts	T
	4	24	102	Tom Graham	Broncos	LB
	8	8	190	Leland Glass	Packers	WR
	12	23	309	Mike Williams	Chiefs	DT
	17	20	436	John McKean	Rams	C
1971	7	16	172	Bob Newland	Saints	WR
	10	15	249	Jack Stambaugh	Bengals	G
	12	18	304	Tom Blanchard	Giants	K
	14	20	358	Lionel Coleman	Rams	DB
1970	3	12	64	Andy Maurer	Falcons	G
	4	12	90	Jim Evenson	Steelers	RB
	11	13	273	Alan Pitcaithley	Giants	RB
1969	9	22	230	Claxton Welch	Cowboys	RB
1968	1	12	12	Jim (Yazoo) Smith	Redskins	DB
1967	15	15	382	Steve Bunker	Rams	TE
	16	9	402	Bill Smith	Steelers	C
1966	15	12	227	Jim Kollman	Bears	G
	17	3	248	Mike Brundage	Steelers	QB
1965	10	4	130	Dave Tobey	Steelers	C
1964	2	3	17	Mel Renro	Cowboys	DB
	3	1	29	Dave Wilcox	49ers	DE
	11	2	142	Bob Berry	Eagles	QB
	19	4	256	H.D. Murphy	Cowboys	B
1963	2	6	20	Steve Barnett	Bears	T
	3	7	35	Ron Snidow	Redskins	T
1961	8	10	108	Neill Plumley	49ers	T
	11	3	143	Riley Mattson	Redskins	T
1960	4	1	37	Willie West	Cardinals	HB
	12	7	139	Dave Grosz	Eagles	QB
	15	7	175	John Wilcox	Eagles	T
1959	8	4	88	Jim Lenden	Lions	T
	30	4	352	Ron Stover	Lions	E
1958	12	3	136	Jack Crabtree	Eagles	B
	21	2	243	Jerry Kershner	Packers	T
1956	7	11	84	Jack Morris	Rams	B
	8	9	94	Dick James	Redskins	B
1955	1	1	1	George Shaw	Colts	QB
	4	7	44	Jack Patera	Colts	G
	7	5	78	Hal Reeve	Steelers	T
	18	8	213	Ron Pheister	49ers	C
	30	6	355	Bill Toole	Giants	B
1954	18	2	207	Emery Barnes	Packers	E
1953	24	1	278	Monte Brethauer	Colts	E
	28	9	334	Tom Novikoff	49ers	B
1952	30	9	358	Dick Patrick	49ers	C
1951	18	10	217	Dick Daugherty	Rams	G
	21	9	252	Earl Stelle	Rams	B
	27	2	317	Ray Lung	49ers	G
1950	3	13	40	Bob Sanders	Eagles	B
	8	10	102	Sam Nevills	Bears	T
	8	11	103	Woodley Lewis	Rams	B
	15	12	195	Ted Meland	Browns	G
	19	13	248	Darrell Robinson	Eagles	E
	25	2	315	Steve Dotur	Bulldogs	G
1949	4	6	37	Norm Van Brocklin	Rams	QB
1948	15	1	126	Dan Garza	Giants	E
	16	9	144	Don Stanton	Eagles	T
	25	1	226	Dick Wilkins	Giants	E
1947	7	9	54	Chris (Duke) Iversen	Giants	B
	20	6	181	Brad (Whitey) Ecklund	Packers	C
	22	8	203	Chuck Elliott	Rams	T
1946	10	9	89	Jake Leicht	Redskins	B
	27	2	252	John Kauffman	Yanks	G
1945	3	1	17	Cecil Gray	Dodgers	C
	5	6	38	Georege Bujan	Redskins	C
	9	7	83	Bill Mayther	Bears	C
	21	5	213	Leroy Erickson	Rams	B
	29	5	301	Bill Davis	Rams	B
1944	10	6	93	Bob Koch	Packers	B
	28	1	286	Bob Davis	Cardinals	G
1943	3	1	16	Dick Ashcom	Lions	T
	5	6	36	Val Culwell	Giants	G
	11	5	95	Tom Robin	Rams	B
	15	4	134	Floyd Rhea	Dodgers	G
	23	5	215	Ed Moshofsky	Rams	T
	25	5	235	Jim Shephard	Rams	E
1942	3	7	22	Curt Mechan	Dodgers	B
	19	2	172	Bill Regner	Rams	E
1941	5	4	34	Chet Haliska	Rams	B
	5	10	40	Jim Stuart	Redskins	T
	11	1	91	Marshall Stenstrom	Eagles	B
	19	5	175	Len Isberg	Lions	B
1940	5	2	32	Frank Emmons	Eagles	B
	6	1	41	Vic Reginato	Cardinals	E
	14	10	130	Bob Smith	Giants	B
	16	4	144	Dennis Donovan	Dodgers	B
	18	8	168	Jay Graybeal	Redskins	B
	19	10	180	Cecil Walden	Giants	G
1939	17	9	159	John Yerby	Packers	E
1937	6	8	58	Del Bjork	Bears	T
1936	5	5	41	Stan Riordan	Cardinals	E
	8	6	69	Ross Carter	Cardinals	G

Of those, here are the ones still in the NFL, along with their current teams.


Next up, the NBA Ducks.

More self -congratulating, and a big new post on the way...

The Sports Guy is now making me feel good about what I've said. I love it. Check out these quotes:

FIVE GUYS WHO LOOK LIKE THEY'RE BACK WITH A VENGEANCE

...

3. Zach Randolph

Playing with renewed vigor and it doesn't look like he ate Kenan Thompson anymore. I can't emphasize this emphatically enough: He DESTROYED Elton Brand at the Staples Center on Monday night. Is there a more unstoppable low-post player? Who can guard Zach Randolph when he's trying?

(Note: The preceding paragraph was not paid for by Paul Allen. Even if it seemed like it.)

SIX GUYS WHO ARE SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN THEY WERE LAST YEAR

...

6. Jarrett Jack
Now we know why the Trail Blazers didn't want to trade him last summer. Also, he gets bonus points for becoming the first visiting player during the 2006-07 Clippers season to earn "he seems nice" kudos from the Sports Gal.

I know I've suggested that Jack has problems, but hopefully I've also said how much I like him until Rodriguez learns the NBA game...or beyond that, maybe. That one's for my friend J-Lew, who loved Jack at Georgia Tech.

Of course, Simmons couldn't say only nice things.

15 GUYS WHO BELONG ON THE D-MILES MEMORIAL ALL-STAR TEAM

Note: You know how there are young players every year that everyone PROJECTS to be better than they actually are? And when we discuss them, it's always in the context of their potential rather than their production, even though they've never done anything or they always keep getting hurt? Well, I just described the logic that led to Darius Miles' getting traded straight up for Andre Miller and landing a $48 million deal from Portland. So here's the D-Miles Memorial All-Stars. If we made this an expansion team, everyone would pick it to win between 50-55 games and it would end up going 28-54.

Now for the important news...

