Plentiful aspects of the American cultures are boggle-worthy. This is no complaint! Por ejemplo, Sergio twists the knife regarding spectator responses to my game insertions.“You merely take the court and exhale carbon dioxide,” Sergio says, “and lusty cheering has already begun.” Embarrassed, I must say he is on the marks. But Greg Oden and Brandon Roy also garner the speedy applause, and ALL of my mates are viewed in a friendly way by Portlandians.
This non-conditioned enthusiasm is pleasing, yet it puzzles. And how does one explain its opposite? Choirs of curses and boos broke out during our match against the Memphis Grizzlies. I spun my head to see the reasons. Had Marc Gasol shaved? No. The boos and calling to the cats were directed at the appearance of Darius Miles (top).This was to my consternation. Darius Miles was our fellow mate— a Trail Blazer —this very year! Yet perhaps there is logic in this. The great lavishing of love for a Trail Blazer undergoes a phase change if the player departs the team. Even as the Blazer exchanges jerseys, so do the fans exchange sentiments. Love becomes hate.
It is the alchemy of basketball emoción.
Basing on last night’s volumes, Darius Miles was greatly beloved when he was in a Trail Blazer uniform. He must be a specimen of impressive humanitarianism! (As for me, I never wish to leave Portland. I have no stomach for the subsequent abusing.)
There is a certain distaste for players that Portlanders deem have damaged the reputation and image of our fair city. If you were to leave you would be cheered upon your return because you have not disgraced the city through your public (non-basketball) actions. The same cannot be said for Darius, he was the last piece of a group of players who made more news off the court than on. The current Blazers are beloved because of who they are both on and off the court.
ReplyDeleteRodolfo,
ReplyDeleteUsted es el mejor jugador del balencesto.
Buena suerte,
Brent A
Rudy we wouldnt boo you if you left. The reason the fans were so hard on Darius is because he never showed a willingness to work. After his surgeries he basically gave up on rehabbing hard with the team doctors so the team and the fans kind of gave up on him. Then he works really hard just to come back and spite us. That's why he got booed. That and he was in so much trouble with police it was sad.
ReplyDeleteSo don't think all of us up here in Portland are rabid crazy fans. We're only crazy when people hurt our city and our team.
Rudy, you have the best blog in the whole world. Please continue to shine your light on our world.
ReplyDeleteAs Anonymous and Blazer_Dawg pointed out it was Darius Miles behavior that caused his booing. You will notice there were no boos for Jarret Jack as he was a largely liked Blazer even if his play on the court was frustrating at times. I don't think anyone on the current team would be booed if they had been traded, all are respected.
ReplyDeleteIn the past when favorite Blazers were traded such as Clyde Drexler they got big cheers and there were signs in the crowd that read "We miss you Clyde!" and so forth.
Darius Miles not only was involved with the Police, called his Coach the worst of all racial slurs the N-word the most offensive thing one can say to a Black American in most contexts. Strangely some Black people don't mind if another Black person uses the word in certain contexts such as Rap music or among friends but it is always offensive from a person who is not Black themselves. A word of advice, never use this word even in jest. In this case Darius Miles meant is in it's very hurtful form when he said it to coach Maurice Cheeks.
Finally, when Darius Miles had the same surgery as Greg Oden (Microfracture) he did not act like Greg and try with all his might to recover but was lazy and ate ice cream and collected his protected pay check. When he was Medically Retired (a neutral NBA appointed doctor decided this) two things happened. One was that as long as he stayed retired his payroll would come off of Trail blazers salary cap this summer and he would still receive his salary just now it would now be paid by an insurance company not the Blazers.
The second thing was Darius now had the opportunity to pick up a second pay check if he worked hard to try and play now. This is what he did. He worked very hard and now has come back and plays for Memphis. By doing this his salary goes back onto the Trail Blazers cap and has greatly hurt the team's ability to sign more players this summer.
Darius now gets a 2nd check (very small compared to the one paid by Portland less then 1/10th the size) and Portland cannot trade his contract. Portland must pay this out of payroll that could otherwise go to players on the team who do play hard when their next contract is signed this summer such as Steve Blake. The Blazers could also use the money in the summer to trade or sign another player to make the team better. Now with Darius playing for Memphis, Portland will be limited in what it can do. All of this is because Darius wanted to make a comparatively small amount of money in addition to what would have been paid by the insurance company and is now paid by Portland. He worked very hard when he could earn more money but when he was on the Blazers he would work very little as he could not earn more money (as he does with Memphis) by working hard. In fact he could work very little and still be paid by his guaranteed contract. This is what he chose to do.
Do you understand now why he was booed?
Yes we would most so boo you if you left, so never ever leave this team! And when a free agent comes you know you better sign to stay here with us in Portland, or let the booing begain :D (Sorry but true) Dont minde the smily face im very serious.
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