Yay Blazers...don't forget the background check

Not being a follower of the NBA, I'm not especially sharing the rapturous collective orgasm of Blazer fans as a result of a surprise winning of the NBA draft lottery.

I'm not a fan of basketball in general--including college. Yesterday afternoon was the first time I ever heard the names Greg Oden and Kevin Durant.

Given the recent history of the franchise, I hope the management scrutinizes the personal history of these two young men before they make their choice.

Just sayin'.


Rude TJ Update, 930AM--
I don't think there will be any problems with either Oden or Durant, character-wise. Oden in particular is viewed as a man of strong character.

But the reason for the update is that in some highly serendipitious timing, the Blazers have cast their lot with Comcast for broadcast rights next season, dumping Fox Sports Northwest in favor of the new SportsNet Northwest from the cable provider:

Sides say talks broke down between Fox and the Blazers. Fox says the team was asking too much, especially after a dismal year.
Is this another ASCN? I don’t think so. Comcast has proved this can work in other markets.

This leaves FSN alone in Seattle (they could change their name to “FSN Seattle”) with almost all their content there.

Portland is the smallest market for this type of channel. Other region-specific channels are just that, region-specific. Besides community access and Comcast-14, this will be Portland’s first all-sports, all-oregon channel.

I bet Fox is wishing they could re-evaluate the deal now; interest in watching the Blazers next season is going to be sky-high. Whooops! And in general, the new channel should be a good thing for Oregon sports, since FSN is mostly a Seattle-based channel. Look for events like OSU Beavers baseball and OSAA Level 6 high school championships to be more broadly televised, along with things like the Winterhawks and maybe even the Lumberjaxx and Timbers, and perhaps the Prefontaine Classic from Eugene.

If you're a sports fan in Portland, this is turning out to be a kick-ass day for you!