A little blurry

These aren't that clear, but I'm combining two things my friend Luke does on his blog:

1. Using images instead of computer type (even if they're images of writing–it's not computer type).


2. Posting stuff from my moleskin. This is stuff I realized today.

A Clipper sweep

The last two nights set a record for me this season: most back-to-back Blazer games watched this season. I nearly went to the game last night at the Staples Center, but decided that I didn't want to deal with downtown and the blue line that late the night before finally flying to Chicago.

I wish I would have been there, if only to see Joel Przybilla completely destroy the Clippers on the boards. Przybilla was fantastic, and he brought some offense too. It really did look like a preview of what Oden could do next year. Interested in seeing how he's doing? This article will lead you through it. Great stuff from Jason Quick, as always.

LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy were once again great in the same game. It was Aldridge's ninth straight game over 20 points. That's another great sign for next season. If he can play like this consistently next year, and Roy stays the steady presence he has been all year, this team will be so good. Add Oden and Rudy Fernandez (who, according to Pritchard, is coming over next year) to this team and it's even more exciting than I would have thought.

Another great sign from these two games – the last three, actually – is the point guard play of Steve Blake. His defense has been a little shaky, and his shooting has actually been a little down. But the way he led the offense and his assist to turnover ratio has been really great. He has had 23 assists and one turnover in the last three games. If he can keep doing that next year, and Sergio Rodriguez can make a leap this summer, I don't think we need a new point guard. I know, that's risky to say, but I think it might be true.

Alright, I'm going to get back to reading The Breaks of the Game while I wait for my flight to leave. Stupid snow in Chicago. Stupid.

Snow in march. Boo.

I'm sitting in Long Beach drinking a vanilla latte at 11:39 am. I should be sitting on a plane above Utah or Colorado or Kansas. And I found out this would be the case at 4:22 this morning when my phone rang. I jolted awake and opened it to see the Utah number 801-993-8000. The winter storm that's been raging in Chicago was enough for them to cancel my flight six hours before it was to take off.

Because I'm flying JetBlue, there's nothing I can really do. There are only two flights from the west to Chicago on JetBlue each day, which means that all the flights for tomorrow were full. I'm scheduled to fly out Easter Sunday morning at 10:30 and land in Chicago at 4:29. I am currently a standby passenger for the 4:15 flight tomorrow afternoon, but that seems pretty unlikely. And that means I get to sit around today and tomorrow relaxing, figuring out how to use my time, and reading The Breaks of the Game, by David Halberstam. I think that's the end of my rant about my spring break debacle, except to say that I'm still flying back on Wednesday, cutting my trip from Friday-Wednesday (a nice length) to Sunday-Wednesday (far too short).

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Speaking of The Breaks of the Game, I'm really excited. I've been wanting to read this book for a very long time. It's been out of print for a while, and I'd been searching for it for about a year. I spent far too much for a used paperback, but I'm still happy to have it.

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The Breaks of the Game is about the downfall of the Portland Trailblazers in 1978-1979, and is a sort of microcosm of what was going on in the NBA at the time. This article is a commentary on the potential beginning of the end of Darius Miles' NBA career, and that could be seen as a microcosm of some things that are currently happening in the NBA. The article makes me really sad, but it's pretty good. And not long.

A collage of things I hope to get in the summer of 2009

Not a tumblr

I drove back from Phoenix today. It was a decent trip, especially because part of it included a phone conversation with my friend Luke and another part had a phone conversation with my brother. It's always good to talk to either of them. The weekend as a whole was great, mainly consisting of me playing Rock Band with various people. Saturday I played the game with a bunch of great kids that go to SCA. It was fun to be around high school students who like me and are clear about thanking me for the effect I've had on them. Last week was pretty much the opposite of that at school, so it was nice to get that affirmation in Phoenix. Sunday I played the game at Adam's house with a bunch of Adam and Phil's friends who were over for a birthday party. That was nice, too: hanging out with adults that are around my age.

