Until Further Notice

A heads up, posting might be slower than usual until March 19thish. For now entertain yourself with this:



Agent Brrrrrrrr!, who foolishly spent much of his life rooting for the Sonics, e-mailed it to me with a caption that read "an ode to the Oklahoma City Sonics." Hard times. Keep your head up Seattle.

Trade Deadline Hysteria

Yeah, its that time when the rumor mill of NBA Trades heats up. With all the fine young winning talent on the Blazers, it shouldn't be a surprise to hear the team involved. For the second rumor in a row, Jarret Jack's name is coming up. Today, word comes in that Portland is engaging in supposedly serious talks with Dallas and New Jersey:

In the proposed trade, Dallas and Portland would send the Nets a package that includes the Mavs' Devean George and Jerry Stackhouse and Blazers forwards Travis Outlaw and Channing Frye and guard Jarrett Jack. Mavericks point guard Devin Harris would be sent to Portland. Along with Kidd, the Nets would send reserve forward Malik Allen and center Jamaal Magloire to Dallas.

I'm not really sure what to think at this point. Just remind yourself that the Bob Whitsitt days are over, and Portland pulling the trigger on monster trades isn't as certain as it used to be. Thank God. Most rumors that come up this time of year are no more than that.

Theoretically, Devin Harris could address a major need of Portland. Young and experienced legit pointguard, good at defense, still improving. Definitely worth Frye and Jack, but Outlaw too? My knee-jerk inclination is to think yes. The trade also makes sense for Portland in that they are basically getting two much needed roster spots out of the deal, which will come in handy next season with the additions of Oden and Rudy Fernandez.

This is one sexy rumor.

Thanks to Brrrrrrrr! for the tipoff.

Brrrrrrrrrr! Chronicles Volume 1: Soccer

Due to my schedule and laziness, I asked some of DeceptivelyQuick's finest readers to write some posts. H.T. responded with a Petteri Koponen update, and has another entry coming very soon. Actually, I already have it but am milking this thing as long as I can. Ha.

Agent Brrrrrrrrr! came through with a submission today, although it unfortunately is about soccer. I had to do some soul searching before I decided this was acceptable. Reading through the entry, I have no idea who these people are or what this game is all about, only that I am attending a bar that is showing a "match" of some sorts. That said, I would appreciate Clint Dempsey to come out with more videos:

Due to Deceptively opening a spot for a guest column I would like to digress from hoops for a quick second and give a shout to the US men’s soccer team who are taking on Sweden this Saturday (Jan19) in LA. You can catch it on FSC (fox soccer channel) at 5:30 PM PT or come to the Thirsty Lion in downtown Portland where word has it both yours truly, Agent Brrrrrrrrrr!, sporting a freshly cut mohawk for some soccer support, and Deceptively will be catching the match enjoying some cold Guinness. Should be an interesting match-up with the US calling on MLS and Holland based club players, as well as, true to Bradley form, giving some young players cap #1 for the big team. Slight disappointment that there will be no Clint Dempsey sightings due to club duties with Fulham in the EPL, lets get it Deuce! But there will be no shortage of talent with Donovan, EJ, Taylor “tiny shirt” Twellman and Brad Guzan in the house, as well as some younger players that have shown some flashes of skill for the national club; Mapp, Ricardo Clark, and Mo Edu to list a few. Big shout goes to Josmer Altidore this kid can play, hopefully bringing some of that U-20 world cup magic with him this weekend. So with that I raise a collective Oye!!!!!!!!! And leave with some love for aspiring artists Deuce (Dempsey) and Big Hawk (RIP). Enjoy.

Blazers popularity hurts procrastinators

Some of the more hard-core pinwheel fans seem a little peeved that the fair-weather folks are turning up in droves. As one who defended this team through the mini-dark ages I would agree that it isn't totally enjoyable all the time. To see the same uninterested folks you were trying to convince of this team's potential just a season ago all of a sudden parade around like they've had a Travis Outlaw portrait tattooed on their chest since 2003 can be infuriating. But overall, I have to say I enjoy watching this city support this team again, even if the majority only fall in lust. The Blazers as a big deal in Oregon just seems right.

They're the hottest ticket in a town where they really have no excuse not to be. As evidence, I'm going to the wings place to watch the game tonight. Tried to get tickets, sold-out. I got gift certificate tickets as a gift, and needed to pick which games to see. I redeemed these the last week of December and couldn't get tickets to Boston on February 24th. I was lucky to get San Antonio on April 6th.

Last season, you could pretty much pick your spot by going to the box office right before tipoff. I will always miss the days of being able to walk down from the balcony and see the action up close. But don't get me wrong, its more fun to be part of a full-house of energy. Just don't procrastinate.

P.S., I hate when other life demands inconvenience DeceptivelyQuick, so inconsiderate like. But these demands are flying at me right now, so hot-blogging action will likely be sporadic for a while. One thing that could help is if any of you would like to contribute to the blog, send submissions: deceptively.quick(at)yahoo. There's a lot of you that are on your game: H.T., Brrrrrrrrrr!, and goonerluke I see you. There's more of you out there. If anyone wants to put something up let me know, could be interesting.

