I’ve been a Portland Trail Blazer fan since 1989. Somewhere along the way the Blazers stopped being “them” and became “us.” All the ups and downs together turned me from a viewer into a stakeholder. I still have my playoff T-shirt from 1992.
Which is why the past month of new ownership gives me pause, (“The Blazers’ $4.25 billion buyer owes team more than bargain-basement management: Bill Oram,” April 19).
Staff were asked to vacate hotel rooms early to avoid checkout fees. No playoff T-shirts for our first home playoff games in years. And a reported head coaching salary offer at roughly 25% of market rate — the going rate for a top assistant, not a head coach…