A "thank you" to Ben...

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the Sports and Entertainment Law Conference, where a panel on the "Changing Face of NCAA Athletics" was moderated by BE's own Ben Golliver. (Why Ben was moderating a panel on the NCAA was a mystery to all) Being the loyal BE reader and fan I am, as soon as the panel was over I made my way up hoping to simply introduce myself and thank Ben for all his great work here. After I had done so, a few questions were asked that I'm sure Ben gets all the time, (favorite interview, craziest athlete, etc) but he took the time to answer each and every one, often with great stories to accompany them.

Later, we ran into each other on the street heading opposite directions, and I took the opportunity to thank him again, expecting nothing more than a friendly acknowledgment. Instead, Ben stood outside with me just talking Blazers, giving opinions and insight that you won't ever hear on TV. He didn't have to do this; whatever obligation he had ended the moment the panel was done. But he took the extra time to answer every question I could possibly think of, and not once did a guy who regularly interviews the likes of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and all our Blazers give off the impression that he had better things to do or more important places to be, which he most certainly did. So thank you again Ben, I hope that all my fellow BE readers are as lucky as I was and someday get the chance to say hello and talk a little Blazers.