Ever met a Trail Blazer?

I met Paul Allen at a Terry Robb show once and saw that reporter that always said “Bodatious” once. Sadly thats as close to a blazer Ive ever gotten.

sheed was a douche

… I shot threes with Sabonis at the RAC.

I also saw Sheed with his kids down at Bullwinkles at the batting cages, and chatted him up about P-Town. He told me he liked the town OK, but felt suffocated. He is a good man and a good dad!

He was at California Pizza Kitchen, sitting at the bar by himself. I happened to be wearing a B-Rex jersey, and when he noticed I was wearing a Blazers jersey I think he was impressed, up until the point he realized it was a Bayless jersey. Not that he has an issue with J-Bay, but I think he was disappointed it wasn’t his jersey.

 I also met Gary Trent at an Applebee’s when I was, like, 13. Nice guy.

Oh, oh, I almost forgot! When I was in high school I worked at a movie theater, and Erick Barkley used to come in all the time, but always after we were closed. But I used to let him in anyway. After I did that a couple times, he started coming in and asking if I was working, and he would always come and talk to me for a while, just about random stuff. Pretty much, me and Erick Barkley were movie theater buddies. Good times.

It got a linked on the Oregonlive blazers blog and lots of basketball forums a couple years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Env0qC3_Yyc

Disclaimer: My friends are annoying. I’m not the one asking the questions.

But Darius was super nice in the face of all the personal questions that were thrown at him. He had to go sit with these VIPs so we slipped him a note with the waiter saying “leave all those boring people and come sit with us, your real fans”. He laughed. He gave a speech at the end of the night and he thanked “his dawgs” sitting at the table in the back.

so does Mike Barrett and Rebecca Haarlow.

i also made a sandwich for rebecca when i worked at paradise bakery last year. chicken walnut on wheat. ohhhh yeaaahhh.

Antonio Harvey’s kids (when he was a Blazer). We would hang out with him every once and a while. My dad was Duckworth’s neighbor (he would ride around on a golf cart around his house).

I don’t think he understand anything I was saying, probably thought I was an idiot.

He was trying to blend in and be nonchalant and was slouching so far down in his chair he looked like the same height as everyone else, with his legs so far under the table it was comical, and his hood was up over his head. He had a small entourage with him. I saw him and he saw me and knew I was looking for him. I went over and said “what’s up Greg?” He was kind of taken aback and said “what’s up man?” in a low voice, and pounded my fist. I said “good game last night. You owned the Bucks.” Then he said thanks with a big smile. I could tell wanted to be left alone so I did. He was nice overall.

he was on the escalator, and realized there was a man a couple steps down who was towering over him.

He seemed like 9 feet tall as opposed to 6’9’’ or whatever he is.

I was clubbin’ at the Agency (the ultra super duper crazy sports lounge/ club after 10). Then decided to sit down and drink for a bit with my friend. Then some big guys came into the seating area and told people to move the hell out cause the area was reserved.

Moments later after I moved, Greg Oden in his yellow polo and jeans walked in and sat down. Before I knew it, there was a huge crowd.

So throughout the night I saw GO here and there…(always sitting). But the good part is, I saw him working his game on some ladies. He seems to be pretty healthy, so I think we’re set for a deep playoff run.

Go blazers lol

When I was about 8 years old. I went to dinner with my family and he was at the restaurant. I remember he was gigantic and very nice. He shook my hand, and when we went into the parking lot I saw his Rolls Royce with the license plate “BOO”. At least that’s how I remember it.

at a basketball camp in Portland. GP and Brian Shaw were there too.

Met Drexler, Buck, Uncle Cliffy and Kersey at different times as a kid during meet and greets around town in the late 80’s early 90’s. They were all really cool guys and being able to shake their hands and get their autographs were things I will never forget. Nothing like having someone who had hands that were almost as big as you are tall shake your hand.

