New Home for the Blazers
posted: 5/13/2008 at 3:58 PM
It's kind of like going from a 14-inch black-and-white TV to high definition. Listening to talk radio, or in our case, broadcasts of games, on AM radio, really hasn't changed much since the early days of broadcasting. Compare that to the giant leaps television has taken, and it doesn't seem to make much sense.
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The radio home of the Trail Blazers, and my home for the first eight years of my career, KXL, has now done something to remedy the sound of sports on the radio. It's not exactly a re-invention of the wheel, but it does qualify as a huge improvement. The flagship station of the Blazers is now on the FM dial. The game broadcasts will be heard in stereo and will be crystal clear on the 100,000-watt "Sportsradio 95.5 FM The Game."
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Even though the voice of the Blazers, Brian Wheeler has his own show on the station, "Wheels after Work" from 7pm to 8 on weeknights, Blazer Broadcasting's first show will be on Thursday night, when Trail Blazers Courtside moves from KXL-AM to The Game. We'll be on at our usual time, from 6 to 8, and yes, Wheels will be on our broadcast as well.
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It's terrific for sports fans in the Portland area, and will get even better in the fall when the true beauty of FM quality will be on display in game broadcasts. Of course, The Game is the home of the Oregon Ducks, Seattle Seahawks, and Trail Blazers. Not many all-sports stations own a play-by-play lineup like that.
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Random stuff: There's an interesting poll that was running on RealGM.com asking the question- "Which player would you select with the overall first pick if the 2007 NBA Draft was held today?" At last check, Greg Oden was leading with 54% of the vote. Kevin Durant was at 25%, and Al Horford was at 21%.
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This was a hot topic last September when it was learned Greg was going to be lost for the season. I remember Kevin Pritchard saying on that day that even had he known he would have to wait a year to get Greg on the floor, he still would have been his selection with the first pick. Here we are, through the season now, and overwhelmingly, fans around the country, with all the facts, are saying the same thing.
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I saw Greg the other day at the Blazers' practice facility, where he's been just about every day since returning from Hawaii. He says he's around 280 pounds, down from about 295+ he hit following the time he spent off his feet recovering from surgery.
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Oden went to Hawaii to get away, and train. Blazers' trainer Jay Jensen, coach Nate McMillan, and assistant coach Maurice Lucas, were with Greg on the trip. We had Jensen on our radio show during the trip, and the one exchange I remember was when Jensen was talking about Oden's hunger to work and get better. Jensen is not a guy who gives flowery comments when talking about these kinds of things, but was gushing about Oden's drive and work ethic. I'm sure that was music to your ears. I know it was to mine. It's not like there was ever really a question when it came to this kind of thing, but it's nice to hear anyway.
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Also, since we've talked last, Pritchard and his management team returned from their trip to Europe. They did some scouting, watched Rudy Fernandez play, and spent some time with him. Out of respect for Rudy's current team, which is still playing, you're not going to hear a lot about him from KP and his staff yet on this situation. I can tell you that they were thrilled with what they saw. The one thing that was said to me, about Rudy, was "we went over there expecting to be impressed, and he's even better than we thought he was." In other words, scratch this issue of your list of worries here in the off-season. And, in my opinion, don't be shocked to see Rudy in the opening-night starting lineup when next season tips off.
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By the way, the NBA Draft Lottery is set for May 20th, and we'll be hosting a special edition of Courtside on that night. We'll be doing the show from the Pyramid Tap Room at Schonely's Place, at the Rose Garden. It's open to the public, and you're more than welcome to join us.
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This night won't hold the suspense of last year's lottery party, and I'm actually glad we're not going nuts on the planning for this event. When you win 41 games you should feel like you're beyond such things. There's a .009 percent chance the Blazers will end up with a top-three pick. The chances of lightening striking again, and landing the top pick, is .006. That being said, it's always an interesting night, and I hope to see you there. We'll be on the air from 5-7, and will likely end up going to 8pm.
