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Winner, winner, chicken dinner! We want to thank everyone that entered the Bust a Bucket T-shirt giveaway. In 4 days we had over a million comments. Actually we had about 30, those were pretty good odds! Today, we are pleased to announce that the winners of our T-shirt giveaway are T-Mac and Robby Boydstun. Congrats guys and thanks to everyone for participating.
For those of you who didn't win, you can support the blog and still buy one at our Bust a Bucket Store. Supplies are dwindling, so get yours now! Also, since it seems relevant, here are the winning comments:
T-Mac:
Kevin Duckworth was the heart of the most important Blazer teams of my lifetime. As much as I love the current team and hope they win 17 titles, they won't ever mean as much to me as the 1990-1992 teams did, for one simple reason: I can't ever be 8 years old again, and things meant more to me then. This was a time before the internet, before I noticed girls, before I had a job or bills to pay--there was only the Blazers, and taking an afternoon nap so I could stay up late to watch them in the NBA Finals.
Duckworth was the guy everyone loved to blame when things went wrong, and everyone made fun of him for his weight, claiming that he was lazy and that a team couldn't seriously contend with him starting. In that sense, Duckworth's career is a fair analogy for Portland basketball in general--no one ever takes us seriously, and our city, our HOME, is viewed as a joke to the rest of the league and especially to free-agents who frequently refuse to play here, despite the most dedicated and loyal fans in the world.
Here's what I remember: Duck making the biggest shot possible on the biggest stage possible--a 10 footer late in regulation in a must-win game two of the 1992 finals.
Fast forward to 9:10 of that clip and tell me you don't get excited. I literally remember jumping up and down in my living room and screaming until the neighbors pounded on the wall to get me to shut up.
Here's what else I remember--in game 7 on the 1990 West Semi's against San Antonio, Duckworth ripped the cast off his arm and played with a broken hand, shutting down David Robinson for much of the game. Ironically, no one ever saw Duck and his amazing heart coming. When he died, I remember feeling truly sad. He was an important part of an important team that meant a great deal to Portland and to me personally. Although I can never be 8 years old again, I'll never forget Kevin Duckworth, my favorite Blazer of all time.
Robby Boydstun:
My favorite Blazer that I can tell a story about is Brian Grant. The man was a beast down low and it was a joy watching the "Rasta Monsta" mix it up with greats like Karl Malone and Tim Duncan. He was fearless and a banger and that is one of the reasons why the Blazers were so successful from around '98 to 2000. When he left for Miami it killed me since he was one of the good guys and I loved watching him play. Thankfully, he came back the next summer and ran a basketball camp at Portland State. I can't say enough about how awesome he was to us and how he would give us advice everyday to think about while we played. He gave out prizes to the kids who weren't necessarily the best, but busted their ass like he did on the court. For him, he realized how much effort matters over stats. He stayed the entire day, watched the games, organized drills and even had three point and 2-ball contests for fun. It was the best basketball camp I'd ever attended. He even Rasheed Wallace to come out (even though he looked bored as hell and ignored everyone the whole time) and sign autographs. Near the end he set up time for every single kid to get an autograph and talk to him which was more than a huge Blazers fan like me could have asked for. Truly one of the greats and I'll never forget him even if his name will never be in the rafters at the Garden.
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