The Rules of An Institution

I remember the days of growing up in Boise, Idaho, a sleepy hamlet in the southern part of the Treasury Valley. It was a big city, or at least what I thought was a big city for the time, because we had just topped 100,000 people when I was in the 7th grade. Mind you, this was from a town that at that point had no mall, no professional sports teams, and was trying to find an identity outside of being the capital of a state that most people didn't know a whole lot about. I remember spending a bit of time at the A and W Root Beer restaurant on the corner of Fairview and Curtis, because the food was pretty good, they still had the carhops that would deliver the food to your car, and the floats gave you the bestest sugar buzz until I discovered Pixie Stixs. The place was always busy, because while the food wasn't anything special, it was the place to hang out and be seen, or at least get your snack buzz on. I remember a lot of good times, eating in the car with my family, and I wished the times would never end. As I've traveled back there from time to time, I see the old corner that now has a mini mart or something, and it makes me sad to see an institution of my youth tossed aside like that, but I also realize that times have changed.

It's something that we in Portland are facing with the eminent closure of GI Joe's, a popular sporting goods chain in the area, and the potential loss of the Memorial Coliseum for a proposed baseball park. I've lived in Portland long enough to have eaten at Rose's in Beaverton and Quality Pie when they were still open, I've had sundaes at Farrell's, and saw shows at the old Pine Street Theatre before it faded into the sunset, I used to eat burgers at the Red Coach, skated in Pioneer Square the winter they put a rink in downtown, and saw Ramblin' Rod during many Twilight Parades. I may not have grown up here, but I understand Portland institutions quite a bit, and realize that GI Joe's and the Memorial Coliseum are two of our most long standing ones.

I remember a trip that my family and I made to Long Beach, Washington when I was 13, and we rented an RV and drove from Idaho to the coast. I remember being told that Portland was a huge place, so be quiet while we drove through it. It's funny to look back at the same roads we drove on that time, and realize that while Portland is a really big city, it's also pretty well signed and it's really difficult to get lost in most parts of it. During our stay in Portland, we spent quite a bit of time out in Beaverton at the mall, and that was my first encounter with GI Joe's. I'd never seen anything like it, a mish mash of sporting goods, camping, hunting, surplus gear, electronics, automotive stuff, and other things in one place. And it was packed with people, buying various things. I'd seen sporting goods stores in Idaho, but nothing like this, and I realized that this place seemed pretty special and different. I saw clerks taking care of people, answering questions, a ton of Trail Blazers gear, not realizing that I was in a Portland institution.

When I moved here in 1989 after college, one of the first places I stopped at was the GI Joe's in Beaverton to get some supplies and check on concert tickets. It was still bustling, and it didn't seem like much had changed. Over the years, I bought various things there, but I also began to notice in the late 90's that the store was changing. I saw less and less of people interacting with clerks in the rows, asking about hiking trails or the fishing gear to use, and the stock in the place was different, with more high end equipment and less of the things I remember, like surplus stuff, boats and such. The few times I did check there for automotive things, they never seemed to have anything in stock, and it often seemed like a ghost town in shopping there. I even felt a bit of sadness when GI Joe's just became Joe's because the new owners felt that the name would be more welcoming.

What they failed to realize is that the first rule of institutions is change might be necessary, but don't stray too much from what brings people here in the first place. Joe's put a lot more effort into higher end sporting goods, clothing, camping equipment, and spent less time and energy on the things that brought in clientele in the first place. I heard less and less people talk about going to Joe's unless there was a sale, or something that they knew would be in stock there. By reaching out and trying to capture another market, Joe's abandoned part of the loyal customers that visited often, and people stopped visiting. I also encountered employees that knew less about the things they were selling that I did, which meant getting any type of advice from them was useless. If you want to buy outdoor things, you want to speak to people that know their stuff. While I'm sad to see the institution go away, I'm surprised it had lasted as long as it did with the new changes. I realize retail is a fickle business, but the one thing about Portland is they are loyal to places, and if you keep giving them what they want, they will go there always.

