Winter in Portland is a long and drawn out process. As soon as the hot dry August sun begins to fade, September and October sweep in with a coolness that gently changes the colors of the season. Then from November - March, the chilly rains come. The sun becomes a distant memory and our tanned skins turn pale.
Every Fall we all start urgently tossing around ideas as to how we can get through another endless winter. We could go to a cabin in the mountains, see a movie every Tuesday, have a potluck once a week, hold game night on Fridays... Despite our best of intentions and plans, none of us ever plan enough to keep us going. We hibernate in our little toasty houses and try to recall the reason we have called this rainy dismal place our home.
This last winter, the winter of 2009, was strangely different. It literally flew right past us and before we knew it, spring had arrived. The explanation for the change in the monotonous routine of winter was simple. We had purchased season tickets to the Blazers, splitting games with Jenny and Jason, our friends who live down the street. So as winter had just begun to rare its ugly head, the basketball season commenced.
It became an exhilarating routine each week after work to run home, change clothes, walk the dogs and drive to the Lloyd Center. From there, we'd park for free and walk with all the other fans the next 7 blocks, letting the packed trains of more blazer fans pass us by. Once at the Rose Garden, we'd go through our favorite entrance, pick up a program, head up the escalators, buy beer and sodas then head up to our 3rd level season seats we now called home. We got to know everyone around us as we gathered each week together to root on our beloved Blazers.
Nights we weren't at games, we were home or at friends houses watching the games on TV. In between game nights we got together to discuss the season, the trades, the issues, the calls. The games, became the perfect excuse to get out of the house. Wind, rain, snow, or ice couldn't stop us.
We watched in horror as Oden was hurt in the first game. We rocked the house when Roy hit the winning shot against Houston with .09 seconds left. Charles Barkley said we had the best fans. We cheered through the loss to Boston and a humilating loss to the Lakers. We watched as Rudy amazed us with his colorful style of play and his breath taking dunks. We were there when Batum became a starter and felt the pain as Roy nursed an injury that plagued him early in the season. We became unruly when the Ariza's flagrant foul sent Rudy home on a stretcher. We witnessed our Blazers become men as they thrashed the Spurs, the Lakers and the Mavericks down the stretch. And we cheered until our voices were lost when we made the playoffs for the first time in 6 years! Even though we couldn't afford it, we bought tickets to the playoffs.
As the season came to a close, and we washed, folded and put our jerseys away, we realized that winter had passed us by and the sun we had so long ago forgotten about, was blasting its warm rays across the land once more. Where had winter gone? How had we missed it? I'll tell you one thing that is for sure, we went right out and renewed our season tickets again. Winter of 2010, BRING IT ON!
Our little Blazer Fans!
Every Fall we all start urgently tossing around ideas as to how we can get through another endless winter. We could go to a cabin in the mountains, see a movie every Tuesday, have a potluck once a week, hold game night on Fridays... Despite our best of intentions and plans, none of us ever plan enough to keep us going. We hibernate in our little toasty houses and try to recall the reason we have called this rainy dismal place our home.
This last winter, the winter of 2009, was strangely different. It literally flew right past us and before we knew it, spring had arrived. The explanation for the change in the monotonous routine of winter was simple. We had purchased season tickets to the Blazers, splitting games with Jenny and Jason, our friends who live down the street. So as winter had just begun to rare its ugly head, the basketball season commenced.
It became an exhilarating routine each week after work to run home, change clothes, walk the dogs and drive to the Lloyd Center. From there, we'd park for free and walk with all the other fans the next 7 blocks, letting the packed trains of more blazer fans pass us by. Once at the Rose Garden, we'd go through our favorite entrance, pick up a program, head up the escalators, buy beer and sodas then head up to our 3rd level season seats we now called home. We got to know everyone around us as we gathered each week together to root on our beloved Blazers.
Nights we weren't at games, we were home or at friends houses watching the games on TV. In between game nights we got together to discuss the season, the trades, the issues, the calls. The games, became the perfect excuse to get out of the house. Wind, rain, snow, or ice couldn't stop us.We watched in horror as Oden was hurt in the first game. We rocked the house when Roy hit the winning shot against Houston with .09 seconds left. Charles Barkley said we had the best fans. We cheered through the loss to Boston and a humilating loss to the Lakers. We watched as Rudy amazed us with his colorful style of play and his breath taking dunks. We were there when Batum became a starter and felt the pain as Roy nursed an injury that plagued him early in the season. We became unruly when the Ariza's flagrant foul sent Rudy home on a stretcher. We witnessed our Blazers become men as they thrashed the Spurs, the Lakers and the Mavericks down the stretch. And we cheered until our voices were lost when we made the playoffs for the first time in 6 years! Even though we couldn't afford it, we bought tickets to the playoffs.
As the season came to a close, and we washed, folded and put our jerseys away, we realized that winter had passed us by and the sun we had so long ago forgotten about, was blasting its warm rays across the land once more. Where had winter gone? How had we missed it? I'll tell you one thing that is for sure, we went right out and renewed our season tickets again. Winter of 2010, BRING IT ON!
Our little Blazer Fans!
GO Blazers in 2010. We will be root-a-toot-tooting!
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