Misery in the Company of Blazers

Playoff collapses. Team dissension. Questionable character.

The Portland Trail Blazers have been an easy target for criticism. They took another hit last week when it was revealed that guard Damon Stoudamire is being investigated for felony drug possession.

But the team’s long-suffering fans have remained loyal despite having to swallow a steady dose of disappointment, prompting Chuck Culpepper of the Oregonian to ask, “How could any fan anywhere suffer more? ...

“Here comes another helping of fret, more evidence of that perpetual cloud overhead. So the Blazers’ fan, hardy soul, teeters again. He’s some challenged species.

“Will he topple once more? Will he remain upright? How much more can he take?”

Starting today, the Lakers will try to add to his misery.

Trivia time: Who was selected the last time a Houston franchise had the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft?

Winning losers: Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle took the Golden State Warriors to task for beating the Clippers on Wednesday and tying the Chicago Bulls for the NBA’s worst record:

“By accidentally beating the Clippers, the Warriors lost 25 Ping-Pong balls. This season-closing win not only hurts the Warriors’ chances of getting the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, it lessens the impact of their new advertising slogan: ‘We’ve got a lot of balls.’

“The upshot is that the Warriors have a 25-balls-smaller chance at getting one of the three players they might select with the top pick--Duke’s Jason Williams, China’s Yao ‘Dynasty’ Ming, and Terrell Owens.”

Bull riding: Apathy has become the name of the game with the Bulls’ followers, according to Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times:

“Since General Manager Jerry Krause began his ‘rebuilding’ program immediately after the Bulls’ NBA crown in 1998, the Bulls have won only 66 games. That is six fewer than they won in the 1995-96 regular season.

“Oh well. As I said, we are mutely beaten down and thought-free and--like lobotomized inmates--OK with everything.”

Tough mamas: Mary Hutter, 45, a mother of three, and her daughter Rashida Jackson, 24, a mother of two, are making an impact as players for the New Orleans Voodoo Dolls of the Women’s American Football League.

“I thought if they broke a nail they’d be crying,” Coach Joseph Riley said. “But they [are] tough. Mary [is] the oldest player on the team, and I think the toughest. She hit me a couple of times in practice and I laughed, but it really hurt.”

Hutter said she has only cried once--when an injured teammate was carried from the field.

Trivia answer: Texas running back Earl Campbell by the Houston Oilers in 1978.

And finally: Chan Gailey, conducting his first spring practice as coach at Georgia Tech, says he doesn’t miss the NFL and enjoys the players’ attitudes in college.

“These guys seem eager to be here,” said Gailey, former coach of the Dallas Cowboys. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm and emotion in the game for them every day. It seems like, in the pros, that tends to happen only on game day or toward the playoffs.

“It’s enjoyable to go to practice here.”