In high school a bunch of my friends and I used to paintball with Brian Grant, Sheed, and Damon. Sheed was really cool and funny. Grant was the best though. Damon, well, he “smoked”. So did Sheed. Certainly not the best roll models but they were nice to us all. Even though they had the best gear you could get, we used to just smoke them. Easy prey, big targets. :)

I met Steve Smith and Scotty Pippen when I was working at Washington Square. Sheed and Brian Grant used to go into Babbages with what looked like their entire neighborhood of kids. They would say hi when they walked past my card booth in front of Babbages. I could never tell if they were just being nice, of if they remembered me from paintball.

Last year I met James Jones in the parking lot of the Lake Grove Safeway. He was nice, but in a hurry.

I have also met Mo Cheecks a few times. Last time I saw him was about a year and a half ago at a friends wedding. He was also the neighbor to an old family friend of mine for a while.

I was chattin it up/hitting on his cousin, and she introduced me to him. He was totally cool and genuine. Aside from being 6’11" I hardly noticed him because he was basically a normal guy havin fun and makin his rounds at the party. Being around him that night just confirmed why everyone in PDX loves Frye.

I saw Duckworth one time at a Circuit City and he was easily the largest human I had ever seen in person. Seriously huge!

      Since I live in Medford, they were all at games. I’ve gotten
plenty of autographs over the years, but had conversations
with the following.
Kiki V. at preseason game – Medford High 85 ? – UCLA gym rat.
Duck & Kersey – Pre season Medfor High 87 – Under the basket
at halftime – Duck was really down to earth and excited to be a Blazer.
Clyde after preseason game at OIT 88 – Talked to him for a couple minutes
and challenged him to a game of Double Dribble – He said he was good.
Bill Smith – Played hoops against him at the Medford Y – 92 ? – 7 footer
Rod Strickland & Harvey Grant 94-95 season – met them at dinner at Cucina
Cucina – Rose Garden – Harvey -easy going and talkative – Rod – street saavy
and to the point. We were waiting for a table and talked for ten to 15 minutes.
Brian Grant – Stopped off to see a Blazer-Sactown game on my way to Spring
training 98 – we won the game (JR Rider & John Barry got in a scuffle) and I
waited around by the Blazers bus for 1/2 hour. B. Grant came out before
most and we talked for 15 minutes. What a cool, down to earth guy ! I’ve been
around a lot more pro baseball players (at games and away), but not many
nicer than the Rasta Monster !!
Rasheed, Jermaine and Mousey – at Phoenix 2000 – Snuck thru food servers
entrance and made my way down to Blazers bus. All three came down were
surprised a Blazer fan made it to the bus. Sheed and Jermaine didn’t have much
to say. * Kirby Puckett was at that game also – WOW he had gotten BIG !
Clyde again in 2006 – Clyde Drexler night – Got him to re-autograph my hand made
sign from 1988 – he remembered our Nindendo conversation and we talked for a few
minutes. What a classy gentleman and always friendly !

your first fanpost? good job.

At Spirit Mountain Casino a couple weeks before he died. I wish I had offered to buy him a drink. R.I.P.

and great stories

I’ve only met players at the annual season ticket holder party. Frye, Jarrett Jack (last year), Kersey were the only ones where I got to exchange a few words, although I did get a high five (for me, low for him) from Przy..

and I also got to give Rudy a high five and tell him welcome at fan fest..

Darius Miles handed my little girl a t-shirt at fanfest.

Talked to Steven Hill a little bit at fanfest this year…. that was awesome

Jerome Kersey at BWW Draft party

Fanfest is awesome for meeting blazers if you aren’t lucky enough for a chance encounter.

He sure was handsome.

Lamarcus, Greg and Webster of the current Blazers. + Monty

Of Blazers past I’ve met Sabonis, Jerome, Brian Grant, Duck (R.I.P., my uncle and him were first name basis friends), Damon, Mo lucas, Miles, Sheed and Buck.