I was thinking about something my friend Ek said to me about the new name of my blog. In reference to following Duncan and the Spurs, he reminded me of this:

the Spurs thing is mitigated because the SG makes an exception for once-in-a-generation-calibur college players who go pro for other teams. Although I think it should actually be an Oregon player in your case, and I don't think you'd want to be following Joey Harrington around the NFL...

Great point. So I was trying to think of once-in-a-generation-caliber players from Oregon that I could follow. None that came to mind. BUT, there is one who went to a different college. And if not for the Super Bowl last year, I probably would have ended up following him. That's right, Troy Polomalu is from Winston, Oregon. I had to drive through Winston to work at the Plywood mill, and I subbed at his high school a bit last year. He graduated the year before me, and he was one of the most dominant running backs Oregon has seen. He played defense too. And he was a great baseball player. But like I said, as much as I will always cheer for him, the Super Bowl ruined the possibility of me ever being a Steelers fan.

That led me to think about the Oregon players who have gone on to various pro-leagues. In the next few posts I'm going to try to do several things:

1. List all the current Ducks in the NFL and NBA, since Oregon doesn't have NCAA baseball or hockey teams.
2. List all the Ducks ever in those two leagues.
3. Figure out the NFL winning percentage of former Oregon quarterbacks.
4. Figure out the NFL winning percentage of quarterbacks coached by former Oregon coordinator Jeff Tedford
5. Maybe include some other stats in there, including a look at Oregon running backs.
   

Big things ahead, I know. Hopefully it's not too ambitious. Add to those things the prospect of watching a Blazer game and writing about it, and this should be a busy writing weekend. Did I mention I have homework?

Bonus points if you know who the Oregon QB in the picture is.

Patting myself on the back again

Remember when I said the Blazers would be NBA champions in 2009? Well, it looks like someone agrees that they'll be pretty good by then. He may not say "NBA champs," but I still like showing that others think this team will be good in the not-too-distant future.

16. Portland (12)

The good news: the Trailblazers are on the right track. You won't see many arguments to the contrary these days.

The bad news: they're making very slow progress.

The last couple years in Portland were essentially toilet flush years. In other words, they got rid of a lot of waste that they didn't need, but did they really improve themselves in terms of being able to field a winning team? I would argue not. They simply made the moves that were necessary to begin improving. This year we'll start the see some improvement for the first time, but that doesn't mean we'll see over 30 wins.

Now, finally, a young core is in place. Brandon Roy looks capable of being a leader and an All Star sooner rather than later. He and Carmelo Anthony will be the best players in the division in 2009. Despite a gimpy start, LaMarcus Aldridge will be an excellent pro. Jarrett Jack is showing great things as the starting point guard, and Zach Randolph is playing to prove that he belongs on the new and improving Blazers. There are a lot of positives in Portland, but patience will be key. My rankings have them contending for a division title in the weak Northwest in 2009, which would represent enormous progress. So why have they moved down four spots? Because the five teams that passed Portland in these rankings from a year ago are on a faster track for success. It's going to take awhile in Portland.

So says Archer Berryman, Lead Editor for Basketball News Services, at Hoopsworld. I was going to come up with some more of my own thoughts today, but I need to get to school. My weekend basically starts tonight, which is good because I have a lot of paperwork and homework to get done for my program. But, I'm hoping I can also watch a game this weekend while I'm at the coast and finally write my own impressions from the Blazers team this year. Also, there may be a Seahawks post coming down the pike soon. Keep watching, since this site is worth watching now that I'm writing about sports consistently. As is my new trend, I'll include one picture for this post. Here's a picture of the best tight end in college footbal, Joe Newton. He started over me when he was a sophomore and I was a senior in high school. Great guy, great tight end.

It goes deeper...

Back when the Oregon football team had to play Colorado (and kill them) instead of Miami, or when we got left out of other bowl games, or when the men's basketball team got a bad seed in the tournament, I thought we were getting screwed. But now I'm convinced that there is a conspiracy against the Ducks. The women's soccer team finished second in the Pac-10. They upset UCLA, the top Pac-10 team and number 3 in the country. They crushed USC. The drew against Cal. And they held their own in a loss to Stanford. The second place Pac-10 team has never missed the tournament. All four of those teams I just mentioned made the team. Stanford is the third place team in the conference. USC is the fifth place team. And Cal is the sixth place team. I am really angry that Oregon got passed over for the tournament, and that all four of those teams made it in. So angry. Here's the story about it, albeit from the Oregon sports website.

To make me feel better, I'm going to post the rosters from my three fantasy NBA teams...because I want to. In the order of the drafts...

Lawn Wranglers (10 team rotisserie league)
Steve Nash PG
Sam Cassell PG
Rajon Rondo PG, SG
Kevin Martin SG
Josh Smith SG, SF
Gerald Wallace SG, SF
Mike Miller SG, SF
Peja Stojakovic SF
Shareef Abdur-Rahim SF, PF
Mehmet Okur PF, C
Tim Duncan PF, C
Darko Milicic PF, C
Emeka Okafor PF, C


Black Tambourines (8 team head-to-head league) (this was an autodraft and I'm defending champ in this league)
Sam Cassell PG
Andre Miller PG
Dwayne Wade PG, SG
Brandon R-O-Y PG, SG
Jason Richardson SG
Kevin Martin SG
Morris Peterson SG, SF
Tayshaun Prince SF
Zach Randolph PF
Jermain O'Neal PF, C
Carlos Boozer PF, C
Mehmet Okur PF, C
Tim Duncan PF, C


Baby Sabas (8 team head-to-head league)
Baron Davis PG
Sam Cassell PG
Dwayne Wade PG, SG
Kevin Martin SG
Luol Deng SG, SF
Morris Peterson SG, SF
Mike Miller SG, SF
Josh Smith SG, SF
Antawn Jamison SF, PF
Lamar Odom SF, PF
Drew Gooden PF
Mehmet Okur PF, C
Tim Duncan PF, C

Some notes from the weekend

I didn't talk about this, but it makes me happy: the Blazers beat the T-Wolves, bringing their record to 2-1 and getting Portland fans excited about basketball again. Oh man, and Travis Outlaw played out of his mind. Hopefully he makes a consistent habit of that. 19 points and 15 rebounds against KG while mainly playing PF. That's big-time. I still want Greg Oden, but I just can't help but be excited about this Blazers team. Here's the best reason I have for my excitement, from Jason Fleming, the editor of SWISH Magazine and Basketball News Service:

"Before you write this Portland Trail Blazers team off as a rebuilding team, perhaps now is a good time to consider the fact maybe they aren't rebuilding at all.

Maybe they have already been re-built...and this season could be their coming out party."

And that's why I'm excited. I am SO excited.
.........................................................................................

In non-sports news, I realized yesterday that I am now much more consistent in my pro-life stance, even if it has taken a while. In high school I argued for the death penalty. In college I came to believe that the death penalty was wrong, or at least should never be applied because humans are fallible and redemption is never out of the question. But when I was a little sad yesterday at the news that Saddam would be hanged, I realized that I am now truly opposed to the death penalty. What Saddam did while in power was TERRIBLE, and he deserves punishment. I can not stress how much revulsion I have towards the acts he committed in Iraq. But I am also very steadfast in my belief that he should not die for them. He is not beyond hope. That's a hard thing for me to keep in perspective, even with my emotional response to his sentencing. So there's that. It's too bad we're so messed up as people. It's too bad we can't institute the kingdom on our own. It's too bad we end up fighting the institution of the kingdom of God so much in the name of God. It's too bad no one has it all figured out, and we have ridiculous elections and a general malaise and people continue to suffer because of sin--individual and systemic.