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Remember, from now on, Courtside is on 95.5 FM. The link at the top-right of this page has been updated, and you can click on it to listen to the show on line.
Ed. note: Just so there is no confusion, the Trail Blazers' probability of ending up with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 13th or 14th pick are as follows:
1st pick: 0.60%
2nd pick: 0.71%
3rd pick: 0.87%
13th pick: 96.03%
14th pick: 1.79%
RSS FEED
Mike;
It has been forever since you blogged. I missed you
Thanks for the update on Rudy and 95.5 FM. I have it in my fav.
If Rudy is in our starting line up, what position will he play and who will he replace? Many of the bloggers thinks Roy will play Pt and Rudy shooting guard. If BRoy and Rudy plays the same position. It would be better to bring Rudy in with Sergio.
I guess I will probably have to wait to find out.
I probably won't be able to get to Portland before the fan fest , but plan on being at the Fan Fest. (I hope)
Keep up your good work
hg
I wonder if the excitement over Rudy Fernandez will over shadow Greg Oden's opening night here. I doubt it. It's nice to be excited over two players even before we know what draft pick we are getting this year. Amazing how things just have fallen into place for the Blazers, makes all those heart breaking Blazers times feel worth it. Hope to not here the Blazers called at 13 this year, it could happen.
So Oden was the first guest on Tuesday's Kenny and Katy show on 95.5 The Game, calling in live from Indianapolis, and he was also at the practice facility in Tualatin?
Yes folks - he is THAT darn good.
:-)
soda, (like from the Outsiders?)
I type notes from time to time on a clipboard, and then paste them into the blog. I did talk to him, but it was the "other" day, and not "yesterday" like it said in what I clipped in. So, yes, he's in Indy, and yes, we had a discussion. The note I used was just a couple of days old. Thanks for catching that.
MB
I think it's a .9% chance the Blazers have of landing a top 3 pick instead of .009%.
MB-
I have missed the blog.It has been deathly slow here at my job, which would really mean that its not moving at all but that's beside the point, so it has been nice to read updates from time to time about the team. You must be enjoying the beautiful portland weather...lol.... I am happy to read of your excitement and enthusiasm RE: Rudy. I cant wait to buy his Blazer jersey for my son. (He currently has Oden, Roy & Aldridge)
Go Blazers
Sophia
Justin,
Oh my, my friend...lol...i'll leave you with one of my favorite Clyde Drexler quotes. "Your best move is to stay in school."
Mike,
Thanks for the updates, and it is nice to see you blogging, again. One thing, though. Portland's chances of landing a top 3 pick are actually a little better than you portray. Portland has a .022 chance of getting in the top 3. The .009 chance you refer to is only the chance of them getting the 3rd pick. Basically, Portland's chance of landing in the top 3 is about half as good as it was, last year, for them to get the #1 pick.
While we are on the lottery, i would like to say that i find it disappointing that Larry Miller will be representing the team. He's a far cry from Brandon. Basically, the few public things he has been linked with (the comcast deal and changing the name of the Rose Garden) haven't exactly endeared him to the community.
I'm not superstitious, but i think i'd rather see someone else's mug on national television, representing our franchise, than Larry Miller's. There are many other choices that would better satisfy the desires of the fans than him. I know you guys in broadcasting would love to make us believe that him and Golub are really popular with the fans, but the truth is that those guys really stuck it to the fan-base with that horrendous comcast deal.
These guys aren't the ones that changed the franchise. They're just the ones in charge of financially capitalizing on the changes made by guys like Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen, Nate McMillan, you and many others whom are truly responsible for the team's turnaround. Perhaps they did well at extracting cash from comcast at the expense of having a say who gets to see the broadcasts and who doesn't. However, that doesn't exactly make them popular.
It would be nice to say that the whole comcast thing is behind us. However, it isn't. You always say you like people to use this blog to get things off their chest. Well, now that it is the offseason, i think it is the best time to address that horrible mess. At the very least, i don't think the thousands of blazer fans that were screwed my Miller's comcast deal should have to look at his mug, as if he were responsible for our 41 wins, come the draft lottery.
