Warriors 95 – Trailblazers 96
Thursday, December 16, 2010
This marks my first game to go watch the Warriors on the road. I usually would have never made the commitment to go watch them in another city that I couldn’t drive less than 2 hours to, but following the Warriors have given me great excuses to spend time with friends.
This time instead of heading to Oracle in Oakland, the plan would be to hop on a plane to to meet Chris and Jenny in Portland.
Chris and Jenny were a part of the Golden Season roster from the start, however, their recent move to Portland meant that I wouldn’t be able to share my love of the ‘dubs and basketball with them unless they came back down to the Bay or I went there.
I took some initiative.
Not only was I excited for the Trailblazer game in enemy territory but probably more so to see how life in PDX was treating them.
Although Golden Season is based off my season tickets to Warriors home games, I thought going to Portland would also be a nice extension to my season ticket holder/fan experience.
So with a plane ticket booked I showed up at the Oakland airport waist up in Warriors gear ready to see our boys in the Northwest and to visit with some great friends.
The Commute
This wasn’t the average game, which means this wasn’t my average commute.
I decided to fly in a couple days before the game to hang out with Chris and Jenny and to help them move into their new apartment on Friday.
My flight was at noon out of OAK and it was a beautiful day in the Bay. It was sunny but crisp and the usual craze of getting out of San Francisco and across the bay bridge was not an issue. I figured it was either because people were already on vacation/out of town, schools and universities were most definitely on break and/or that people are a little less nuts when the weather’s nice.
Probably all of the above.
I was leaving immaculate weather here to go to Portland, a city that’s notorious for rain and grey skies to watch a game of basketball; maybe I’m the one that’s a little nuts.
Getting to the Oakland Airport was easy. I pulled right into the parking lot that’s a stones throw away from the terminal. It was already way easier than traveling from SFO.
After grabbing my boarding pass, I headed to the security and there were NO LINES.
Sure, it’s a Thursday, it’s Horizon, etc.. but the reality is, it’s never been THIS easy and any airport, ANYWHERE.
I dig OAK’s style.
After a short flight I’m finally wheels down in Portland and the weather is just as nice. It’s way colder but I’ll take it as long as it doesn’t constantly dump raindrops all weekend.
As I was making my way through the terminal I spotted a good amount of folks wearing Blazers gear for a Thursday afternoon. I was rocking my blue ‘City’ cap and the fleece that they handed out to season ticket holders during Nibbles, Dribbles & Sips, which has become my go to sweater. No one really noticed but one teenage boy in a Brandon Roy jersey yelled at me ‘F*#! the Warriors!’. He must be a diehard hoops fan because he know’s what ‘The City’ stands for.
I quietly leaned in, not needing escalate the situation with a teenager, and said, “I’m really sorry about Roy and Oden, it still should be fun Saturday night.”
He really didn’t have anything to say, but I hope he knows I genuinely meant it.
Seeing any player that has to sit or doesn’t have the opportunity to fulfill his career due to injury is pretty damn heartbreaking. Yes they still make millions and whatnot, but the reality is, they gave their whole life (mind, body and soul) to this game and for them not to be able to play is probably a pretty gut wrenching feeling.
PreGame
And it begins… HELLO PORTLAND!
My man Chris C picks me up and he sees me rockin’ the Warriors Royal Blue cap and can’t help but start cracking jokes about how the Trailblazers will dominate Saturday night.
Chris has to head back into to the office so I hang out in his neighborhood, the Pearl District, until he’s ready to wrap up.
Where else do you hang out on a cold day in the PDX? A coffee shop of course. I end up at Barista where I overheard Trailblazer talk about the game against the Nuggets and the barista even asked me if I came up just for tonight’s game because apparently no one in Portland is a Warriors fan.
The same side conversation about the Nuggets/Blazers turns into the Warriors coming into town and how it should be an ‘easy win’.
I wanted to join the conversation and defend the Warriors but I kind of just like eavesdropping on this one.
Chris calls me and tells me to meet him up at his office. I head on over and was given the best running jump greeting from Jessie Y, a friend and former colleague from San Francisco.
A whole bunch of friends and former coworkers are here in Portland now and being able to see them was really amazing. After a quick catch up with Jessie we then run into Andy G. Andy was supposed to join Chris, Jenny and I at the game but needed to make his way back east for the holidays.
We all headed out to a happy hour with the W+K strategy team and Chris and I break off to Irving Street Kitchen for dinner.
I’ve been following ISK for a bit now because I’m a huge fan of Town Hall, their restaurant in San Francisco, so it was cool to post up at the bar and have dinner there. The food is just as good.
As Chris and I are chatting it up at the bar, a server taking care of a section nearby spots my Warriors cap and comes by to say what’s up one Warriors fan to another. His name was also Chris told us that he was from San Francisco and throughout the night we’d swap favorite Warrior moments, his being the Warriors beating the Mavericks in the playoffs a few years ago.
