Portland Trail Blazers: Wait-Weary Fans Flock To Oregon Ducks for Title Hopes

Nudging the Chicago Cubs faithful, Portland Trail Blazer fans are right up there among sport's most patient followers.

Not only patient but loyal. Between 1977 and 1995, Blazer fans set an untouchable NBA record 814 consecutive sellouts.

Along with a handful of golden moments, they have endured the embarrassment of self-destruction, false hopes, last-second meltdowns and the Jordan era.

Since the championship year in 1977, Rip City has been on a roller-coaster ride of futility: two ring-less finals appearances and—most recently—a good shot at a title pinned on hopes that have become as fragile as Greg Oden's knees.

But unlike the Wrigley faithful, there seems to be a limit on patience in Portland.

When Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge were drafted by Portland in 2006, followed by Oden in 2007, a rough timeline of three years was allotted for development. Then, expectations of a run at the Western Conference title would supposedly come to fruition. Ultimately, contention for the NBA championship seemed to be just a matter of time.

Now, in 2010, the team is struggling to maintain a .500 record.

Injuries, personnel changes and a few front-office PR blunders no longer fly as legitimate excuses. The butts who fill the seats want to see some hardware. Now.

But, as the only game in town, the franchise always held a certain sway over the fans. Perhaps that not-so-subtle influence helped to fuel those years of patience and loyalty—which ultimately translates into the cold, hard, business bottom line: ticket sales and Blazer gear.

For 40 years the town had been painted black and red.

Until now.

Shades of green and yellow are beginning to drown out the bold hues of Rip City. A fever of epidemic proportions—rivaling former outbreaks of Blazermania—is sweeping across the state of Oregon.

On January 10, 2011 the University of Oregon football team is playing for all the marbles—a BCS championship.

The Trail Blazer fan base, weary of coach Nate McMillan's plodding and predictable half-court game, is discovering the excitement of Oregon's up-tempo blur offense.

While much of Portland's future, in the form of young prospects, has been traded away, recruits are lining up to get into Oregon head coach Chip Kelly's system.

Roy, Aldridge and Oden, once deemed untouchable, are now the serious subject of common trade chatter. Meanwhile, the Oregon football program is charting a course of success for the next decade.

So in an age where entertainment dollars are budgeted more tightly, frugal fans are becoming more discerning about who gets their time, energy and money.

Blazer fans, once considered automatic seat-fillers, are gaining some leverage.

Like it or not, this is the age of instant gratification.

In the world of sport, patience was once a virtue.

Now, there's another game in town.

Well...just down the freeway, that is.