Weekend Question: How You Became a Fan

I grew up in eastern Oregon. Having no team in the state other than the Blazers, I latched on. That was right as the late '80s early '90s Blazers were coming into their prime. I liked the Seahawks too, and since they were terrible, the Blazers became my favorite team in any sport. It's been that way since, even with the debacle of the trader Bob era and the subsequent mess he left.

when my dad took me to see the blazers play the kings for my 9th birthday is when i really got hooked. but even before the bug had been planted by my uncle when i was little. he was always a fanatic and would always (and still does) tell me tons of stories of his childhood and the old time blazers. and since then the love has always stayed strong.

while I was away in the Air Force (1967-1973) and in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (1970-1971). As a Portland native family wrote me of the team and when I returned I worked for the team's auditors. Naturally tickets were great and plentiful then and I maintained my tickets from 1973 through 2000 when I was forced by health to move to a drier climate and avoid crowds (Sisters).

I remember Geoff Petrie, as a classy gentleman, and Mr. Glickman who was all a city could want in management. I remember Sidney Wicks and Larry Steele and Bill Walton with a pony tail. Maybe the player most missed was Moses Malone who was Portland's property and was killing everyone in training camp the year of our championship. Unfortunately there was a disconnect between coaches and players on the one hand and management and owner on the other and Moses was traded before the season started. Imagine what the 1978 team could have been when Walton was hurt and Moses would have stepped into the starting lineup.

I will say that the hockey team was our Portland franchise before the Blazers and Memorial Coliseum was built around them first. My brother and I went to many games there and hockey was fun then (no fights). That team opened up the idea of attending a pro basketball league when the Blazers came to town.

Mr. David Dodge was my third grade teacher and, as his students, we all idolized him.  When i was in his class, he had a running Blazer win-loss record that stayed in the corner of the chalk board during the ... 93-94 season, i think it was??  It was the season we opened 18-0.  He would treat us to cool tricks/candy/etc every time the blazers extended their winning record.  

I was hooked and never looked back.  He knew what he was doing, that sly devil.  

. . . which i think she slightly regrets now. I grew up playing Basketball in San Diego, which is a weird place to be a basketball fan, no team, and unlike Oregon, Californians aren't all on the same team when it comes who to root for. San Diegans would rather die before cheering for an LA team and the Warrirors and Kings were from northern California, so we basically just picked random NBA teams and followed them. Sadly, the Blazers weren't one of those random teams for me.

I played ball through High School (on a pretty bad team) and then went to college in Salem for a year and pretty much forgot about basketball and pro sports in general. This was followed by a few years of global travels and i finally settled back in Salem with my current girlfriend of 8 years. She and her family were huge Blazer fans and that was all it took for me to get totally back into basketball, playing pickup games a few times a week, and becoming a dedicated Blazer fan. the 99-00 season was the first i watched every game of, and after that game 7 loss, i was in for the long haul. every good sports fan knows that sticking through hard losses (and um, hard seasons, after seasons after seasons) make the eventual victories that much better. here's to the future.

 ...than a galvanizing moment. But perhaps it is different for me. I'm a Portland Native, born and raised here. Plus I was around 10 yrs old when The Blazers won the Championship. I can remember the spirit of excitement and celebration that gripped the entire city and state. So perhaps that is when the tear in the netting was made and I got bit by the Blazermania bug? But it still felt more like a process.

  I can remember my brother and I as kids going to Rose Festival and running from Police Man to Police Man in a fevered attempt to collect the entire Blazer Cop Cards collection. A really nice glossy photo collection of cards given out by the police.

   The voice of Bill Schonely entered our home like that of a visiting relative, who had just dropped by to describe the play by play of a game. Good Night EVERYBODY, often was the last thing heard before the lights and the radio were turned off, especially on a school night.

  When did I become a Blazer fan? When did I learn to hate The Lakers? It was a process of being a kid growing up in Portland.  

