Odin was a Norse god.
Oden is a young man.
Greg Oden, Oregon sports’ MVP.
Most Visible Patient.
A young man who right now is in the hospital, recuperating from surgery.

It helps to think of Greg Oden not as a 7-foot Basketball Star but as something much easier to relate to: a teenager on his back in a hospital bed.

The groaning has begun, but it is not from 19-year-old Oden in post-surgery. It is from Portland Trailblazer fans who feel distinct disappointment at the news that the MVP must sit out basketball for a year.

Whatever will happen to the Blazers, just at the dawn of their renewal without Greg Oden guiding the way?

Relax, sports fans. Greg Oden gets to rest — he’s not headed for Valhalla. Yes, he’ll be paid a lot of money to rest, but rest is what he needs.

That’s Greg Oden’s job right now. Being this MVP means he doesn’t need to snare rebounds or put his elbow in some other big guy’s rib cage.

His surgery was not life-threatening. He works for an employer who can pay for the very best medical care. This is a course of events that should have surprised no one because it happened to a person who plays a game for a living.

The thing to question in the Greg Oden saga is how we let our expectations get ahead of ourselves. Young though he is, Oden is a professional athlete, and professional athletes often get hurt and need surgery. And that is where the MVP stands — or reclines — right now.

“He was the top draft pick, the marketing centerpiece, and this after Zach Randolph and his 20-points-and-10-rebounds-a-game left town. The season is lost.”

The name Sam Bowie has been invoked. Understandable, yes, but think twice: Sam’s injury and that of Greg are very different. They happened 23 years apart. That was then, this is now. Greg’s surgical needs were discovered early in his career and for that he is fortunate.

The MVP is a young man, not a commodity. He is a person entitled to recuperate in (relative) peace. He’s not Odin, God, in a helmet. He’s Oden, Greg, wearing a plastic wristband like any other hospital patient.

For a time he will use crutches but Blazer fans should not: “The season is lost” refrain is an ill wind that should be quieted, at least until New Year’s Day. If the Blazers are 8-and-22 by then, sure, start the moan machine (but quietly).

Oden knows that you accept the setback and keep working through whatever repetitions you need to get your ligament back in dunking shape.

By mid-season Oden will be back at work, doing what he can to rehabilitate his leg and get ready for the next season. But he’s worth the wait, and he’ll have two good legs to stand on.