# No more Headbands



## Chalupa (Jul 20, 2005)

It is official Nate is not allowing headbands during games.

Going to a little weird at first but I'm sure we will forget about in a few months.


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## chromekilla (Aug 21, 2005)

probly so they cant throw them off and have a temper tantrum when they dont like jokes(this was meant to all players not a joke about the age of most of the players)


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## BlazerFanFoLife (Jul 17, 2003)

Zidane said:


> probly so they cant throw them off and have a temper tantrum when they dont like jokes(this was meant to all players not a joke about the age of most of the players)


okay dude translation? that post was looking good in the begining but then you lost me.


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## SolidGuy3 (Apr 23, 2005)

Good to see Nate Dogg taking charge! Good job Nate Dogg! Our coach for now on will be called Nate Dogg!


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## chromekilla (Aug 21, 2005)

woops wasnt paying attention.i meant they most likely made the rule so when the player/players dont like the call or something,they cant throw theyre headbands on the ground when they have a disagree meant.


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## sa1177 (Feb 18, 2005)

I was wondering if Nate would do this...I like it. I also like that he is not allowing players to drive their own cars to games. Supposedly all players will park their cars at the practice facility and take a Bus to the arena together as a team..I really like that.


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## barfo (Jan 2, 2003)

sa1177 said:


> I was wondering if Nate would do this...I like it. I also like that he is not allowing players to drive their own cars to games. Supposedly all players will park their cars at the practice facility and take a Bus to the arena together as a team..I really like that.


Seems like I read where one of the new blazers (Dixon?) got a condo in the Pearl. That would suck to have to drive to Tualatin and ride a bus in order to get from the Pearl to the Rose Garden. Or are they always at the practice facility on game days anyway?

barfo


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## chromekilla (Aug 21, 2005)

no cell phones on bus or at games is good also


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

Chalupa said:


> It is official Nate is not allowing headbands during games.
> 
> Going to a little weird at first but I'm sure we will forget about in a few months.


Is there a link to this? Was this announced today during media day?


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## BlazerFanFoLife (Jul 17, 2003)

I know that Zach also has a condo in the pearl. If i was paid millions i wouldnt mind making the drive out there to Tualatin


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## zagsfan20 (Dec 24, 2004)

BlazerFanFoLife said:


> I know that Zach also has a condo in the pearl. If i was paid millions i wouldnt mind making the drive out there to Tualatin


Yea, really....


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

BlazerFanFoLife said:


> I know that Zach also has a condo in the pearl. If i was paid millions i wouldnt mind making the drive out there to Tualatin


I'd drive to and from Medford daily, if the Blazers paid me a million dollars a year.

hell, I'd do that all day if they wanted me to.


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## Chalupa (Jul 20, 2005)

mgb said:


> Is there a link to this? Was this announced today during media day?


My bad, they announced it on courtside tonight.

Also interesting was that the team picked roommates for each player during training camp.
Blake said he was Monia and the courtside guys were hoping for Webster's sake he didn't have to room with Ruben Patterson (who is hard on rookies).

Great seeing that Coach Nate is trying to bring these young guys together and bond as a team.


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## kamego (Dec 29, 2003)

Chalupa said:


> It is official Nate is not allowing headbands during games.
> 
> Going to a little weird at first but I'm sure we will forget about in a few months.



Glad the Pistons don't have that rule. Rasheed's first headband toss of the night is usually pretty good.


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## sa1177 (Feb 18, 2005)

> Also interesting was that the team picked roommates for each player during training camp.
> Blake said he was Monia and the courtside guys were hoping for Webster's sake he didn't have to room with Ruben Patterson (who is hard on rookies).


Put Ruben and Zach together..that shoud be fun.


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## myELFboy (Jun 28, 2005)

Chalupa said:


> My bad, they announced it on courtside tonight.
> 
> Also interesting was that the team picked roommates for each player during training camp.
> Blake said he was Monia and the courtside guys were hoping for Webster's sake he didn't have to room with Ruben Patterson (who is hard on rookies).
> ...


he's trying to do what the Sonics have done the past 2 years.....he realizes you need a leader or 2 on the team, & the team needs to be friends off the court....he's lucky he had Ray & Rashard to rally the troops the past year.


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## zagsfan20 (Dec 24, 2004)

Hey Hap is that "Mean" Gene Okurland as your avatar?......


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## Talkhard (May 13, 2003)

Love the no-headband rule. Can we ban the cornrows, too?