MB
It sure would be interesting to find out who Rudy Fernandez is as a person. All we’ve ever seen of him are his alley-oops finishes and nice passes, which is great, and I’m sure I’ll love him as a basketball player, but what if he comes over here and turns out to be a complete A## and won’t fit in to the organization’s “culture” that KP was so good at building? Is there anything you could do about giving Blazer fans some insight as to who Rudy is as a person?
-Dustin
PS:
Mrblazer, Justin,
ESPN shows us as having a 0.6% chance of getting the first pick so don't be rude Mr Blazer, you both are wrong.
kelsoballa,
Perhaps you should read my comment a little more closely before you declare it inaccurate. I didn't say our chance to get the #1 pick was .022. I said our chance to get in the top 3 is .022. That is .006 for the first pick, .007 for the second pick, and .009 for the third pick, together.
As i said above, our chance to get into the top 3 is about half as good as it was, last year, for us to get the #1 pick (.053).
Mike,
I couldn't agree more with the comment above regarding the decision to have Larry Miller represent the Blazers at the draft. I'm sure he had his reasons for making the Comcast deal in the interest of the Blazers, but that decision, in addition to putting the Rose Garden name up for the highest bidder, have left him as a very polarizing figure in the organization. The Comcast deal in particular has left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths, and the mum response when they were taking heat exacerbated it. It is an extremely bad move from a PR standpoint to have the architect of the horrible and inadequate tv deal represent the team, expecially when there are so many more appropriate candidates. I hope the Blazers will reconsider.
kelsoballa,
BTW, .006 is the same thing as 0.6%. Just like .500 is the same thing as 50%. Maybe Justin was trying to point that out since Mike did say ".009 percent chance." If so, my bad. In fact, the joke would be on me for not reading Mike's post carefully enough...lol
There is a reason why that Drexler quote is one of my favorites. I'm not being rude, i'm being serious. I'm pretty sure i was using incorrect terminology, myself, saying "chance" instead of odds...lol...so have a laugh on me, Justin.
Can we please have someone besides Miller represent the franchise at the lottery? We all got screwed this year by the comcast deal, and the idea of changing the name of the Rose Garden is ridiculous.
MB,
Thanks for filling us in about Greg and his offseason status. I'm sure every blazer fan is on the edge of their seat to see him play in a meaningful game. That RealGm vote doesn't surprise me that much. People around the country know what Greg can do, they've seen it and they will soon experience it again. Also, I'm really happy that barring any disaster, Rudy will be with us next season. I've seen clips of the guy too and he's incredible. Hope you're able to get some rest during the offseason.
George
oops. Sorry, I meant lottery, not draft. But while I'm thinking about it...
Have you heard anything about any new or planned discussions between Comcast and any other carriers regarding the carriage deals for the upcoming season? I am just wondering if there is still any dialogue, or of this is just the way things are going to be. Thanks in advance for any info at all Mike. You're doing an awesome job as always.
First of all,
Mr. Blazer, sweetheart...
.006 = 6/1000
.6 = 6/10
they are not the same...(in this case the zeros are before the number, thus making it smaller w/ more zeros b4 the number)
Second ,
Miller is going represent our organization on the 20th, so there really is no use in crying over spilt milk. GET OVER IT!
Lastly,
The Comcast deal SUCKS... hopefully the situation will get resolved, however stop beating up M.B. for it, HE DIDNT DO IT!
Lets not forget that we all LOVE the Blazers.. unless a L*ker fan gets on here lets not fight, k?
Peace and Love
Sophia
Hello everybody.
Ha ha!!! I've been trying to get that silly log in thing to work forever! Anyway,
HEY MIKE BARRETT!!!
first off, I'm a huge fan!!! you and homboy rice kick nards as far as "MEDIA OUTLETS" and rock the mic.
MILLER!!!!
we can't send him!!! CAN'T!!!