Taurean Green back where he should be

After just four games (and only one DeceptivelyQuick check-in), the Blazers called Taurean Green back to Portland. A defeated and humiliated D-League responded with a fruit basket and genuine "Thank You." From here:

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Portland Trail Blazers recalled guard Taurean Green from the NBA Development League’s Idaho Stampede, it was announced today by Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard.

Green, who was assigned to the Stampede on Dec. 10, averaged 19.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 2.0 steals and 37.8 minutes in four games (all starts) with the Trail Blazers’ D-League affiliate.

Prior to joining the Stampede, Green posted averages of 2.3 points, 1.3 assists and 6.0 minutes in four games with the Trail Blazers this season after being selected by Portland with the 52nd overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.

The 6-0, 177-pounder spent three seasons at the University of Florida, where he guided the Gators to back-to-back NCAA National Championships as the team’s starting point guard.

Hopefully this means they intend to play him. Thanks to anonymous insider Agent Brrrrrrrrrrr! for the tip.

Baby, I'm Boom-Dizzl-ING

Portland vs. Oakland tonight at the Rose Garden, I, as well as agent Brrrrrrrrrrrr! will be in the building. I have a long history of showering Baron Davis with my man love (you're gross). From the pre-2007 playoffs declaration of "with Baron Davis on your team, you can beat anybody in the playoffs" that landed DeceptivelyQuick on TrueHoop for the first time, to my always effective NBA Live Baron-centric strategy. Surprising then, that this will be the first time my eyes get treated to Dizzle in real life. I'm giddy.

As a Blazer fan, of course, I'm still hoping for a dominant victory. As a basketball fan though, I just want to see Mr. Davis be Mr. Davis. I'm also hoping we taste some Spanish Chocolate tonight, Sergio was just made to showcase his magic against teams like the Warriors.

Blazers vs Sonics and first impressions

Great game last night at the Rose Garden (box score). The crowd was bigger than I thought for a preseason game not including Durant or Oden. Just sparse enough for an obscure blogger to stealthily move from a seat requiring an oxygen tank to a place where, as DeceptivelyQuick Operative Brrrrrrrr! pointed out, one could see Steve Blake's 5 o'clock shadow. If you want a play by play, Casey Holhal at Oregon Live blogged the whole game. The Blazers made a dramatic comeback thanks to Delonte West's inability to guard Brandon Roy. Its preaseason, so I'm trying not to get too carried away, but here were some impressions I walked away with:

• Robert Swift is garbage. The Sonics see something in him, I'm not sure anyone else does. During a summer league game in July I saw him on the sidelines and wrote that you can only pull off a bright red pony tail in the NBA if you're as good as Bill Walton. Its not looking good.
• LaMarcus and Roy are still very, very good. Martell looked comfortable and starterish out there, but we've seen this before. Can't wait to see how he does this year.
• Remember when nobody would shut up about how awesome the new scoreboard is? Kind of annoying, right? I mean, its just a scoreboard. Wrong. It really is that amazing. I took the following grainy video as proof:

I...will....obey.

Davis Cup Update, You CAN'T come

So, Davis Cup tickets went on sale at 10:00 AM this morning. As I was occupado, DeceptivleyQuick Operative Brrrrrrrrrrr! was standing by to purchase two of the $90 passes the exact second they went on sale. I was pumped. Then something bad happened. The following is a sequence of text messages I received from Brrrrrrrrrrrr!:

Time: 10:01 AM
im buyin tix son!
Kaaa!

Time: 10:13 AM
demand is high! I been queued at the tix page 4 ten mins already!

Time: 10:33 AM
its sayin they sold out!

And there it is. Subsequent calls and link clicking were met with ice cold blocks that any hot girl's fat friend would be proud of. Last weekend I wrote something about liking the fact that the event would be at the Memorial Coliseum. You know, the smaller space would make the crowd more lively and we would all be given a decent view of the action. This outcome didn't occur to me.

We're still looking for a way in. Connections are being contacted, but this is a very hot ticket. The scalper route is likely to prove beyond DeceptivelyQuick's budget. If you have ANY leads, please contact me. I'll give you...something we can work out. Not that. Or that. Freak.

Davis Cup Finals comes to Portland

Definitely not Blazers related, but if you haven't heard, the Davis Cup Final will be held at Memorial Coliseum November 30-December 2. As you may know, I've come to embrace tennis as my second favorite sport, so I'm excited. Stars like Andy Roddick, James Blake, and the Boba Fett of professional Tennis, Nikolay Davydenko. Roddick wants to export all clay from the state, tennis humor!

Great tennis, patriotism, and a Cold War throwback USA vs. Russia matchup up. Not to mention tennis hooligans (an old SNL skit with David Hyde Pierce that I can't find on youtube. It involves shifting in your seat as the player you don't like serves, awesome.)

Tickets on sale October 15.

Thanks to DeceptivelyQuick operative Brrrrrrrrrr! for the tip.