Mailbag: Why to attend Trail Blazers games this year

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@ripcityproject why should I come to a game this year?
— Ted Cichy (@tchehy1004) July 16, 2015

Facetious or not, this question has more pertinence now than it has had in four years’ time, and it deserves to be properly addressed. After all the roster changes, the Trail Blazers are not going to be that exciting, 50-win team for a third straight season, nor will they feature the players that earned the right to be household names after years of hard-fought battles. The team is instead preparing to begin the cycle anew, and this perpetual Portland edition of The Itsy-Bitsy Spider is more than discouraging at times.

However, I would be lying if I said that this was not my favorite part of basketball. Perhaps that makes me a glutton for punishment, but I have made my peace with that. The Trail Blazers had something special, and there is a time to be crestfallen and even downright angry about the end of an era. In this circumstance, the bygone words of a man that made that era what is was should be taken to heart.

"“Grandma came up to me and said: ‘You’ve got until 12:01 to be mad about this, to be pissed off about this, feel cheated about it.’ And I was like, ‘Really? Really? I got to do this again?’ Alright. Got until 12:01. I’m going to be pissed, I’m going to kick some stuff, I’m going to throw some stuff over, I’m going to turn some chairs over, and then once 12:01 hits… It’s time to shock the world.”"

This is our time to be mad if we so choose, but when the clock strikes 12:01 in Portland, you better believe this team of young players is ready to get to work. I’m not going to sugarcoat the year to come and say that our little ragtag crew of misfits is going to pull together some Disney-style, 30 for 30, miracle season and legitimately “shock the world,” because there is optimism and then there is wishful thinking. The underdogs are not meant to win, that’s why they are the underdogs.

The premium placed on winning can be a poison to enjoyment, though. Every year, 29 fan bases fall short of a championship parade. Some fall shorter than others. At a certain point, only supporting teams that have the best chance at success is missing the forest for the trees. The Trail Blazers will be lucky to even break .500 in 2015-16, it’s true, but we have the tremendous opportunity to watch some of the thirstiest players in the game develop before our eyes. This season is about big moments for small names, and implications for the future.

For me personally, I think back to a January game I attended in 2013. The Trail Blazers were hosting the Washington Wizards and losing. They almost forced overtime in the final seconds, until Jordan Crawford of all people nailed a buzzer beater to win it for the Wizards. The Rose Garden emptied, fans dejected, but hidden in the defeat was the first triple-double of Nicolas Batum’s career. His gutsy performance and hard-earned milestone was well worth the ticket price.

This year’s team is not set up for immediate success in the W-L sense. There will be many similarly disappointing losses in their future, but it is going to be one heck of a ride. We are staring down the barrel of a season filled with blood, sweat, tears, and career-highs. Remember, it was the early struggles and the extraordinary moments therein that bonded us to the team of the past. It is time to forge a new bond with the team of the future.

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There is a lot to like about that team already. Noah Vonleh is essentially a rookie, and has been killing it in Summer League. Mason Plumlee is FIBA World champion and a former dunk contest participant. Moe Harkless is finally free from an overcrowded roster and ready to show what he is made of. Even returning players like Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are gearing up for the enormity of their bigger roles.

With new faces and new dynamics comes a degree of unpredictability we did not have before. Virtually anyone on the roster can explode for a night worthy of remembrance. Who doesn’t want to see Lillard get his crack at a 50-point game? Or Vonleh turn a corner at the tender age of 20? Or McCollum set a 3-point record? There are just so many memories to be made in the here and now that we can look back on when the new core is beloved, and say, “Remember when?”

So I suppose the value of a ticket depends on how you value those moments. There is nothing wrong with wanting a break from the torture cycle. There is going to be a fair bit of sloppiness involved as the Trail Blazers find their feet, and I cannot promise you that it will always be high quality basketball. However, the players will always appreciate fans that support them through the formative years and bear witness to the personal achievements they earn along the way. Tickets go on sale at 12:01.

Figuratively.

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