By Joe Becker

It's not the same as November 20, 1995...but the streak is over. Nearly, 12 years ago, the blazers streak of sellouts stopped at 814. Tuesday night against Phoenix, the Blazers two game sellout streak ended...but still there were more than 17-thousand excited fans at the Rose Garden...and I was one of them.

I'm off on Monday and Tuesday's...but I still like to go to sporting events on my night off.
I bought two tickets with my son and I sat in section 325...and there was plenty to get excited about. This year's team is fun too watch...and easy to like.

Attendance is up nearly 900 fans per game from last year...and the Blazers are up from last in NBA to 23rd at close to 16-thousand per game.

When Ime Udoka nailed the three to tie the game at 96 with just 32 seconds left...the Garden was rockin...just like the old days. Unfortunately, for the fans, the Blazers wound up losing in Ot. However, this Blazers team is competitive...and they are getting better and better. I know that Travis Outlaw is sorry he didn't dunk instead of
going for the layup...which missed...but, he had the confidence to drive past Amare Stoudemire...and that's a big plus. This team, with Zach Randolph and Brandon Roy leading the way, is growing as a group and starting to believe...and that's half the battle. The Suns are good...even without injured guard Steve Nash.

Zach should be an All-star. Anyone, who watched Tuesday's game knows what I'm talking about. Randolph hit 12 of 15 shots...and was 9 of 9 from the line. He posted 33 pts and 10 rebounds, hit big shots, and played hard.

The players turned in a winning performance...in a game they didn't win. The improvement is there...and the streaks are bound to follow...both in the win column and attendance.

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