Whew, that was the most I've said not related to sports in a long time on here. I'll get back to the sports for sure as the day goes, because I'm almost done with tonight's homework already. Off to school now.

Go Ducks

I just watched the Oregon victory over Washington. That was a nice homecoming game. 34-14 was the final score. Both Washington touchdowns came off of Oregon turnovers. Oregon had over 300 yards rushing. Jonathan Stewart looks incredible. He is for real. The announcers were comparing him to Emmitt Smith, and that seems like a fair comparison to me. We also have the top receiver in the Pac-10. And he's one of three receivers starting over two of the top three receivers from last year, when the offense wasn't too shabby. That's an offense with 5 big-time receivers, 2 big-time running backs, a tight end who fits the spread offense perfectly, and a quarterback who can move the ball with his arm or with his feet. Next week going down to USC should be interesting. Hopefully theyre looking ahead to the Cal and Notre Dame games, and hopefully our defense shows up like it did today.











.....................................................................................

I didn't get to watch the Portland game last night. I saw a little of the post-game show and have read about it. Sounds like the style of play favored us early, but then we gave in to the Don Nelson small-ball that Golden State wanted to play. Once that happened it went downhill. Randolph and Roy were both good again, but as others have said, we need someone to consisttently step up and be that third option. If only Martell's back could be perfectly healthy.

Hoping to watch the game tonight

Portland plays at Golden State tonight. Hopefully I'll end up at a bar somewhere watching, because I want to see these guys play. Word is that LaFrentz is hurt again, and that the team isn't sure how much Webster will play. I'm all for being cautious with Webster, because I don't want his back to ruin his career. And I really don't care about LaFrentz. At all. We'll see how Roy does against a couple good guards, even if they're only good on the offensive side. Also, I want to see Zach crush the Warriors down low. Could it be two straight on the road? I don't even remember what that's like. I've already moved into the pipe-dreams-of-the-playoffs stage of my season, and it only took one win. I'll pass the kool-aid, if anybody's thirsty.















Portland celebrating the Trail Blazers championship in 1977.

The new name

I want to give a quick explanation for the new name of this blog.

The Sports Guy talks about sports bigamists as someone who cheers for two teams in the same sport. He also makes it clear that a true fan is someone who likes a team because they grew up with them, either geographically or by some family connection. By his definitions I would be a sports bigamist for several reasons:

1. I like the Braves, even though all of my other teams are from the pacific northwest. I understand how bad this looks, and admit that TBS brainwashed me when I was a kid. But I think Simmons would still say that I should be a Mariners fan. And I'm not. It doesn't help my cause that they were the most consistent team during the '90s. I did become a Braves fan between '87 and '89, and was just thinking last night about how sad I was when they lost to the Twins in '91. I was already that invested in the team. But this still holds as the first reason.
2. During the early '90s, when my Seahawks were terrible, I cheered for the Bills. I considered them my "second favorite" team. I knew that they could never meet the Seahawks in the Super Bowl, because the two teams were both in the AFC. Now they could meet, since we moved, but I don't have any loyalty to Buffalo any more. Still, that's classic sports bigamy by the Sports Guy's definition.
3. I have also loved the Spurs since David Robinson was dominating much of the west in the early '90s, and then even more when they drafted my favorite college player in 1997, Tim Duncan out of Wake Forest. So that's two sports with a legitimate "second favorite."
4. Lastly, I cheer for Oregon State in every game except the ones against the Ducks. There's your last sports bigamy straw.

So that's where the name came from. The two pictures are from last night's Blazers game. One is just Roy being awesome, but the other is the picture of our two most important players celebrating together. I know they're not really related to this post, but I had to put them up here. Can you tell I'm really excited?

A quick note on the Blazers opening day win

Usually the first game of the season goes a long way to quell the hope I had built during the offseason. But this year a funny thing happened. The hope I built during the offseason was to be bad enough that David Stern couldn't help but give us the first pick next year, and the Greg Oden era would begin. Last night's win has changed my hope for this year.

Check out the box score:

I know that it's not terribly pretty, and that the Sonics aren't very good, but it still gives me so much hope. Randolph showed what I've been insisting, that he's one of the most dominant power forwards in the game, and that he may have the best recovery from micro-fracture surgery in recorded history. Roy did most of that while playing point guard in the second half. I know that my man Ridnour--a duck--isn't the best defender, but when a 6-6 rookie shooting guard does most of his damage running the offense, and it's his first game as a pro, I think that's special. And Udoka. There's too much to say about him. The game story from the Oregonian is great. And this post from Blazersedge talks about Udoka.

I was sort of joking about Roy being Drexler, Udoka being Kersey, and Randolph being Barkley. Apparently, I was closer to the truth than I thought. Of course, it's just one game. But those are really the things that those three guys consistently did. A lot was said in several articles about Randolph diving for the ball and setting two great picks to free guys up for shots. I just got giddy writing that last paragraph.

Now for the reality check: as much as I was thinking about winning every game while reading the various accounts of the game, there's no way we'll even win more than 35 games this year. So that's what I want, along with some payback from the bouncing balls for us getting the fourth pick last year. Then we can still draft Oden and build on what happens this year.

Here's the starting line-up for the 2009 NBA Champions, in picture form.

PG Sergio Rodriguez
SG Brandon Roy
SF Martell Webster
PF Zach Randolph
C Greg Oden

Some good stuff from the Onion

I'm not sure if this is a good sign or a bad sign

I'm slowly becoming the Sports Guy.

Sorry, without context that might be a little over the top. Here's the context: every day I get up between 7:00 and 8:00, check my email and facebook over cereal, shower, and head off to my coffee shop. While there I read the several emails from news organizations I get and check a bunch of blogs and sports websites. Some days I do homework. Lately, instead of doing homework, I write about one of my favorite sports teams. No one else cares about my teams. Yet. Then I head off to my gig as a student teacher, from there to class, and then more of nothing in the afternoon as I hang out with Jacob, Collin, Danny, and Alissa. Each evening has a TV show--Monday=Studio 60, Tuesday=House, Wednesday=South Park, Thursday=Freakshow--and each night is topped off with the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. Then I walk back to my apartment and go to bed.

The Sports Guy similarities are striking to me, except that I'm not getting paid to write, my stuff hasn't convinced an entire subgroup of US males to root for my teams, I'm not spoiled by having two of my three favorite sports teams win championships in the last few years, and I should do my homework before I fail out of grad school. Just kidding, I won't fail out.

Here's what I'm trying to figure out: how I can I slide into his gig when he leaves ESPN? I'm sure there are plenty of other bloggers around the country that want to do it. They're probably all more qualified than me, except for one thing: like Simmons, I know that I'm an idiot. I don't think I have the best word on any of my teams. I think I usually have something good to say, or intriguing, or insightful. But I'm wrong. A lot. My love for Darius Miles? Ridiculous. My belief that Tom Ashworth would be moved to left guard for the Seahawks to fill in seamlessly for Hutchinson? Ashworth can't even play his natural tackle position well.