I didn't get anything done for school over the weekend, but I've already gotten some of it done since getting back, and that's good. Sadly, I'm more excited about the end of the school year than I am about anything except maybe Chicago with Luke over spring break. I'm nearly positive that I'll take off after this year. That makes me sad but is also a little relieving.

The other thing I did in Phoenix was watch the NBA All-Star game with other NBA fans. That was fun, especially because of how well Brandon Roy played. I loved seeing him fill up the stat line and help the West come back at the end. My group of Suns-fans/friends had fun with me and how connected I was to Roy's performance. Really, I had no personal investment in it, but I certainly felt and acted as though I did. In addition to watching the game, I got to talk to them about the trades that have been flying around. Seriously, I applaud the Hawks for making the move to get Bibby. I hope that works out for them. And as a Blazer fan I'm glad that the Dallas deal finally looks like it is actually going through. I'm happy to have the window of another Western conference team closing soon, and Kidd closes the window sooner than Harris would have.

Oh, and Kinsey, one of the students from SCA, insisted over the weekend that I should join the ranks of those with a tumblr (her, Luke, and a few other people I like), but I refused and continue to refuse. Hooray for blogger.

Happy New Year

I'm listening to the game in Utah right now. The Blazers are going for 14 straight. Today has been a mess of a day, with me trying to figure out what's wrong with my car. There is something messed up with the transmission, which I thought was just the fluid, then thought it wasn't, but now I think it might be again. Then there's the debacle with my tire. The way the Ducks destroyed USF today was pretty good for getting my mind of the other stuff, but not completely. But if Portland can pull out this fourteenth win, well, the car worries will fade at least for a little while.

My brother Stephen and I showed up at the Rose Quarter box office around 4:00 on Friday to pick up the tickets for the game. While we were there I asked about tickets to the Sunday game with Philly. The woman at the window told me that the three levels of tickets we would have been willing to buy were all sold out already. This was on Friday afternoon. That was disappointing and also pretty cool.

We stayed around so we could get into the arena early and explore a little bit. Even though I had been to games in the Rose Garden, this was the first time I really walked around much. There were a few cool exhibits, particularly some stuff celebrating the championship team from 1977 and the finals teams from the early 1990s. Once we got to our seats we realized that dad was stuck next to a particular type of fan. This was a 30 or 40 something year old man, pudgy, with a beard. He was talking during the game to the players and coaches. Yes, talking. And he was saying some amazing stuff. "Nate, get them to play 'D.'" Stuff like that. At halftime dad moved over and sat on the other side of Stephen.

I was hoping that the rest of the crowd would be crazy, but I was kind of surprised that it was a little subdued. Well, it was subdued until the latter part of the third quarter. When the team really turned it on the crowd got rowdier, and that was a lot of fun. I enjoyed being part of the "M-V-P" chant during Brandon Roy's free throws. Most of the time that chant started in one of the other cheap sections. But there was one time that the chant was nearly automatic throughout the crowd, and it was pretty exciting. It was that sort of thing that happened often at the end of the game, and it was great to experience.

Two notes about the game:

1. Martell Webster's game didn't look very good on offense or with his stats, but I loved watching him play. He was hustling, he was working hard on both sides of the court, he was rebounding, and I just loved it. Outlaw and Jones are great too, and they really do give us a pretty formidable trio of small forwards. But I love Webster.


2. Brandon Roy had another ridiculous layup in this game. I don't know if the highlight is floating around anywhere, so I'll just describe it. He got the ball at the top of the key, saw an opening, and took of for the hoop. As he took off, one of the Timberwolves stepped into the lane. I think it was Al Jefferson. Roy would have been called for a charge had he continued going up that way. So he didn't. He changed the axis of his body. Imagine a clock, with the ball as the center. His body rotated from six o'clock to around 7:30. He continued gliding through the air, and finished the layup softly with his right hand. It was beautiful. We all went nuts.