I also used to get to talk to Snapper about once a week when he’d come into the store I worked at.

I’ve met everyone on the current roster in one way or another except for Roy, Outlaw, Bayless or Shav. No RLEC either.

Met LaRue Martin at Rosewood Grocery in LO, circa 1974. He was very big and I not so much.

when I was working and it was pretty late so things were slow. I, of course, was super jacked because Ime was my favorite player for the Blazers when he played for us since he was a hometown guy and all. I was really nervous and wanted to act nonchalant about it so I just went about making his smoothie. When I went to pour it I started to ask him what he was up to that night and if he was happy with the Spurs and whatnot and promptly missed the cup when I was pouring it, spilling the smoothie all over the counter. He just laughed and said don’t worry about it so I made him a bigger to replace it. I felt like too big of an idiot to say anything after that though.

and I used to see Kevin Duckworth all the time at The Animal House (pet shop), Albertsons, and Jack In The Box. He was a VERY cool guy. Would always talk to you, and he would always talk to my kids.

I saw Jerome Kersey at K Mart buying Halloween stuff. He was nice too, my 3 year old little girl buying her princess costume buttered him up though.

I’ve seen Chris Dudley around, and I saw Kevin Durant riding in a car before he was drafted. Saw Damon in his big yellow Hummer once.

but I’ve met Bonzi Wells when I used to work at a casino. I was valet there and parked his car. He was very nice even tipped a $50. I’ve also met Duckwork and Kersey both at a casino together. I met Bill Walton at a game when I was a kid and was not imressed.

When I was a kid, I’d see Mychal Thompson at the church my family attended in Ridgefield, WA. I think his wife is from there. It was funny seeing him TOWER over everyone else. No one ever gave him a second thought.

Also, as a kid I’d see Clyde and Jerome downtown every once in a while.

For several years around 2000 I worked in a building right next to the Benson Hotel, with a good view down to the hotel and the street. It was also just up from the 5th Avenue Suites and would see various NBA guys just walking on the sidewalk . I remember seeing Danny Ainge walking outside Starbucks, I had to do a double take.
I remember seeing John Salley walking up the street to Peterson’s convenience store and I saw Shaq arrive at the Benson once..

Oh..a former co-worker of mine’s cousin was (one of) Stacey Augmon’s mistress/‘down low’ girls.

JR Rider
Jermaine O’Neal
Maurice Lucas
Scottie Pippen
Damon Stoudamire

I think that is it!

-I met Kevin Duckworth at this thing that my Dad was doing for him when I was younger.
-I saw Sheed in Circuit City and said hi to him and he just ignored me.
-I saw Sabonis at the mall and said hi to him and I couldn’t stop staring and thinking about how tall he is.
-I went to a movie with Jermaine O’Neal, ok we just happened to be at the same movie (Bourne Supremacy), but after the movie I was in the lobby and Maurice Lucas happened to be there too and Jermaine and Maurice where talking and then I went and said hi to Jermaine and he as nice to me.
-I met Darius Miles at the Apple Store and talked to him, he was pretty nice
-I met Jerome Kersey last summer.
-And last summer I went to Chris Dudley’s house cause my cousin was helping house sit while he was on vacation, so I never actually met him but I was at his house

I met Rudy at the airport when he flew in last September. It was quite a sight!
He high fived and signed my Blazer jersey. Total class act and very well mannered!
Go Blazers!

Oden – I was riding my CBR out around Scholl’s Ferry Road to get back to my office in Tigard from Cornelius and Oden was riding that huge rehab bicycle. Definitely turned around gave a few fist pumps, turned around again and burned some rubber. Wish he was closer to the practice facility because I had my Ohio State basketball shorts with me in my backpack.
Channing – I was up in the VIP section at Dante’s for Inferno Sunday night and Channing and another dude with a couple girls came up and chilled. They didn’t stay very long, they didn’t have very good view of the stage and left after about 45 minutes.