And yeah, maybe you didn't know I thought those things until I just wrote them. But I did. And I just wrote them. See, I'm an idiot too.

Here's another reason I should fill in for Simmons: I don't try to come up with ideas that could be mistaken for his. I either blatantly rip him off, or I come up with my own ideas. Of course these have been influenced by reading his stuff for the last six years, but they've also been influenced by a bunch of "serious" writers.

I've got the right teams, too. The Blazers are woeful. The Seahawks were on the cusp, but now it's questionable. And the Braves are trying to get back, but are firmly caught on the fence. Plus, I like college sports for a university that has one historic program, but a recent juvenation in several sports. And the historic program is running. These teams fit to take over for a long-suffering Red Sox franchise, a previous doormat/now dominant Patriots franchise, and a formerly great/now mediocre Celtics team.

A few other random reasons:

1. I like the NBA much better than the college game, which is inexplicable to many people
2. I know a decent amount about other subjects, and would bring pop culture into the discussion
3. I have a good group of friends who could give me ideas, the way the Sports Guy used to be
4. I provide a contrast to his Boston saturation, spreading the love cross-country
5. Plenty of drug jokes about Oregon
6. Like I said at the outset, I'm already becoming the Sports Guy, so why shouldn't I have his job?
   

Not that you care, but I do

The online edition of The Oregonian has a ton of Blazers content today. It's really good stuff, and of course has kept me from grading tests or doing my blog for a class or doing an assignment that's already late. Yup, it's opening day. Here's a rundown of the articles, in case you're remotely interested in a few of the subjects: A quick summary of the last year, profiles of players Jarret Jack, Martell Webster, Brandon Roy, and Sergio Rodriguez, and new player development coach--and former UNLV mentor--Bill Bayno, and a preview of the whole league. I didn't read the league preview, but everything else is pretty good. It almost makes me excited to win games and hope we get rewarded, and paid back for last year, with the number one pick in the lottery. Everytime I think of Greg Oden, I get really excited. And when I picture him on the floor with...ah...I can't do it, I need to get to work on stuff, but the more I talk about this team and the possibilities of this team for the future, the less I want to grade tests. Oh man. Greg Oden. Brandon Roy. Martell Webster, who I LOVE. L-O-V-E. (Quick Martell story: last year the Blazers drafted him number six right out of high school. I was at an early season game against the Pistons that he started. He looked pretty good. A few weeks later he was sent down to the D league. Martell never once complained, instead doing all he could to get better through the experience. And he did. If you only read one of the articles that I linked to, read the one about Martell. The kid gets me excited.) Zach Randolph. (I refuse to give up on Zach.) Sergio Rodriguez. (Who could be a Tony Parker/Steve Nash/Jason Williams hybrid.) Add in Travis Outlaw, LaMarcus Aldridge, Joel Przybilla, and Jarret Jack off the bench. That's an eight man rotation.


I just had to wipe drool off my keyboard. I'll leave this post with a picture from Mike Barrett's Blazer fan blog. (Barrett is the TV play-by-play guy for Portland. His blog is on the Blazers official site.)

Time for test-grading.















Left-to-right: Zach Randolph, Martell Webster, Brandon Roy, and Travis Outlaw.

Deion Branch: thanks for bringing it

Dear Mr. Branch-

I need to start by apologizing for my lack of faith in you. Well, I didn't lack faith in you, but in the worthiness of trading a first round pick for you and then signing you to a huge extension. You see, we already had Bobby Engram, Darrel Jackson, D.J. Hackett, Nate Burleson, Jerramy Stevens, and Itula Mili. I didn't really think we needed another expensive receiver. You started showing me from the moment you put on the blue and blue and blue and blue and green that you weren't just another big name. You've already made some game changing catches, and those catches have excited me. But I still wasn't sold on you, since someone I trust a lot--Bill Simmons, whom you may know as the Sports Guy--said that you weren't worth the kind of money we were throwing at you. And he is a huge fan of your previous employer. Before we got you the Seahawks already had gamechangers, guys who can turn the momentum in one play. Matt can do it. Shaun can do it. Michael and Ken can do it, even if we're a little worried about Michael's performance so far this year. Lofa has been showing that he can do it. The list goes on. And that's why I'm writing you today, because the most important thing I learned from today's loss in Missouri wasn't that Seneca is for real, or that Lofa really can be one of those guys. No, the most important thing I learned has to do with you.

You want to win. I know, everyone wants to win. But when you stripped the ball from Jared Allen, I was convinced that you will do whatever you can to get a win. A lot of people would have seen a huge defensive end running toward the sideline as the clock ticked down and assumed that the game was over. In fact, I'm guessing that everyone on the field thought that. Except you. To watch you swing your arm like Lawrence Taylor sacking a quarterback, and then to see you pry the ball away from someone who is eight inches taller and 80 pounds heavier, well that convinced me that you're not going to let the Seahawks continue losing. And yeah, I know that we ended up losing today. But the attitude that you showed to the team will grow. Lofa, who already plays like that, will push the rest of his defense to give what you gave. And Mike will point out to the rest of the guys that you showed the heart of a world champion. He'll remind them about your Super Bowl ring. In fact, he'll probably have you show it to them. And he'll talk about your MVP in the big game, and how you play each game with the same intensity. When Shaun gets back, I know that he'll be excited to push himself and the rest of the team to be more like that. I haven't been this excited after a Seahawks loss in a long time.

And maybe that's really why I'm writing to you. Thanks for giving me something to be excited about. I think I am now fully onboard with signing you and giving up a first round pick. In fact, I'm hoping that you'll forgive me for delaying my allegiance. If it's not too soon, I'd like to be on a first name basis. Deion? Is that okay?

Well Deion, I'm pretty excited. I know that 4-3 doesn't feel very good, but we've got a lot of football left, and we're in a terrible division. Welcome to the blue and blue and blue and blue and green. It's a pleasure to have you with us, and I can't wait until you win a Super Bowl MVP with the Seahawks to sit next to the one you got with New England.

I've included this picture of you, I would love if you could sign it and send it back to me. This is the first autograph I've asked for in a long time, so it would mean a lot to me. I looked for a picture of the very play that convinced me to write, but could not find one yet. I'll check again, because it is such an important symbol of the future. Thanks again,

--josh

I'm changing the name and description

For a long time I was pretending that I would do philosophy on this blog. And every once in a while I did. But much more often I write about sports or books. I don't really feel bad about that, but since that's the case I need to change the description at the top of the page. How untrue that is. And now for some Blazer news, in terms of honorary awards:

Darius Miles: the Allan Houston memorial trophy

Except that Houston was a great shooter. And I'm stealing this comparison from someone else. I was so excited for what this guy could do on the court, and now his career is most likely over. As has been said many times by other more respected and more prolific Blazer bloggers, if Miles doesn't have his explosiveness he probably isn't an NBA player.

Martell Webster: the Derek Anderson memorial trophy

I hope the only part of this that comes true is the utter domination part, but Webster's back has me a little scared. This wouldn't be the same as Miles' injury, but if Webster is limited to only being a shooter then he loses a ton of value.

