Portland Trail Blazers Stun the Boston Celtics: Better Than the Movie Hoosiers!

This is the tale behind Andrew Kafoury's attempt to attend to attend the Blazers home game against the Boston Celtics.

First, four months ago I purchased the Aldridge 11 game pack, that included a ticket to see the defending world champion Celtics.  I specifically bought that package for the purpose of watching Portland play Boston.  They're the world champs!  The ultimate test!  The best ticket in town!

Then I took the night off of work, even though I needed the money.

I drove my car to the mighty Rose Garden, parked outside the nearby Denny's, and walked down the street towards the arena.  As I arrived, I noticed there was nobody around.  Curious, I walked closer and closer towards the arena, only to discover that the lights inside the arena were off.  Stunned, I actually walked right up to the front entrance and stared into a closed Rose Garden.

Closed?  How could this be?

I pulled my ticket...and OOPS...the game was Tuesday the 30th! 

I had arrived on Monday the 29th. 

Immediately I covered my head with my hoodie and scuttled off. 

(Let's just say, when the mentally handicapped dishwasher calls you an "Idiot!" and it's true, you have a real problem.)

Sadly, I could not take two days off work.  NO WAY.  Not in this economy. 

And hey, I could always sell my ticket.  Right?

Instead I gave the ticket away to my best buddy, Old Man Willie. 

None of you know who Willie is, but he's an elderly brother with a grey afro and beard who likes to drink Brandi soda's, shoot pool, and occasionally sing along to whatever Al Green or mo-town classic comes on the joke box along the NE 28th st. strip.

During the morning you can find him riding Tri-Met taking while his grand kids to school, during the afternoon he can be spotted at the Fred Meyer on Broadway reading The New York Times, and in the evening you can catch him living it up at either Lucky's or Chopsticks.    

Over the decades, Willie has won more than a few pool tournaments around this city.  While playing pool he has an expression I have come to adore. 

He looks at his opponent, laughs, and goes: "Where you from??"

"Where you from?" is an expression which means, "Wherever it is...we're gonna send you back a loser!" 

So I gave Willie the ticket under one strict condition...Willie needed to yell at the Boston Celtics "Where you from?" 

Thus I went to work and was only able to watch the fourth quarter of this miraculous upset (my boss was watching the Ducks game) where the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the world champs without their all star Brandon Roy. 

This game was better than the movie Hoosiers!  

Playing the world champs is like fighting the main bad guy in a video game.  In order to beat the main bad guy, you have to acquire enough weapons over the course of your adventure.   The Blazers have such weapons, with guys like Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, Steve Blake, Sergio Rodriguez, LaMarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw, and even rookie Jarred Bayless.   Oh, and our coach is a level 10 Shaman! 

Tonight we used those weapons, wisely and without hesitation, to stun the main bad guy in the video game and watch the credits role! 

Travis Outlaw made the play of his career by DUNKING on Garnett and Pierce as time winded down.  Steve Blake, who fears no team, made Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo his personal towel boy.  And could anyone deny that Sergio's late game free throws was comparable to the scene in the movie Hoosiers where the little guy who gets almost no P.T. wins the game at the free throw line? 

And then there was Greg Oden.

People who criticize Greg Oden really have no idea what they are talking about.  I understand that writing "Greg Oden is a Bust" articles is hip...but are they even paying attention?  We drafted Greg to have a talented big man, and for the contribution that presence would provide.  That is exactly what we got.  At age 20 he has double-doubles in almost every game, catches pivotal rebounds...and at the end of tonights game he altered Eddie House's three pointer to tie the game. 

Greg Oden even threw Ray Allen into the seats!

Oden is a fricken beast!

People at work asked me if I wish I had been at the game, and I could truthfully tell them no, because I knew a good friend of mine was having the time of his life.

After work I went to Lucky's on NE 28th and Glisan...and Willie was there, all smiles, wearing a Blazers cap. 

"Did you say it?" I asked.

"Man..." Willie roars, "I got this buddy of mine who works security there...at halftime he let me sneak down to where the Celtics were entering...and I was as close to them as I am to you now..."

"And you said it?"

Willie hesitates a moment, his eyes pop open, and he wails, "I said 'Where you from??'" 

I cannot stop laughing. 

Willie ends it with, "And Rojon Rondo...he looked up at me!  All the rest of the vets just went on...but he looked at me like I was crazy!"

It gets better, apparently the cap Willie was wearing he caught when the cheer leading squad fired it from those air guns high into the third tier.  Willie caught it.  And everyone around him kept saying, "They never fire those guns up here."

So Portland stuns Boston.  Willie asked them where they were from AND got to catch a prize cap.  Me, I ended the year feeling very, very happy.

Now its back to work the usher in 2009 with the nutty downtown night scene...

Which is just fine with me.  

Go Blazers.