So the first Blazer game I go to this year results in a season ending injury to Greg Oden (I’m calling it the macro-fracture as opposed to his previous microfracture surgery). On an otherwise benign play, this was one of the most gruesome injuries I’ve ever seen. When it first happened, I thought it looked like his knee was caved in, and this is how I described it to people. It didn’t really make sense, but after seeing this picture taken from the same angle as I viewed it live, I can now tell that I wasn’t seeing things. Here’s to a full recovery of Oden and his broken left patella (more on Portland fans’ feelings later).
Other interesting sights from the game: Even the announcers were bored until the 4th quarter, opting instead to watch the Texas-Nebraska game during timeouts in the first half, and then on to completion (the football game ended some time in the 3rd quarter, and everyone in the front of my section was watching this TV instead of the game).
click on the picture for a bigger view
Luis Scola from the Rockets is my least favorite NBA player. So this sign was a good one in my opinion.
click on the picture for a bigger view
More on Oden: A couple weeks ago, Bill Simmons was in town for a book signing and went to his first Blazers game. As Portland’s a small- to medium-sized market with the Blazers as the only professional sports franchise, we are whole-heartedly devoted to this team. I read often from national writers how Blazers fans are some of the best in the league, and we have a tendency to deify our players. Recently, our devotion has been focused on Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. Simmons describes his experience below, and I haven’t talked to any Blazers fan I know who would disagree with his assessment. Sure, he’s trying to be funny with his comparisons, but his sentiment is dead-on. For example, last night I heard what it sounds like 20,555 gasp in unison when Greg Oden went down. It was a frightening sound. Here’s the Sports Guy’s take on it:
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Q: Did your book tour include a stop at the Rose Garden for Pistons-Blazers last week? I hope you checked out the way the Garden treats Greg Oden. Every time he does something basic, the place explodes like he dunked from half court. They are just willing themselves to think he will be good.
– David G., Portland
Yes, I did. And the best way to describe the crowd’s support for Oden: It’s like watching 15,000 parents rooting for their kid, only all 15,000 parents fathered the same kid. If he ever explodes for 30 points, 20 rebounds and eight blocks in a game, you’ll have to carry each deliriously passed-out Portland fan out of the Rose Garden individually like they were victims of smoke inhalation in a burning house. (The funny thing is, everyone in Portland is nodding right now. And yes, I know he’s had a couple of inspired games this season. You don’t need to e-mail me the stat lines. No, really. Save us both the time. Let’s not put too much pressure on him. Baby steps.) I also was startled by Portland fans arguably (see, there it is!) liking Rudy Fernandez as much as, and maybe even a smidge more than, the great Brandon Roy.
Two other things shocked me. First, that’s the whitest NBA experience you can have that doesn’t involve the words “Salt,” “Lake” and City.” They didn’t play hip-hop either before the game or during the game, each team seemed to have more African-Americans than the entire crowd and the pregame video right before the introduction of Portland’s starting lineup was a local grunge band singing “Ballroom Blitz.” And second, during a second-quarter timeout, my buddy House and I ran into the concourse to grab beers and noticed there was NOBODY else in line for anything. We felt like Will Smith in “I Am Legend.” There was no sign of human life other than the workers. Everyone else stays in their seats. At halftime, those same people pour into the concourse like it’s halftime of a football game. I’ve never seen anything like it. I don’t know whether the Blazers have the most loyal, passionate, dutiful fans in the NBA, but at the very least, we can say nobody else tops them.
Here’s what I took away from my Rose Garden experience: Portland loves the Blazers the same way a single mother would love her only child. The city’s revulsion toward the “Jail Blazers” makes a lot more sense to me now. The team and the city are intertwined, and if one side isn’t holding up that bargain, it’s even more painful than usual. Anyway, I couldn’t be happier that I got a taste of it. Great NBA city.
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