I was fortunate enough to be selected by my company to attend the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) national convention in Las Vegas, Nevada last week.

As a loyal Blazer fan, I thought it only fitting to wear my Blazers gear for as much of the week as my work schedule would allow. This had some interesting results.

via photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net

First off, let me say that the ESPNZone Sports Bar at the New York, New York Casino Hotel in Vegas is possibly the best place in the Universe to watch a Blazer game. This was my choice of venue for Game 2, which was not broadcast on the main national stations.

Once the Hockey fans cleared out, the rest of the bar was predominantly cheering for the Blazers, also. I guess they were from Portland like I was, probably in Vegas for NAB like I was, but it was somewhat gratifying to have some much of the crowd behind me when on "foreign" turf. (Also, as an aside, my server, Jeni, at the bar was possibly the coolest person I met in Las Vegas, bar none. She actually complained that the TVs in the bar were preprogrammed for the Laker/Utah game to show on the main TV. Awesome. I was wearing my Rudy jersey that night, and when I stepped up to the bar her comment was "As long as he's not wearing Purple, he's okay with me!")

In any case, I wore my Blazers gear at every moment possible while walking the Vegas strip. Brandon's jersey got a lot of comments in Vegas. The ratio, however, was about 5 to 1 positive comments vs negative ones. I did get one "Jail Blazers" remark, but it was from a guy wearing a Kobe jersey, so I discount that one.

It was also very cool to see another guy in a Roy #7 jersey, and a guy by the pool at my Hotel (The Monte Carlo) wearing a LaMarcus #12 T-Shirt.

In a place like Vegas, of course, where the population of the strip is at least 95% tourists, it's a little hard to judge how well your team is really respected, but the number of "Go Blazers!" and "B-Roy! Yeah!" remarks I got while strolling down the strip were very satisfying. It was almost a little embarassing.

In any case, It's fabulous to finally be able to sport my team colors in a far-off land and be so proud of what my team has done. I look forward to many years of excellence to come.

Go Blazers!