In 1994 I worked at a restaurant down on John’s Landing. I once met Terry Porter there. A lot of the Blazers used to come in. Cliff Robinson, Harvey Grant, and Rod Strickland especially.

As a side note—Bo Jackson came in one night and sat at the bar. I remember walking by him and thinking, “My God, that’s got to be the biggest back I’ve ever seen.” Seriously, the dude had the V body going on. No, I’m not gay.

Oh, and I saw Greg Oden at Hollywood Bowl on Sunday night, but I didn’t meet him. I did, however, shake his hand at the fan appreciation night before the season started. Remarkably soft hands. I’m still not gay.

When I was a little kid I met and got autographs from a coupld of the Drexler era Blazers (don’t know what ever happened to those).

I have met Rudy a couple of times. First was at the airport meeting. I got an autograph from him and stalked him with some other fans out the door. I also met Kevin Pritchard that day as well. I then met Rudy at the Fanfest where I posed with him for a picture. Then my friend failed to push the right button and he took off before we could take another picture. Total fail.

My other meeting was at a “club” that shall not be named for the sake of judgement. I was there playing poker with a friend and Channing showed up. We were excited as it was, and I almost fell over and died on the spot because Rudy and Sergio came in. My friend and I went over and talked to them for like 10 minutes. I offered to buy them drinks and they were taken aback by it but did not take me up on the offer, as they were not drinking (probably wanted to until they realized two huge fans were there). They were super nice and Channing was charming. He even gave my friend a hug (in a total non-flirting way as his girlfriend/fiance was there). Rudy is hotter in person, as is Sergio. It was a proud moment for me, and the reason why Rudy prolly thinks I am stalking him :)

LOL.

When I was 6 I met Kevin Duckworth at a pet store. We talked about which of the dogs were the cutest.

I’ve run into Oden and Martell both recently, but not in a situation to talk to either of them. Oden was still limping from his surgery and Martell was in his boot. Hmm…

Met Mychal Thompson up at the Mt. St. Helens visitor center.

Talked briefly to Buck Williams at the main Powell’s (downtown).

Talked to Uncle Cliffy a couple of years ago at a New Seasons (what was he doing in Beaverton?). He wasn’t especially friendly. To be expected, I guess.

Terry Porter lived around the block from us in Tualatin. My friend and I went and had him sign our basketballs. My friend probably still has his, but my brother and I just used it afterward until it went flat, rubbed off and we threw it away. We didn’t have what you’d call a long term perspective.

I have met a lot of the blazers. Jerome Kersey Lived in West Linn where I was growing up and I have met him quite a few times. While Trick-O-Treating on Halloween we would always go to his house and he would be answering the doors and giving out King sized snickers. Also used to swim at his house because I was friends with his neighbors. I loved Jerome, was a stand up guy.

Brian Grant came to my high school for FCA (fellowship of christian athletes). He was a way cool guy.

Met James Jones in Tualatin getting something from Radio Shack and Steve Blake lives in West Linn so I see him around quite a bit. He is a great Dad.

Greg, Sergio, Nic, Steve, Nate, Channing, Ike, Monty, Dean, Mike Medina, Rudy, Mike Barrett, Jerryd…also met Greg’s mom, Nates cousin & sister-in-law, a couple of Nate’s sons(Ithink) Lucas and family – - all through my association with Shavlik…

I have found them all to be most gracious and pleasant . . .

My favorite so far though was meeting Ben :-)

I saw Steve Jones in a CD shop picking out music. I left him alone. Music is such a personal choice you know.

I played music at a function for Blazers’ sponsors in the late ’80s, up close to the golf course halfway up Mt Hood. Mr. and Mrs. Schonely were there and left early; Geoff Petrie was there and requested a song, I forget which one; Kersey had a Heineken over ice which I thought was interesting. I spoke briefly to all three and they were all very nice.