The Memorial Coliseum, however, is part of the second rule of institutions, and that rule is that sometimes you have to realize when it's time for an institution to fade away. Loyalty will get you so far, but it's important to keep up with the times without altering your core. The MC was the site of my very first Trail Blazers game in 1989 versus Denver, and I went to 3 Winterhawks games that year, and found the MC to be small, intimate, and cozy. The place rocked when the crowd was into the game, and it was awesome to see the banners of the past glory of the teams. Since then, I've attended various games there, a few concerts, and even spent two summers rollerblading on the concourse, so I feel I know the building rather well, and it seems like that in the past 20 years, they've not done much to the MC at all.

The interior roof and acoustic tiles look water damaged, the seats in some sections feel worn out or appear broken, the concourses are hard to move around in with a full house, and some of the nooks and crannies show off old plumbing and bathrooms that need some serious TLC. It became more apparent that the building was getting old when the Rose Garden opened in 1995, and had the serious bells and whistles of modern arenas, with great sight lines, big scoreboards, and concessions everywhere. It was no comparison in the experience, and after a while, I stopped going to the MC because it just wasn't a fun place to watch games. They've recently updated the scoreboard within the past year, but the arena seems old and tired. Especially if you find the veterans memorial, which is needed some love. Granted, the memorial hasn't been updated since the 60's, so while the veterans have remembrance there, it's only the old war Veterans that get recognition.

One of the ideas for getting a baseball park for the Portland Beavers so that PGE Park can be fitted for soccer is to tear down the MC and build a park there, with an improved memorial and other things. It's been 15 years since the Rose Garden was built, and even after it was finished, there were talks to change the MC into retail space, a community center, a park, a refurbished arena, yet to this day, none of that has been ever completed, and the arena is now falling into further disrepair. But since the idea has been floated to tear it down, people in the are have been clamoring to try and save the old relic, saying it's a historic place and should be preserved.

I am angry at the city for not doing more to keep the building up over the years, because it could be in very good shape with some regular maintenance and upkeep, but instead, the RG got a lot of the attention and the MC became the forgotten arena. It still serves many events, and I would hate to see it go away because it's actually an interesting looking building. But I have to ask myself: am I wanting to keep it because of the memories only, or is there a purpose that this building still fulfills? And honestly, the Rose Garden is a much better arena in so many ways, and can fill most of those purposes rather well. Knowing that the city is paying $500,000 each year to keep this building running at a very minimal level, it makes me realize that as a city, we could be investing those funds into something that helps the city more, which is bringing baseball to the Rose Quarter, and filling more dates and events in a season when basketball and hockey aren't around.

Seriously, the Rose Quarter is a ghost town when the Blazers aren't playing or there is a major concert about. The area was touted as an entertainment mecca when it was first built, but it's failed to live up to those dreams simply because there is little to do outside of go to the RG when you are there. Putting baseball in with other shops and arenas would make the area a destination point, which is what you want to build to attract people to come, and not just sports fans. As much as I like the MC, I don't want its continued existence to be the reason why the Beavers are still playing in PGE Park in 5 years, and MLS decides to go elsewhere because we can't get our stadium needs figured out.

I've posted links below to various articles about the topic:

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/04/portland_soccers_perry_mason_m.html - An opinion piece about PGE.

http://portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=124001070455212200 - Discussion about URDs and a plan that will help stadium financing.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/04/portlands_rush_to_replace_memo.html - Calls to keep the MC as is.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/04/portlands_accelerated_major_le.html - Accelerated time frame squashes debate?

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/mls_soccer/ - The MLS soccer coverage home on the Oregonian. They've done some decent pieces in there, but the slant of most of the articles lately have been taking bits of information and distorting them a bit to give the anti-soccer crowd something to use against proponents of the plan. I get that a lot of media now doesn't spend time showing both sides of a story, they print what will antagonize or irritate readers into buying papers and continuing to read, so why not put stories out about a plan to build a stadium that will bankrupt the city, which is full of potholes, teachers that are getting laid off, and social issues piling up all over. Honestly, I realize the city has challenges going on, and I don't want to make light of anything they are facing, but seriously, the benefits here outweigh the risks, and doing this could likely help the struggling tax base and job front.