IT'LL JINX THE WHOLE THING! insanity is what it is. why would the front office do that, Mr Blazer hit the nail on the head with the comcast deal, and then the renameing of the garden. If we end up drawing 14, He better just start Painting roses red, cuz I'm tellin ya, fans may just decide to Queen of hearts out about the whole deal...send FRYE, I think KP's fallen angel comment a few months, half year back should carry some weight, maybe, but for what it's worth, I think it's a terrible idea.
ya know?
Sophia, you go girl!
MB's blog is not the place for this.
He deserves the same respect that he always shows Blazer fans.
Sophia, sweetheart...
Having a .6% chance is the same as having .006 odds. It really isn't that difficult. Ever wonder what they mean, Sophia, when they say we played .500 basketball? It means we won 50% of our games. I'll give you a pass on this one because everyone is capable of mistakes.
As far as the Miller thing is concerned, i'm not beating Mike up about it. I don't know how long you've been reading this blog, but Mike has always suggest his blog as a place to voice a grievance. I never blamed Mike for anything, so i don't know what you're talking about. In fact, i'm not sure that even you do.
Hey Mike, thanks for the blog.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/lottery2008/mockdraft
The above link can illustrate our chances. :|
Mr.Blazer who taught you math? Where did you get the idea that .6 is the same as .006? Sophia is correct.
tenths, hundredths, thousands.
.6 would mean we would have a 60 percent chance. Just like .250 means Miami has a 25% chance of winning the draft lottery.
.06 means we have a 6% chance. 6/100.
Now am I going crazy because I thought I was okay at math in school.
Just to let you know "MR BLAZER" .6% chance is not that same as .006%. I dont know if you ever went to school but .6 percent is 6/10 of 1 and .006 is 6/1000 of one. Big difference. Maybe school might help ya?
Sophia said .6% which is different than .6. to change a % to a decimal you move the decimal two places to your right which would be .006 Sophia gets the A. brofly gets the F.
hg
I got to back up Mr. Blazer on this one. You guys are aruging symantex. Once you add a percentage symbol to a number it is just like dividing that number by a 100.
For instance 50 % = 0.5 (no percentage sympbol)
In this case 0.6 % (notice the percentage symbol) = 0.006 (notice no percentage symbol)
Or in other words 0.6% is just like saying 60% of 1%.
Mr. Blazer I have been reading your posts here since the blogs inception and would just like to say that I look forward to them almost as much as Mikes, well not quite that much but they are always informative and to the point. Since I know you are usually on top of such things as european basketball I was wondering if you had any sleeper euros we should be keeping an eye on for 2nd round possibilties?
Thanks Mike and sorry for yet another post on math but it needed to be clarified.
Too bad we didn't get Gasol. The Lakers look great with him in the lineup and should handle the eventual finalist in the West.
Okay,
Everyone listen, we are all correct!
In order to calculate the odds of winning whatever it is this blog is about, we would divide .6% by 100 thus making the odds .006.
Mr. Blazer, the way you wrote the original message it seemed as if you were saying that .006% was the same as .6% or visaversa which of course they arent the same, thus I was clarifying this for the blog. I didnt read your entry close enough however, so for that I apologize.
Lets talk about something really irritating...
namely
Steven A. Smith
Why the heck does ESPN still have him as an analyst or professional on a panel during the draft lottery and the draft? He says some of the most moronic and irrational things in the world. I dont have an exact quote but he said the blazers didnt know what they were doing when they traded for Brandon and LaMarcus... mmmmmmm (that was in 2006 of course and in 2007 he said it was a travesty for the nba that the 1 and 2 draft pix were going to the nw)
I wonder what crap he will talk about our team this year?
