The main question I was out to answer on Thurday night- is it possible to host a radio show and watch a college football game at the same time? I'm proud to say not only is it possible, but it's quite enjoyable. This is especially the case when your alma mater is busy knocking off the number-one ranked team in the land. More on that in a moment.
Rudy Fernandez continued his busy week, as he stopped by our radio studio at the Rose Garden and joined us for a segment during Trail Blazers Courtside. During the commercial break before his segment, he joined me in watching part of an Oregon State drive. I asked if he had any questions, and he shrugged, shook his head, and politely said, "where do I begin?"
There will be time to study American football later, I suppose.
We, of course, had many questions for him. I had seen him at the practice facility in Tualatin earlier in the day, and according to Kevin Pritchard, Rudy arrived a little after 8am and wasn't out of there until mid afternoon. It's not a busy week at the practice facility, as the week before training camp is usually a light one. The players are taking their final chance to spend a couple of days away in preparation of the beginning of a wild time of the year.
There were a couple of Blazers who took advantage of a day off, but most of them were there working and preparing. Rudy was just getting acclimated, and spent some time off the court with his new teammates.
Head coach Nate McMillan was also in studio with us, and told us he's getting set to deliver his usual pre-training camp speech to the team. As was mentioned by Pritchard the day before, at media day, the motto of this year's team is simply "15=16."
I'll let you take a few guesses as to what that means, and then I'll tell you. I'll be impressed if anyone gets it exactly correct.
In the second hour of the program Martell Webster joined us. He'll likely be the starting small forward on opening night, and is certainly ready. He didn't want to comment when I brought up the starting spot, and only talked of his mental growth in the off-season. He's also gotten a lot better physically, but he said consistency is his main goal.
Martell joined on the radio show very early in the summer, and we were impressed then with his plan for the off-season. He's stayed very dedicated, and now is hoping that it pays off on the floor.
My partner on the broadcast was Antonio Harvey. Brian Wheeler was down in Corvallis watching his USC Trojans bite the dust, and Mike Rice is in China on vacation. Rice did join us from Shanghai late in the program. Rice said he was wearing a Blazer golf shirt and was stopped earlier in the day by a man who spoke very little English. The man pointed at the Blazer logo and said, "is Rudy going to start?"
That's pretty amazing. He was not only shocked the man spoke English, and recognized the logo, but that he was up to speed enough to ask a good question. We're certainly on a world-wide stage, and the NBA is huge in China.
And, finally, congrats to the Beavers for beating USC in Corvallis yet again. Who are the morons who set the betting line in this game? Yes, Oregon State lost to Stanford in their opener, and were blown out at Penn State, but this is a team that won 7 of its last 8 games last season, and finished with 9 wins. I realize this is considered the best USC team in years, but 25-point favorites in a place where they've struggled in the recent past? No, I didn't expect them to win, but they weren't about to fall by three and a-half touchdowns.
By the way, LaMarcus Aldridge made the trip to Corvallis for the game. Jim Taylor, who's on our PR team, hooked Aldridge up with tickets on the condition he wear orange for the game. No word on whether or not he followed through on his end of the bargain. Oregon State certainly did.