It all started back in June, 1977. The excitement of the championship infected me at the tender age of 5 ish.  My dad would take me to games periodically throughout the 80s. Back in 84 or 85, I remember my dad braving crowds to get Clyde's autograph for my game program.

Around 1990, when the Blazers were making their way to their eventual series against the Pistons, a high school buddy and I saw a playoff game against Utah. The atmosphere in the coliseum was unbelievable..it was true Blazermania!

From there, I've been pretty die-hard..even taking my allegiance up to Sonics territory for college. During our championship run in 1992, it was amazing to see "Go Blazers" signs all around Western Washington University. For a moment, Sonics fans even rooted us on!

Parents were Blazer fans from day one. I was born into an evolving tradition. I grew up watching Clyde the Glide, Kersey, Porter, Duckworth, Uncle Cliffy, etc. My dad nicknamed me "Drexler" as a kid. I have a mint condition Drazen Petrovic rookie card. My wardrobe as a child consisted of various Blazers t-shirts and jackets. Our family group photo (Olan mills) was taken with we in a "Rip City" shirt. I have pictures from every Blazer's game I have ever been to and I plan on attending a Blazers game this season when they play Atlanta.
~Nathan

I was born in 78 so I JUST missed the "glory days" of 78. Not that I would have remembered them anyway. But around age 10 or so I started to get into sports a lot more. I was home schooled and my mom was VERY sheltering. We werent allowed to watch a lot that was on TV but we could always watch sports. My uncle was also getting us hooked on sports cards of all kinds and when my brother and I found out we had a pro sports team in town, we started to collect Blazer cards like mad.

So in 92 my brother and I were enrolled in public school and one of the big things at the time was Z100 and the Bust a Bucket song. Or was that 93? Its been a while... anyway, basketball was one of the few things I could relate with any of the other kids and considering I could hold my own with most of the A team players, it was pretty cool.

I think by just being an Oregon native living near Portland will sooner or later make you a Blazers fan.

Reading through these comments has made me feel really old. When I read about all these fans that started way back in 1990...2000...my god, I can remember Syndey Wicks! Vaguely, through the eyes of a child, but still....

When I was a wee child, living in Ashland and Klamath Falls, I was a huge SF Giants baseball fan and they played those games on the radio down there. Every night I would check to see if a game was on the radio and frequently went to sleep listening to the games.  They were my bedtime stories...  Then one day another game also came on over the radio, the Blazers. I started listening and have been a huge fan ever since. I remember Wicks, Petrie, and all the gang. But those two were the ones that got me really hooked, along with the Shonz. Mr. Shonley was my bedtime story for a long time, he's the man.  I was a senior in HS the year we won it all, and that's when I got the rest of my family hooked.

was the first time I watched the Blazers, or any pro bball, for that matter.  Flipping through the channels and got caught by a play, watched the rest of the game; and was interested enough to look for more games.  It didn't take long to get hooked, and I haven't managed to shake the addiction in the years since.  It's been an interesting ride.

I already posted a long diary about this a while ago, so I won't repost the whole thing, just link to it HERE.  Suffice it to say, it was the discord and resolution of the last few years that really drew me in, rather than golden memories of the 1990-92 season.  A little odd, I know.

Ha, I'm kidding.  I got out of the navy in 1996 and moved to Eugene.  All my friends there loved the Blazers.  I would hang out with them and they would be watching Blazer games.  After a few weeks I was hooked.  I have tried not to miss a game since then.  They also got me into the Ducks.  

Now I gotta go to a bar at 10:00 in the morning because it's the only place showing the Duck game.  Have a good weekend, Go Blazers and Go Ducks.

Yep my father was a total Blazers Fanatic the day I was born in 1976. We hadn't yet won the championship but he was already obsessed with the team. While I wasn't old enough to remember the Championship on any conscious level Blazer Mania took deep root in my unconscious. I grew up hearing my dad lament about the Bobby Gross Maurice Lucas (Hope I got the details right I'm sure older fans will correct me) collision in 1977/78 that ended it all. Walton's injury a little while later put the nail in the coffin.