Way back in the day, I saw Kenny Carr getting in some roadwork downtown on Naito Parkway, this is probably before it was called Naito Parkway. I waved, he waved back.

A friend once saw LaRue Martin at the Mittleman Center. LaRue asked him: Do you have any tools to fix the hoop? Friend said No. – Elgin

I saw JR Rider (my hero!), Kelvin Cato, and Rasheed at Lloyd Center right before Christmas one year. They were shopping in a hurry, especially Rider. – Elgin

Strickland at fanfest, he autographed a basketball card of his! (fleer ultra i believe), Kersey autographed a napkin from nordstrom’s diner, and saw Channing at pioneer place.

In 1992 our HS team was in the State playoffs at the Coliseum, and our coach knew Adelman. So he arranged for us to have a practice at the Blazers practice facility. We practiced first, then the Blazers practiced after us. The Blazers practiced in a gym at a school, but they actually laid down a replica of the Coliseum court over the top of the gym floor. Danny Ainge came and talked to us for awhile about his experiences with the State tournament as a player. We got to watch the first half of the Blazers practice, just sitting courtside. Incredible experience. I just remember how amazed I was by how rarely the players missed shots while warming up. Drexler was so smooth.
Of course since I’m a car guy I really liked seeing the players cars in the parking lot. I loved Duckworth’s jacked-up Blazer with the huge tires and CB antennas. And of course I didn’t think to bring a camera.

I was standing in the comedy section of Captain Video in Lake Grove one night back in the 80’s when I noticed that Jerome Kersey – rookie forward for the Blazers – was standing next to me. I made a comment like “Nice game last night” and he looked down at the ground and mumbled a thank you. I left him alone…..

Saw him again at the Mt. Park Thriftway a year later and he was much more open to carrying on a conversation. Probably more comfortable at that point with people recognizing him in public.

Ran into a lot of other Blazers in LO back in the 80’s – Holton, Thompson, Carr, etc.

2 years ago at Summer League I had a 2 minute conversation with Maurice Lucas, which was quite the thrill. I told him to work the young guys hard and he just laughed and promised to do just that.

She was on her way in to the Rose Garden for work, had her headphones on and wasn’t paying attention to where she was going. She says she was thinking about work, walked across a driveway, then heard a loud screech. She looked up in time to see a car stop just short of her.

She knew she had messed up, so she looked up to say sorry. Before she could say anything, out pops Roy’s head from the driver’s side window asking if she’s ok. She told me even though it was clearly her fault, Brandon was apologizing like it was his. Seemed like a genuinely good dude.

I’ve only met one Blazer in person. Buck Williams back when I was 11 years old. I’m a tall guy, and was taller than everyone else at my school back then, so I wasn’t used to being towered over like that. He was great though.

saw steve at mall 205, he was way cool! also saw darius at kfc before a game – yeah he was getting greasy chicken before hittin the hardwood!

Yes I have.

since I moved to the Bay Area in 1980. Prior to that:

• I once delivered a package to Bill Walton’s house in West Linn but he wasn’t there, so I set it on fire and left it on his doorstep. Or maybe I didn’t have a match. Whatever.

• I was waiting at the luggage carousel at PDX and saw the 1978 team walk by.

That’s it for me, but my dad has a great story. He was returning home from the coast on Sunset Highway during the winter of 1978 and saw a Mercedes in the ditch and a woman struggling to get out of the car. He stopped to help and gave her a ride back to Portland. She was Maurice Lucas’ wife. He got to meet Maurice, who shook his hand and thanked him for rescuing his wife. He offered Dad seats to a few games, but Dad wasn’t much of a basketball fan and only went once or twice. Here’s the funny part: Dad never knew I was a Blazer fan and never told me about any of this until a few years later when he learned I liked the Blazers. I’m still in therapy about it.

