Dudley Denied 6:18 PM

Despite, as of 5:07 PM today, still being up in the total vote count, The Oregonian called the gubernatorial election against former Trail Blazers center Chris Dudley, in favor of former (and future?) governor Kitzhaber.

I have a very concrete view point on this subject, but I'm going to try to take the middle road, and suggest some of the good that came out of Dudley's run, regardless of your political leanings.

• Opened the door for other former Blazers to hold office in the state. Maybe it wasn't that a Blazers center couldn't run Oregon, it was that Dudley was the wrong center. Bill Walton could be the candidate the lefties yearn for, with a strong baby boomer connection. Perhaps Joel Przybilla could have a future as more of a folksy centrist candidate, known for his prudent financial mind (after all, he's the player that teaches his teammates about the NBA's 401(k) program). Most obviously, though, it's a portent of Arvydas' forthcoming campaign. The posters have been made. It's only a matter of time.
• No awkward moment on Thursday night. If Dudley were to win, he would probably make an appearance at the game on Thursday against the Thunder, prompting a round of boos from the mostly blue Portland crowd. In the RG (except on Civil War night), we're all on the same team. We need to focus our collective outrage on Clay Bennett, not a political candidate.
• The OLCC is in danger. I promised I wouldn't get political, but I don't think there's a single person in Oregon who thinks the OLCC is a good idea.

• This picture: 

Once again, if you're confused as to where the recaps are, I'm writing them on Bust a Bucket this week, so check them out there.

Guest Appearances 8:34 PM

If you're looking for the Bulls game recap, I've posted it over on Bust a Bucket, as I'll be guesting there this week, writing recaps. Don't let that make you think I'll be leaving Trail Post high and dry this week, as I will most certainly be posting content here as well.

The Weekend in Review 8:10 AM

The Blazers played only one game over the weekend: a tight win at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks.

Yet again, the team took an early lead and allowed the other team to eventually get back in and take over the game. Of course, it ended with the Blazers going on a huge run to finish the game. Though winning is nice, I think just about every Blazer fan would take a wire-to-wire win right now than a heart attack.

A large piece of happened on Saturday night was the presence (and non-presence) of Nicolas Batum. The Blazers appeared to be a different team when he was on the floor, with the offense flowing more easily, as Batum was able to do what he pleased on offense against the point guards that D'Antoni was putting on him. Obviously, he brought the defensive spark as well. He got us that lead in the first quarter, and when he came in again when we were down nine in the fourth, our fortunes changed quickly. I don't know how much longer Nate can continue to play Nico for less than 30 minutes per game.

This game wasn't nearly as bad as LaMarcus' suicide watch game against the Mavericks when Andre went crazy, but it was close. He was missing open shots and worse, free throws. He hasn't quite put it together again, yet. LaMarcus being able to hit big shots again could be the difference between a close loss and a close win, or during Saturday's game, a close game and a runaway.

Brandon Roy did what Brandon Roy does.

Andre is looking better integrated into the offense than ever. He's going about his business, and at the end of the game, you realize he has 19 and 10. Just beautiful to see.

The Wesley Matthews bandwagon keeps getting bigger.

Finally, we had to see Fabricio Oberto play for 17 minutes due to Camby's foul trouble. That could be a reason why the game was closer than it should have been. Okay, it was a reason. Okay, Oberto is kind of terrible. Okay, he had two good plays, and was pretty much terrible otherwise. One rebound in 17 minutes when you're seven feet tall? Still, a valiant effort and a constant reminder why we should all be rooting to have Oden and Przybilla back on the floor.