So my early Blazer mania years were during the dark ages of the early to mid eighties. When we had to suffer through the worst GM decision of all time Bowie over Jordan. And the reign of bi-coastal terror with the Celtics and Lakers winning seemingly every year for a decade (I know Houston and Detroit got in there). Hence why my hatred of the Lakers is nearly as strong as my love of our Blazers. I grew up with Kiki Vandeghwe (SP?) Darnell Valentine, Kermit Washington, Fat Lever and some other old school stars. Yes of course Drexler was there but he took awhile to bloom.

Then there was the Amazing runs of the late eighties and early nineties where my love of T.P in the corner for 3 or Kersey on the break just cemented my love for forever. Until this year they were my favorite Blazers team. There is finally a core of guys who might be better and has as intriguing of guys.

I personally love Roy and think contrary to popular belief that he will be who wins us the championship. It will be Oden who carries us to the finals but it will be Roy who executes, hits the clutch shots and personifies the "I won't be denied" attitude of a true champion. It was Roy's intangibles which are soooo off the hook that his representation changed the quantum field enough that we won the lottery and got Oden.

Roy will be why the blazers are champions in 3-6 years. His vision, leadership, charisma, skills and icy cold toughness will be what takes us from contendors to champs.

 "So let it be written, so let it be done" *Claps hands*

Inscribe it!!!

I am a true fan of the Kevin Pritchard era. I first started going to games right after Mo Cheeks got fired and KP was the interim coach. I loved Sebastian Telfair and Z-Bo and Darius. Joel Pryzbilla played his best ball then too. I loved them because my bigotted boss at the time detested them. I loved them because Nick freaking Van Exel thought he was too cool to play with them. I loved them because they were young and learning and flawed and imperfect. They were a punk rock basketball team. It was a great way to learn about the NBA. You learn that even someone as skilled around the basket as Z-Bo really needs to learn to pass out of the double team and that even a player as awkward as Joel Pryzbilla can get easy buckets on a well timed pick and roll. I probably saw every home game Pritchard coached. They won maybe two? It was awesome. I ate dollar dogs and sat in the cheap seats and roamed around the upper bowl looking to upgrade. Snuck in PBRs cuz I'm gangster like that. And watched a team try to get better. Good times. Portland's a punk rock town, and she deserves a punk rock team. I just hope success and good behavior in the future doesn't ruin the team or the town.

My family moved to Portland when I was 3(1988) and immediately picked up the blazers as our family team. I was an immediate Clyde Drexler fanatic at the age of 5.  I watched the pistons vs. blazers finals, but I dont remember any of it.  What I do remember is watching the next years finals, game 6 is what sticks out.  I remember the whole 4th quarter, that was the day I learned how hard it is to lose, and how much I hated MJ(I am over it now if anyone is wondering).  I was a blazer nut after that, I had my mom put up blazer wallpaper, I had a good 20 posters that were all blazers(still have most of them), I relgiously wore the "I wanna be like Mike" shirt where Mike is crossed out and Clyde is written below it.   I was a blazer fanatic and I still am, and the great part is how much good times are ahead.

I was 8 years old and I remember watching the games (when they were rarely broadcast on KGW) or listening to the games on the radio.  In fact, even when we watched the games, we turned the sound off and listened to the radio - nobody could call a game like Bill Schonley.

When they won the championship, we were at a friend's house as they had color TV.  I remember running around yelling 'We won!  We won!" while the adults jumped up and down and hugged.

I've been a fan ever since.

-D

- or many of you anyway.

I started paying attention to the NBA when Seattle got a team in the late '60s.  I'd always gone to basketball games in high school & college so it was a natural progression to watch the pros. (I lived in Seattle at the time and probably attended a Sonics' game or two, but I honestly don't remember - my husband and I were much more into hockey - as someone mentioned it was really fun then and Seattle & Portland had  huge rivalry.)  We got transferred to Portland in '72 and I easily slipped into following the  Blazers (it took him many years to abandon the Sonics) - we went to a game or two, but again saw more hockey games, tho it was really hard to try to root for the team we had hated so much.  

