The Portland Trail Blazers are searching for answers. They're scouring a landfill for an air freshener.

Every now and then, a hidden treasure emerges that may be worth bragging about, but that doesn't solve the odor and filth suffocating and smothering them into submission.

That is exactly what the Trail Blazers (12-9) are trying to do on the road - find that air freshener.

"To be a really good team, to be an elite team in the NBA, you've got to win on the road," said Jamal Crawford.

If that's the case, Portland's in trouble. In fact, all but three teams in the Western Conference are in trouble. But the Trail Blazers, they're unique. They're polarizing. You either love them or hate them. It all depends on the venue. Is it the Rose Garden or the landfill?

It was not that long ago that the premier stars of the NCAA played in the Pac-12.  In the 2007-2008 season, future 1^st-round picks played in nearly every arena on the Pacific coast.  People could talk about our league the same way they talked about the traditional basketball power house conferences: the ACC, the Big 12, the Big East.  Player for player, our conference could match any in the nation.

That was just four years ago.  Players like O.J. Mayo, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Love are making NBA paychecks.  Jon Brockman and Klay Thompson have left the Apple State for greener pastures.  Malik Hairston and Maarty Luenen have left the green and gold of Eugene behind.  They left a void, not unlike the ones in the other conferences.  New players came to step in and take their place.  That is how it has always worked.  It worked like that for the ACC and the Big 12.  It never happened here.

February 14th, 2011-

The stench of that day still sits with you, like a stain on a favorite shirt that Tide can’t ever seem to remove.

You rolled into work sipping on a warm, frothy soy latte like the modern gladiator that you are. After a few minutes in the cube chatting with a co-worker about that one email you forgot about, the date on the calendar caught your eye. Valentine’s Day.

You quickly pulled up Google Maps to find a florist. Most of the afternoon was spent on your Urban Spoon iPhone app, trying to find a restaurant. Everything was booked so you ended up with PF Chang’s. (And why not? They have a guy who makes custom sauce, and that exudes class and refinement. Plus, it’s the only place white people can go for Chinese food without worrying about what dim sum is.)

But damn. You still remember it. The dreadful realization that you had forgotten about the game. As a sports fanatic, sure, there’s a game every night worth watching, but that night was the game. Ugh. no comments

Oregon's Chael Sonnen stands in the middle of Chicago and calls it his own. You see him hold a microphone. It's the Chael Sonnen microphone. He's talking from an Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon.

From the sound of Chael, it's a Chael Sonnen world. After he asks announcer Joe Rogan how it feels standing so close to Chael Sonnen, you've got to wonder.

What does all-Chael all the time feel like?

Ask Michael Bisping.

The Chael Sonnen vs Bisping fight showed on UFC on FOX 2 Saturday night, a prime time cage fight. Is America ready for this? Only with Chael on the card.

An earlier fight finished to a chorus of boos from the crowd. They didn't fight it out to the last second. Or, more likely, they fought it out the best they could, but they were gassed. At least give UFC on FOX credit for keeping their guys engaged when the clock is running instead of taking a dive.

If there’s one team I love more than any other, it’s the Seattle Mariners. I can’t get enough of them. But there’s something I’m really tired of, and that’s the fact that I have to drive four hours just to watch them play. Portland: it’s time for you to step up and bring our state a Major League Baseball team.

There’s no doubt that the city of Portland would support an MLB team. The dedication the city has to the Trail Blazers, and the surge the brand new Timbers have brought to the city, is more than enough proof that a Major League Baseball team could not only survive, but thrive here.

In the not too distant past, there was a major push to get a deal done that would have finally brought a MLB team to the Rose City. The deal basically hinged on the idea that a casino would be built in Portland in exchange for funding for a stadium that would have brought a team to Portland. Instead, the deal fell through thanks to some poor decisions by politicians.

On this week's episode of The Slant, host Brad Stein interviews Concordia University track star NyEma Sims, and talks about Joe Paterno's legacy, Nicolas Batum, the Super Bowl, new NFL head coaches, and more! To listen, click on the "Play" button on the right side of the site.

Last week, Oregon Sports News columnist Max Price praised Oregon’s Chip Kelly for making, what Price repeatedly called, a “wise” decision. Price’s point proves salient. Kelly’s career compares favorably to that of Dennis Erickson, insofar as both men our offensive savants. Though Erickson burned out of Arizona, his incarnation of the spread attack laid the groundwork for hurry-up scheme that has thrust Kelly and his Ducks into the National spotlight. Erikson’s “Air Express,” as it was called, never translated to the NFL, which certainly gives credence to Price’s assertion that Kelly “wouldn’t have turned the Bucs into contenders.” Still, this misses the point.

Kelly’s window of success is closing. To say this of a team that has played in two consecutive bowl games seems ridiculous, I know. But with Kelly at the helm, Oregon will never be anything other than a second-rate college program that is unable to compete with SEC teams. They simply cannot recruit the athletes needed to contend.

Before this last Friday, I haven’t been to a high school basketball game since I graduated high school. Although I never graduated from Roosevelt (I transferred schools for my senior year), I still think of it as home.

It was a packed house last Friday as the Roosevelt Roughriders hosted the Grant Generals. I went there as a fan of basketball just hoping to see a good game. By the second half, I found myself getting into it and routing on my old high school. Seeing all the familiar faces made me feel like I was back in high school again.

In a division that is now under San Francisco’s reign, this offseason may make or break the Seahawks for the next handful of years. Only a little over a year ago, Marshawn Lynch made one of the most memorable NFL playoffs runs in history as the Seahawks knocked off the reigning Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. This year was ironically the same end of regular season result but no playoff berth with a losing record, luck runs out eventually. Nobody seemed to tell the Seahawks that normally you need to win at least eight if not nine games to win an NFL division and make the playoffs, especially two years in a row. But it is what it is and the Seahawks have to look towards the future.

The need at the quarterback position was blatant last year even before Matt Hasselbeck departed for the Titans. But to make matters worse, the Seahawks skipped over Andy Dalton, which in hindsight is easier to call now, and took offensive tackle James Carpenter. Nothing against Carpenter at all, he played in nine games his rookie year and hopefully will only improve as a Seahawk. However, skipping on Dalton was something that will be biting the Seahawks in the butt for years to come.

A very wise former basketball coach used to tell me that frequently, usually after I’d dribbled a ball off my foot or committed a similar faux pas. I didn’t really appreciate the significance of that then, but as I’ve grown older I’ve come to understand the truth behind it.

After the death of Joe Paterno, I’ve found myself thinking about that phrase. JoePa’s legacy may end up a case study in just how sadly true that sentiment is. After 61 years at Penn State, the good he did may well be tarnished by the undignified denouement of his career.

One screw-up….

Thankfully, the deluge of profuse and sonorous instant analysis in the wake of Paterno’s death has ebbed. Like most sports fans, I’ve been subjected to more than my share of pundits pontificating their analysis of Paterno’s life and career. The desire to memorialize someone who impacted as many people as Paterno did is understandable. The man was an anachronism; a coach who became an icon for several generations during a career that lasted longer than most of us have been alive.