Tick Tock Tick Tock – Blazer fans are counting down to the NBA draft tomorrow.
In my household, NBA Draft Day is treated like a religious holiday. My boyfriend takes every NBA Draft Day off from work and spends the days prior indulging in any and all trade rumors, just like a kid speculating about what Santa might bring on Christmas morning. I think it’s kind of cute, actually. Although in this scenario, Santa is a man named Kevin Pritchard and you just can’t predict what he’s going to give you. A couple of years ago he brought us a Greg Oden, which we all desperately wanted, but it broke the first time we played with it. Last year Kevin brought us a Rudy Fernandez, something we weren’t sure we wanted, and have now become slightly obsessed with (ladies, you know who you are.)
No matter what KP/Santa adds to our collection this year, we know someone out there is going to get Pritch-slapped. Knowing this adds to the excitement. Kind of like if, on Christmas morning, Santa brought you something fabulous AND you also discovered that he brought your nemesis a huge lump of coal (or a Zack Randolph.)
I, however, have taken an opposite approach. I’m in a minor state of mourning. It’s quite possible that in a few days our Blazer roster is not going to look the same. Trade speculations abound involving names like Outlaw, Rodriguez, Frye, Blake and dare I say it – Fernandez, and it leaves me with a little lump in my throat. I can’t imagine any of the aforementioned players in anything but a Blazers jersey come fall. Well, I can, but I really don’t want to.
It just doesn’t seem right. Sergio Rodriguez making crazy passes for a team like the Memphis Grizzlies? I shudder at the thought. It’s weird, but a person might spend more hours in a year watching a player play than they do talking to a co-worker or even a family member. This Blazer team has become a big part of my Portland experience. And as I’ve said in previous posts, there isn’t a player for this Blazer team that I don’t have a little soft spot for.
These have been the wonder years of innocence and growth.
The players are simply just playing – it’s not yet the grind of their careers. It’ll soon morph into that with expectations, subversion, and blame to be had. New blood will eventually come in and new relationships will be formed and the flavor of the team will change. The masses are hungry for a championship, and I’ll concede that while everyone on the team is EXTREMELY likable – the may not all be championship material.
But for now, I’m really going to savor this brief time, as I may never see anything like this past year again as a Blazer fan…
It really was a great year.
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Good post, RG. Like you, I have developed an unreasonable affection for every member of the team roster… and even some of the assistant coaches!
For Rudy Fernandez fans going into withdrawal in the offseason, let me suggest his hypothetical blog at: http://blogderudyfernandez.blogspot.com/
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