But what both stories have shown me is that people are passionate about institutions, and they are a tough thing to let go of, even if it's the right thing to do. They invoke memories, feelings, and make people feel comfortable, and that's a good thing to have those thoughts because it means you've invested something in being there and spending time and money at a certain place. But sometimes we need to remember that new things aren't necessarily bad, and you can form new memories quite easily. It's just tough to say goodbye to something that means that much, but sometimes that's the only choice.

A Rainy Sunday in August

I have had a pretty busy week and weekend, and so the blog has been pushed to the wayside a bit. Not that writing down things isn't important, but trying to find some time during the days sometimes is hard. But, having a rainy Sunday evening helps as I'm finally starting to decompress from the busy schedule, and I can't be outside anyway...

Although I have certainly been outside a lot in my newest exercise thing, playing on an outdoor soccer team. Granted, my experience of playing has been a lot of pick up games in college, and kicking the ball around on occasion, whether it's with friends or my cats, who actually don't mind knocking tiny soccer balls about the house. So I was a bit intimidated to join up a team full of people that have actually played, some for many years. But I decided to give it a go, and what I've found out is that it's a load of fun, I'm actually about an average player, and our team is pretty good. The Timbers Army got together an outdoor team, and we have about 30 guys signed up to play. Plus, our kits are great looking, courtesy of Obi. We also got a lot of love from one of our home pubs, the Bitter End, who sponsored us this season. We've been playing a few friendly games, and Thursday night, I actually attended a small practice to show off some skills or just run around a lot. It was certainly a lot of fun, although Friday I was a bit sore from the running. Today's game was against a group of Somalian kids who are very quick and have some talent. We lost 6 to 5, but considering our first friendly was a 7 to 1 loss, I think we're improving. What will be nice is that with soccer on weekends, and bowling on Tuesday nights, I will have a lot of things to keep me occupied this winter. At least the result helped me feel good about the match, as I soaked my joints and legs in our gym's hottub.

I spent some time on Friday at our other home, the Cheerful Bullpen. The Bullpen was acquired by the folks that run the Cheerful chain here in Portland, and Friday night, a few TA members met up there to check the place out and rehang our soccer scarves. Through the years, we've collected many scarves from around the world, and the Bullpen let us hang them in the pub. The new ownership has let us do the same thing, plus gave us our own little area, the Skybox 107. What impressed me about the Bullpen on Friday was how open it is with a couple of changes. The beer tap was moved back, and a short half wall was removed from near the skybox, so the entire room looks opened up. With a fresh coat of paint on the ceiling, it didn't look like the place I'd been going to for years. I took a few pictures after the scarves were hung up, which didn't take as long as I thought it would, but it was a tough process working around folks and trying to get done before the Timbers - Craps kickoff at 8 PM. Hoss and I got all the scarves hung with some helpful supervision (ok, they told us when one of the scarves was upside down), and the only accident was my thumb being stapled. We did get done in time to watch the match, but in being exhausted, I decided to head home to watch. Girl has also been run down, and she was hanging out with her mom on Friday, so as I pulled in to watch, they were only a few minutes behind me.

The Craps - Timbers match had some decent moments, but we ended up losing 2 to 1. Swangard is actually a fun place to watch footy, with the benches very close to the pitch, and you can really hear the noise from the other fans. Plus, Vancouver BC is a great place to visit, with plenty of beautiful sites and things to do. We would normally have driven up, but money kept us close to home initially. Turns out that other social obligations came piling up, and so the trip to BC was replaced with lots of social gatherings. The team played well in stretches, although the winning goal in the first half was really rather soft. We've already played our fourth different goalkeeper, and nothing Chase Harrison did on Friday impressed me enough to call him our starter. But he's the guy now, so we have to rally around him. The Timbers' playoff hopes took a hit with the loss, and right now, we are currently tied with Montreal for the seventh spot. As I look at tonight's results, Montreal won versus Atlanta, so we are now dropped to eighth now which would mean we are out of the playoffs. We have 5 games left for the year, so it will be a nip and tuck battle over the next few weeks to see if we can get to the postseason.

