Redemption in the Rose Garden

I'm getting old. I hate reality TV shows. I hate what they have done to us as people searching for entertainment. And, oddly enough, I really hate the way they make us watch sports.

Entertainment as a whole has become an emotional roller-coaster. We need to constantly be witnessing something big, something new, something that will change someone's life, and, because we witnessed it, something that will change our day. We need to see rags to riches stories and once in a lifetime events on a consistent day-to-day basis, and I don't think we realize the paradox in that statement. We want tear jerkers. We want to laugh at stupid people, since we are CLEARLY more intelligent than these idiots (after all, we just watch them). We miss high school, (well, some of the more foolish of us do) so we want drama. Thus the emergence of shows like American Idol and all the related rip offs. Thus Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Thus Jersey Shore. And thus, it seems to me anyway, the decline of popularity in sports.

See, it's no longer good enough to watch talented athletes perform against each other, not when we can see more (manufactured) drama nightly on MTV. If we are going to watch sports, we now need to see things we've never seen before. Every single basket needs to be the BIGGEST basket, every game has to be a defining game of every season, which needs to be potentially the "greatest season of all time." We can't wait around and watch stories develop, we need to see immediate results, immediate action, immediate gratification.

To make a very long introduction short, we, as a nation, can certainly be stupid.

With all this high school drama swirling around the sporting world, it really does seem a shame when a truly great story appears to be slipping through the cracks. So, for all 40 of you who consistently read my blog, please don't let Brandon Roy go unnoticed.

A promising young guard with beautiful, smooth ball handling moves and a wonderful jumpshot, Roy won over Portland in his early years, and when you win over fans in Portland, you REALLY win them. Blazer fans are the anti-bandwagon fans; loud, loving, and supportive almost to the point of foolishness, and they were content to watch the young team develop over several seasons, thrilled with all the potential of the Brandon Roy era.

Unfortunately, Roy's knees were both made to breakdown, and in consecutive years, he saw both left and right knees cost him significant playing time. Worse yet, Portland's training staff isn't exactly famous for taking good care of bad knees (see Oden, Greg). Last year, Roy had a tear in his meniscus, and in January of 2011, had microscopic surgery on BOTH knees. And though he has returned for the Blazers, he clearly is not the same; his tentative play and his falling field goal percentages left Blazer coach Nate McMillan with no choice but to cut his minutes, to the point where a 3 time All Star, former rookie of the year, and local sports folk hero was confined to the bench for all but eight minutes of a close Game 2 against the Mavericks.

Roy was upset. When asked about it after the game, he responded quite candidly.

"There was a point in the first half where I was like 'you better not cry.'... I'm not going to lie, it's hard. My pride is a little scarred. It's difficult to sit on the bench...Especially when I think I can still help."

It wasn't a surprise that a former all star who had been benched was unhappy with the situation. Nor was it surprising that it caused quite a stir among sports analysts, who were all quick to leap at the opportunity to call out Brandon Roy for "distracting his team" and "causing problems on the bench." Also unsurprising was the speculation over whether or not Portland would boo Roy.

What was surprising was the reaction from the Portland fans.

See, Portland wasn't ready to give up on Roy. Not when they have cheered for him over and over, for the past 5 years. Not when he was willing to pour his heart into this and all of his other comebacks. Not when coach Nate McMillan, even after Roy criticized his job performance, wanted nothing more than to see Roy succeed, saying "nobody in the state, not even Brandon Roy, wants to see him out on the floor as much as I do...I certainly haven't forgotten about him."

And that's where this story gets good. You see, when the fans didn't give up on Roy, Roy came through in a big way. He entered the game to resounding cheers, and, confidence sky high from all the hometown support, dropped several big baskets on the Mavs on his way to 16 key points of the bench. He was the recipient of a loud standing ovation after knocking down a couple of big threes, and by the end of the night, was back on everybody's good list.

You know what the best part is? Roy earned his shot at redemption, and Portland's excellent fanbase recognized his worth. More importantly, when given the shot, he came through and helped earn a big, season-saving win for the Blazers.

And let me tell you...last night in Portland's Rose Garden, it was only the best kind of drama.