Remember When?

I found this page while looking for the text of Ron Tonkin's letter to the sports editor, and I realized just how far the Blazers have come since the day Tonkin wrote his letter in 2002. Most of the links no longer point anywhere, but Eric Marentette was kind enough to send me the text of Tonkin's letter:

To the Sports Editor:

I, for one, have had it. The Blazers are a disgrace. We have nearly 800 employees and now have to spend time to find enough people who want to see the game to fill our corporate box. I can't wait until the expiration of our contract, because unless something pretty drastic is done to clean up the team, we certainly will not renew. For what roles is this team supposed to be a model?

RON B. TONKIN
Ron Tonkin Family of Dealerships

I wonder how aggressively the Blazers are courting Mr. Tonkin? Would Tonkin even consider coming back now that so much progress has been made? With his very public announcement of his decision to walk away from the team, how far would a very public announcement of a decision to return as an advertiser and/or a suite owner go towards accelerating the turnaround in the casual fan's perception of the team? I think it'd be a PR coup, and one that should now be very high on the Blazer's agenda. Right under trading Darius Miles for a half a box of stale Girl Scout cookies.