But Portland is an NBA town. The Trail Blazers are Portland's only professional sports team and the city bleeds red and black. It's hard not to at least know what's going on with the team as it is the only one covered well in the paper or on the TV News.
Recently, however, it's also become difficult to not care about how the Trail Blazers are doing. After enduring a number of years where the local team was an embarrassment to the city, both on and especially off the court, the team is now comprised of exciting and respectable young players.
In addition, as you may recall, two years ago Portland was granted the first selection in the NBA draft - and after sitting out a year due to injury, Greg Oden is finally playing for the Blazers. Basically these are good guys that you want to root for and want to see succeed.
So, I have found myself following the NBA for the first time: watching games on TV, checking scores on-line . . . and attending games in the Rose Garden!
In our ever-growing attempt to be true Portlanders, Josh and Stacey Noem and I purchased a flex-pack of three tickets to four games throughout the season. I was unable to attend the first of these games, but I am free and clear for the others.
Thursday night was our second of the four games, played against the Phoenix Suns. The game was televised nationally and during half-time, Bobby Gross' jersey was retired. But the game was really special because Brandon Roy scored 52 points and the Blazers beat the Suns 124-119!
As you can imagine, the crowd was electric during and especially after the game. We had a simply marvelous time, and as we left the Rose Garden in the still falling snow we were already looking forward to our next game at the Garden (well, not THE Garden . . . I am still a New Yorker ;)
2 comments:
When I was in Portland for the Provincial chapter several chapter ago, a group of us decided to go see the flowers in the famous Portland Rose Garden. The student on duty in the dorm we were staying in gave us turn-by-turn instructions which we followed dutifully. It was a wonderful moment when we pulled into the empty parking lot of the only Rose Garden he knew, the one you're growing to love. We had a great laugh and eventually found our way to to where the flowers bloom. Have a Happy Fourth Sunday of Advent, or if you will, Merry Almost Christmas!
John - That's a great story! Thanks for reading and especially for posting. Merry Christmas to you as well! SMK, csc
Post a Comment