Jamaal Magloire: the Kevin Duckworth memorial trophy

The problem with this award is that Duckworth was a key member of a few Blazer teams before he stopped caring and became part of the Rasheed Wallace trade. (Which sent him and Strickland to Washington for 'Sheed and Harvey Grant...Harvey Grant was more important to Portland the first two years, and then 'Sheed exploded. Take that how you will.) But it's still ridiculous how much Magloire doesn't seem to care about turning the ball over 8.3 times per 48 minutes in the preseason. I know it's only the preseason, but COME ON. Wow.

Zach Randolph: the Charles Barkley memorial trophy

"I am not a role model." I know Zach didn't say that, but maybe he should. Also, he's undersized like Sir Charles, abuses other PFs down low like Sir Charles, has a ridiculous nose for the ball like Sir Charles, and did I mention that he's not a role model? One of the biggest differences right now is that Zach lost a lot of weight this summer to make him even better. (And I'm still a little concerned about his comeback from the microfracture surgery, but I think he could be the poster boy for solid recovery.)


Ime Udoka: the Jerome Kersey memorial trophy

I know it's early, but he's already earning this by being the type of guy the Blazers have missed at small forward since Kersey last wore a Blazer jersey. He works hard, plays smart, and doesn't beat up his wife or babysitter. We'll see if he ends the season with Portland, but for now, I think this is a justified award.

Lastly, Brandon Roy: the Clyde Drexler memorial trophy.

We'll see if he lives up to the hype, but right now he's the best loved athlete in Portland since we shipped the Glide off to Houston. I don't have anything else to say, except that I can't wait for the Brandon Roy/Greg Oden era.

The Onion talks about the Blazers

I just thought that other people needed to see this. I'm pretty happy that the Blazers are so well-respected by The Onion. I mean, they totally slam on New York and Atlanta.

A couple mini-lists (ripping off McSweeney's and Krispin)

Instead of blogging here, I should probably writing on my blog for class. But I'd rather do this one, so I am.

It's been a long time since I've written anything, and I want to say it's because I've been busy. Really, though, I haven't been that busy. I'm one of the best people I know at doing as little as possible to get by in a slightly above-average way. Now that my teaching unit has ended, I really will have even more time, which should translate to me getting my work done early and reading or writing more for pleasure. Here are the things I want to write:

1) More Blazer related blogs on here, and perhaps a few about my Seahawks and Ducks. There's a lot to write about with each of these teams, and I like thinking about them and writing about them.

2) Continue working on the story I started writing last time I visited Scott in Portland, and hopefully turn it into something good.

3) This shouldn't count, but I'm putting it anyway: I want to "write" all my paperwork that should be done at the end of the term, so that the rest of the term is smooth.


Here are the things I want to read:

1) I want to finish Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places. I seem to have misplaced it, so hopefully I can find it soon and finish it.

2) I started reading The Satanic Verses last week. I haven't read anything by Salman Rushdie before, and so far this has been proving him to be as good as people claim. It's pretty amazing.

3) The Gospels. It's been a long time, and my reading of the daily "verse and voice" emails from Sojourners has helped me get back into Scripture.

4) It would be nice to get back into Barth's commentary on Romans, as well. We'll see. I would have put this one last, because it is the least likely for me to actually read, but instead I'll put this last:

5) Fortress of Solitude, by Jonathan Lethem. Jacob has been insisting for some time that I need to read Lethem's stuff. I believe him. I just have so many other things that I want or need to read. So this is last on my list, even though I know I really want to read it.

(I left out my adaptation of Maniac Magee as one of my writing projects because I don't have the patience currently to write something that won't be realized until it sees the screen. So that would be last on my writing list.)

Learning how to blog

I'm sitting in my blog class right now, learning how to blog. Yep. I'm now learning how to do this. It's a good thing too, since I've been doing this with no knowledge for several years. Seriously, this is terrible.

My dog died (four years ago)

I just saw something while watching Grey's Anatomy that brought something back. On the show some characters had to put their dog to sleep. They were holding him while he had the lethal injection. I did this. When my dog Rocky was put to sleep, I was holding him. I felt his chest heaving, and then I felt it not heaving anymore. I remember my mom wailing. I remember my dad standing there in his police uniform, head down. And I remember the one big drop on the concrete by my dad's shoe. I was the strong one. Maybe that was because I couldn't believe what had happened. Life was in my hands and then it was something else in my hands. Until tonight I hadn't thought about what it might be like to hold something that is newly breathing instead of newly not-breathing. So Grey's Anatomy made me cry as I remembered my dog expiring in my arms.

My dreads (a tribute)

Well, I'm not really giving the tribute yet, because they're not gone yet. But they will be, and maybe before this day is over. I'm tired of trying to take care of them, and I think it'd be good to make a positive impression tomorrow at Willamette High School with the other teachers. So I may sell out and join the establishment.

(The inner turmoil is pretty terrible. I actually feel a little sick to my stomach right now, because I don't want to cut my hair, but I also think it could be really good for my next three months to start off really well tomorrow. Aargh.)

My grades

I just checked and my grades for the summer have been posted. I had four classes, two that were pass/no pass and two that were graded. I'm quite happy to report two Ps an A and an A-. Not bad for doing as much work as I wanted to learn stuff that I cared about, and none to get good grades. I'm pretty proud of that, since I feel like I got something out of my classes but didn't let them control me at all. Take that grad school, take that.

Sorry, I was a little out of control at the end there.

In lieu of substance...

I am intent again on adapting Maniac Magee into a screenplay. I've been thinking about it recently, and think I'll get started on it. Sorry that I'm not writing any of my own stuff. (The sorry is probably more for me, because I wish I had more of my own stuff in me.)

Zach Randolph

I've been a fan of Randolph since his third season. I admit that I was very skeptical when we drafted him, but I came around quickly, and was really happy that we gave him the HUGE extension. This summer there has been some talk that they might dump him now that Magloire and LaFrentz have come in. That would be really really really really (ad infinitum) stupid. Last year Randolph's big numbers--points and rebounds--dropped, but so did his bad numbers--turnovers--and some other numbers came up, like steals, blocks, 3pt shots/percentage, and assists. In addition, from what I've read and seen this summer, he's working really hard to get into great shape and has even trimmed up a bit. Here's a link to his player page at the Blazers website, it has video on it that made me pretty giddy. It also had an ad that made me want to buy season tickets, even though that would be really dumb. I'm looking into it anyway.

So there's that.

One more thing to add

The Knicks, who seem to be attempting to prove that they really don't know how to stop making absolutely horrible moves, have signed Jared Jeffries to an offer sheet. It seems likely that the Wizards won't match it. This means that they would need more depth in the front court, since Jeffries played all three positions there last year. Maybe the Jamison/Booth for Miles/LaFrentz would be more appealing to them to help shore up the depth issue. And I apologize for publishing so much so quickly after being away for a while.

I should clarify, I'm apologizing to my grad program and my grades.