After we went our separate ways I followed the team, but not avidly until the late '80s.  I backed off during the Whitsitt era, paying only minimal attention. The hiring of Nate McMillan got me paying closer attention and the finding of Dave's blog in the spring of '06 cemented my return to avid fandom.

Remember watching first game, 1981.  Was watching with my Dad with names like Natt, Lever, Paxson, Valentine, and Thompson.  Don't really remember any of those games except asking my dad what was going on.  Grew up watching the NBA and especially the Blazers.  Earned my hatred of the La*ers by watching losses every.....single......year.  At the age of eight wondered if Vandeweghe (sp?) was worth three good players.  By the time the team got to contender status I had been watching for 8 years and cried when the Blazers lost to the Pistons.  I had lost some interest in the Blazers as they got more and more frustrating to read about (Gary Trent is my hero), thought it was because I was getting older and changing priorities, but this last year reminded me that I am a Blazers fan first.

The beginning of my blazer fandom had to be during the '89-'90 season.  I was in the 4th grade and can recall watching the playoff games with my grandma.  For some reason I remember playing Phoenix and Dallas. For the next three years or so I remember everyone in my neighborhood, St. Johns, sporting either the "Rip City" or "Beat L.A." signs in their windows. I have been hooked ever since!

   I lost touch a little through high school as I began other interests, but was sucked back in during the shortened '98-'99 season. Walt Williams, Jim Jackson, Brian Grant, Greg Anthony, talk about some great role players!

The first Blazer memories I have were from being 6 years old during the Blazers-Lakers series and getting all this crap from my grandma (big Lakers fan) about it, and telling her that I was going to bite the bullet and root for the Bulls because I was really mad at her team.
I was just getting old enough to play on the playgrounds and whatnot when they went all the way to the finals the next year -- obviously, every single boy in my class wanted to be the next Drexler or Porter (my personal favorite).
Also, we didn't have TV reception in my house, so my brothers, my dad and I would usually watch games at our next door neighbor Rose's house.  She was a retired schoolteacher and Blazer fan since the beginning.  She was always a lot more pessimistic than I was about the team, and we disagreed about Rasheed and some other things, but it was really a treat to watch the games with her for so long.  It makes me sad to think that she wasn't able to stick around long enough to see this resurgence of Blazermania -- she died two years ago.
Despite leaving Portland in 2003, I've paid close attention to the team -- even when I was living in South America and they earned the worst record in basketball.

Before 99-00 season I knew little about NBA and Blazers, but I became a Blazer fan after Pip came to Portland. In that season, I became to know how great this team was and fell in love with it. I'm in China.  The main way to get the news about NBA was through some newspapers and sports magazines. The information of Blazers was limited but my love became unlimited.

By the way, I want to say you guys are so lucky to live in Portland or some other places where you can watch most of the Blazer games. In China we could only watch at most 4-5 Blazer games/season on TV before. Thanks to the internet I watched more than 10 games last season. Hopefully we can have more and more live games in the future.

At the record store I used to work at in, like, '97 or so, my coworkers talked extensively about 'the game last nite'. I got in on the conversation & became really intrigued about 'style of play' and other similar comments. I had never even been a fan of pro basketball, although I liked Raiders football since my youth.
I watched the next game broadcast on TV and mainly got hooked watching 'Sabas' and his smooth passes, particularly a 'no-look' that plain FLOORED me. This was right around when things really started going South for the team, but I was hooked, nonetheless. Been a fan ever since, and can't WAIT for Opening Night!

I was 3 years old.  My father was watching basketball (a blazer game) and I asked if I could watch with him.  He put me on his lap and we watched the game.  Then we went outside and played basketball (really he played and I started learning to dribble).  Since then I've loved basketball and loved the Blazers.  I don't remember the team at that time but I distinctly remember everthing from '86 on.  I couldn't get enough of the Blazers, I loved the game and the team and I haven't wavered since that time.  There came a time when I was dissapointed in the some of the players actions on the team but my commitment to them has only gotten stronger as I get older.  