Sophia, you have to take whatever Atephan A says with a grain of salt. He says whatever he needs to say in order to stand out and thus get ratings. Whether people agree with him or not(more often not), they still pay attention to what he says. Yes, he goes after Portland and Seattle because he knows if we stop caring about him it won't affect his ratings, on his TV show or his radio show. With all that being said...I HATE HIM!!!!!!!!!! I wish those other analysts would have stuck up for Portland when he said all that crap the last two years, so I'm kinda mad at all of ESPN. I've always felt that ESPN doesn't give enough credit to the Blazers, but especially in the last two years. But we have Greg Oden and Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge so that eases the pain quite a lot.
Kelso,
that is soo true, i HATE him as well. Almost as much as I HATE the L*kers. He gets ratings but he is ridiculous. I could analyze the draft like him "its a complete waste of my time talking about the portland trail blazers" . But didnt he say we should give the front office raises?? LOL he is stupid, the only people getting raises in the next couple of years is Broy , LA and Oden... :) man we have the best team ever haha
:)
Justin,
Thanks for the compliment, my friend, and again, the joke was on me...lol
As far as international selections are concerned, i think KP has done a great job in the late first round, which is where he likes to select them (for good reason). You wouldn't believe the looks i was getting, last draft and the draft before, when i was expressing my excitement for our selections of Rudy, Koponen, and Freeland. You'd have thought my privates were growing from my forehead. I have to say, though, there are ALWAYS international steals in the second round. A big one (pardon the pun), last year, was Marc Gasol.
Anyway, it's a bit early for me to start naming guys for the draft. I will, though, drop one that may be available for one or two of our second round selections.
NATHAN JAWAI
He's projected in the second round, as of now. You never know when these guys will be selected, though. Remember, Tiago Splitter fell really late in the first round simply because he wouldn't be here for a season. Who knows what is going on in these GMs' heads. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around Shelden Williams at #5 over Brandon, Foye, and Gay. Are you kidding me?
Nathan hasn't been playing basketball very long, but i think he has tremendous potential. He's definitely a guy you could leave overseas for awhile and watch develop. We don't need to add players to this roster from the second round, right now, and Jawaii could be worth a fortune down the line as an asset.
As the draft gets nearer, i'll be throwing out more international players i think may be available in the second round that may pay big dividends as assets in the future.
mmmmmm,
I've never been the greatest at math, but mr blazer is correct.
0.6%=.006
even when he's wrong, He's still right.
now if anyone want's to discuss that little comment, you may find me here, http://www.iamatrailblazersfan.com/
Stephan A hole popin off about our team, lol...grain of salt? I like to think of that grain as a shot of penicillan, but, hey he's good at creating contraversy.....
Oden in Hawaii.... he couldn't have found a better island to hang out on. the big one rocks!!! but the smaller ones are for fuddy dudds as I understand hawaii...but cool too.
280 pounds? mm, as long as he's still moving as quick as aldridge up and down the court I ain't too worried.
no more pickup games for him though....
I can't say I like him dunking on 9 year old girls either...I mean they got self esteem too man!!!
Mike or Mr Blazer,
Has Freeland in your opinions been playing well enough to deserve a roster spot?
Would buying out raef's contract so joel freelands value could increase be worth the 12 million, cuz if we don't bring over freeland now, we lose him right?
so is he a bust or still worth keeping?
or is Raef's contract way to valuable to us in the big trade scene?
I love how Barrett's Blog has turned into a math Blog. Moving on to Basketball.
Mike, Soda Popinski was a character off of the old Arcade game punch-out not Soda pop curtis from the outsiders:) I realize that was not Basketball so without further ado...Kick ass at the Lottery how sweet it will be to break the odds again..I diont know if my heart can take watching as our name passes in the opening selections.
Mike, dod you have any idea of the Starting roste for the summer league?
See you all at the draft.
L.T.G
The only guy in sports broadcasting that shows any love for the Blazers is Kenny Smith on Inside the NBA. The guy is pretty respectful of all teams which I think is pretty hard to always do. Stephen A Smith is just mad because just about prediction he makes is wrong. Unless it's, "Celtics will make the playoffs with Garnett, Pierce, and Allen", he is never right.