Addendum to trade post, RE: The Sports Guy's NBA trade value index

I assume that most of the people who read my blog and would care enough to read the trade scenarios I just listed are already familiar with the Sports Guy. But in case that isn't true, there are a few things you should know. First, you should acquaint yourself with his article on the trade value of the top 40 NBA players. The link is in the title and here. You should also know that only two of the guys I listed are in the top 40, both in "Group F: 'Shhhhhh ... We'll Discuss Him, But You Can't Tell ANYONE.'" Allen Iverson is number 24 and Shawn Marion is number 21. So the other three main pieces I talked about, Grant Hill, Antawn Jamison, and Rashard Lewis, are at least not in the Sports Guy's top 40. Of course this doesn't mean they're up for any trade that comes down the line, but it does show that at least one enlightened analyst sees them as the kinds of players that could be available if a decent offer comes up. And LaFrentz/Miles just might be the kind of decent/intriguing offer needed for these sorts of players.

Some trade ideas

I should have been doing homework for the last while, but instead I was working on potential trades for the Blazers. I had to do three-way trades because ESPN doesn't have the Magloire-Blake/Ha/Skinner move in yet, but these are my favorite ones so far, all of which do some good things for the Blazers, I think, including freeing up cap space for next season in most of the moves.

I'm still not sure if I want to get rid of Miles, but if so, then these are deals I would do. I'm not saying any of the other teams would pull the trigger, but they could be intrigued. Miles was pretty explosive--defense, points, excitement--before getting hurt last year. And LaFrentz brings something to the table for a lot of teams. So here are the moves I would want to make, in no particular order (because I can't decide which one would work the best, considering chemistry and potential of people like Travis Outlaw, Martell Webster, and Brandon Roy).


I don't think that Philly is willing to give up AI anymore, but if they were, I think this deal would be great for Portland, and could even be decent for the Sixers. They could move Igoudala to the 2 spot and let him and Miles fly around together, and then they would have some more crappy bulk in the middle.




This one is intriguing for a number of reasons. I really want to see Travis Outlaw thrive, and bringing in Hill would do several things to help with that. !) It would give him a proven veteran to learn under. 2) It would show that Outlaw is still is the SF of the future, since Hill's contract is up next year. 3) If Hill is healthy, he could bring a ton to the table for Portland, really the opposite of Miles in terms of locker room presence. This could be interesting for Orlanda too, since I still think Miles could burn the league up in the future, and all that junk I already said about LaFrentz.

Of these last three major pieces, I like Marion the least as a player. I love his numbers, but think that he thrives more in a system, and I don't know how he would fit in Portland's system. Having said that, I also know that he is a very good player. Oh yeah, and I know that Phoenix would probably not entertain this deal, although getting LaFrentz could be enticing in some ways. He's a center, so Amare wouldn't have to be the 5. (Which is good, since he doesn't want to be.) But he is also an oft-perimeter player, filling in nicely for the departed Tim Thomas. He also brings another shot-blocking presence to the sieve-like defense. And Miles likes to run. A lot. Maybe this would be worth thinking about.*



Jamison is my favorite of these last three major players. I like his game, I think he is
unselfish, and I think he would be a lot of fun. He's a well-rounded player, more than Lewis but less than Marion maybe, but mainly I just like him. I don't know how this could help the Wizards, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't consider the deal.


This last deal is the one I would most want to see Portland do. I like Lewis' contract more than any of the other players involved, and because Fortson is so expensive--not to mention terrible--I think he would be worth dumping to take on LaFrentz's terrible contract. Also, because the Sonics have so many problems with the front-court, this could help them. LaFrentz isn't better than Swift, Sene, and Petro? And Seattle just got rid of Mikki Moore, one of their other centers. LaFrentz would also fill, slightly, the front-court shooter spot that Lewis would be vacating. Miles gives them a strong 3, so that they would have Ridnour, Allen, Miles, Wilcox/Collison, and LaFrentz. I'm convincing myself that this could be a decent team. Portland gets a great young player on the cheap in Lewis and takes on a terrible contract in Fortson, but that comes off the books next summer, which frees them up to take care of everything else. My only problem is that I still think Outlaw could be great, and this would be giving up on him as the future starter for the franchise. But Lewis might be worth it.

So there you have it, a few moves that I'd like to see from Portland if they really do want to get rid of Darius. I'm sure that none of the players I suggested are even available, but it's fun to speculate on what could happen. I'd still rather keep Miles and help him develop into the force I think he could be, but I'd love to dump LaFrentz and his giant contract, and I don't think anyone would be willing to take it on without something else, even Miles. Now I need to do homework.

*by "worth thinking about" I mean that Phoenix would wait until they hung up the phone to laugh at Portland for offering this deal.

Interesting NY Times Op-Ed

In case the link dies soon, here is the full text. I don't know if I'll get in trouble for having it here, so I'll give clear credit. THIS WAS WRITTEN BY DANIEL GILBERT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES. Enjoy:

He Who Cast the First Stone Probably Didn’t

By DANIEL GILBERT
Published: July 24, 2006

LONG before seat belts or common sense were particularly widespread, my family made annual trips to New York in our 1963 Valiant station wagon. Mom and Dad took the front seat, my infant sister sat in my mother’s lap and my brother and I had what we called “the wayback” all to ourselves.
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In the wayback, we’d lounge around doing puzzles, reading comics and counting license plates. Eventually we’d fight. When our fight had finally escalated to the point of tears, our mother would turn around to chastise us, and my brother and I would start to plead our cases. “But he hit me first,” one of us would say, to which the other would inevitably add, “But he hit me harder.”

It turns out that my brother and I were not alone in believing that these two claims can get a puncher off the hook. In virtually every human society, “He hit me first” provides an acceptable rationale for doing that which is otherwise forbidden. Both civil and religious law provide long lists of behaviors that are illegal or immoral — unless they are responses in kind, in which case they are perfectly fine.

After all, it is wrong to punch anyone except a puncher, and our language even has special words — like “retaliation” and “retribution” and “revenge” — whose common prefix is meant to remind us that a punch thrown second is legally and morally different than a punch thrown first.

That’s why participants in every one of the globe’s intractable conflicts — from Ireland to the Middle East — offer the even-numberedness of their punches as grounds for exculpation.

The problem with the principle of even-numberedness is that people count differently. Every action has a cause and a consequence: something that led to it and something that followed from it. But research shows that while people think of their own actions as the consequences of what came before, they think of other people’s actions as the causes of what came later.

In a study conducted by William Swann and colleagues at the University of Texas, pairs of volunteers played the roles of world leaders who were trying to decide whether to initiate a nuclear strike. The first volunteer was asked to make an opening statement, the second volunteer was asked to respond, the first volunteer was asked to respond to the second, and so on. At the end of the conversation, the volunteers were shown several of the statements that had been made and were asked to recall what had been said just before and just after each of them.

The results revealed an intriguing asymmetry: When volunteers were shown one of their own statements, they naturally remembered what had led them to say it. But when they were shown one of their conversation partner’s statements, they naturally remembered how they had responded to it. In other words, volunteers remembered the causes of their own statements and the consequences of their partner’s statements.

