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ortland Trailblazers 2003-4 - v*ttu tästä tuu taaskaan mitään...
Ja lisää
Blazers give us all a bad name
12/03/03
Canzano: Basic rules for marijuana users TUALATIN T hey went over the plan one last time Tuesday.
Qyntel Woods would drive the getaway car.
He'd pull his sport utility vehicle in front of the Trail Blazers' practice facility and slow to a crawl in front of the players' entrance. Then, teammate Zach Randolph would hurry out, hop in, and they would be gone.
No embarrassing questions from reporters about Randolph's arrest earlier that morning. No awkward moments. It would be a clean getaway. Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Only, Woods forgot his hat.
So when Randolph came out and hopped into the SUV, he found his teammate putting the vehicle in park, then getting out to run back inside the locker room to retrieve his throwback "We Are Family"-era Pittsburgh Pirates hat.
It was a botched job all the way.
We can all shake our heads today.
Shake your head because Randolph got pulled over in the first place. Shake it because police noted the smell of burning marijuana coming from inside his vehicle. Shake it because the franchise's feel-good story, on his way home from a charity event, was arrested on accusations of driving under the influence of an intoxicant.
Keep shaking it until all of this settles in.
Team officials met with Randolph on Tuesday. They also spent part of the morning questioning Woods after fans complained the forward showed up at the same charity event Monday smelling like marijuana.
Woods swore to team officials that he hasn't been using marijuana.
Later, at practice, Dale Davis and Damon Stoudamire stepped forward to address the latest team distraction.
Stoudamire called it "really disappointing." Davis said it was "getting ridiculous."
I think they speak for just about everyone.
When we talk about the Blazers, that's what we're talking about.
Us.
Like it or not, the franchise is a reflection of the community. Doubt it? If you travel, just mention you're from Portland and wait about two seconds for the Blazers to come up.
Coach Maurice Cheeks said it's difficult for him, an innocent bystander really, to keep having to stand in front of the cameras and make sense of the dumb actions of one of his foolish players. Well, when you really think about it, it's all of us standing there together, scratching our heads.
When the doors to practice opened Tuesday and a large group of media filed into the facility, the Blazers were in a huddle at one end of the gym. They watched the cameras and reporters come in. Then, one veteran player dipped his head out of sight and imitated a circling vulture.
"Cawww! Cawww!"
It's a sound heard too often in the Blazers' practice facility.
Although not every Blazers player uses marijuana, the honest ones can give you a list of marijuana-related rules and stories.
Said one: "Rule No. 1: Don't drive around when you're smoking weed. That's dumb."
Another Blazer says he witnessed a fellow NBA player using an ordinary, empty, plastic water bottle and a laundry fabric softener as a creative filter for marijuana smoke.
"Dude stuffs the fabric softener (inside) the bottle. Then, he pokes a hole at the bottom of the bottle. And he exhales through the bottle. The room smells like laundry."
What about when the team is on the road, in non-smoking hotel rooms?
"(Smoke) in the bathroom," a Blazers player said. "That's old school."
Or instead, they could just choose not to break the law.
Portland's brass desperately wants to change the brand of the franchise from the players to the organization. But as long as the players are having their mug shots taken or disrespecting fans and coaches, it won't happen.
It can't happen.
And there isn't a getaway car that can run away from that.
ortland Trailblazers 2003-4 - v*ttu tästä tuu taaskaan mitään...Ja lisää
Blazers give us all a bad name
12/03/03
Canzano: Basic rules for marijuana users TUALATIN T hey went over the plan one last time Tuesday.
Qyntel Woods would drive the getaway car.
He'd pull his sport utility vehicle in front of the Trail Blazers' practice facility and slow to a crawl in front of the players' entrance. Then, teammate Zach Randolph would hurry out, hop in, and they would be gone.
No embarrassing questions from reporters about Randolph's arrest earlier that morning. No awkward moments. It would be a clean getaway. Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Only, Woods forgot his hat.
So when Randolph came out and hopped into the SUV, he found his teammate putting the vehicle in park, then getting out to run back inside the locker room to retrieve his throwback "We Are Family"-era Pittsburgh Pirates hat.
It was a botched job all the way.
We can all shake our heads today.
Shake your head because Randolph got pulled over in the first place. Shake it because police noted the smell of burning marijuana coming from inside his vehicle. Shake it because the franchise's feel-good story, on his way home from a charity event, was arrested on accusations of driving under the influence of an intoxicant.
Keep shaking it until all of this settles in.
Team officials met with Randolph on Tuesday. They also spent part of the morning questioning Woods after fans complained the forward showed up at the same charity event Monday smelling like marijuana.
Woods swore to team officials that he hasn't been using marijuana.
Later, at practice, Dale Davis and Damon Stoudamire stepped forward to address the latest team distraction.
Stoudamire called it "really disappointing." Davis said it was "getting ridiculous."
I think they speak for just about everyone.
When we talk about the Blazers, that's what we're talking about.
Us.
Like it or not, the franchise is a reflection of the community. Doubt it? If you travel, just mention you're from Portland and wait about two seconds for the Blazers to come up.
Coach Maurice Cheeks said it's difficult for him, an innocent bystander really, to keep having to stand in front of the cameras and make sense of the dumb actions of one of his foolish players. Well, when you really think about it, it's all of us standing there together, scratching our heads.
When the doors to practice opened Tuesday and a large group of media filed into the facility, the Blazers were in a huddle at one end of the gym. They watched the cameras and reporters come in. Then, one veteran player dipped his head out of sight and imitated a circling vulture.
"Cawww! Cawww!"
It's a sound heard too often in the Blazers' practice facility.
Although not every Blazers player uses marijuana, the honest ones can give you a list of marijuana-related rules and stories.
Said one: "Rule No. 1: Don't drive around when you're smoking weed. That's dumb."
Another Blazer says he witnessed a fellow NBA player using an ordinary, empty, plastic water bottle and a laundry fabric softener as a creative filter for marijuana smoke.
"Dude stuffs the fabric softener (inside) the bottle. Then, he pokes a hole at the bottom of the bottle. And he exhales through the bottle. The room smells like laundry."
What about when the team is on the road, in non-smoking hotel rooms?
"(Smoke) in the bathroom," a Blazers player said. "That's old school."
Or instead, they could just choose not to break the law.
Portland's brass desperately wants to change the brand of the franchise from the players to the organization. But as long as the players are having their mug shots taken or disrespecting fans and coaches, it won't happen.
It can't happen.
And there isn't a getaway car that can run away from that.
