Today's Oregonian reported that Paul Allen will shut the Cucina Cucina restaurant across from the Rose Garden at the end of the Trail Blazer season. The story made me think again about the Blazer organization's firing the team's coach, Maurice Cheeks, which I said at the time was a mistake.
I don't know how good Mr. Cheeks was as a coach. The team was not doing well, though it has been doing even worse since he was removed, but it's a statistical fact that every year about half the teams in the league don't have winning seasons, not all of which can be the fault of their coaches. I'm not criticizing the organization's decision on sporting grounds.
The thought that struck me was that firing Mr. Cheeks was one more in a string of decisions that have made it embarrassing for Portlanders to admit that they follow the Blazers. The tickets offered by the Noble Employers go begging most nights. Friends with tickets tell me that they rarely go to the games and often try to give their tickets away, finding few takers. Even the skyboxes go begging.
It called to mind something that I've been told about Japanese consumers: when a scandal strikes a retailer, the retailer's business will drop off substantially, apparently because consumers become ashamed to be seen shopping there. I think the same thing's afflicting the Blazers, and high time, too.