Saturday was my annual fantasy football draft. I've been commissioner of a league for 15 years, and so it's nice to get together and see folks that I only see once a year. Every owner in the league either works for the same company I do, or did at one point, so we can all trade stories about our experiences. It's nice to see these guys, who many of them have moved into new jobs, started families, gotten married, but every year, we all drop our busy schedules to get together and talk some pointyball. As the commissioner, it's my job to keep the draft moving along and on track, despite everyone's best attempts to sidetrack me. I've struggled with making the playoffs the past few years, but I'm one of a few owners that can say I've won the title; I won year 1 and then back in 2003 with my record setting team, who put up more points than had been seen before. Too bad, my magic formula to recapture that hasn't quite worked out, but I still enjoy doing this after all these years because of the guys and gals. Seriously, it's great to hang out with them and talk football, and yes, we've had plenty of female owned teams, including one of our back to back champs. I'll probably talk about fantasy football a bit on the blog, either to mostly say my team is great or dude, what was I thinking?

We've also been dealing with some family issues this weekend, which I really don't want to share over the interwebs. It can be difficult to deal with your family sometimes, because unlike your friends who are chosen by interest and interactions and tend to come and go from your life as you progress along, family is yours whether you like it or not. I've been blessed with having some of the best friends a guy could have, and most of the friendships have been very long term, mostly because I treat people the way I want to be treated and I tend not to socialize with people that are jerks and use people. I have some ex-girlfriends I could put in the last category, but I'm done with them now cause I have the only woman I ever need in my life now. But in dealing with a new marriage, it's caused me to seriously look at family and the interactions amongst people. Why people seem to think they can take advantage of family or treat them like crap because of the relationship, I'll never understand, but it's the dynamics of many units. I know for me, the next few months, I want to work on mending relationships with some family members, and trying to be more understood in my feelings and actions. It's not going to be an easy process, but you go through it for the ones you love.

And now we are officially one week from Labor Day, the weekend that people most often indicate is the last weekend of summer, my job is to enjoy the rest of the outdoor time I can for the rest of the year. That way, I can build some more memories for the future. Ok, I've got some fajita cooking to get to, so talk to you all soon.

So Far, So Good

It's been one week officially without my beard, and my face isn't driving me crazy that much. I had gotten used to so much hair on my face, I had hardly noticed that I have dimples when I smile big and I have a cleft chin. Funny what you find out when you actually have face to look at. I've been reading my friend Obi's blog about weight loss, and he's impressing me quite a bit with his efforts. I know that during the past few weeks, I haven't been to the gym as much as I'd like, but we've been busy around here just the same.

It's funny because moving into a house with other people is bound to bring challenges and issues, especially when one of the people living in the house is your future wife. We both had to get used to each other's crazy idiosyncrasies, just like any couple moving in together, but we added some degree of difficulty with her mom and brother still being in the house, too. I have to say it's been truly amazing, and I get along with everyone really well. And most of the time, the house doesn't look like a dust tornado ran through it. But making sure stuff gets done sometimes is hard, because there is the assumption that someone else will do it. Not a good habit to get into, because we are all busy here with jobs, outside activities, and other stuff. Oh, and add in seven cats to the mix, and you get a full household.

Living with seven cats you'd think would be a challenge, but it's not as long as you remember a few rules, (1) know when dinner time is (2) pay attention to them as much as possible (3) clean up the litter box. Cats have different personalities, much like humans. Lucy screams at you around dinner time, but loves to be petted and eats potato chips. Daisy loves any sort of sports balls, and will chase the laser pointer as much as possible and will eat about anything. Pilot loves the bathroom, and will try to tackle your leg while you walk by. Bruts loves to sleep, but he's a bit scared of new people. Moya just loves to be on your lap, as long as Spot isn't there first. And then there's Plabo, the leader of the group who basically runs the place and we all just try not to get into the way. I used to live with pets growing up, but it's been a while since I've had to deal with being woken up early for food, having cat toys fly at you, having your shoes smell like pee, or having feline help in tying your shoes. But I love cats because deep down, they give unconditional love as long as you respect them and take care of them. Whenever I've had a crappy day at work or just feeling a bit blue, I know one of them will find me and purr while I pet them and show me that it's all OK.

