I haven't defended the Portland Trailblazers from outdated claims that they are still the "Jail Blazers" in a while. I spent a lot of time on it last summer, and it was kind of fun then. (Kelly Dwyer of SI.com got involved, too, calling the Jail Blazer idea "tired.") But now it's sort of old, and I'm satisfied that the only people who would insult my Blazers that way are just super lazy and don't really matter anyway. It has been time, for a while, to just let that sleeping dog lie.
But Deadspin! Deadspin is happening, with it, and not out of the loop at all. Deadspin is neither lazy nor irrelevant. For Deadspin to do this? Now I have to pipe up.
Yesterday, Deadspin weekend DJ MJD published the following line:
(Yes, I realize I'm making a mountain out a molehill here, but it's my team.)
I rummaged through the musty TrueHoop "old cases" evidence locker and found this: The most complete list I have ever seen of NBA arrests is on Michael McCann's blog. At the moment he charts 101 NBA arrests (it is by no means complete). There are 30 NBA teams. Do you know how many of those arrests involve current Blazers? One. Do you know what it was? Zach Randolph's DUI. That's it. Period.
There may be some teams with fewer arrests. But you'd have to look pretty hard to find them. And there are plenty of "good guy" teams with much scarier records.
Boston, Denver, Miami, New York, the Lakers--plenty of teams (indeed almost every team) have worse records than the Blazers when it comes to getting players arrested. Look at the current roster. Look beyond Zach Randolph and Darius Miles. They're practically all boy scouts. Get with the program. Class dismissed.
But Deadspin! Deadspin is happening, with it, and not out of the loop at all. Deadspin is neither lazy nor irrelevant. For Deadspin to do this? Now I have to pipe up.
Yesterday, Deadspin weekend DJ MJD published the following line:
In their ongoing quest to become Blazers East, the Cincinnati Bengals have seen another member of their football team get arrested.Oh, MJD! Say it ain't so!
(Yes, I realize I'm making a mountain out a molehill here, but it's my team.)
I rummaged through the musty TrueHoop "old cases" evidence locker and found this: The most complete list I have ever seen of NBA arrests is on Michael McCann's blog. At the moment he charts 101 NBA arrests (it is by no means complete). There are 30 NBA teams. Do you know how many of those arrests involve current Blazers? One. Do you know what it was? Zach Randolph's DUI. That's it. Period.
There may be some teams with fewer arrests. But you'd have to look pretty hard to find them. And there are plenty of "good guy" teams with much scarier records.
Boston, Denver, Miami, New York, the Lakers--plenty of teams (indeed almost every team) have worse records than the Blazers when it comes to getting players arrested. Look at the current roster. Look beyond Zach Randolph and Darius Miles. They're practically all boy scouts. Get with the program. Class dismissed.
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