A Little Break

With all the Duck related articles out there right now I've been having trouble keeping up... I have 24 hours and 10 minutes until my flight to Boise and Duck's kickoff has pretty much been the only thing on my mind... Though here's a good article on the Blazers and Rip City Revival if you need to consume your mind on something else... at least for a few minutes.

What We've Missed the Last Few Days

• ESPN will be testing it's first 3D telecast to fans during the USC at Ohio State game on Sept. 12th.
• True Freshman Daryle Hawkins has been showing he might be part of the QB mix at Oregon.
• Oregon has closed out the public to their last scrimmage tomorrow. Maybe Kelly's got something up his sleeve...
• Oregon Ducks Elevator Week 3. Up: Daryle Hawkins, UO Women's Soccer & Morgan Flint... Down: Bo Thran... Lost: Lou Holtz
• Oregon's new receivers have been keeping their eye (and hands) on the ball.
• The defense has been stepping up this fall after Aliotti tweaked it in the offseason.
• Oregon came in at #16 in the preseason AP poll.
• Kenny Rowe was listed on the Pac-10 All Hype Team.
• Thurmond is looking to jump-start the Ducks as their punt and kick returner.
• Byrd is ready to make a impact for the Bills.

And in Blazer News... The Blazer's signed Dante Cunningham Friday. Plus... here is a transactions flow chart.

The Magnificent Seven

So why isn't the rest of the country hearing more about Brandon Roy? John Hollinger from ESPN is trying to get the word out about "The Magnificent Seven."

Rudy Videos

Here is a link with tons of Rudy videos to prepare everyone for the upcoming dunk contest. Thanks Brian.

Rudy in Dunk Contest

According to Jason Quick at the Oregonian, Rudy Fernandez won the fan vote to be the 4th contestant in the NBA Dunk Contest. Rudy will be up against Dwight Howard, Nate Robinson and Rudy Gay. A formal announcement will be made today at 12:30.

Bayless Impresses

Jerryd Bayless impressed last night in the Blazer's win over the New Jersey Nets with a carreer record 6 for 9 and 11 for 11 from the line for 23 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Especially his huge dunk shown below.

Leap of Faith

On a team of more obvious stars, it's LaMarcus Aldridge who will decide just how far the Blazers will go.

Vote for Rudy

ESPN.com will have fans pick the fourth player for the slam dunk contest. Blazer's Rudy Fernandez is one of three rookies up for the fourth spot. Vote for him here.

Thank You

I have often commented about the negativity that has saturated today's media. It is the number one reason I would rather skim through the paper or peek at cnn.com than tune into a news broadcast on tv. When it comes to reading, I'm able to filter what I read and what I don't. Even then, there is a lot of shit out there... See 95% of John Canzano's articles (Yes, I hate to admit, %5 of the time he actually has something decent to say). But when watching the news on tv, a person must watch each and every crap story they put on there. When did bad news become good news and visa-versa?!?

Anyway, in today's world it is great to see articles about some of our favorite sports celebrities visiting a child with cancer, mentoring younger kids, or honoring a fallen teammate. It makes creates an even deeper respect when you find that these kids didn't even seek publicity for their actions. Reporters like this should be commended for putting a smile on fan's faces rather than scowls.

Quick Blazer Update

The Blazer's play this season has far exceeded many people's expectations since the lackluster opener against the Lakers. After tonight's win (the streak is now at 6 wins) the Blazers sit at 14 and 6 with a huge game against last year's National Champs the Boston Celtics. Blazer's were even ranked 4th in ESPNs Power Rankings that was released before their last two wins on the road and 8th in SIs Power Rankings before their current 6 game winning streak. There are very few teams that have the depth that Portland has and that isn't even considering that Martell Webster will be back in the line up soon coming off a broken foot.

B Roy's Buzzer Beater

For those who didn't watch the finish to an amazing Blazer game last night. There was 8 points scored in the final 2 seconds of the game. 5 of those were Brandon Roy. Here are some highlights.

