Mar 09 2009
The Headband of Sasha Vujacic
For Blazer fans, it’s easy to be full of hate towards the Los Angeles Lakers. Some fans even consider the name to be a swear word. Others come up with nicknames of varying creativity, such as the Fakers, or vulgarity, such as the Fu - you get the idea. We can all understand why, too. The last great Blazer team was demolished in the worst loss in NBA history against arguably the least likable team in NBA history (that wasn’t the Blazers). There was Rick Fox’s preening attitude, acting like a tough guy while starring in Whoopi Goldberg movies. There was Brian Shaw’s Shawtastic tendencies (which would be a great name for a funk band). Of course, we can’t forget Derek Fisher’s endless flopping. Oh God, then there was Robert Horry doing nothing the entire game until the fourth quarter where he hits every shot. Finally, there was Shaq and Kobe. Kobe was the cocky young kid whose ballhog habits got the best of him, and Shaq was just a cocky a-hole, a guy who had never gotten a ring, and left his small market team to do it. Man, did we hate them.
Then something happened. The Blazers got worse, and the Lakers continued forward to success. Even as the team hit rock bottom, the hatred for the Lakers never left. Portland still came abuzz when the Lakers came to town, and their team, one of the worst in the league, still took the Lakers to their limits every game. However, this new iteration of the team wasn’t the one that we should have beaten at the beginning of the decade. Rick Fox, Robert Horry, and Shaq were all gone. The satisfaction just wasn’t there. Even more, since the start of the Brandon Roy era, Kobe Bryant has sounded like an unabashed fan of Portland, always throwing out compliments after games, whether the Lakers won or lost. No matter how much of an annoyance Lamar Odom is, the Lakers had finally done it: they made themselves tolerable to a Portland fan.
Luckily for all of us, Sasha Vujacic showed up. He’s a godsend to the Laker hater. He combines everything that was horrible about the early-millennium teams. He’s an amalgamation of evil. He has the flopping of Derek Fisher and Vlade Divac with the arrogance of Rick Fox with the backbreaking unexpected shooting of Brian Shaw, and it’s all tied up with a little bow on the top.
Vlade passes on flopping to a new generation.
That is the whole key to the persona. He wears a headband that would be too feminine for most fifth grade girls dressing up as Princess Jasmine from Aladdin on Halloween. It holds back his greasy and stringy hair from getting in his face when he flops. Its disgusting oiliness brings back that warm feeling of prejudice and dislike to even the most jaded Laker hater.
For this, Trail Post would like to salute the headband of Sasha Vujacic. It brought back the edge to the rivalry. Its evil gives us more reason to enjoy every beating the Blazers give the Lakers. That little thread has defined a team to be hated for a whole new generation.