With a wedding coming up in a few months, I need all the quietness that I can, and so far, so good there. It's great to be part of something that is bigger than you, even if some of the family members can't talk and shed on the furniture.

Postscript - The Trail Blazers won again last night over Utah, winning their 16th game of 17 and are now 21 and 13. It's amazing to watch this collective group come together and play well, when there isn't really a superstar amongst them. There's great players (Roy, Aldridge, Outlaw), and a collection of talented guys that fill in the gaps and provide support for everyone. When Roy was out of most of Saturday's game, Webster scored 24 points in the third quarter, and the Blazers held off Utah in the end. The attention is starting to come, with recent articles in SI and ESPN about the Trail Blazers, Paul Allen, and just how this team is winning. It's not that big of a secret, but it's hard to put the plan into place - get good solid citizen guys who are talented, and get them a leader that preaches success starts with supporting the team. It's great to see Rip City back in town, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for this bunch.

Things I'm Happy About

Lots of people spend the new few days looking back on the year that was, and spend a great deal of time thinking of resolutions and things they want to improve on for the upcoming new year. My last resolution was in 2002, when I said I would get more exercise. Well, in the past six years, I've actually done more than know where my gym is, so I suppose I can't beat myself up too badly. I've just never been much of a resolution person really.

I don't think I'm perfect by any stretch, but I've always thought that if you want to improve something or change something, you should be able to do it at any time. The new year provides an easy inspiration for change, but change has to start with you believing that the change is something you can do. Let's face it, if you made a resolution to be rich within 6 months, there's a chance you might be able to do this. However, if you made a resolution to meet and marry a supermodel, chances are that probably won't happen. The chances are better that lightning will strike near you or the Seattle Mariners will win the World Series.

What I've chosen to do instead of resolutions is to look at the things in my life and be happy for the gifts I have, and be hopeful for upcoming events or changes. I am very happy for the Timbers and Timbers Army, without whom I wouldn't have such great friends and girl, the love of my life. I am happy for the Trail Blazers, who are giving this town a reason to be proud of them again. I'm happy for this city, which never ceases to amaze me with it's wonder, character and charm. I'm happy for my job, which gives me a good challenge and allows me to do many of the things I like to do. I'm happy for my family, which will be growing next year with my upcoming wedding. I'm happy for my friends who are there when I need them, for either a good laugh, good food or just good conversation. I'm ecstatic to be getting married to such a wonderful woman, and be able to share our love with everybody. I'm happy about being an uncle.

I'm hopeful that 2008 will be an amazing year, but there are things that I hope change. I worry about the direction of our country, where people just seem to be more divided about how they feel about things. Instead of a more inclusive approach, it seems more and more that the government is a "what's it in for me?" institution. I worry about our environment, and hope that people understand that it's important to do what we can to recycle and leave the earth in as good of shape as possible for future generations. I worry about the world that our children now live in, dealing with things and ideas that I wouldn't have dreamed about having to address until I was much older. There are still parts of the world that are angry, bitter, and fighting, and it seems like it just gets worse and worse.

But I feel that despite everything, the world will be Ok because it's resilient and just when you think things are getting worse, you see something good. My ultimate hope is that we can all find a way to live peacefully in this amazing place, and we can all look forward to many years together as one. Oh, and we get MLS in Portland, cause that would be so cool. One people, all together, loving soccer. Yea, that would be cool...

Bestest Christmas in a While..