LTG,
Of course, my bad. I always cruised through Glass Joe, Bald Bull, and Kid Quick (who looked exactly like David Rivers), but it was Don Flamico who got me. Then he'd do that dance with a rose in his mouth and really piss me off. Believe it or not, I had about a 30-minute conversation with James Jones about this video game on a flight home one night.
MB
who cares what are % is in the lotto pick. It is are destiny to be great. Also gasol is a laker now he made his choice. I would take L-train with one leg over gasol anyday. Our team has the makings already to be a team to challange anybody for the championship for the next 10 years. with all the cap room and the lotto pick we should be set for next season.
mb thanks for the up dates i will be reading all summer keep me posted on oden rehab. I glad he is start to drop weight. also on rudy when ever you can thank. go blazers
who cares what are % is in the lotto pick. It is are destiny to be great. Also gasol is a laker now he made his choice. I would take L-train with one leg over gasol anyday. Our team has the makings already to be a team to challange anybody for the championship for the next 10 years. with all the cap room and the lotto pick we should be set for next season.
mb thanks for the up dates i will be reading all summer keep me posted on oden rehab. I glad he is start to drop weight. also on rudy when ever you can thank. go blazers
MB
Remember Piston Honda, he thought he was so bad with his eyebrow wiggle until I smacked him in his face! And if I remember right, Flamenco was one of the easiest opponents, whats up with that? One thing is for sure, Bald Bull will be played by Jesse Ventura when the movie comes out!
-Dustin
I listened to the show tonight on the way home from work. . .and I was saddened by the light-hearted discussion between Wheels, Mike Rice, Mike Barrett, and I'm not sure who else. All the talk about scoring another point guard, and a lot of conversation around who we might/should get, and who we could think about trading. . . It sunk in that this is just another business. And most of the people who are making decisions aren't really in touch with why the "business" is doing so well now, and hasn't done so well in the past. . .up to the point that there was talk about the owners looking for a way out of the Portland Arena complex before the changes were made, and the new team assembled. The fans voted with their attendance (lack of), when the Jail Blazers were our team. . .and we have voted with our attendance this year (how many straight sell-outs?). This isn't entirely about "now we're winning.. . so I'm back". Northwest fans have embraced the new Trailblazers because of who they are, as well as how many games they win. I for one am proud of this team and glad they represent Portland. I hate hearing discussions like today's where the commentators were talking about trading Webster and/or Outlaw. THEY, Brandon Roy, Steve Blake, Joe Przybilla, Martell Webster, Jarrett Jack, LaMarcus Aldridge, James Jones, Travis Outlaw, Channing Frye, Raef LaFrentz, Sergio Rodriguez, Josh McRoberts, (later) Von Wafer, and soon Greg Oden have played their hearts out and won ours. There have been too many shots of them genuinely having fun and celebrating the wins, to not realize what a synergistic team they have become. I hope there are NO changes this year, and Coach McMillan is given a chance to continue developing this young team with high potential. One wrong move (bringing the wrong person in, and/or sending the wrong person out) could make a huge difference. I wouldn't count them out just yet. I believe they have the potential to make the playoffs in the near future. And I would hate to see us bring in a player that's "all about me". I haven't felt this way about a Blazer team since the days of Clyde Drexler, Kevin Duckworth, Jerome Kersey, Maurice Lucas, Dave Twardzik, Bill Walton, Larry
Steele and the rest of the 1976-77
World Championship Team. They all had talent, integrity, and made us proud. . . and WE WON!
Dawnab,
If you heard the show, then you no doubt heard the conversation constantly returning to the question- "isn't this team just fine the way it is?" I must have said that 10 times or more. I tried to build a case for letting this young team continue to develop and not to make a move, just to make a move. It's all speculation at this point, and that's what the off-season is for. Everyone has an opinion, and we were simply addressing the many different scenarios. I agree with you. If you listened to the show, you already know that. See my most recent post (added late Thursday night) for more on this.
Thanks,
MB
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