3. Alright, I know I said two, but since I'm actually putting this up long after the streak ended tonight, I'm including this part. LaMarcus Aldridge decided to show up on offense tonight. For real. He had a career high. And even though we lost, it was good to see the kid put the ball in the hoop a lot. I think that will continue this season some, but I am fairly certain he'll be doing this sort of thing consistently in the next few years.

That's as much as I really have about the game from the other day. It was great to see, and I'm glad we ran the streak to 13. Now it's important to see how the team responds on this road trip.

Pollution, in three easy installments

I am now in Roseburg, the place I still really consider home. I drove over last night from Bend, mainly because I didn't want to add three more hours onto the already long drive back to LA. I had no intention of coming over here when I decided to drive up for Thanksgiving, but I am happy that circumstances became such that coming over made sense. I like it here, and I miss it here. This place really is home to me, and being here is relaxing and refreshing. I'm sitting in MyCoffee, which is conveniently named. It really does feel like my own personal coffee shop. I walk in and they get ready to make me something new and creative, and they usually don't charge me for it. Even when I was living here I would get treatment somewhat like that. I've just been catching up on religion news I had missed during the travel, and now I'm getting ready to figure out how to spend the rest of the day here at home before beginning my drive back "home" tonight. One thing that has been emphasized to me in this quick trip back (again) is how much I enjoy the small community and the real interaction with people I grew up with in Oregon. I was frustrated by the façade of goodness in the midwest, and I'm often bothered by the pace and haughtiness in California. There are certainly things to complain about in Oregon, but those things don't bother me nearly as much as the others. Having said that, getting involved in the smaller community at my church in Long Beach has done so much to make me more comfortable there, and I am very glad that I started putting in the effort. Whether I end up n southern California for the long term or not, the similarities between that small group of people and a town in Oregon will be part of the reason any amount of time spent there is really good.

I think I already said this in a post, but I felt the need to say it again, mainly for my own sake.

I can't wait to pollute the environment for 12 straight hours again starting tonight. Driving to and from Los Angeles is terrible.

Back from the abyss

I'm blogging from Bend again, since I stopped here to see my friend Mindy on my way to Roseburg. I just got off the phone with U-Haul trying to figure out my move down to California. Compton is covering the cost for my truck with a purchase order, which is good for me since I don't have enough money to do it myself. But that means I have to make sure things will work out with the timing of getting the paperwork through and picking the truck up and beginning the long trek southbound on I-5. All of the stress I'm going through right now as I figure this stuff out is a relief after being in Arlington with my family for a month. I was so happy to leave this morning, and although I'll miss my brother, my excitement level is really high. That level could be related to my imminent move south, but I think it has a lot to do with getting a break from my family too. So that's what is going on right now.

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What else is going on right now is the Kevin Garnett to Boston trade. If it really happens then things are going crazy. As much as I think Minnesota will be even worse next year without Garnett, it would be a great move to continue the rebuilding process they started with Foye last year and continued in earnest with Corey Brewer in the draft this year. Foye, Brewer, and Jefferson will be three young guys who can grow together in the next few years. Sure, the Wolves would still have some work to do, but this is a step in the right direction, and with two first round picks coming over in the deal they can continue the process in the next two drafts. This would make the third incredibly young--but potentially talented--team in the Northwest division. What an interesting group of teams to watch with Portland, Seattle, Minnesota, and then Utah and Denver. I mean, this is supposed to be the weak division in the west. (I know it still is, but in a couple of years I don't think it will be.)

Also, I'm still holding out slight hope that Ime Udoka won't get a big enough offer from any other teams so that he and his agent come back to Portland and admit their mistake and ask if they can re-sign. At that point, we'd be getting him for the rest of the Mid-Level exception, or we'd be using the full Bi-Annual exception. We would then have 16 guaranteed contracts, which would most likely mean we'd cut Taurean Green and he'd get paid by us to play for someone else this year. Bringing Udoka back would definitely address one of the biggest issues being discussed right now: the lack of depth at shooting guard. It would also do a lot for the attitude of the team, I think. Just one more tough-minded hard-working player who does a great job on defense. I know it's just wishful thinking, but I've been thinking it none the less.

