Seems that the good old Rose Garden might have fewer "live" dates this year with the NBA's contract problems not close to being resolved, or so we hear.  I people I feel most sorry for aren't the fans, the players, or the management.  It's the folks who toil away at the Rose Garden serving food, bartending, cleaning the joint up, ushering, guarding,  attending the parking lot, etc.  They're the ones who most likely will be hurt the most by ANY loss of income.  Most of these folks, I suspect, aren't working at these jobs just for fun.  They really need the money to support themselves and their families.

So, here's my lame idea of the day:  how about if good old Paul Allen would work his magic to bring in one or two exhibition hockey games over the next year?  Would that even be possible?  I suppose the schedule for the exhibition season for the NHL was long ago set, but they again, I've heard rumors that the NHL would LOVE to have Paul Allen as own of their team owners.  Maybe, just maybe, something to be done to make something like this happen.  Other than giving a lot of people a couple of extra paychecks, I'd love to see the NHL in Portland and showcasing the game via a couple of exhibitions mights be a pretty cool thing.

What do you all think?