In a town where I thought no Warriors fans existed, we somehow find each other.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Moving day. With Jenny back from LA from production and with the help of Chris’s Dad, Jim and his friend, Tanner, we get the move done in no time.
As we’re moving Tanner notices my hat and asks if I’m a Warriors fan.
We talk hoops for a bit and then he drops on me that he’s a designer for Adidas. That’s right, Adidas, the official apparel of the NBA.
Tanner’s a super nice dude who designs the kits for all the Team Sports and he offered to take us over to the employee store and give us a tour of the Adidas campus if we wanted at some point during the weekend. Not only that, any guy who just drops everything to help a friend move is a stand up dude and it’s great to see one of my best friends have great people around him. Life’s better that way, when you can cut the bull and just keep the solid around you, you fortify yourself. Chris and Jenny seem to be doing that really well in Portland.
As for the Warriors, with all the moves, trades, sales and acquisitions, it looks like we’re well on our way in doing the same.
After the moves was finished, we were all hanging back when it came time to really look for tickets. Did I mention I flew out there without tickets?
I wasn’t too concerned, but I didn’t want to pay a hefty price tag for lower level tickets and reliable tickets were actually quite challenging to find.
Most of the tickets on Craigslist looked like they were ticket resellers with a mark up and we were getting down to the wire.
But with a little bit of faith the Warriors came through for us.
I got an email from the guys over at the dubs saying that they’d help secure tickets.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. There’s a reason why we pack the house at Oracle irregardless of the game, it’s because not only do we believe in the guy on the court, it’s because there’s men and women behind the scenes that quite possibly believe more than we as fans do… they’ve made the ultimate commitment, working for the team; making sure all us fans always have something to cheer about.
A big thanks to the staff over at the Warriors.
With the stress of finding tickets out of the way, I went to go meet up fellow San Franciscan, Kate and her cousin at Rouge Ale House in the Pearl for a beer.
It was nice to see Kate in the Northwest. Not only did it remind me of how small this world is but that just like with Chris, the Server/Warriors fan from Irving Street Kitchen, if you put your loyalties out there, you will find your people.
I’ve just really gotten to know Kate this year, but she’s one hell of a girl.
She’s an avid sports fan and the latest addition to the Golden Season effort. Don’t believe me about avid sports fan? Follow link.
When it comes to sports and sporting events she can probably out talk and out drink most guys in her own endearing and sweet demeanor… it’s skillful and the world needs to document this phenomenon.
Her cousin is a great dude too who’s doing big things oversees as an up and coming architect.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Game day! Chris and I woke up and headed out to the Belmont neighborhood and did breakfast at Pine State Biscuits. I had the best biscuit sandwich i’ve ever had and almost had a heart attack in the process.
To jolt my heart back into action we got some of that good Stumptown coffee, all within two blocks of each other. While we were out there we also came across the Warrior House! Probably not, but I like to think it is.
On the way back to meet up with Tanner to hit up the Adidas campus I noticed a small bit of marketing on one of Portland’s old mills.
It was a massive banner that carries the slogan that the Trailblazers have began to own, ‘Rise with us’. And although my natural instincts are to hate on it, I actually really like it.
Chris and I hook up with Tanner for the Adidas campus tour and employee store visit.
I couldn’t take any pictures of Tanner’s office but it’s pretty sick. He showed us where all the magic happens and even walked us by the basketball unit where they were working on uniforms and sneakers.
Tanner’s a super chill and creative dude. He even showed me the influence he had on one of the new Warriors alternative logos, which in my opinion is the best one.
On our way out we hit up the employee store of which the basketball section was nothing but Blazer gear. Tanner being a northwest guy of course has the Roy jersey.
Chris also being a northwest guy loves the Blazers and wanted to grab some gear but he was a tad conflicted since he works on the Nike Basketball.
Portland lives and breaths Blazers and its even evident on our way back out to the car where the Adidas building proudly hung a blazer jersey banner. What is it with portland and massive banners?
We tried convincing Tanner to come to the game with us but he had dinner with his pops, which always takes precedent. Family first.
Andy was supposed to come to the game tonight, but since he couldn’t Ben M was really interested in coming.
This was excellent because Ben is Rebecca’s (also a friend and former colleague at GSP) husband who I have never met.
Chris and Jenny always talk about how great he is and all the good times they’re all having in Portland, so I was excited he would be coming to tonights game.
The Game
Ben was nice enough to drive us to the game and as always I wanted to get there on the earlier side.
However, here’s the big problem. After we had picked up tickets that the Warriors left us at will call, we had to wait in line to enter the arena.
It’s freezing cold and I could see people eating in the restaurant above and they’re not letting anyone in. I’m sure this is standard operating procedure, but I’m just not used to it.