What seems like a grossly self-serving pattern of remembering is actually the product of two innocent facts. First, because our senses point outward, we can observe other people’s actions but not our own. Second, because mental life is a private affair, we can observe our own thoughts but not the thoughts of others. Together, these facts suggest that our reasons for punching will always be more salient to us than the punches themselves — but that the opposite will be true of other people’s reasons and other people’s punches.

Examples aren’t hard to come by. Shiites seek revenge on Sunnis for the revenge they sought on Shiites; Irish Catholics retaliate against the Protestants who retaliated against them; and since 1948, it’s hard to think of any partisan in the Middle East who has done anything but play defense. In each of these instances, people on one side claim that they are merely responding to provocation and dismiss the other side’s identical claim as disingenuous spin. But research suggests that these claims reflect genuinely different perceptions of the same bloody conversation.

If the first principle of legitimate punching is that punches must be even-numbered, the second principle is that an even-numbered punch may be no more forceful than the odd-numbered punch that preceded it. Legitimate retribution is meant to restore balance, and thus an eye for an eye is fair, but an eye for an eyelash is not. When the European Union condemned Israel for bombing Lebanon in retaliation for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, it did not question Israel’s right to respond, but rather, its “disproportionate use of force.” It is O.K. to hit back, just not too hard.

Research shows that people have as much trouble applying the second principle as the first. In a study conducted by Sukhwinder Shergill and colleagues at University College London, pairs of volunteers were hooked up to a mechanical device that allowed each of them to exert pressure on the other volunteer’s fingers.

The researcher began the game by exerting a fixed amount of pressure on the first volunteer’s finger. The first volunteer was then asked to exert precisely the same amount of pressure on the second volunteer’s finger. The second volunteer was then asked to exert the same amount of pressure on the first volunteer’s finger. And so on. The two volunteers took turns applying equal amounts of pressure to each other’s fingers while the researchers measured the actual amount of pressure they applied.

The results were striking. Although volunteers tried to respond to each other’s touches with equal force, they typically responded with about 40 percent more force than they had just experienced. Each time a volunteer was touched, he touched back harder, which led the other volunteer to touch back even harder. What began as a game of soft touches quickly became a game of moderate pokes and then hard prods, even though both volunteers were doing their level best to respond in kind.

Each volunteer was convinced that he was responding with equal force and that for some reason the other volunteer was escalating. Neither realized that the escalation was the natural byproduct of a neurological quirk that causes the pain we receive to seem more painful than the pain we produce, so we usually give more pain than we have received.

Research teaches us that our reasons and our pains are more palpable, more obvious and real, than are the reasons and pains of others. This leads to the escalation of mutual harm, to the illusion that others are solely responsible for it and to the belief that our actions are justifiable responses to theirs.

None of this is to deny the roles that hatred, intolerance, avarice and deceit play in human conflict. It is simply to say that basic principles of human psychology are important ingredients in this miserable stew. Until we learn to stop trusting everything our brains tell us about others — and to start trusting others themselves — there will continue to be tears and recriminations in the wayback.

the dreading process...stage not-quite-finished

Running diary: 1992 NBA Finals

Note: This has been sitting around for about a month now, but it shouldn't really matter since it's about an event that happened 14 years ago. I also apologize that it turns into a sort of play-by-play at the end, but the game was so crazy I didn't have time to analyze what I was seeing.


10:08 pm: Welcome to my running diary of game six from the 1992 NBA Finals. After a heavy week of World Cup action it’s time to pour down some bitter nostalgia. Fortunately I taped the game from ESPN Classic, so if things start getting too bad I can pause it and go downstairs for a piña colada. Unfortunately, since I taped the game from ESPN Classic, I don’t think I’ll get to watch any era commercials. With that, I’ll hit play.


10:12 pm: Dave Rivsine begins by mentioning that the Bulls were battle-tested during this playoff run and that they came into the game with a 3-2 series lead. Uh-oh.


10:12 pm: I miss the NBA on NBC theme music. Ooh, maybe this means I’ll get era commercials.


10:14 pm: This game was in Chicago. I was thinking this was the eyes closed free throw game. Now I don’t know what to expect.


10:15 pm: The starters are being called, with the away Blazers going first. This is the classic Blazer team: Buck Williams, Jerome Kersey, Kevin Duckworth, Terry Porter, and Clyde Drexler. Same goes for the Bulls: Horace Grant, Scottie Pippen, Bill Cartwright, John Paxson, and Michael Jordan. Also of note: Phil Jackson’s tie is atrocious.


10:17 pm: Our first shot of Ahmad Rashad, who Marv Albert reminds us is from Portland. I would also remind you, he went to Oregon. And now Marv is letting us know that no team has ever come back to win the finals after being down 3-2 by winning the final two games on the road.


10:18 pm: Jerome Kersey and Horace Grant took the tip-off. I only mention it because I was shocked that it wasn’t Cartwright and Duckworth…


10:20 pm: I just realized that Marv Albert’s booth partner is Mike Frattello. David Stern needs to bring those two back together. And the Blazers are shooting 0-5 to start the game. But at least Pippen nearly stole the inbounds pass.


10:22 pm: Shooting 0-7 now. But we get some free-throws. And Porter starts the scoring for Portland by hitting both from the line.


10:24 pm: Duckworth gets called for the “elbow” on Cartwright. Thank you Marv. And Kersey missed the Blazers eighth shot from the floor, but gets the putback. Then he steals the ball and has a breakaway dunk. So even though the Blazers started terribly they’re actually ahead now, 6-4.


10:26 pm: The Blazers are shooting 16% from the field, and the announcers just told us that Jordan was second in blocked shots for a guard only to Reggie Lewis from the Celtics. I’m glad I’m not watching this with the Sports Guy.


10:29 pm: I’m done watching commercials. These are crappy, but they’re not from 1992. From now on I’m fast-forwarding.


10:30 pm: ESPN Classic has moved us ahead to 3:06 left in the first quarter.


10:31 pm: Jordan makes a ridiculous pass to Horace Grant. I think there must be something about touching the ball immediately after MJ, because there’s no way Grant should have made that circus shot.


10:34 pm: Jordan gets his first points of the game to tie it at 19, but Kersey matched it with a sweet drive and lay-in. And now two more. And now another two. This is why Bill Schonely called him No-Mercy-Kersey. Hustle basketball? Yeah. Hustle basketball.


10:38 pm: Stat comparison for Kersey and Pippen: Jerome has twelve points and five rebounds, Pippen has four and one.


10:40 pm: Three guard offense with Porter, Ainge, and Drexler, and Clyde made a three as the shot clock expired. I just found out that the Bulls have led for 78% of this series. That’s not ominous.


10:43 pm: ESPN Classic has moved us ahead to 7:24 left in the second quarter.


10:44 pm: The scoreboard in Chicago just showed that Kersey had three fouls, so Adelman took him out. This matters because he’s been the best player in the game so far and because he really only had one. Apparently that was the fault of the Blazers trainer. No, the Blazers have never had any issues with non-playing personell.


10:47 pm: Drexler is playing terribly, but as I was typing that he threw down a sweet dunk. Portland looks really good right now.


10:48 pm: Another drive by Drexler. I guess I just needed to call him out. And now nothing can go Chicago’s way, as they try to call a timeout and instead lose the ball out of bounds.


