All-Star Week shenanigans proved to be fairly productive and immaterial to the Portland Trail Blazers. Though LaMarcus Aldridge was the first Blazer to start an All-Star Game since Clyde Drexler in 1994, and though he and Damian Lillard both had unusually good games considering the All-Star format (Aldridge in particular looked smooth in the first quarter, draining two three-pointers with barely a ripple in the net), the game itself had the feel of 24 players deciding to go IDGAF, which is expected in an exhibition.
Aldridge finished with 18 points, Lillard had 11, and Wesley Matthews set a scorching pace in the Three-Point Challenge before the Splash Brothers and Kyrie Irving took over. The best part of the weekend for me (besides actually going out of the house to connect with old friends) was no Blazer getting hurt. Always a plus.
With the Trail Blazers not playing until Friday, I thought I’d take some time to make an appeal to all you 12s out there. A late appeal, to be sure, but I thought I’d try since spring training for the Mariners hasn’t started quite yet.
If there are any 12s out there still bitter at the NBA for the theft of the Seattle Supersonics, believe me, I understand. If the whole city of Seattle turned on the NBA and decided to not watch or support it anymore, I wouldn’t blame them one bit; if a Clay Bennett-type did that with the Blazers, the uproar would be just as furious, if not more.
There is still a team in the Pacific Northwest worthy of support from our brothers and sisters to the north. A team that’s spent the last several years painstakingly building up the trust and support lost during the early 2000s. A team with a superstar who embodies the “chill” attitude of the Northwest, a young guard who’s as ruthless on the court as he’s charming off it, and a cast of characters as eclectic and talented as any you’ll find in professional sports.
I call on you, Seattle sports fans, to throw your support behind the Portland Trail Blazers.
Fans of the Sonics might be hesitant to do so; the “I-5 Rivalry” was always fierce amongst the fans, even though I don’t remember the Blazers and Sonics ever meeting in the postseason. Fans on both sides would sneer at the other team’s failings every chance they got, while ignoring the enemy‘s successes. (I remember many grenades being lobbed at the Sonics from down south for being the first 1-seed to be ousted by an 8-seed in NBA history in ‘94. On the other hand, mockery from up north about the “Jail Blazers” of the early 2000s would find its way onto the primitive AOL message boards).
As a lifelong Blazer fan, I implore any Seattle sports fans to look past all that. I know it might stick in a few craws to see a Blazer-themed commercial filmed in Southwest Washington, and seeing a Rip City flag unveiled with the silhouette of the state of Washington on it, in red with a black background. The Blazers extended their reach into Washington because they recognize, as I do, that adding the support of the Seattle sports community to our own will not only bring dollars (!!!!TAX FREE SHOPPING!!!!), but will make many new Blazer fans, and keep basketball strong in the Northwest.
I ask that you bring the same spirit, the same energy, that you bring to Seahawks and Sounders games, and rent space in Rip City until, hopefully, June. I won’t ask you Sounders fans to get cozy with the Timbers Army (we kick them out into the woods come springtime, with that bearded galoot who murders trees with a giant chainsaw), nor do I ask the fans of the Sonics to give that allegiance up. Indeed, some former Sonics fans are honorary citizens of Rip City, and show up to the Moda Center in green and yellow.
Portland sports fans, I admit, have been split when it comes to football. Sure, many baseball people follow the Mariners, but many Portlanders (myself included) follow the 12s’ enemy, the San Francisco 49ers. I remember in my childhood, The Oregonian would run recaps in their Monday Sports section not of the Seahawks, but of the Niners! The Seahawks were once so boring and pitiful, Portland pledged its NFL allegiance to San Francisco!
Although I don’t like the Seahawks personally (you try being a Niners fan and living with a 12 … and dating 12s … and hanging out with 12s …), I implore the 12 community to look past ‘Hawks-Niners (or now, ‘Hawks-Patriots maybe), to look past Sounders-Timbers, even look past Blazers-Sonics, and add your passion, your support, and your voice as the Trail Blazers make their stretch run, and prepare for the nastiest playoff field in NBA history.
The guy who runs this space told me that traffic was up considerably in January, because of the Super Bowl run and all you 12s checking out the great content provided by our brilliant Seahawk writers. I hope that we can get that same commitment not only from Rip City, but from the Land of the 12s.
After all, Portlanders show tremendous support for the Seahawks and Mariners. Is it too much to ask for some reciprocation?
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