Koponen, Finnagler in Arms

News is that Petteri Koponen will begin his required six month service with the Finnish Defence Forces soon, where we hope he upholds proud Finnish tradition and masters the black art of Ski Warfare.

He will return to run point for the Honka Playboys (who have a picture of Albert Einstein on their homepage, naturally) this season, so season ticket holders need not be concerned. According to DeceptivelyQuick/Invisible Finnish Hand dual-operative "H.T.", he is likely to complete service next April at the rank of Lance Corporal. Of course, once they get a taste of his one handed no look passes, I estimate he will be elevated to at least Brigadier General.

Also from H.T., a Finnish music video that apparently takes place in a space station, I guess. I'm cautious in posting this, as I imagine it is some sort of tool used by Invisible Finnish Hand Operatives to communicate with each other in the field. But the dance at the beginning sort of reminds of Crank dat Soulja Boy:

Sergio Rodriguez out of rotation

As you may know, Sergio is in a bit of a situation. Don't be mad at him, its not his fault the local fans and media went insane. I tried to document some of the Sergio hysteria here. Now, via TrueHoop, a Jason Quick article pops up that would be shocking if you've never been to this blog. Nate McMillan sings the praises of Taurean Green, and explains that Sergio is out of the rotation:

"He's out (of the rotation),'' McMillan said of Rodriguez. "Right now, he is. He's going to have to play his way in, and that's going to be hard to do unless Blake or Jack just dog it, which I don't think will happen.''

Sounds good to me. I joined (or started?) the trade Sergio band wagon when Portland signed Steve Blake (although that was mostly fueled by my paranoia of losing Jack, my low-faith in Sergio played a part). I know waiting is probably the smartest option for now, but with Rudy Fernandez expected to arrive next season it would seem something will have to be done to free up a guard spot. Will Sergio's trade-value really increase with him not being in the rotation?

The other major point of the Quick article is how high McMillan is on Taurean Green. The heaps of praise aren't totally surprising, Green was impressive in summer league (that is, when he actually got to play his position) and just read his DraftExpress profile to get a sense of how he did on his other pre-NBA benchmarks. What is really shocking is Nate McMillan supporting him with enthusiasm and passion on a level we rarely see. This could be something.

The tension between local fans and media (who are largely still in the Sergio Tornado), and Nate (who sees Sergio everyday and knows more about basketball than local fans/media) over Sergio's role will be an interesting story to watch this season. Last year, Sergio actually played and Nate still found himself getting bombarded with questions about why he wasn't giving opportunities to Sergio. This season, totally out of the rotation? Oh boy.

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.

NBA still loves the Blazers...Not.

For the record, I'm still alive. I've just been spending too much time watching the Iron Man trailer over and over. You know what would put that movie over the top? Ghostface cameo.
With both Tony Starks in mind:



While visiting NBA.com the other day I noticed Brandon Roy's picture was headlining one of the main links on the front page. Pretty cool, as I figured the Blazers ride on the crest of basketball mainstream's radar was pretty much rehabilitating with Greg Oden. I clicked the link, only to find the only Blazer related item to be Oden's surgery. Ah well.

Then I realized that while mainstream media doesn't want to care about the Odenless Ones, they've already committed to the team, which is great for us. Just take a look at this clean TV Schedule over at OLive. Lots of ESPN and TNT appearances. Probably bad for them, but great for the fans and the team. Perhaps we'll get some more converts, and I will no longer get crazy looks when explaining that LaMarcus Aldridge is that good.

Pippen The Finnagler

Scottie Pippen in Finland to play two of what those funny people outside the U.S. call "matches" may seem random, odd, and/or insignificant. But basketball news is slow, so why not make a meal of this tasty morsel. By the way, in finding the news from Say Hey, I learned this is not the only blog supported by the invisible Finnish hand, and they write about The Finnagler (Petteri Koponen, if you happen to be new) a lot, and better. Well, let me know when you have the juice to get his side bar info-box thing on wikipedia edited to include things you made up. That's real juice, that's being a real Finnaglerphile. Getting your junk into that box is like getting your synapses of Brian Bosworth's full-length feature film "Stone Cold" added to THE BIBLE.

Anyways, Pippen will play these "matches" for a team located in Helsinki. Helsinki is only 20.3 "kilometers" (LOL, who still uses "kilometers"? That is so 80's) from Espoo, where none other than the Finnagler himself plays for the Tapiolan Honka, whom interestingly take the name from an ancient Battle-Axe culture phrase that roughly translates to "Honkeys."

Former Blazer Pippen so close to future Blazer Koponen. Like ships passing in the crisp Finnish night? Coincidence or fate? My dreams tonight will include a Miyagi-LaRusso relationship. Perhaps the stars have something special in mind for these two, which I mean in the most heterosexual way possible. Clearly, the gods always smile warmly to the Trailblazers.

Khryapa'n back into the news

Blazer fans loved Viktor Khryapa and were sad to see him go. We always love the hustle guys, but I think a lot of us recognized that the man had some decent skills to go along with the effort we saw on the floor. Every once in a while he'd blow up the boxscore, but Khryapa is one of those guys who brings the type of things stat sheets ignore.

Last season with the Bulls, Viktor didn't get much love, but that may change. According to The Painted Area, he gets Eurobasket 1st team all-tourney honors (his team, Russia, won it all). Some slightly more famous guys on the 1st team are Kirilenko, Gasol, and Dirk. Go Viktor. I really hope the attention and possible confidence boost from this tournament will translate into him grabbing more minutes this season. Hopefully he doesn't feel the need to go back to Russia like AK-47, I would miss the guy.

Back!

I arrived back from Vegas in the same condition as most others: broke, tired, and recovering from being robbed by OJ. I had some odd drunken dream that Greg Oden got knee surgery and had to be out all season. Thank god that could never happen.

I just called the Rose Garden and let them know I'm back on the grind, so they can go ahead and continue with their operation. True to their word, they didn't do anything major while I was away. I appreciate that. Now if you'll excuse me, its time for a bacon run.