The Trailblazers are in turmoil

As if getting obliterated by the Bulls last night wasn’t bad enough for Portland fans, now this whole arena/move issue is getting really serious.

David Stern was in town to try to sort this whole deal out. It basically comes down to Blazers ownership gave away the arena to another company a few years back, and now they claim they can’t turn a profit without the arena income.

It’s all a little beyond our juvenile mind, but one thing did stick out to us.

When asked if he was confident that the team will remain in Portland, Stern was less than optimistic.

“I am not confident at this point,” he said. “That’s what energizes me to try to become more confident.”

Bold words. Maybe it’s just scare tactics for the involved entities to get their shit together, but if you’re a Portland fan, you’ve gotta be a little shaken up about this.

Those fans aside, the real loser in this situation is David Stern. He’s stuck in Portland trying to sort out who’s doing what in arena this-and-that, while the rest of the country is watching American Idol.

Here’s the full Q&A from the Oregonian with David Stern, who’s established himself strongly as being “behind Mandisa”. Read into that what you will.

UPDATE: The Swooshblog suggests that Portland-based Nike should go ahead and buy the team and the arena.