Hello fellow Sabonites!

Just a couple things as we settle into the postseason. 

Oregonlive.com has a fan poll going, to gather what fans think about all 12 players on the Blazers' roster, our coach and the GM.  Sabas' vote went well as expected, as all fans that voted, 96% of them decided to keep Sabonis.  Click here for the comments by Crazy Fan from Idaho, SmoovePersian, myself and other Blazer fans.

Don't forget to sign up for our forum to keep on ALL Sabonis news!

So before I go I leave you with a letter I received from one of my Sabonis penpals, check it out-

> Hi Stuart
>
> What a great guy you are to put so much time and effort to
create this amazing Sabas Web page and keep all of us informed about
Sabas activities, his acomplishments, and most of all allowing Sabas'
fans to air out their opinions about "The Great Sabas". I was 4
years old when I left Lithuania, now I am 67 year old man living in
Los Angeles, Ca.

In October 1988, when Lithuania was still ocupied by the Soviet
Union, Sabonis visited the Portland Trail Blazers and then came to
Los Angeles for a few days to attend a Lithuanian Fair. After the
festival I got to meet him at a private party, back then he was quite
slim looking and with long hair. I took some pictures of Sabonis and
another great Lithuanian basketball player Frank Lubin who was the
team captain of the USA basketball team that won the Gold medal back
at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

On October 4, 1988 Washington Post published a lengthy write up
about these 2 great basketball players. Stuart, perhaps you know how
to extract this great article from the Washington Post archives, I
still have a copy of the article but it's wrinkled and slightly
discolored, my photo of these two men was also published. Enclosed
are a few excerpts from the "Washington Post":

"When the Soviet men's basketball team knocked out the United
States team out of contention for the Olympic gold medal last week,
at least one American television viewer was proud.

'My team, the Lithuanian team, beat the Americans,' said Frank
Lubin, a member of the 1936 U.S. team that won the first Olympic
basketball title in Berlin and the man who started the Lithuanian
basketball dynasty that led to the Soviet triumph this year. (Most
starters on that Soviet team were Lithuanian - Romas.)

Last summer, when Sabonis came to America for workouts and knee
rehabilitatin with the Portland Trail Blazers, who had drafted him
last year, the Lithuanian Americans in the Los Angeles area ivited
the Soviet star to visit . Sabonis came, Lubin said, and asked to
see Pranas Lubinas.

Sabonis speaks almost no English, and Lubin had forgotten his
Lithuanian, so their communication was limited. They exchanged
presents, and Lubin said he told the giant Soviet Olympian, 'You can
become a milionaire.' Sabonis, he said, replied, 'Good, Good'."

Here we are 2003 and Sabas is a millionaire and on the home
strech. Go, Go Arvydas! I really think he can play another 5 years,
hopefully for the Los Angeles Lakers, ha, ha, that will never happen,
but it's wishful thinking.

Best regards, to you Stuart and all the Sabas fans, good luck
with all the good dedicated work you do to all the Sabas fans, the
Lithuanians love you, keep up the good work.

Romas J.