To make it worse I started playing fantasy basketball about 7 years ago so now I spend even more time looking at basketball stats and scores so on top of it all I've become a stat geek.  Luckily I have a very understanding wife that even goes to games with me on occassion!

I have been a big fan through thick and thin. Those TB's - and by association the rest of the NBA - are my only sport obsessions.

Why?  Because NBA'ers are the worlds best athletes and the Blazers are Oregon's only major league team.    

Early 90's I bought a Drexler singlet cause I was just getting into Bball and I thought it looked pretty cool . What a wise choice that was.

Didn't really start getting deeply passionate though unitl around 97'98 and each year my passion has grown even more. I am pleased to say the apart from being unable to attend games for living in Australia I am a Blazer fan through and through.

Already got myself a nice Oden t-shirt.

I just stumbled across this site and after taking a gander at the blogs in the last month and a half or so, leading all the way up to today... I instantly fell in love with this place and wish I had found it sooner!  Let's see, how I became a Blazer fan.

I was born in '74 so the lone championship season was well before my viewing time. My early childhood was spent living in Myrtle Creek and Roseburg, and with my father being a non-sports fan games of any kind were never on. Around 1987 we moved up to the Portland Metro area and from here I began to get my first few glimpses. It wasn't until 3 years later when I began to paying much more attention. A large part of that had to do with my father purchasing a new TV for the living room and so I got to have the old one in my room and from there I began to watch all televised Blazer games. For a number of years it became a big ordeal for my older brother and I to head over to GI Joe's to get in line on the day that games were to go on sale. They limited the amount of games you could purchase at a time so after each of us had bought as many cheap seat tickets we could we'd go back to the end of the line and wait our turn again. We'd do that multiple times until every dollar we had saved was spent.

I must admit that there came a time a few years back where it seemed as if I had drifted away from the Blazer scene. I would still watch an occasional game here and there but I really wasn't "into" them. My interest came back in a big way before the start of last season. And now I'm greatly anticipating for next season to begin. For the first time I have purchased a pair of season tickets and as of right now I plan on renewing each year from here on out. When we received that #1pick in the draft lottery the state of ecstasy I was feeling was nearly beyond description.  Strange to say, but that was probably the first time I had ever felt that good in my entire life. I want to feel that more often! Watching games on TV can be exciting, but it simply can't measure to the amount of joy that being there live can bring. I bought my season tickets in hopes that the Trailblazers are going to make it a tradition to dish out those good vibes on a regular steady basis... which I'm sure they will sooner or later and I have to be there for when it happens. C'mon October 10th!

I moved to Portland a year and a half ago (and moved away a few months ago), and I came on as a fan after last year's draft. The six trades and PA's renewed willingness to spend money on his team made me realize that this was a team worth following. I started reading some of the blogs regularly, and by regular season I was hooked.

  ...I became a fan just like everyone else. I think I was heading to "Brookstones" at the mall to look at back massagers when I passed a television that happened to be showing a Blazer/Laker playoff game. I became mesmorized as they kept replaying a clip of Rasheed Wallace throwing a towel in his own teammates Sabonis's face. I thought, "That's the type of teamwork I want in my Organization". I was really hooked then.

    How could someone not love the antics of Bonzi "Sometimes I Black Out" Wells? Flippin' throw the guy a bone! Qyntel Woods? Trail Blazing pioneer, was ahead of Michael Vick by years!

  Steve Patterson? Why did you guys get rid of him? I pattern my own leadership skills after him. What's wrong with checking the hard drive of all your computers? The guy was wound tighter than turban on a bald Arabian. I loved him. All I want to say is "Steve, wherever you are, there's always a chair for you at my table!" Shrink you down, you can be the new Mini-Me!