He didn’t even say anything to him, which surprises me because my dad is the definition of a social butterfly.

Oh wait…

or was it ’94?

either way.. he was the only 7 foot tall greying redhead i’ve ever seen at a Dead concert.. it was exciting.. he’s usually backstage but has said in interviews that he prefers to watch the set from the front if there is general admission

I saw Kevin Pritchard with his girlfriend (?) at the Oregon Sports Awards last year sneaking out the doors immediately after the show ended. We made eye contact and I was about to yell “You could walk on water in my book, Mr. Pritchard!” but he looked like he was in a huge hurry to leave so I just decided to leave him be. I still wish I would’ve said something…

When I was about 3 years old my dad took me to an event and I got a picture with Clyde, Kersey, and Tracy Murray. The thing was I had no idea who they were and I was terrified of them. Now my dad has a picture of me being held by these three blazers with me totally screaming while they attempt a smile. I guess being an NBA star isn’t always fun.

I also met Kermit Washington as a kid at the restaurant he used to own in Vancouver. He just came to my table and sat down with my family and chatted for about a half hour. I thought that was pretty cool. I met him again a few months ago at my college in DC because he was doing a charity event. (I made sure not to approach him too quick. Don’t want him to pull a Tomjanovich on me lol)

I knew Damon Stoudamire growing up, he was best friends with my older brother and still are, they played basketball at wilson together. I saw him alot, he knows me personally, I see him whenever he comes to town. I met Ima udoka a few times, I chatted with Jerome Kersey long time ago. When I was a kid I wanted Kevin Duckworth’s autograph at a restaraunt, he was rude and said he was still eating. I seen Lamarcus and Sergio at the Solo club last year, I said hi to sergio. I seen Joel at pioneer place a few years ago, his wife was telling him that they should go to the louis voutton store for a purse. I seen Oden at the agency a few weeks ago, he seems fine to me, looks healthy, wasn’t limping, hope to see him back soon!!!

the most recent was seeing Trout and entourage at Lloyd Center a year or so ago during the season.

Also holy god there’s a lot of West Linn people in here.

this was a great idea for a thread. such a nice break from the intensity of the playoff race (and the fanposts that intensity generates)! kudos to you.

Was downtown somewhere after getting family portraits. Had to be around 1978. Me and my brother ran up to him and started talking and doing normal young kid stuff (was 10 or so) and Bill said something kind of rude and walked off. I think it was after he broke his leg.

Makes me mad when I hear him talk about how current players should act and such with fans. Huess was a do as I say not as I did thing

James Jones – I saw him with his family at a Safeway in Lake Oswego.
Martell Webster – I saw him walking near Pioneer Square last summer.
That’s the tiny list of players I’ve seen outside of the Rose Garden.

My wife and I were sitting next to Wayne Cooper on a commercial flight just after the Blazers 1990 (or was it 92?) playoff run.

My wife had no idea who he was, and started talking with him. He was the most gracious and fun guy you would ever imagine. Meanwhile, I’m going “ahemetaahemetaahemeta”.

Jack Ramsey, Mo Luke, Lionel Hollins, Larry Steele, Bobby Gross, Dave Twardzik at Ramsey’s summer basketball camp in 77 a few weeks after they won the championship.

Have seen Zach, Cliff Robinson and Darius in clubs. Cliff n Darius seemed cool. Zach not so much.

When I was about 13 I was at Bullwinkles with some friends playing mini-golf. Jermaine, his gf, and a buddy were also playing min-golf and were about 4 holes ahead of us. We rushed as fast as we could and got right behind them just so we could sit and spy on them while we waited for them to finish. Never said anything though, we were too nervous.

I worked at the movie theater inside Lloyd Center in high school and served Maurice Cheeks popcorn and treats. He was there with like 8 family members and like 5 kids. They all bought whatever they wanted. He dropped over $80 on concessions. It was the summer that we drafted Sebastian Telfair. I was really excited. I told Cheeks not to just sit him on the bench and make sure Telfair gets a lot of PT. I feel semi-responsible for his firing.

