The Roy Gap: Will national media ever close it?

Rip City is well aware that this is Brandon Roy's team. He is the best player and leader the franchise has had in years. This is why, when he has a nice game and the Blazers win, local media coverage rightly focuses on his accomplishments.

It is important to notice that this only the local media. For all the national attention Roy has gotten this season it is hard not to notice that the major news outlets still cling to their belief that this is somehow Oden's team. Take the reporting of last night's win over the Wizards as an example. Roy had an amazing line: 22 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, and 10 friggin' steals. Oden caused some impressive destruction of his own: 18 points, 14 rebounds (a whopping 9 offensive) and 2 steals.

It was a great night for both players and the team. But while Oden's night was impressive, I think we can all readily admit that Roy's line was one of the best we've seen in the League this season. How often does a shooting-guard get 10 steals? How often does anyone?

The local coverage was in step with the specialness of Roybot. The first 11 blocks of text focus on the rarity of a player putting up such a line and the impact it had on the team. The recap then turns to the rest of the team, including Oden and how his performance is indicative of another positive step in his development.

The AP recap sees the importance of these things differently. The first nine blocks of text focus on Oden's performance. Then Brandon Roy gets two sentences of coverage, his only two sentences of coverage.

Will people outside of Portland ever figure this out? Let me make it easy: Greg Oden is important, Brandon Roy is Everything. It seems like the national media has decided who the star of this team is, all evidence to the contrary be damned. This issue may not be of critical importance, the Blazers will likely continue growing and winning no matter how the AP covers them, but it is nonetheless irksome. It kind of makes Roy finishing tenth in All-Star voting amongst Western Conference Guards make sense.