   I also admired Dr.Steve Nash. Always so confident. You could hardly tell he was sabotaging the whole operation. Huge contracts to Ratliff and Miles! Brilliant! Let's trade for SAR even though we already have Randolph and Miles?...sheer sabotaging genius. He almost torched the whole franchise when he brought in his boy "That's not MY gun" Telfair! ...could I take a moment, I'm tearing up...

   I'm concerned. I might have to drop this team. This Pritchard guy is not with the old program. I'm really disturbed by this focus on talent and character. He's been able to undo so much of the fantastic work of Patterson and Nash.

  Really, what's the point? This team is now likeable. Give me the glazed eyed madness of a Rasheed about to get his second "T" and thrown out of the game! The quiet leadership of Brandon Roy?...The never ending energy of Aldridge. Plus these guys seem to get along!

  What are The Lakers doing, I'm out of here. I've always liked Kobe.  

     My father moved the family to the Rogue
Valley in 1973 and because we lived in the
country, we only got two channels (Both fuzzy)
on our TV. My older brother and I were always
outside playing sports, so we would listen to
the radio while shooting hoops at the local
elementary school outdoor court. We met two
older guys (they looked like hippies) at the
court and used to play 2 on 2 while listening
to Shonz on the radio. Being a big time baseball fan and player, I loved being able to root for  Oregon's only pro sports team.
     My brother was a big UCLA fan and the Walton
connection was undoubtably a big factor in developing a Blazer passion. I got to see my first Memorial game in 1980 and since that time
I've been able to attend 40 to 50 games. We were
lucky in the mid 80's to have the Blazers come
to Medford and KFalls for exhibition games, with
the highlight being halfcourt chairs on the floor
at OIT in 1988 vs. the Kings. Clyde ran over us
in our chairs going for a loose ball and later
I got him to sign a big homemade banner featuring most of the Blazer players.
     Since 1985 or so I have watched and taped
almost every TV game and have numerous autographed
signs, including a locker room sneak job in
Phoenix 1999 (was attending spring training).
My buddy and I used the food servers entrance to get under the arena to get Jermaine and Sheed to autograph my sign. During that time the amount of L@$^&r fans moving into Southern Oregon seemed to be getting out of hand. I did the only thing any Blazer fan could do; work them on the court and advise a return move to La-La land. It's a long, long standing hatred that cannot be assuaged.
    I have continued to preach the Blazers to
friends and acquaintances throughout the low
times and have seen some come back since the
_ _ _ _ Blazer years. I've delighted in
the resurgence of "Old School" players like
Brandon Roy, Ime, JJ, LMA and now GO. The
Blazers are on the path, now they just need
some time to gel into a championship unit.
BOOK THAT !

P.S. - Lee3022 and Dr Dave- Thanks for your service and anytime you have any stories about
your experiences, I'd love to hear. I've loved
history since I was a small boy and have a
degree in history/Sec. Ed. I been lucky to meet
and talk with many WWII,Korean (my father served),
and Vietnam veterans. It's amazing how much we
could learn from these BRAVE men who helped build
this great country.

I moved to Portland in 2000 and when I saw the Blazers lose in the 2001 playoffs, I was apathetic.  I didn't like the players on that team.

I thought Bob Whitsett was an idiot, driving fans away with his revolving door of players making all the wrong headlines, and wasn't surprised to see his teams gradually slipping downhill.

All that said, I became a fan when they undertook rebuilding in earnest - so at the beginning of the 2005 season.  They only won 21 games, but they played hard every possession, and have ever since.

That said, Miles can hit the road, the sooner the better.

I was in the fourth grade, and it was the first year that I really followed a sports team closely the entire year.  Every sports fan should have an experience like that early on in life... it's good for the soul.

I suppose you could say it's been downhill ever since but it really hasn't.  I feel sorry for the younger fans who must feel like they are following the NBA's version of the Buffalo Bills.

it was the mid 90s, and I was in middle school.  In Eugene, you got BlazerVision for free.  Basically, I needed something to do in the dark winter nights.  I was flipping through the channels and stopped on the Blazer game.  I enjoyed it so much, that I just kept tuning in.  Haven't stopped since.