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I know that I haven't actually mentioned Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on here yet. If you haven't read the book, this could be some kind of spoiler, so don't read any more.

Seriously, if you care at all about little things, then don't read the next part. I'll make it a block within the text so you can just look past it.

I really enjoyed the finale in the Harry Potter series. I thought the way things tied together with Snape was fantastic. He was one of my favorite characters throughout the story. When I say "story" I mean the whole story encompassed by all seven books. I wasn't smart enough to see the Lily Potter love interest coming, but it made a ton of sense because of how much animosity he had for James Potter and his friends. It was also comforting to know that Dumbledore really did know what he was doing. The other things I learned about Dumbledore in this book actually made me appreciate his character more, too, because it was good to see the depth to his character and the complexity that was behind everything we read in the first six books. I wouldn't say that either of these developments were huge surprises, but thy were a bit unexpected. That can't be said about my other favorite development, which was Neville really growing into the hero I hoped he would be. After the sixth book I thought Neville might end up saving the day in the end. It wasn't quite that dramatic, but he was a huge player in the final battle, and I really appreciated that.

My friend Jacob summed up the one problem I had with the book when he said this. Since I can't remember it verbatim I'll paraphrase: it would have been good to put the book down before the epilogue and after the final chapter to just enjoy how the story ended.

I agree with that. The epilogue was pretty schmaltzy. It felt like Rowling was trying to make people happy by having Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny end up as a big group of adults sending their kids off to Hogwarts. Ugh. The names of the kids were pretty ridiculous as well, although I got goosebumps when I read the full name of Harry's second son. I won't write it here, just in case anyone who cares did read this far, but it ties to other parts of the book that I thought were fantastic.

This is the second book I've bought and read this summer, the first being The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. I'll try to write a little about that one later this week.

Some loose ends

Last night I was going to watch the Blazers summer league opener on NBA.com, but the friends with whom I was staying took us out to miniature golf instead. I did catch Oden's monster dunk in the second quarter, and I saw enough of him and Aldridge together to get pretty excited. I know that Oden didn't play that well, but I'm not terribly worried about it. It's disappointing to lose, since our team seems like it should be so superior to all of the other teams from a talent perspective, but oh well. Most teams have all their first and second year players on the roster, and we left off our best guy. I have very little doubt that with Brandon Roy out there we would have been steadier and taken care of business against the Celtics much better. Hopefully Martell Webster and Sergio Rodriguez start performing a lot better, but we'll see.

I also read that Ime Udoka was there, since he'll be talking to other teams as a free agent. I think he's actually pretty important for the Blazers to keep, and because of the intangibles he brings to the team is worth over-paying a little. Granted, over-paying for him wouldn't be that high, but the toughness, the work ethic, and the poise he brings to a young team is vital to our development.

In case anyone is having trouble watching the webcasts of summer league games--if you want to, that is--let me know and I'll help you out.

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I don't write about the Oregon Ducks very much, but this story was on ESPN.com today. It's about the Ducks' starting quarterback, Dennis Dixon, and his decision to play for the Braves lowest affiliate this summer instead of working out with the team in Eugene. As a Braves fan I have a little anticipation of the sort of things he could bring to the team eventually, since he's a really great athlete. He's fast, has a huge arm, and shows a knack for making spectacularly athletic plays. But as a Duck fan I'm a little concerned, since he was my choice to be the starting QB again this year. Even though I like him to start, he had a lot of things he needed to work on after last year. Hopefully that works out for both of my teams. We'll see.

