tlongII
12-10-2013, 11:34 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2013/12/morning_jam_movie_on_trail_blazers_1976-77_champio.html
http://imgick.oregonlive.com/home/olive-media/width620/img/blazers_impact/photo/13917179-mmmain.jpg
Maurice Lucas was a key member of the Trail Blazers 1976-77 team that beat Julius Erving and Philadelphia in the NBA Finals.
With the Trail Blazers' off to the kind of start that has Portlanders dreaming, at least a little, of another surprising run to a championship, fans will get a chance a relive the season that set the standard in Portland.
"Fast Break," a documentary film by Don Zavin on the Blazers' championship season, will be shown Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Hollywood Theatre.
"Wordstock founder and Fast Break interviewer Larry Colton will be on hand to hold a Q&A with NBA Champ and former Trail Blazer Bob Gross," film curator Greg Hamilton said by e-mail. "Given that the team is doing so well ... maybe it's a good time to dwell on the past."
The Oregonian's Jason Quick wrote about the movie in 2011:
This movie is a must-see for Blazers fans, and just as important for anyone interested in the fabric and history of Portland. I have seen the movie more than 10 times, and each time I am mesmerized, broken out of a dream-like trance only by my goose bumps.
The film has been shown at the Clinton for the past two seasons - once at the start of the season, then again during the playoffs - thanks to Hamilton, a 40-year-old project administrator for Daimler and volunteer film programmer at the Clinton.
Hamilton discovered the film two years ago when it was released in DVD form in the back cover of Matt Love's book "Red Hot & Rollin.'' V"I was just taken by it,'' Hamilton said.
He contacted Love and discovered that Ellen Thomas, the widow of the filmmaker Zavin (who died in 1998), had donated the film, and it's out-takes, to the Oregon Historical Society, where it sat gathering dust.
With some minor prodding, Hamilton in 2009 convinced Thomas to allow him to re-release the film, which happened to coincide with the Blazers' 40th anniversary.
"It's a completely unique part of Portland history. It demands to be seen,'' Hamilton said. "It's absolutely the best documentary made on the team.''
There is raw game-footage of the Western Conference Finals, with Bill Walton going toe-to-toe with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It shows the team arriving at Portland International Airport after sweeping the Lakers, greeted by a sea of Blazers fans. There is a young Maurice Lucas, touring the Oregon State Penitentiary and hanging out with some of the inmates. A look at how Jack Ramsay ran practices. Championship parade footage, with Walton pouring beer on the trophy, and then standing in front of a packed Terry Shrunk plaza and asking for the return of the bike he rode to the event.
And best of all, there is spell-bounding footage of a bike ride with Walton and writer Larry Colton (the founder of Wordstock) that takes them down the Oregon Coast, with a stop in Tillamook to pick berries alongside the road. It is incredible, all-access footage.
"The access was just unprecedented,'' Hamilton said. "But the part that always gets me is when we win the championship, and everyone loses their mind, and Walton is tearing off his jersey and it's just pandemonium.''
It is such a powerful film that I plan to ask current Blazers coach Nate McMillan to make his next team watch the film so they understand this franchise's heritage, this town's passion, and the importance of this team to this region.
In fact, two years ago after I first saw the film, I was so enamored that I walked into McMillan's office and told him he had to see it. He told me to make him a copy. When I asked then video-coordinator Kaleb Canales to make me a copy, several players overheard and also requested one. Copies were given to Joel Przybilla, Brandon Roy, Channing Frye and Martell Webster. The only problem: something went wrong in the copying process and everyone came back frustrated. And my copy has been lost.
My point is, the film is so good that I guarantee you will want to tell every Blazers fan you know to go see it.
http://imgick.oregonlive.com/home/olive-media/width620/img/blazers_impact/photo/13917179-mmmain.jpg
Maurice Lucas was a key member of the Trail Blazers 1976-77 team that beat Julius Erving and Philadelphia in the NBA Finals.
With the Trail Blazers' off to the kind of start that has Portlanders dreaming, at least a little, of another surprising run to a championship, fans will get a chance a relive the season that set the standard in Portland.
"Fast Break," a documentary film by Don Zavin on the Blazers' championship season, will be shown Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Hollywood Theatre.
"Wordstock founder and Fast Break interviewer Larry Colton will be on hand to hold a Q&A with NBA Champ and former Trail Blazer Bob Gross," film curator Greg Hamilton said by e-mail. "Given that the team is doing so well ... maybe it's a good time to dwell on the past."
The Oregonian's Jason Quick wrote about the movie in 2011:
This movie is a must-see for Blazers fans, and just as important for anyone interested in the fabric and history of Portland. I have seen the movie more than 10 times, and each time I am mesmerized, broken out of a dream-like trance only by my goose bumps.
The film has been shown at the Clinton for the past two seasons - once at the start of the season, then again during the playoffs - thanks to Hamilton, a 40-year-old project administrator for Daimler and volunteer film programmer at the Clinton.
Hamilton discovered the film two years ago when it was released in DVD form in the back cover of Matt Love's book "Red Hot & Rollin.'' V"I was just taken by it,'' Hamilton said.
He contacted Love and discovered that Ellen Thomas, the widow of the filmmaker Zavin (who died in 1998), had donated the film, and it's out-takes, to the Oregon Historical Society, where it sat gathering dust.
With some minor prodding, Hamilton in 2009 convinced Thomas to allow him to re-release the film, which happened to coincide with the Blazers' 40th anniversary.
"It's a completely unique part of Portland history. It demands to be seen,'' Hamilton said. "It's absolutely the best documentary made on the team.''
There is raw game-footage of the Western Conference Finals, with Bill Walton going toe-to-toe with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It shows the team arriving at Portland International Airport after sweeping the Lakers, greeted by a sea of Blazers fans. There is a young Maurice Lucas, touring the Oregon State Penitentiary and hanging out with some of the inmates. A look at how Jack Ramsay ran practices. Championship parade footage, with Walton pouring beer on the trophy, and then standing in front of a packed Terry Shrunk plaza and asking for the return of the bike he rode to the event.
And best of all, there is spell-bounding footage of a bike ride with Walton and writer Larry Colton (the founder of Wordstock) that takes them down the Oregon Coast, with a stop in Tillamook to pick berries alongside the road. It is incredible, all-access footage.
"The access was just unprecedented,'' Hamilton said. "But the part that always gets me is when we win the championship, and everyone loses their mind, and Walton is tearing off his jersey and it's just pandemonium.''
It is such a powerful film that I plan to ask current Blazers coach Nate McMillan to make his next team watch the film so they understand this franchise's heritage, this town's passion, and the importance of this team to this region.
In fact, two years ago after I first saw the film, I was so enamored that I walked into McMillan's office and told him he had to see it. He told me to make him a copy. When I asked then video-coordinator Kaleb Canales to make me a copy, several players overheard and also requested one. Copies were given to Joel Przybilla, Brandon Roy, Channing Frye and Martell Webster. The only problem: something went wrong in the copying process and everyone came back frustrated. And my copy has been lost.
My point is, the film is so good that I guarantee you will want to tell every Blazers fan you know to go see it.