Oden's "Midfoot Sprain"

Blazer's edge posted a very thorough blog post on the midfoot sprain. 95.5 "the fan" said they will announce more information about Oden's injury and his MRI results as soon as it's available.

Darius Miles Dismissed

Darius Miles was dismissed from the Celtics yesterday. Good thing for the Blazers... If Miles had played 10 games this season for another team, the Blazers would be required to pay his $9 million dollar a year salary (with 2 years remaining). If he doesn't play 10 games, the Blazers get to keep that $9 million for Portland's 2009-2010 salary cap. It probably didn't help Miles' case when he failed a drug test in late September, stating he wasn't sure how he failed. Many people still believe that a team may pick up Miles and play him 10 games just to keep the Blazers away from that cap money.

Blazers Media Notes

I could have probably accumulated a bunch of links from Blazer's Media Day yesterday but found that "Blazer's Edge" did a fairly good job of recapping. Here are also some updates from Oregonlive's Blazers Blog. The season is almost upon us!

Rudy Arrives

Rudy Fernandez arrived in Portland yesterday with a welcoming crowd between 100-200 people at PDX... adding to the continual increase in Blazer Mania.

Rudy Leaves an Impression

If you didn't see the men's basketball gold medal matchup between the United States and Spain you not only missed a stellar performance not only from the US basketball team but a glimpse of what's to come for Blazer basketball in 2008. No, I'm not talking about Bayless or Oden, I'm referring to Rudy Fernandez. Nate McMillan was there to watch the 23 year old put up a team-high 22 points and was impressed to say the least.

"I'm sitting there (in the gold medal game) with a straight face, trying not to smile"


"Every time Rudy did something, D'Antoni would look at me and say, 'Your player, huh?' And I would be 'Yeah, he's cool' Like no big deal."'

If you didn't watch the game then you missed Rudy's dunk over Dwight Howard.

Blazers Sign Jackson

The Blazers signed free agents Luke Jackson, Steven Hill and Jamaal Tatum as the team gets closer to training camp. It is my understanding that Jackson is on a non-guaranteed contract.

RIP Kevin Duckworth

Kevin Duckworth passed away Monday while hosting a free basketball clinic for kids on the Oregon Coast, all while selflessly promoting the Trail Blazers. While Duckworth wasn't your impact type player in the late 80s and early 90s the Blazers would not have been as successful during that time period without his presence as the 5th man. Rest in peace double-zero.

Luke Jackson to the Blazers?

So I heard this rumor on 95.5 yesterday as well. Usually I wouldn't listen to the Bald Faced Truth for obvious reasons, but with Canzano in China and a Mariners on 1080, it was the obvious choice.

Sports Role Models

I have to admit, (in any sport) it is great when you have players that fans can respect not only as athletes but as genuinely good people. Such is the case with Terrence Scott (#8) a JC wide receiver who was thrown into action last year, abandoning his red shirt season and only having two receptions to show from it. Even though Terrence has only one year to play he has no regrets over burning his redshirt season... It isn't about him... It's about the team. Terrence Scott is the type of guy fans want to see succeed. People want to see him live up to his dreams and aspirations because his humble and selfless nature. All the best to Terrence Scott in his senior year, we'll all be routing for your success.

The Portland Trail Blazers have also done a tremendous job in the last few years with not focusing solely on talent (like in the early 2000s), but character to boot. I don't think I could name one person on the Blazer's roster that isn't a positive role model. Take Greg Oden for example. We haven't even see him play in a regular or even preseason game (yes, I know summer ball last year) yet the fans absolutely love him. Yes, he may have been the first pick of last years draft but after watching him in the media for the last year fans have come to realize we have more than just a good basketball player. How can you not look up (ok, yes he's tall) to a guy like this?

These are the articles I love to read because they just make you feel good about a team and it's players. Screw the Canzano's of the world who only create drama and controversy in their writing to heighten their careers.

Cold Prickly to the Canzano's of the world. Warm and Fuzzy to quality reporting, quality players, and quality teams.