Tues, 10/27 - Houston. Opening night. Four things that I expect to not affect this game: 1)Yao Ming2) T-Mac 3)Ron Artest4) the ghosts of playoffs past. I hate to put too much pressure on one early season game, but we REALLY should win this. I would HATE to undergo another let down like last year's opener in LA (or the game 1 playoff loss). We will also have the pleasure of welcomingTrevor Arizaback to the Rose Garden.

Wed, 11/25 - New Jersey
Fri, 11/27 – Memphis
I personally love going to home games around Thanksgiving. My family comes to town, and it always gives us something to do that doesn't involve getting up at 4 am to stand in line for a 10% discount on socks. However, the choice of opponents is leaving a little something to be desired. Apparently, the league couldn't schedule Sacramento on Thanksgiving Day to round out the NBA pu pu platter in Portland that week

Tues, 12/1 - Miami. D-Wade is the man. Last year, we smacked them by 40, though. Let the smacking resume.

Tues, 12/15 - Sacramento. Welcome home, Sergio. Our Spanish Armada t-shirts miss you.

Fri, 12/25 - Denver. For the third time in as many years, the Blazers will be hosting a game on Christmas Day. This time, it will be our division rivals, the tatooed toughies, the Birdman brethren, theNuggets. After Portland looking positively pathetic when playing in Denver last year, it will be wise to hold serve at home if we expect to compete for the division title.

Fri, 1/8 - LAL
Sun, 1/10 - Cle
Portland hosts the two hottest tickets in the NBA on the same weekend. Given the time of year, I think this will be a serious litmus test as to where our team stands in the league. Losing both would be a serious downer. Winning both may be an omen for postseason success.

Thus, 2/4 - San Antonio. Another litmus test.

Sat. 2/6 -Lakers. The second game against the hated lake show. It is also on a Saturday night, which will allow some good all-day buildup. Bring your gin and haterade.

Tue, 2/9 - OKC. The zombie sonics make their first appearance in PDX. By this point in the season, Durant will have been selected for his first all-star game, and we should have an idea whether their team will be any good - I think they will be.

Fri, 2/19 - Boston. It is a Friday night game, andCelticsfans have a tendency to show up in force. We must be at least half as drunk as those Irish zealots to have a chance.

Sun, 3/14 - Toronto. According to the latest consumer reporting guide, Bosh appliances are made with inferior quality. Let us provide an in-home demonstration.

Thur, 3/25 -Dallas
Fri, 4/9 - Dallas
Last season, ze German was unstoppable, consistently taking advantage of our crappy defensive rotations and killing us with easy jumpers over the likes ofSteve Blake, or whoever the mis-match du jour happened to bring. These two games will be in the meat of the playoff crunch, where we will very likely be jockeying for position with this very team. Ws will be critical here.

Wed, 4/14 - Golden State. This is the last game of the season. As we will have locked up a 68-win season and home court advantage throughout the playoffs, this will be a good opportunity to watch Bayless turn the ball over in person.

Of note, it appears as though there will be no afternoon games on Sundays. Maybe this is only of interest to a few, but it was a nice to take my young son to a game and not have him out super late. But then again, what might be of interest to ordinary families always seems of secondary concern for the league.

Happy Trail(blazer)s!!

T$