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## Foulzilla (Jan 11, 2005)

I guess I'm the only one who feels this is a lame rule. It seems overly suppresive to me. I can at least see the logic of making them all ride the bus and not use cell phones on it (try to build some chemistry), but I don't see the logic behind the headbands. I know he said in Seattle he felt they were a distraction, but since training camp hasn't even started (much less the actual season) I don't see how one can assume they'll be a distraction here as well.



Talkhard said:


> Can we ban the cornrows, too?


Why the hell would they want to do that? Should we ban tattoos as well? How about facial hair? These people are grown men. Let them look however they want as long as it doesn't impede their game. Besides... have you seen Darius' fro? I wouldn't want to stare at that for 82 games.


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

Foulzilla said:


> I guess I'm the only one who feels this is a lame rule. It seems overly suppresive to me. I can at least see the logic of making them all ride the bus and not use cell phones on it (try to build some chemistry), but I don't see the logic behind the headbands. I know he said in Seattle he felt they were a distraction, but since training camp hasn't even started (much less the actual season) I don't see how one can assume they'll be a distraction here as well.


simple, the team is more important than how you look. A head-band is something you can put on and take off. It's a little odd of a rule, but at the same time, headbands DO have a "I'm trying to be cool" feel to it, instead of thinking like a team.

How often have you seen Kobe, Shaq or Tim Duncan with a head-band on?


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## Foulzilla (Jan 11, 2005)

Hap said:


> How often have you seen Kobe, Shaq or Tim Duncan with a head-band on?


While they never wore headbands (to my knowledge at least), they had teammates who did. Also, J. O'Neal, Lebron James, Ben Wallace, and many other very successful team players do wear them. I still think this rule comes off as overly restrictive. However, I'm not the one who it affects personally so I don't really care.


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

Foulzilla said:


> While they never wore headbands (to my knowledge at least), they had teammates who did. Also, J. O'Neal, Lebron James, Ben Wallace, and many other very successful team players do wear them. I still think this rule comes off as overly restrictive. However, I'm not the one who it affects personally so I don't really care.


true, those guys have worn them. But I wouldn't put either of those 3 (as of yet) in the class of Duncan, Kobe or Shaq.


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

well, if the team is more important than how you look, let's do away with all personal hygiene and fine players for combing their hair or shaving their face. 

the rule seems like nonsense to me. just a rule for the sake of making a rule. I know that if I'd spent the last 10 years of my life playing basketball with a headband, I'd resent somebody telling me I had to change this aspect of me. 

I could see this kind of rule being effective in jarring a complacent, vain player back into reality midseason. a Phil Jackson-like head game to get someone who is thinking wrongly to think differently. otherwise, it's just treating grown men like children for no real point. 

I don't really care that much, though, so it's not like I'm willing to debate it a lot.


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

Hap said:


> true, those guys have worn them. But I wouldn't put either of those 3 (as of yet) in the class of Duncan, Kobe or Shaq.


the only thing holding LeBron back from being as good as Kobe is a head band?


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

theWanker said:


> the only thing holding LeBron back from being as good as Kobe is a head band?


yep. thats exactly what I was getting at.


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## SLAM (Jan 1, 2003)

theWanker said:


> well, if the team is more important than how you look, let's do away with all personal hygiene and fine players for combing their hair or shaving their face.
> 
> the rule seems like nonsense to me. just a rule for the sake of making a rule. I know that if I'd spent the last 10 years of my life playing basketball with a headband, I'd resent somebody telling me I had to change this aspect of me.
> 
> I could see this kind of rule being effective in jarring a complacent, vain player back into reality midseason. a Phil Jackson-like head game to get someone who is thinking wrongly to think differently. otherwise, it's just treating grown men like children for no real point.


I'm with Foulzilla and the Wanker. Everyone wearing the same uniform is enough. I like the personalized looks within a team, from headband and armbands to tattoos, high socks, and hair styles. I loved the Mutumbo finger wag, and I even like to see the head-bops and Shaq's post-dunk straight leg strut. Let a team be unified by play, not image.

Additionally, headbands do have a functional role- some players sweat buckets (Zach).


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## Oldmangrouch (Feb 11, 2003)

SLAM said:


> I'm with Foulzilla and the Wanker. Everyone wearing the same uniform is enough. I like the personalized looks within a team, from headband and armbands to tattoos, high socks, and hair styles. I loved the Mutumbo finger wag, and I even like to see the head-bops and Shaq's post-dunk straight leg strut. Let a team be unified by play, not image.
> 
> Additionally, headbands do have a functional role- some players sweat buckets (Zach).



Add me to the list. I prefer substance to symbolism.


