Don't Panic Yet: Evaluating The Blazers After a Devastating Laker Loss

A part of me didn’t want to write this article.  A part of me wanted to give up after last night’s game, forget the rest of the season, and just focus on the case of Blue Ribbon my cronies brought to soften the Lakers opening night blow.  I will not lie to you.  I came into this game with the aspirations of a fan who was finally ready to reap the rewards of what seemed like a lifetime of waiting and hoping.  I won’t even hesitate to tell all of you that I was one of the ones who stood in front of L.A. fans, lauding the Blazers’ newborn squad and predicting a more than competitive game on opening night.  Like Nate McMillan pointed out before the tip, the 28th of October seemed like it would be the rebirth of a rivalry; a rivalry that had pretty much died out in the minds of Californians after the infamous Western Conference Game 7 disaster in 2000.  I admit these things to you and stand before you a defeated fan.  There is no way around ... (link)