Reader Challenge: Think You Can Be a Blazer’s Edge Recapper?

Have you ever read a Blazer’s Edge recap and thought, “Hey, I could do that…or a better job than those fools, anyway”? Well guess what? Here’s your chance.

As we were discussing the 81st game of the Portland Trail Blazers’ 2024-25 season—tomorrow night at 7:00 PM, Pacific against the Golden State Warriors—the site staff realized that we were about recapped out. I’ve probably done 80% of the extended recaps on site personally this year and, well, it doesn’t take a wizard to figure out that offensive rebounding, three-point shooting, turnovers, and transition are foundational to this club.

What we really need for Game 81 of 82 is a new set of eyes, something smart but out of left field, from a different perspective.

So I’m going to throw this out there today. If you (yes you) think you’ve got what it takes to recap one Trail Blazers game with Blazer’s Edge insight, authority, and acumen, this is your chance. We’ll be picking one reader to do the extended recap for Blazers-Warriors on Friday before I take the final game of the season Sunday to wrap us up.

Here’s what you need to know:

• You need to be available at 7:00 PM, Pacific Friday evening with a way to watch the game and a laptop or other writing device.
• You’ll be doing the extended recap, which usually publishes no later than 2 hours after the close of the game.
• The extended recap requires 4-6 solid points of analysis. I’ll coach you a bit personally in how to organize your thoughts, but the basic deal is, what 4-6 overarching factors determined the outcome of this game and what does that say about the Blazers? The recap does NOT require you to do a quarter-by-quarter description of the action or the outcome. You’re analyzing, not narrating chronologically.
• You’ll have leeway to explain the game as you see fit. Yes, that includes talking about coaching or reffing if you find them important. Your prose and phrasing need to stick to site standards and quality: be fair, be smart, don’t swear, and common sense public speaking boundaries.
• We’ll consider your commenting history and writing when choosing a recapper. For those who don’t get chosen, don’t hate! We may get it all wrong. This is an experiment. Let’s see how the readers do stepping up out of the comment section into the actual post!
• This is for one game only. There are always openings down the road for more, but it’s self-contained for now. If this works well, we will seriously consider letting readers recap the 81st game of every season as long as it’s practical.
• There is no compensation for this post besides our thanks and the adulation of fellow readers whom you’ll represent.

Those are the basics! If you want to participate, or at least be considered, tell us in the comments or—even better—send an email to blazersub@gmail.com and let us know why this appeals to you!