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## STOMP (Jan 1, 2003)

Oldmangrouch said:


> Add me to the list. I prefer substance to symbolism.


me five... seems silly to me. I'm sure that some players wear one for a look, but I'm sure others like them because it keeps the sweat out of their eyes... but whatever 

STOMP


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## BBert (Dec 30, 2004)

I think the head band ban makes Nate look like a petty domineering control freak. I concur that for some of these guys, head bands surely must help keep the volumes of sweat they expire out of their eyes. 

I understand taking measures to bond as a team and all that, but if this guy goes too far overboard with stupid pointless rules just to prove he's in charge, it could back fire. I also find it ironic when certain people who shout "freedom" from the roof tops think it's so swell to squash the personal freedoms and choices of others. Funny world.


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

Blazer Bert said:


> I think the head band ban makes Nate look like a petty domineering control freak. I concur that for some of these guys, head bands surely must help keep the volumes of sweat they expire out of their eyes.
> 
> I understand taking measures to bond as a team and all that, but if this guy goes too far overboard with stupid pointless rules just to prove he's in charge, it could back fire. * I also find it ironic when certain people who shout "freedom" from the roof tops think it's so swell to squash the personal freedoms and choices of others.* Funny world.


dude, it's headbands..it's not like he's taking away their voting rights.


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## Talkhard (May 13, 2003)

> it's just treating grown men like children for no real point.


Most Fortune 500 companies ask their executives to wear suits. Is that treating grown men like children? Every organization has certain dress codes. It's not unreasonable to ask employees to conform to them, especially when those employees are NBA millionaires.


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## Talkhard (May 13, 2003)

> I also find it ironic when certain people who shout "freedom" from the roof tops think it's so swell to squash the personal freedoms and choices of others. Funny world.


I find it ironic when people make no distinction between different kinds of freedoms. Some freedoms--like freedom of worship, freedom of speech, freedom to vote, etc.--are essential to a healthy society. Other freedoms--such as the freedom to steal, rape, or kill--are destructive to a healthy society. And some freedoms (such as wearing a handband) are worth giving up if the net effect is better discipline, greater team unity, and more wins. 

Only a fool cries, "Freedom, freedom!" at the expense of everything else.


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## Reep (Jun 4, 2003)

Anyone who doesn't understand the headband decision needs to go watch "Heartbreak Ridge" with Clint Eastwood--then you will understand.


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## Foulzilla (Jan 11, 2005)

Reep said:


> Anyone who doesn't understand the headband decision needs to go watch "Heartbreak Ridge" with Clint Eastwood--then you will understand.



Not an Eastwood fan. Care to give me a recap, because I honestly don't understand it and would like to?


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## chromekilla (Aug 21, 2005)

hey in heartbrake ridge eastwood is a marine and hes training the recuits and he wants them to ware the same shirt he wares every morning but they dont some come out with black and some green when he wears white and they throw fits about having to wear the same shirts.might be what hes talking about maybe not


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## chromekilla (Aug 21, 2005)

hap where do u work in medford i live in medford.


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

Zidane said:


> hap where do u work in medford i live in medford.


i don't live in medford, I was making a point that probably wasn't too clear.


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## ProudBFan (Apr 29, 2003)

I like everyone riding to/from games together. I like no cell phones on the team bus. I like requiring players to return Nate's calls within 24 hours. All that seems to be good for keeping the players focused in on the game and each other. But headbands? I dunno. If the headbands were merely a fashion statement, then I could see it being a positive. But there's a legitimate functional reason for headbands - to keep sweat out of the eyes. If he's going to let them wear a wrist-band or something to do that, then I guess it's okay. But without that, the no headband rule seems just a step over the line to me.

Funny, I still have my copy of "Can I Get A Headband?". Seems it came out right around the time the Blazers started spiraling into the abyss. Wonder if there really is a correlation there...

PBF


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## BBert (Dec 30, 2004)

I'm all for taking measures designed to remove the "I" from the team. Basketball is a team sport and these players will have to develop into a strong, synergistic unit to be successful. I'm sure there are numerous seemingly small details that can help achieve some of that, or at least remove impediments to creating the perfect communist Blazers society. I support what Nate is trying to do. Anyone whose read my posts should know I am excited by the young team and the opportunity to mold these kids the right way from the beginning. I just hope some of Nate's rules don't become too petty and off-putting to the players. He strikes me as a control freak. If the players are ok with not wearing headbands, I have no beef whatsoever.


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## crandc (Sep 15, 2004)

I remember when the team all wore headbands as a sign of team solidarity!