At the same job, Darius Miles came in one night. With a girl. He was high as a f-ing kite. Eyes were bright red. His girl did all the talking – she was nice. And she was hot. And she must have been dumb as a rock because she was at a movie with Darius Miles.

I took a cab about a year ago and the driver said he had given lots of rides to Blazers in the past. He said that EVERY SINGLE ONE asked if they could smoke weed in the cab. Every one. He named Damon, Darius, and surprising to me . . . Dale Davis. He also took Davis to a dentist appt one time (no weed this trip) and he had him wait out side for 2 hours and then tipped $200.

with most of the blazers at summer league… (YEAR ODEN got drafted). Roy was there being like a player coach.. guy was always smiling. i was fortunate to run into my (airforce commander who got to go meet and greet most of the rookies.. took me and my buddy with him)

Think the best memory of all was when BIG BABY DAVIS and Rajon Rondo, were right next to me.. chatting about some girl… they just seen. then afterwords, i just give him a head nodd, and told em.. BLAZERS are gonna work you guys. :) (he just smiles and does wave lol.

im off to go play some open gym at my church.
Blazer Bless.

Someone dared me to call KP two days before the draft and tell him to draft Greg Oden. So I called the number for the Blazer front office, and got Pritchard’s extension. After the beep, I said that I wanted to congratulate him on the job he’d done as GM so far, and that fans were really excited about the direction of the team. I said that he should definitely draft Greg Oden. After that, I hung up.

A few minutes later, I checked my phone and saw that I had received a voice mail. I checked it, and heard this:
“Steven, this is Kevin Pritchard calling with the Portland Trail Blazers. I wanted to thank you for you call, it was very insightful. Hopefully we’ll do the right thing at the draft, otherwise I’ll have people bringing torches and pitchforks to my house! But don’t worry, we will do the right thing, and I think Blazer fans will be very pleased.”

Couldn’t believe I missed that call.

In about ’80 or ’81, my dad was at a bar near the waterfront in downtown Portland, and he saw Jack Ramsay there with some friends. My dad walked up and said hello, go blazers, the usual, and then walked off.
Later that night, my dad was outside when Ramsay stumbled drunkenly outside. He was practically falling down when my Dad helped him stay on his feet.

Jack: “Ughhh…my car….”

Jon Sandberg: “This one? Is this your car?”

Jack: (nodding and slurring his words) Yeah, yeah….

Jon: Look Jack, you managed to make it all the way to the parking lot, which is a miracle in and of itself. Let’s get you back inside.

Jack: Ok…

My dad takes him back inside, sits him down on a bench, and calls him a cab.

but that was when I was pre-blazermaniac

This is a true story, and I am too ashamed to tell it in real life, so here it goes. (apologies, this is not Blazer related)

Sophomore year of college, I had recently broken up with a girl I was engaged to. I had been interested in this girl from choir, and we were pretty friendly in general, so we decided that I would spend part of Christmas break with her at her parents’ house in Redmond. After I got there, a friend of hers called and said that Coolio was playing a show at a club in Bend, and invited us to go.

Now, this club is basically a bar underneath a cowboy store. I think it’s a number, like “Club 76,” something like that. In all, there were probably 200 white folks ,there to listen to Coolio remind them of middle school. Coolio came out with “Ghost,” his backup guy, and proceeded to go through the hits, all of them assisted with microphone effects that made it sound like five people were rapping instead of one. During one of the songs, he said, “I want all the ladies to come up on stage and dance during this song.” My friend (who was 5’1, sporty and Asian) went up on stage with everyone else. For whatever reason, Coolio picked her out, and was grinding on her during the whole song, whispering in her ear between verses.