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I am in Bend right now, having stayed with some friends last night. I came over yesterday to hang out with Gregg Guerin, a really great guy--to quote David Yates, I'm sure--and friend of mine from Wheaton. He was in town visiting his girlfriend, which is a little weird. I had a really late breakfast with them around one o'clock at a great restaurant in Bend, and then we hung out for a few more hours. It was really fun to see Gregg, and quite enjoyable to tell his girlfriend stories from our time at Wheaton before the two of them met. It was also fantastic to get a chance to talk just a little bit about the Knicks and Blazers and the Mets and Braves, since Gregg is from Long Island. I told him my great idea--which is being put out here for the first time--to do some round table NBA discussions with a few representative fans of some of the up-and-coming teams in the league. I know the Knicks aren't really in that group, but Gregg would be a good addition anyway. He would represent the Knicks, my friend Ek would represent the pre-2007 draft sexiest team in the league Bulls, my friend J-Lew would represent the starting-five-forwards Atlanta hawks, and I would represent the post-2007 draft sexiest team in the league Blazers. I would love to find a way to use iChat or something like that to do a sort of around-the-horn video blog, using Final Cut to edit and put our conversation into one video, but I'm not sure if it's possible from each individual's computer capabilities, let alone my software abilities. It's something I want to look into, and since J-Lew and Ek are two of my few readers, I'm sure this will at least bring about a response as to what they think.

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The last thing to mention is that my mom called me last night from Arlington, where they just moved, to tell me that there was a big fire. They were preparing, but hadn't had to go yet. As of this morning it sounded like things were more under control, but it made me think about just staying in Bend for another day so I wouldn't have to deal with a big fire.

Powell's

I am sitting in Powell’s listening to Elliott Smith, after riding the MAX from the Lloyd Center to Pioneer Square. That ride is part of what is known as “fareless square,” a stretch of track that requires no fare to ride. It’s a stereotypical dreary Portland day, and as I walked down 10th avenue toward Burnside Elliott welcomed me to his home. I will always enjoy soaking up the atmosphere of Powell’s. At this moment I’m in the coffee shop with Elliott—Craig Thompson’s book Blankets in front of me—watching all the people around me enjoy books and conversation. This kind of atmosphere is ideal. When I was in the men’s room I noticed the condom dispenser on the wall. Maybe there are other bookstores that have condoms for sale in the rest room, but I wouldn’t believe them necessary anywhere else. At Powell’s there is a sort of energy among patrons that makes it seem possible to find a member of the opposite sex, have a great conversation, and then move it back to a more comfortable location. Not for me, of course, but I could imagine it for others. The one knock on Powell’s right now is that they don’t have the book I need to read for class on Tuesday, and I thought I might be able to get it done while I sat here enjoying the atmosphere. Of course, if they did have this lame education book my estimation of the place might lower just a tiny bit. But they don’t, and Powell’s is still one of the coolest places I’ve ever spent time.

Portland on a broken shoe string

As soon as I finish writing this post I'm headed up I-5 to the city of roses. After going to the Portland-Houston game in December with my friend Josh, he invited me to go to the Portland-Chicago game with him tomorrow. I accepted, but as I figured out some budgetary information this morning I realized how terrible this timing is. I just finished paying off a debt to Fuller Theological Seminary, where I was a student for approximately three weeks. I should be okay, but I'm going to be riding my bike for more pressing reasons than exercise in the coming months. Also, I might have to go on a hunger strike, or at least something that people could mistake for one. Having said all that, I'm pretty excited to be on my way up to one of the coolest cities in the country. What, you'd like to hear my plans?

1. See my grandma, my friends Scott and Lindsay, and perhaps a few others over the few days I'm up.


2. Spend some time reading and doing homework in Powell's, the coolest book store in the world. Excuse the hyperbole, but it sure tops the list of stores I've ever visited.


