Oh Gilbert!

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I will admit I was shot by Cupid’s arrow late Sunday evening, allowing me to realize my passionate love for none another than Wizards’ guard Gilbert Arenas.

Oh, Gilbert, how I love you so much for your unfulfilled promise of dropping 50 points on the Blazers in your clash last Sunday. I just can’t articulate how much I admire your attempt to prove your worth to Nate McMillan and the rest of the U.S. Olympic team backfire so horridly.

For weeks you vowed how you were going to show everyone how great of a player you are by putting up 50 big ones on Portland. You slapped the Blazers and Portland in the face, and I can’t tell you how much every Blazer fan adores you for that. We absolutely love what you did.

Mr. Arenas, your comments and insults awoke a sleeping beast. You fired up a team that, by the looks of the 94-73 outcome, really didn’t need any more motivation. To us, you were the best player on the floor, even if your 9 points looked pitiful next to Jarrett Jack’s or LaMarcus Aldridge’s 18-point outbursts.

So what if you didn’t quite get to the half-dollar mark, you were only 41 little points away. That doesn’t mean you aren’t a leader, like your head coach Eddie Jordan claimed after the game. He is completely wrong. Sure, you were a leader. Actually, you were probably the greatest leader in the building last night.

Single-handedly you took a team and allowed it to prevail. The only problem for you is that team happened to be wearing red jerseys with the word “Blazers” inscribed across the chest. So, it was an honest mistake. The guys back in Washington might despise you for it, but in the Northwest you are our favorite NBA player.

Since we like you so much Gilbert, we will give you a chance to retract the other portion of your statement. If I remember correctly, you were supposed to score 100 points on the Blazers in your two meetings this season. So, let’s do a little math. If you only scored 9 points last night, and 100 minus 9 is 91, should we contact Kobe and tell him his record isn’t safe anymore? Didn’t think so.

Blazer fans and Gilbert Arenas admirers alike, Agent Zero will be in town March 20. So head to the Rose Garden, because you will either see an epic performance or great Gilbert fall on his face once again.