Mavericks Make Blazers Say BAH HUMBUG!!!

Bah HUMBUG!!

This has been the worst Christmas ever.  The restaurant I work for has been destroyed by the economy, and we loyal few waited all summer, making no money, just to get to work during the holiday season when there would be lots of people spending money and cheer! 

Instead Portland got hit by the worst snow storm in 40 years, and it was just salt on the wound.  I have spent the last two weeks losing money, waiting sometimes over an hour for a bus (in the snow) and standing at the door of a practically empty restaurant. 

I was not able to buy my family Christmas presents.  I was not able to take anyone out on a nice date.  I was not able to do ANYTHING...except hate the idea of waking up...and watching an occasional Blazer game.

To make matters worse, the Dallas Mavericks HUMILIATED the Portland Trail Blazers on a Christmas day game on national TV.  The Mavericks are playing good basketball...but there was no excuse for the way we executed in the fourth quarter.  We let two guys who were not even their stars run the same play over and over...and we ran ZERO plays. 

We did nothing but pass the ball to a player and hope that he would score.  Brandon Roy was held to zero fourth quarter points...and this loss was a microcosm of the Christmas season in Portland on 2008. 

If I sound bitter, I AM. 

I am about to start a nine and a half hour shift, and then attempt to drive or catch a bus home at 1:30 a.m., where the odds of making it out of downtown without an incident are slim to none.  I will then go about the week, as I will the rest of my life, a shallow sad soul who lost their dreams long ago, hiding a creative fire that the world will never see, and being an all around tiger trapped in a cage. 

So thank you, National Basketball Association...because last night's game reminded me that a team of veterans will whoop us into shape any day, and the odds of us making the playoffs this year is a lot slimmer than it seems.  Not only that, but what is the point of having a season where you make the playoffs??? 

Isn't the whole point about contending to a championship? 

I mean, Blazer fans arrogantly boast about our early season heroics, we make YouTube movies featuring their accomplishments that could win an Oscar, but we never realize that in the beginning of the season...it's all practice to make the playoffs.  That's IT!

So as proud of my team as I am, I was truly humbled on Christmas day about not only my team's place in the universe, but my own.

Time to go to work.