3. Watch my second Blazer game of the season.


4. Hopefully take some notes during the game and post about said second Blazer game of the season.


5. Find Chuck Palahniuk and convince him to get a move on publishing a new book.


6. Put together the newest elite rock group from Portland.


7. Spend less than thirty dollars.

I have no idea how many of those are possible. Hopefully all of them, but if I have to cut some out, I'll go with number seven first, and then number six. But number five is staying. Maybe I can find him at Powell's. And I know you didn't really want to know what my plans were, but I employed that cheap device to transition into my sweet list. Sorry for using you like that.

*I decided not to change what I wrote, but fix it here. It turns out Palahniuk doesn't live in Portland anymore, which is incredibly disappointing. But it also turns out he has a recently published short story and a new book on the way. So I can cross number five off the list twice.

NBA Executive of the year

This week I’ve had very little access to the internet. My brother’s apartment is surrounded by people who have passwords on their wireless networks, and I didn’t make it to coffee shops to connect more than twice. So I’ve been unable to post much. Mainly I spent the week playing video games and hanging out. My brother’s roommate Bradley and I played NCAA 2007 for a few days. I started as the coach as Northern Colorado, went to Wisconsin (accidentally), then took the job at Indiana State. After turning the Sycamores into a better team than they’d ever been—even with Larry Legend—I jumped ship to UConn, which allowed me to get my dream job at Oregon. We played until 2040, and if the game is any indication, the Ducks will be a powerhouse in basketball by the middle of this century. I also played some NBA 2K7, and turned the Blazers into the NBA champions by the 2009 season, which is what I’ve been proclaiming would happen in real life. And I did it by trading Zach and Darius for expiring deals and developing my young players. The biggest acquisitions? I drafted a small forward from Mississippi State who became the finals MVP three years in a row, and I traded for T.J. Ford. (Don’t worry, J-Lew, I only did that because the game didn’t respect Jack, but by 2010 JJ had developed enough that I didn’t renew Ford’s contract.) And of course, because my owner--a fictional owner, not Paul Allen--was most concerned with making money, I managed to cut my pay-roll and win championships, so that I was executive of the year several times in a row. I also played both Guitar Hero games, which was a lot of fun and made me feel like a rocker.

One of the few outings that my brother and I went on was to a youth basketball tournament in which two of his roommates were coaching. That would have been fun enough, but watching Stephen’s roommate Jeff coach against Kenny Smith was fantastic. I kept trying to figure out which kid was Smith’s, and I also kept trying to see if he had his championship rings on. I never figured out either. I’ll only say these two things about Kenny Smith’s team: they were shooting the lights out, and his guards could beat anyone off the dribble. It was pretty crazy to watch. I was wishing a little that I’d worn my Zach Randolph jersey to the tournament so that I could try to elicit a comment from Smith on the Blazers’ MVP.

Speaking of Portland’s MVP, he played pretty well in the team’s fourth straight win Friday night against the Clippers. I’ll be there in person to see the game against the T-Mac-less Rockets. I’m looking forwards to it, especially because it sounds like R-O-Y is as close to being a for-sure as one can get after being injured. Also, I’m more excited for that than I was before because the Oregonian reported that Randolph talks about R-O-Y ten times a day, and that he can’t wait to get Brandon back in the line-up. That adds even more credence to my brother’s theory that Portland needs to see how well the two play together for a while before they ship Randolph off for the best deal they can find. If a guy is that excited to get a player back, and especially if that guy is one that some people think only cares about himself, I think that means good things are in store when the two get the chance to pair up again. If you remember, Randolph went those three or four games in a row with 30-plus points while R-O-Y was in the lineup, and Brandon was averaging near 20 a game, so he was still getting his shots. In addition, Randolph has been playing on the move really well in the last few games, passing out of double-teams with good consistency, and generally being a mature team player (minus one bird incident). If he’s like that now, I can hardly imagine what he might be like when R-O-Y is back in the rotation.

That’s all for now, I’m writing this in LAX as I wait for my connecting flight to Oakland before I land in Portland. Hopefully I can get bumped so I can finagle a plane ticket to Chicago in my near future.