It's not often that Sean and I get to go out, but last night we, with two of our best friends attended the Blazer game. We planned to meet at McFadden's, a bar on the max line with cheap happy hour. We show up and much to our dismay it's CLOSED SUNDAYS. I stare at the door, I peek in the windows and see chairs up on tables. It's dark. All I wanted was Mac n Cheese for $3. My dreams are squashed. Now, if we were hip we may have known this but we've lost our 'coolness', our knowledge of the Portland Bar scene and after last night...a bit more of our youth. We. Are. Old.
We swallow our pride and arrange to meet at Kells instead. We chatted, we caught up, we shared funny stories of our kids and the woe's of toddlers and their respective bedtimes or lack thereof and laughed. We stared in pity at a young couple with their child, trying to entertain her with a giant book of animals. They intermittently sipped their beverages, turned pages and asked her 'which one is the Ostrich?' We've been there, we were thankful we had babysitters turning the pages of books for us. We then felt guilty that had that been us we probably would have passed off our iPhones and let our kids watch shows off iTunes, or play some $2.99 iPhone application game.
Apparently on Sundays, Kells hosts a local music group. On this particular Sunday, it was a group of wind instruments. They played Irish Music and we sipped the remainder of our drinks. We argued over whether the instruments were recorders or piccolos. Soon it was time to go. We were too late to board the double Decker bus that leaves from Kells at each Blazer home game (I love Portland), so instead walked a block to the Max where we boarded the over-crowded (standing room only) train. We walked in silence like cattle with all the other fans, accepted free inflatable noise makers for the kids and found our seats.
I enjoy these games for two reasons. First, I just love the Blazers. I've loved them since I had huge bangs that I could curl both up and down. I've loved them since I had a giant poster of Buck Williams taped above my bed and well, that about says it. I also love the people watching. We spotted a man with a 'skullet' (mullet but bald on top) skullet man also had a pony tail. We see a woman stuck in the 80's with big bangs and box bleached hair and a man that looked just like Brad Garret, well a younger version anyway. We see old school Blazer jackets. You know, the shiny ones where 'Blazers' is written in cursive. We see Jerseys from every year, with ever Blazer name, we see them over tight black T's and in some cases, no T's at all. We watch in awe and horror the young girls wearing (essentially) bathing suits, dancing out of sync and moving their bodies in ways we hope to God our daughters never do.
The stars were shining on us this day because clearly the best people watching could be found just one row in front of us where a couple entertained us throughout the entire game. Now forgive me while I momentarily mock, judge, and poke fun at two people I don't know. These two were most likely that couple that have been watching the Blazers for years from their very own living room. And tonight, they headed to the Big City to watch the Blazers play the Jazz. They stood there, arms entwined, in love with each other and our very own Rip City. She was adorned in black stretch pants and a Blazer T, he in light wash Levi's and a Blazers Jersey. They hugged and kissed (made out really) each time the Blazers scored and screamed 'RIP CITY' and 'BUST A BUCKET' so many times that by the 3rd quarter we discussed making a drinking game out of the whole ordeal. It was epic. At one point, the young man (after a failed free throw shot) pumped his arms crazily and yelled, 'SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO UUUUURRGE IT IN'. What.
The only other highlight I can't fail to mention is I won something. I never win anything, literally. But when that big Blazer blimp flew over the crowd, my heart palpitated and I felt that this time it could be me. Now, I had no idea the prize as when they were announcing it I was either too engrossed in dancing to the wonderfully chosen 90's beats, or couldn't hear over the frequent 'RIP CITY' shouts, but practically into my hands fell a lovely sealed envelope. I WON. Scenes from 'A Christmas Story' flashed in front of my eyes. OH COULD IT BE? Was it a lovely leg lamp? Was it French or possibly Fragile? Well no, it was a $10 gift card to Subway but hey, a prize is a prize.
Despite holding a wide lead the entire game, the Blazers choked in the end and lost the game in overtime. It was disgusting, and disappointing, and we left feeling defeated but thoroughly entertained. The Blazers did not bust quite enough buckets, but Rip City anyway.
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