You know you've got a PR nightmare on your hands when your hometown newspaper has a special online section devoted to the team's legal troubles. It gets worse, too. One of the Trailblazer's biggest corporate sponsors is pulling the plug on the team:
To the Sports Editor: I, for one, have had it. The Blazers are a disgrace. We have nearly 800 employees and now have to spend time to find enough people who want to see the game to fill our corporate box. I can't wait until the expiration of our contract, because unless something pretty drastic is done to clean up the team, we certainly will not renew. For what roles is this team supposed to be a model?
RON B. TONKIN
Ron Tonkin Family of Dealerships"I was born and raised here," Tonkin said this week. "I have a fierce, intense pride in Portland, Oregon. And I don't enjoy it when I'm back East and people talk about the Jail Blazers.
"That really finds a raw spot on my hide. I don't like it and I don't think . . . we need it."
Tonkin, patriarch of the Ron Tonkin Family of Dealerships, was among the first of Portland's business leaders to lease a suite at the Rose Garden, which opened in October 1995. Like many others, including The Oregonian Publishing Co., Tonkin signed his nine-year lease before the arena opened; the revenue went to secure construction financing for the building.
It gets even worse, kids: on Friday night after the completion of a game in Oakland, Bonzi Wells and Rasheed Wallace sparked a near-riot. It doesn't help that Wallace and Wells are perhaps the two biggest head-cases in the NBA. (Wells was suspended for two games, and Wallace was fined $15,000) Fortunately for them, they're also among the few players on the roster who haven't had to deal with the long arm of the law. It's a mixed bag, eh??
Clearly, the players either just don't understand their image problems, or- more likely- they simply don't care.
Trouble is nothing new for this team, though this time Portland's Scottie Pippen pointed the blame at Golden State.
"It's not about reputation,'' Pippen said. "They lost the game. It's about their reputation, too.''
Hmm...you could perhaps try acting like PROFESSIONALS??
I wonder what Paul Allen will do when his corporate sponsors bail along with the fans? Or will he figure things out before it gets to that point. Honestly, speaking for what is probably the majority of Trailblazers fans, I don't care if they blow up the entire roster and the team doesn't win a game the rest of the year. Right now, I think most of us would settle for a team of good citizens. Is it so wrong to not want to be continually embarrassed?
I will say this, speaking only for myself this time. I am willing to allow Paul Allen the rest of this season to try to clean things up. If Opening Day 2003 finds them with the same collection of head cases, criminals, and wife-beaters, then I am done. I live near Houston, anyway; if Paul Allen can't wake up and smell the dog**** that he has allowed his team to become, I may as well become a Rockets fan. At least the Rockets play the game the way it's supposed to be played, and they're good citizens to boot. Perhaps that's why Scottie Pippen only lasted one strike-shortened season here.