10:50 pm: The bulls and have been outscored 10-0 since Jordan came back in. Buck Williams makes a driving lay-up and the free-throw to complete the three-point play, and Pippen’s mustache is really ugly. Really ugly.


10:52 pm: I think the wheels are about to fall off. Ainge just dribbled the ball off his foot.


10:53 pm: They just flashed this stat, in 1992 Jordan was already the all-time playoff scoring leader, averaging 34.6 ppg.


10:55 pm: Jordan drains a three after an ugly series of events by the Bulls, but one in which they somehow managed to keep it.


10:58 pm: A great image on the screen right now comparing the Finals stats of Jordan and Drexler. For Clyde the Glide: 25 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. For Jordan: 36.4 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists per game. Those guys were pretty good at basketball.


11:01 pm: Three-pointer by Jordan, which is answered by another three from Porter.


11:04 pm: Kersey gets his third foul as the first-half ends and Pippen gets to go the line to cut the lead back down to six.


11:06 pm: I’m quoting Dave Revsine, the ESPN Classic schmuck talking during hafltime: “Coming up next, Portland would extend the margin to 17 late in the third with perennial all-star Clyde Drexler and talented forward Jerome Kersey leading the charge. But would it be enough to hold off the charging Bulls?” I’m guessing it wouldn’t be, Dave. I’m guessing that’s a no.


11:09 pm: We join the game again with 6:50 left in the third quarter.


11:11 pm: The Blazers had five or so chances on the offensive end, which was capped by Kersey hitting another jumper. It’s crazy how much Kersey has outplayed Pippen in this game. As I wrote that, Kersey hit another jumper. Balzers are up 66-52.


11:12 pm: A beardless Phil Jackson seems to be contemplating how ugly his tie is. Either that or he is realizing how lonely his mustache feels.


11:14 pm: This game makes me miss the early ‘90s Blazers more than I thought I did. There were really good. And fun to watch. Maybe if they hire Adelman as coach again, everything will go back to the way it was. I’m going to click my heels three times…


11:16 pm: Jordan makes a turn-around fade-away over Porter and gets the foul. Vintage Jordan? Perhaps.


11:17 pm: The Blazers play a lot like the current Suns. Well, except the Blazers play good team defense and good individual defense,


11:18 pm: Apparently back in the early ‘90s if you got a bloody nose they put a cigarette up your nostril. At least that’s what it looks like they did with Duckworth.


11:20 pm: Jordan has a one-on-three and the Blazers take advantage, with Drexler blocking his lay-in. This Portland team was really good.


11:22 pm: At the end of the third the Blazers lead by fifteen.


11:25 pm: Bulls make a three, and then the Blazers give the ball away. Now Kersey is getting called for a flagrant foul. That was terrible. He was going for ball but came through and hit Scott Williams on the shoulder. Williams only hit one of two, but then the Bulls get another two.


11:29 pm: Stacey King makes two free-throws, so the Bulls are now within nine.


11:30 pm: Pippen hits a short jumper to bring them within seven. Double dribble by Drexler. And Jordan isn’t even on the floor. Oh the humanity.


11:32 pm: Good pass to BJ Armstrong, which he loses. He has to run outside as he regains possession, and then decides to turn around and drill a mid-range jumper. Bulls within five.


11:33 pm: Stacey King just made two more, the Bulls are now down by three.


11:35 pm: Porter dribbles it out of bounds off his knee, and Jordan is back in the game.


11:36 pm: First Bulls miss in a very long time, followed by Drexler getting an easy lay-in. Maybe Portland can hang on?


11:37 pm: Sweet alley-oop attempt from Drexler to Robinson, but they couldn’t quite get it done, Bulls come back with it.


11:38 pm: I just saw Buck Williams talking trash with Jordan. That doesn’t seem like a good idea.


11:39 pm: The young Cliff Robinson I remember shows himself, taking a really bad shot. The Bulls follow it up with a sweet Pippen lay-in and a classic Jordan floater. One point game, timeout Blazers.


11:41 pm: More good news, the Blazers only have one timeout left, the Bulls have four.


11:42 pm: The Blazers have made all 17 of their free-throws so far, which means they’ll miss the ones at the end of the game. By the way, they’re back up by three.


11:43 pm: Pippen hits a three to tie it with a man in his face as the shot clock expires, but Porter answers with a long two.


11:44 pm: Jordan ties it with another floater. In case you were wondering, the Bulls last lead was 4-2.


11:45 pm: Jordan takes the ball out of Williams’ hands and dunks it to take the lead for the first time since the first quarter, but Drexler immediately ties it back up.


11:46 pm: Timeout Bulls.


11:48 pm: Pippen just made another pull-up jumper, Bulls up by two. Then Porter gets the ball stripped, but as he tries to grab it again he knocks it out of bounds.


11:49 pm: Jordan drains another turn-around fade-away, and Portland takes its last timeout down by four.


11:51 pm: A telling stat, the Blazers have zero points off turnovers, the Bulls have 16.


11:52 pm: The Blazers still haven’t missed a free-throw, but are down by two with no timeouts left and 1:13 to go in the game. That is classic Adelman.


11:53 pm: Drexler went up for the lay-in, ran over Scott Williams—who would have been in the circle if that was in the rule-book—no foul on anyone, jump ball on the rebound. Portland gets the ball out of—wait, they reverse the call. Chicago gets the ball out of bounds after the jump.


11:55 pm: Jordan just took the ball all the way down to put Chicago back up by four.


11:56 pm: Portland still hasn’t missed from the line with Kersey hitting the first of two.


11:57 pm: And perfection from the line is maintained. Porltand is down by two. Portland fouls Jordan, who goes to the line with 11.8 seconds left and a two point lead. Of course, MJ makes both, the Blazers can’t do anything, since Adelman already burned all of their timeouts, and the Bulls win their second straight NBA championship. Excuse me, WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.


In case you want to see a YouTube version of the end to this game, click here.

They didn't read my earlier posts

So the Blazers appear to be trying to finally end any loyalty from the Portland fan base. That came about when they didn't draft Morrison, which they could have done with the number two pick from Chicago. That isn't really what has sent me again to the dark realms trying to figure out how much more I can take. What did that was the trading away of Telfair and Khryapa, two guys I considered to be important parts of the building of this Blazers team. I would have liked to keep them both anyway, but especially if the Blazers are serious about moving Randolph and Miles. If they're able to get rid of those two guys--and this next part could happen only if the first one does--and re-sign Przybilla, then they have a core of Przybilla, Jack, Dixon, Outlaw, and Webster coming back next year. That isn't the core of players I would want. Throw in an overpaid Raef LaFrentz and Dan Dickau--who the Blazers already gave an audition--and I'm not convinced that Aldridge and Roy were worth it. Having said that, I just now found out that we traded Foye for Roy, and I'm really happy about that. I just think it's too bad we took Aldridge, and I'm even more upset that we traded away Telfair, who I think could still become an unbelievable point guard.

I just finished a class and needed to rant, so that's all for now. I'm going to buy a computer some time next week, so I'll have a chance at that point to edit and post my running diary of 1992 NBA Finals game 6.