So we filed in line and at exactly one hour before tipoff the ushers come out and scream, “Are you ready for some basketball?!?!”
The crowds didn’t necessarily erupt, but I would say people were excited.
We head straight in and Chris, Jenny and Ben were itching to get to the team store to get some gear.
It’s pretty awesome to see. They’ve made Portland their home and now they are ready to make the Trailblazers their team. Chris has gone to Blazer games in the distant past, but this is Jenny’s and Ben’s first time. Although it was their first Portland experience, they are by no means strangers to the game.
Ben’s from Australia and would stay up late and watch american hoops on TV. He’s crazy knowledgeable and tons of fun to talk hoops with and hang with in general.
As for Jenny, she’s a die hard Mavericks fan being from Dallas, and she more than both guys wanted the Warriors to lose because of what we did to her squad in ’07.
The team store posed a bit of a problem.
Since Adidas is the official apparel of the NBA, most of the gear in there was Adidas. Chris works on Nike, Jenny works for the agency that reps Nike and Ben is a personal trainer at Nike.
What’s a Nike head to do? Get creative.
They all scoured the store for merchandise that would not just fit the situation, but that would fit for them.
At one point I even saw Jenny check out the giant figures that are almost as big as her.
By the end they all found things that I think looked pretty damn good on them.
We got some beers and BBQ nachos and headed to our seats.
The Dubs set us up with some player’s tickets and they were siiiiick… lower level, at the corner facing the Warriors bench.
As we got settled the energy in the Rose Garden was getting healthier and healthier. Looking around I could probably count the number of Warrior fans on both hands.
It was a packed house and as the lights went out for player introductions things got loud.
At the half things looked good and still looked like anyones game.
We headed out to the concourse and things were crazy. I know we have a bar area at Oracle in Club 200, but I’ve never seen it as crazy as it was at the bar in the Rose Garden.
The half started back up again and the Blazers started to slowly pull away. Our shots weren’t dropping and it just seemed like Matthews and Mills of the Trailblazers couldn’t miss.
I became friends with a Portland Trailblazer Season Ticket holder next to me and the friendly trash talking got more and more intense and fun as the night went on.
It was fun to hear about the ins and out of the Portland squad and I could tell she was genuinely interested in the nuances of our Warriors team. She was curious what it was like to be a season ticket holder in the Bay Area and we started talking about all the little things the teams do to make us feel like we have a stake in the team.
The Warriors started to chip away at the lead and with some solid late game play and D by Vlad Rad… yes VLAD RAD with a major block gave us the ball with 8 seconds left down by one.
The entire area was on its feet and I wanted to walk out of there with the upset.
Monta got the ball made his guy miss and sent him flying to the floor. He got a great look and fading away just missed the last shot attempt.
Watching Ben, Jenny and Chris the whole game I could tell they were having fun. I was having fun. And the three of them already have plans of going to more Blazer games in the future.
I know what you may be thinking, I didn’t make them Warrior fans, that’s not the point.
They are evidence that everyone has a bit of NBA in them, they all did at one point or another and they’ve been talking about going to a Trailblazer game for a while now. Golden Season may have been the trigger that it took to get them looking at going to more games in the future and creating more memories around basketball…and THAT is the entire point.
It’s about all of us sharing our time and our love for the game together and regardless of the team we all understand each other that much more. I go way back with Chris and Jenny, but with Tanner and Ben, basketball did it again.
Sure we would have found other things to talk about if we were in other environments, bowling, hiking, dinner, etc… but the truth of the matter is why not use our love for the Warriors, Trailblazers and basketball bring us together.
I made friends with other fans in the concourse, in my seat and in the streets of portland.
I’ve let basketball and the Warriors take over my life of sorts and so far it’s been the best decision I’ve made in a while because even those closest to me, like Chris, they know that it’s more than just basketball for me. They see me making time for something I love and it’s something that they can easily share with me.
And for new friends like Ben and Tanner, I’m sure we have ton’s more in common, and that will come out over the course of our newly found friendships. But even if we just had the NBA and ALL the other intangible things that come with it, that might just be enough.
If it wasn’t for season tickets and this deepened commitment to the Warriors, I may not have found myself in Portland and there wouldn’t be a quick and easy excuse for me to visit one of my best friends in his new city.
I’m not the best at keeping in touch or communication, but sports, basketball, the Warriors, the Trailblazers, Adidas, Nike, San Francisco, Portland all of it give Chris and I the energy and lift I need to share our lives and our passions with one another. Because lets face it, I miss Chris in San Francisco tremendously, but we’re guys… we don’t call each other on the phone or visit each other unless if there’s a ‘reason’.
Mine… OURS… just happens to be basketball.
Go Warriors!
Nam
More photos from tonight:
