Pastor offers more than his fervent prayer to help Blazers

BATTLE GROUND, Wash. -- After this past season, some Portland Trail Blazer fans thought prayer might be the only solution for their team.

But a Battle Ground-area pastor claimed, perhaps with tongue a bit in cheek, that he could also provide the Blazers not only prayers but some sorely needed leadership, and he applied for the Blazers’ head coach’s position.

Pastor Eric Smith of Cherry Grove Friends Church received lots of publicity for his offer, with stories aired on most of Portland’s TV news stations as well as in The Oregonian and Battle Ground Reflector newspapers.

Smith says the whole thing started with a sermon he preached on the now-famed “Prayer of Jabez,” which reads, “Lord, enlarge my boundaries.” In all seriousness, Smith urges people to dream big dreams of how God could use them.

But in his case, the dream for the 6-foot-7 former hoop star at George Fox University involves coaching an NBA team.

In a letter to Blazers owner Paul Allen and President Bob Whitsitt, Smith described himself as a “seasoned coach” for a YMCA preschool and kindergarten hoop team, as well as a minister. “I feel the combination of the two could be exactly what your organization needs,” he wrote. “As a YMCA volunteer, I have coached two championship teams (our only loss was due to an outbreak of chicken pox). My players do what they are told, never get ejected, take drugs only from their doctor, and shoot at the correct basket most of the time.

“My players never hear boos from the stands, always give their best, never dispute their salary, and our scoring average always doubles during the playoffs (providing all shoelaces are tied). I only coach players who are kind, patient, and who respond to both positive and negative reinforcement.

“As a minister, I have had training in helping people with anger management, passive-aggressiveness, ADD (attention deficit disorder) and a variety of delinquent behaviors. I am skilled at preaching about second chances and new beginnings., talk regularly about a resurrection, and know how to comfort in times of great loss.

“I also do funerals.”

Smith says a Blazers staffer wrote back a letter that stated “I loved reading your qualifications!”

“There you have it!” exults Smith. “They acknowledged that I am qualified!”

But Smith never got that formal contract offer from the team, which in late June announced the hiring of Philadelphia’s Maurice Cheeks as new head coach.