Token Weekly Blazers Post: Halfway Home (Almost)

It's been another week in Blazerland, or Rip City as the people like to say. The Blazers finished off a 2-2 road trip with an overtime loss in Charlotte last night. I will keep my comments brief this week because I only was able to watch one of the four games due to work and life getting in the way.

The Blazers are at the 40 game mark of the season. With a win over Milwaukee at home tomorrow night, the Blazers will be on pace to win exactly 50 games this season, which is right where I expected them to be this year. There are some alarming things to note, however. First off, Steve Blake was injured in the 76ers game, Portland's worst loss of the season. He separated his shoulder, which has a 2-4 week recovery process. Secondly, the Blazers have a sub-.500 record against their own conference. No other team in playoff contention in the West can say that.

About the cards:

• "Uncle Cliffy"'s headband looks like it's about to slip down over his eyes at any moment. The graphic design on these '93-'94 Stadium Club cards look like they were at least partially inspired by In Living Color.
• It's too bad about Bonzi Wells. I saw him see some of his first meaningful action in an NBA game in person and from the very start it looked like the Blazers had flat out stolen him from Detroit, the team that drafted him. Maybe they somehow knew he'd eventually play a part in tearing the franchise down. Hey, maybe everyone really does hate the Blazers. Just ask the Memphis Grizzlies!
  

Bonus: Rod from Padrographs very generously sent me this sweet autographed rookie card of one of my all-time favorite Blazers, Arvydas Sabonis along with a stack of Cardinals cards. I'll feature the Cardinals cards in an upcoming post as there are some interesting goodies in there. [Edit: By the way, that is the New Orleans Hornets coach Byron Scott looking on in a Vancouver Grizzlies uniform as Sabas hits a layup. Just so you know...]

Congrats are due to Rudy Fernandez, as he won the fan voting and will be the fourth and final contestant in this year's NBA All-Star Slam Dunk contest. It'll be interesting to see what he comes up with. I wish I had a Rudy card. They really need to bring back Franz bread Blazers cards.