Moving Day

I knew this day was coming – the day the blog would relocate. WordPress was the perfect starter home. But as of today I’m making moves to a new look and feel at http://www.beyondthebeat.net/ .
Cruise on over when you have the chance.
And as always, thanks for reading.
W
 

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Welcome To Playoff Basketball….

I should be 10 dollars richer by now. “5 bucks the Blazers drop this one,” my text flashed to two other Portland media row writers about three minutes into the Blazers versus the Philadelphia 76ers game.
No takers.
We all agreed Portland had plenty of chances to win though. Even after the overtime results, no one could [...]

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The New Old School

There is old school and then there is Donnie Walsh. But it’s that old school styling that earns him so much respect around the league, even in this new school NBA.
He’s a New Yorker to the fullest – straight from the Bronx – who practiced Tar Heel traditions at North Carolina, before being selected by [...]

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No Streaking

Well, that was fun for Portland while it lasted. The five-game win streak is over after losing to Dallas. So why is closing the book on a win-streak actually a good thing?
That’s easy.
It puts life out West in perspective for the Blazers.
The last thing Portland needs right now is to rattle off 10-straight like [...]

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Speak Up

As the youngest of eleven children, a lot of things went unsaid when I was growing up. My Dad – a workaholic and at times very stern man – wasn’t big on touchy feely communication. All these years later I’m starting to realize that upbringing comes in handy covering the NBA.
There was no such thing as [...]

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New Knicks, Old Tricks

Click-click-click-click-click. That’s the sound of a New York Knicks media relations lackey typing your conversation with a player or coach into their BlackBerry, only to send it on to upper management. Maybe it’s not that way right now. But that was the reality not too long ago.
You may think these shenanigans about a certain [...]

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All Over Aldridge

I wasn’t buying it then and I’m not buying it now. Just last week a local sportswriter in Portland refuted the fact LaMarcus Aldridge is as good as he really is. I’m sure that writer changed his tune after Portland beat Detroit on Wednesday night thanks to Aldridge.
Yes, Travis Outlaw flexed bigger than his 6’9, [...]

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Inside The Waive

It was a shady situation. After a year selling used cars in my early twenties, my sales numbers slipped. And in the car biz you are only as good as your last deal. So I was “let go”; fired; given my walking papers. But in the NBA it’s different. Guys get “waived” all the time [...]

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Getting The Point

Sergio Rodriguez apparently is a wanted man….again. For the second time in three weeks, Rodriguez has been the topic of conversation with at least one New York Knicks beat writer who believes the Knicks should take a look at the Portland Trail Blazers reserve point guard.
More on that blog blurb here from good friend Alan [...]

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Darius Isn’t Done….

Time to save the date. Zach Randolph left Portland with a win after returning to help beat the Blazers last Friday night. Now after signing with the Memphis Grizzlies over the weekend, Darius Miles has probably already circled Wednesday, February 18th on his calendar.
That’s when Miles comes to town.
Mike Dunleavy – who is wearing two hats [...]

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