Last night’s Trail Blazer game — the atmosphere
I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this because the game itself will take more time.
The building looked as good as it’s looked in years. I give the crew over at the Memorial Coliseum a lot of credit for spiffing the place up. And I will say, leaving that black curtain open changes the look of the place on the inside.
But man it was cold in there most of the night. And having the curtain open — and by the way, the old drop-ceiling that used to be in there is now also gone — meant that the noise level in there was much lower that it used to be. Granted the fans didn’t have much to yell about, but it really wasn’t nearly as loud as it once was.
Man, the lines at the concession stands looked impossibly long and the concourse was choked, as expected. It was fine for one game and I give everyone — coaches, players, front office, support staff, everyone — credit for going along with it.
But once was enough.
Trail Blazers, arenas | Dwight Jaynes | October 15, 2009
Dwight, I am sitting here wondering why a lightning rod such as yourself has not waded into the Andre Miller situation yet. We keep hearing your thoughts and hearing your thoughts and hearing your thoughts on Memorial Coliseum but nothing on the national controversy stirred up last week between Nate and Andre? Are you going soft on us?
How in the world does a national writer expose serious acrimony brewing in the Blazer locker room and we don’t hear a single peep out of Dwight?
I have been reading you for 20+ years Dwight and this is not like you. You must have an opinion and I can guarantee it will be a good one. If we ever hear it. The whole scene seems to be being downplayed in the local media. Very little followup from Quick, Eggers or Jaynes…
When was the last time a national writer wrote a piece about the Blazers which alleges that the coach has flat out lied multiple times to the media and to a player…and we hear nothing from you? This may be the first time.
Seems strange that this is a non story with you.
Dwight,
Totally agree on the Coliseum assessment. I left with 10 minutes left in halftime to use the bathroom and buy a beer. I didn’t get back to my seat until there was only 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and I didn’t have a beer. I got sick of waiting in the lines. Couple that with the long lines just to get in and the bottleneck of getting out. If there was some sort of emergency inside that place there would be mass casualties because it would take too long to get out.
If they’re going to leave that place standing they need to reduce the capacity by about 4,000 or 5,000. I’d rather just tear it down.
I agree with Mr. Gaynes that the MC is too cold, and doesn’t suit a crowd. I just wanted a hot dog, potato chips, and a soda pop, and I wondered if I’d been better going home at halftime for food and coming back for the rest of the game, since it wouldn’t have taken any more time. I swear I spent more time in lines at the mens room and the concessions, than I spent on my walk to and from home to the MC.
Now that I have seen the MC with the curtain down, why did they ever put it up?
I was sweltering last night, but I was wearing a sweater.
I kept thinking “wow what a great spot for a ballpark!”
The powers that be really blew it
I think the facility could still work for a major league base-ket-ball team.