It must be time for...another pointless childhood memory!

When I was growing up, there was a certain synergy between a lot of my friendships and those of my parents.

For example, my friend Billy and I often went fishing with our dads. Dad and Lee were good friends who fished together, worked together on the long-haul trucks, and had a friendship that, despite whatever difficulties came along, was always there.

Billy and I played baseball and basketball together, hung out a lot along with a third friend, Kyle.

Kyle's Mom and Dad were great friends with my mom and dad. They went golfing together, we all went on picnics together, played softball together with the Scotts, and of course spent years together in the Gloryland Way (formerly known as Panorama, after Mom died and Dad retired from teh group as His Song) singing group.

Dad and Greg (Kyle's Dad) were of course very good friends and, being friends, sometimes went with one another to events that one greatly enjoyed and the other enjoyed much less. Which led to the first basketball game I ever saw live.

Kyle, Billy and I were all huge Trailblazer fans, as was Greg. Dad has always been one of those guys who could take it or leave it, but who enjoyed listening to the occasional game. He just never was interested enough to do anything crazy like, you know, purchase tickets to a game. Just not in his blood.

Well, somehow, some way, some tickets were procured. That is far more difficult than it sounds. The Blazers at the time played in the memorial Coliseum, which seated 13,600 and some odd people. It was sold out for over a decade. Tickets were at a premium, all but unobtainable, and certainly not to the casual fan.

If, and this is a big if, I remember correctly, Greg won the tickets, a 4-pack, in some contest.

Regardless, we somehow, some way got four tickets...except it was not actually to the Coliseum. No, it was to watch the game on closed circuit big screen at the Paramount Theatre.

I do not remember too much if anything about the game itself...who they played, or even for sure if they won. I think they did, but that could be just looking back through rose city colored glasses.

I do remember the horrific half time "entertainment" where they rolled out two rickety mobile baskets and had some sort of contest with them.

And I do remember Dad being all excited and Greg too, watching the game, having a good time, just as Kyle and I were having a similarly great time watching a game that, frankly, we did not really comprehend.

I have no idea why the memory stays with me. I guess because it was something super cool I got to do with my Dad and my best friend (I should point out at this point that there are at least 9 people who count as my "best friend", though the Goose is my bestest best friend) that was a very special night.

And you thought I was kidding in the title when I said it was pointless :-)

2 comments:

Riot Kitty said...

Sweet memories are never pointless! Happy Thanksgiving.

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