After the song, she came down and said Coolio invted us to the “green room” after the show. Well, the green room ended up being the staff break room in the back of the bar. I sat on the couch, arms across my chest, just waiting for the whole thing to be over. Coolio was busy hitting on my friend, and everyone else who did not have male genitalia. He eventually picked up on my misery, and walked over to me, introduced himself, and said, “Hey man, am I walkin’ on yo space?” Me, being the self-righteous Christian kid that I was, said, “No, I just don’t want her to do something she’ll regret.” Coolio promptly yelled loudly, “We got a good Samaritan in the house!” He then proceeded to ask me what I looked for in a woman. I mumbled something about being a good person, blah blah blah. He said, "I’m pretty much just in it for the p- "

Naturally, my friend eventually offered to drop my off back at her house, cuz Coolio wanted her to go to his hotel room with him. After a long-winded speech from me, she dropped me off. At 6am she got back, and swore that had just talked for a few hours, and then he had to leave for his next show.

Years later, she admitted that they had “made out a little.” Obviously, my feelings for her were never quite the same.

Brian Grant at a sports card shop when he was there for a signing. Jermaine O’neal AND Dontonio Wingfield!!!! before a game at the Rose Garden. My wife kind of knows the Dudley’s and I’ve been to there house when she was house sitting for them.

We were all seeing Raphael Saadiq at the Wonder Ballroom.
I was standing in the corner right by the stage and Channing walked right up to where I was standing. I told him I was a fan and that I loved his blog. He told me he had some surprises coming up. I told him about some of my favorite restaurants in the NE/SE and he seemed genuinely interested. He even took notes in his iPhone. During the show (which killed) Channing was dancing with his fiance and Jerryd was just kind of being cool bobbing his head, looking around. He knew the lyrics for three of four songs and when the crowd got into it, he was waving his hands in the air. Channing was just as nice as he could be very gracious. He and his fiance spend a fair amount of time checking their iphones during the show, (slight music lover faux-pas)
Also, Raphael Saadiq who is from the bay area gave a big shoutout to a friend of his in the audience who he said got him into a lot of mischief in the early 1990’s………..ladies and gentlemen BRIAN GRANT,

- When I was working at the Clackamas Toys R Us a couple of years back (during Roy’s rookie season), Nate came into the store and purchased about three shopping carts worth of toys (it was Christmas time). I almost got to help him in the bike section but one of the seasonal employees beat me to him.

- During the summer of 2007, I saw Darius Miles come out of the 7-11 next to where I currently work in Clackamas. He was carrying a very large energy drink and grocery bag. Before I got the chance to say anything to him, he jumped in his Escalade and drove up the hill to his house in Happy Valley.

Oh, and a buddy of mine has delivered a few pizzas to Greg Oden and Channing Frye. Apparently GO lives in a fairly large housing complex right next to PSU (my buddy won’t tell me where exactly). Anyway, that’s all I got.

I met Mo Cheeks at a first thursday in the Pearl right after he was fired. he was mobbed by people telling him how lame the blazers were and how he was better off.

I met Mo Lucas in 1977 at his condo complex gym (was there with my parents who were at a party – us kids went down to the gym / spa to break things and play in the pool).

A friend and I accidentally knocked down part of Herm Gilliam’s split-rail fence in 1979 (he lived in Cedar Mill at the time) – he was pretty cool about it.

Bobby Gross was the guest of honor at the opening of the Cedar Park Pathway (a grassroots sidewalk that ran up Cornell road from Barnes/Saltzman Road to Miller Road) and I got to meet him there.

But nobody from any of the later teams…except…I was almost run over by Scottie Pippen by Civic Stadium when crossing the street. :-)

I forgot, I didn’t meet them but I was eating at a small restaurant off Macadam and Shareef Abdur-Rahim had a breakfast covered in cheese. He even ordered extra cheese and I made sure he didn’t eat any pork. Then just before we left, Derek Anderson came in and picked up some to go breakfast.