I do think that it is silly. It's a matter of personal style, like a beard or high/low socks. Or style of shoes. Has nothing to do with being a team guy. IMO Ben Wallace is more of a team guy than Kobe Bryant, that's for sure. The cell phone thing is designed to avoid having a player "somewhere else" when he's supposed to be at a game, practice or team function. I agree with that. After all, I'm sure some arrangements can be made for family emergencies; if a guy has a wife in her 9th month some plan will be made for the player to be contacted when labor begins. Taking the bus is secondary unless as some say they are already at the practice facility. But the headband seems a rule for the sake of a rule. It could be a problem with sweat in the eyes. 
Where I work they have a no jeans rule. I can see it when the FDA comes to inspect of when there are important visitors. But I'm a tech writer sitting in an office with the door closed, and I had to buy clothes since biotech is all jeans and sweats. And the company where I work rents space from a larger company where they all wear jeans! It's silly. It's a rule for the sake of a rule.
Fortune 500 companies may require execs to wear suits in public events, media events, etc. But not usually in daily life unless their job explicitly involves public contact. Don't believe me? Head up I-5 and check out Microsoft!


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## Reep (Jun 4, 2003)

Foulzilla said:


> Not an Eastwood fan. Care to give me a recap, because I honestly don't understand it and would like to?


To expand on what Zidane said, Eastwood was charged with making a fighting unit out of a bunch of individualists. The first rule he had was that they all had be up and ready and wearing the same shirts or they would have to do drills. The first day they didn't get it. The second day they all show up in matching shirts, when Eastwood orders them to do drills. When they complain, showing they are wearing matching shirts, Eastwood states "they don't match mine" and makes them run drills. The group ends up becoming a tight unit because of all the trials they go through as a group.


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## Schilly (Dec 30, 2002)

The positive in this...Darius makes me feel more secure about my own hairline...


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## Funny (Oct 4, 2005)

Schilly said:


> The positive in this...Darius makes me feel more secure about my own hairline...


LMAO


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## ProudBFan (Apr 29, 2003)

Schilly said:


> The positive in this...Darius makes me feel more secure about my own hairline...


Ummm... Hairline? What is this hairline of which you speak? I think I had a hairline once, but I must've lost it somehwere...

:no:

PBF


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## Schilly (Dec 30, 2002)

ProudBFan said:


> Ummm... Hairline? What is this hairline of which you speak? I think I had a hairline once, but I must've lost it somehwere...
> 
> :no:
> 
> PBF


Check in the mirror, usually it migrates down to your back and becomes nomadic.


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## sa1177 (Feb 18, 2005)

> Check in the mirror, usually it migrates down to your back and becomes nomadic.


Must build Great Wall along shoulders to prevent migration to the promised land of my back...


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## Schilly (Dec 30, 2002)

sa1177 said:


> Must build Great Wall along shoulders to prevent migration to the promised land of my back...


The mullet is simply the exodus....PBF STEP AWAY FROM THE IROC!!!!


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## BlazerCaravan (Aug 12, 2004)

Yeah, it's definitely a boot camp maneuver. No individuality mean focusing on the unit/team/group. No cell phones, one bus, training camp away from familliar settings, no headbands. It's all about breaking down the "my interests first" thought process, and replacing it with "what's good for the team?" Yes, it's extreme. But that's why you get your head shaved at boot camp. That's why you get a uniform.

Will Nate always be so strict? Maybe yes, maybe no. But he's got to break these guys down to build them up. And there's years of "you're the man!" reinforcement that's been placed on all the players from external sources. I don't think Nate wants anyone on the team to "believe their own hype" when they step out onto the court. Destruction of ego makes for a better student, and all that.


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## ProudBFan (Apr 29, 2003)

Schilly said:


> Check in the mirror, usually it migrates down to your back and becomes nomadic.


So if a hairline migrates down your back but you never look at your back in the mirror, is it really there?

Sorry, the tree-falling-in-a-forest metaphor doesn't quite work in this case, but it's the best I've got right now... :whoknows:

PBF


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## ProudBFan (Apr 29, 2003)

Schilly said:


> The mullet is simply the exodus....PBF STEP AWAY FROM THE IROC!!!!


"Don't stop... believin'.... Hold onto that feeliiiiiiiiinnn'!"

:rock:

PBF


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## Backboard Cam (Apr 29, 2003)

ProudBFan said:


> Funny, I still have my copy of "Can I Get A Headband?". Seems it came out right around the time the Blazers started spiraling into the abyss. Wonder if there really is a correlation there...


I forgot about that song.  I don't suppose someone could share an mp3 of that?


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