Today has been a most amazing Christmas, and I'd have to rank it number two on my list of all time Christmases. The only one that would top it would be one back in 1988 where I got to see my grandmother during the holidays because my mom and step dad were living in Valentine, Nebraska and I went to see them over Christmas Break. Nice place, that Nebraska, but honestly, I was glad to be going back to Spokane. That might say something about the trip right there...

girl and I were up to 3 AM wrapping gifts last night, as we spent the afternoon and night with her dad's family. It was a load of fun to see all of them, and of course I ate too much, but we got home around 11 Pm and it was time to wrap the last bit of gifts. Most of them were easy to wrap, but the big challenge was to wrap the gift we got girl's mom, a portable fire pit. It was too big to wrap with just one thing of wrapping paper, and we had plenty of wrapping scraps lying about. If you remember the show Boohbah! (which is one of our absolute favorites), the gift the kids present to the story people is wrapped in all sorts of wrapping combinations, shiny paper and ribbons. Let's just say we did the fire pit wrapping Boohbah justice, with all sorts of random shards of paper glued and taped in crazy patterns. The look on her face when we brought it into the room in Boohbah style was truly a classic moment.

I also got Simpsons stuff, the movie and season 10 on DVD. I love the Simpsons, and the movie was one of my absolute favorites from this summer. I also got some very personal and fun gifts from girl, which was great. I also got a chance to talk with my dad and sister on the holiday as well. Dad loved the Portland Timbers kit I gave him, but thought it was a T-Shirt and I had to explain to him it was the actual shirt they wear on the field. My sister had just given birth to my first niece, and things between us have been strained over the past few months. But we talked like we had when we were younger, and it was a truly amazing talk to clear the air and just be each other's family again. It was very special to me, and I treasure it more now with my mom's passing. I love my family, crazy antics and all.

But to top off the evening, girl and I watched the Portland Trail Blazers win their eleventh game in a row over their Northwest rival Seattle Supersonics. Neither team played well overall, but as with the current streak, the team pulled it together when needed and Brandon Roy carried them at other times. It was fun to see the national audience get to see what we here see all the time, a unselfish, fun team that is playing with a lot of confidence and chemistry. The Trail Blazers are for real, and I think this year they will continue to surprise folks. And now, it's time to clean up our room and get ready for a full day of EPL matches tomorrow!! Whoo hoo. You really can't beat this time of year!!!

This Time of Year

I've been reading my blog posts lately, and as with anything that gets published, I'd probably do some things a lot differently. I tend to write in a conversational way, with very little editing done while I'm going as I don't want to interrupt the creative process. Sometimes, the results can be truly inspiring, while other times, you could use the story of a million monkeys with a million typewriters.

I tend to be a positive person by nature, although the world sometimes frustrates me. I understand that bad things happen, that's part of the whole equation but what bothers me is that people tend to contribute to this sometimes without realizing it. In the time of year that we should all be kind towards our fellow men and women, I've found that most people are too busy paying attention to the sales, specials and bling of the holiday than truly being cheerful. I've been yelled at while texting girl at a local Freddy's on Saturday cause I was in the way, I've had cars come at me from seeming every direction on the road, and nearly run over numerous times in stores just trying to maneuver around people as they try to figure out what they are doing. In being stressed about it, I've allowed them to take some of my holiday spirit and I'm going to take it back now.

I am spending tonight with girl's dad and his new family as he just got married earlier this year. On Christmas, I'm going to talk with my sister who just recently had her first child, my incredibly cute niece who I plan on spoiling as much as I can. I will also spend time with girl and her mom opening gifts, and then later visiting her grandparents before we head down to watch the Trail Blazers on Christmas Day play the SuperSonics. I've never actually done anything like this on a holiday, and I'm actually looking forward to it. I've also taken the week off from work, so my week will be filled with rest and relaxation because I'm remembering what this time of year is supposed to be about.

It's not about presents, it's not about toys, it's not about shiny things or stuff that makes noise, it's about the feeling you get when you share from yourself, and spend time with your family and friends and show them how much they matter to you. Sometimes, simple words and actions can be enough, but it's important to remember who you are, where you came from, and the many people that helped you get to that point. And for those folks that bugged me, I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and remember what the holidays are about.