I've been going to Blazer games since the mid-90's. Back when I first moved here, the Blazers were competing against the MJ Bulls for the NBA crown. Back then, the fans may have appreciated getting into the playoffs a little le
ss, but I think they had a better respect for their opponents than some of today's fans. I remember watching Karl "the (N)ail Man" Malone throw elbows on practically every play, bloodying the nose of many Blazer opponents (Brian Grant, Sabas, etc). That was just how the game was played back then, and if Malone got the rebound, he was within his rights to clear space with high elbows. These days, if someone looks hard at another player, fans are crying for a technical. Pu-lease. The players are worse about it. If Steve Nash dribbles into a crowd and doesn't get a call, he's carping on the ref's the whole way back down the floor. Meanwhile, his opponents are setting up their offense.Pre-Game Circus
I got down to the Rose Garden just after noon for a 1:30 tip-off. Back when the Blazers were a perennial playoff team, and Bob Whitsett was the GM, the playoff atmosphere was over the top. He would pull out all the stops, from a great half-time show to big events during time-outs. Outside the venue, there were bands, beer booths, free Blazer (and sponsor) shwag, etc. It was a crazy party in the Rose Quarter, and it kept going while the game was going on. After the game would let out, the circus would just turn up the volume.
Last season when the Blazers made it in, the "show" was pretty lame. No circus. Lame halftime show, nothing interesting during time-outs; basically, it felt like a regular season game when the teams were not actively playing basketball. So, I didn't know what to expect this year. I think the Blazers management realized that Trader Bob was doing the Rose Quarter party right after the boring show last year. Take thousands of fans, add a couple of stages and about 50 booths of marketing opportunities, and the Blazers stand to make money while giving the fans more for their playoff appearance "buck". Personally, I watched a couple bands and the drum line and then headed in for the game.
BRoy Returns and Blazers Win
Like the newspaper says, Brandon Roy rose from his seat to walk to the scorer's table to check in, and the 20k+ crowd rose with him. The players on the floor could feel the energy shift, and responded with a scoring run before he even got into the game. His steady hand in the back court (with Andre, of course) earned the win. Simply, he forced the Suns to no longer triple-team LaMarcus. After the final horn sounded, things got interesting, both in the locker rooms and outside.
Post Game Shuffle
In the locker room, the Suns players were downplaying BRoy's appearance. "He's just another one of their players", backup SF (and former Blazer) Channing Frye said. Stoudamire said Roy's presence didn't make a difference. Funny, 10 years ago players would compliment the game of their opponent when they played well. Today, players are apparently too vane or shallow to admire another player's raw ability. When it does happen now, its newsworthy. Earlier this season, Kobe said something about liking Brandon's game, and it lasted a full news cycle before some bad news leapt to the forefront. The Suns do not respect the Blazers, and from reading the chat-boards, the Suns fans do not respect the Blazer fans. Be that as it may, Blazer fans need to take the high road, and show Suns fans how to act in the post-season.
Meanwhile, in the Rose Quarter, the tents were gone, the stages were gone, the party was over and we had 20k people (that had just spent 3 hours drinking and yelling) spilling into the streets with energy that needed an outlet. For those fans that had some seasoning, this meant taking a detour into the tap room or the Game restaurant. For the fans that clearly had never been to a playoff game (or a playoff victory) before, it became an opportunity to demonstrate how classless and undeserving they were (as individuals).
Fan -v- Fan
I have no problem with fans heckling players. It is part of the business, and part of the show. The players realize that this is part of the deal when they sign multi-million dollar contracts. I have a major problem with fans heckling other fans. When someone from an opposing team buys a ticket, wears their teams colors and cheers their team, I say "good on ya". Not many folks have the guts to enter an opponent's gym like that, and its because of the fan-on-fan heckling. I watched 2 Suns fans walk through the Rose Quarter un-abused by hundreds of Blazer fans, which is what I would have expected after our many years of playoff appearances. There were, however, a small group of young stupid Blazer fans that made increasingly unpleasant (including veiled violence) shouts in their faces as they moved through the crowd. I applaud the 2 Suns fans that did not rise to the increasing threat level. In so doing, they effectively dissolved the problem, and the idiots literally ran away.
I believe most Blazer fans supported the team 10 years ago when they were regular playoff contenders. As such, most of us understand how to behave when the playoffs begin - we respect the other team, and we respect the other team's fans. Fans of teams that regularly appear in the playoff know how to act - act like you've been there and deserve to be there. The Suns fans that walked through the Rose Quarter know this. The troupe of idiots that didn't know how to act when the Blazers won perhaps their most important game of the season to date clearly aren't ready for playoff basketball. The same could be said for the gutless anonymous chat-board posting Suns fans that believe "the Blazers and their fans deserve to be injured". I don't believe we, as a society, have really fallen that far. This is the post-season, and the players are all stepping up their game. As fans, we need to as well. Act more deserving of the honor of the playoffs, basketball fans.
Respect your opponent.
Respect your fellow fans.
Stay Classy.
1 comment:
i'd add another to your sentiments:
It's just a friggin GAME, people...keep it in perspective!
they need to see the crowd at Dead shows for some instruction on how to get along with others....
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