BLAZER BOOSTER CLUB NEWSLETTER April 2018 ITEMS IN THE NEWSLETTER: DATES BIRTHDAYS PRESIDENT S MESSAGE HOW DID YOU BECOME A MEMBER? HOPS BASEBALL GAME GARRETT THORNTON ON THE BLAZERS COOKIE MONSTERS NEEDED COOKIE MONSTERS PICTURES OF FUN TIMES HOW TO REACH OFFICERS UPCOMING DATES: Board meetings are held at 7:00 at Applebee s on Halsey, Portland, OR. General Meetings: Begin at 7:00 in the Harry Glickman Room unless otherwise noted: ****THE NEXT GENERAL MEETING WILL BE MONDAY, APRIL 16 TH. ******This meeting date is depending on the playoff schedule!!! Tentative meeting dates for 2017-2018 GENERAL MEETINGS MONDAY, APRIL 16th. We will have elections MAY TBD (during our playoffs) BLAZER BIRTHDAYS: APRIL 18 CALEB SWANIGAN BOARD MEETINGS MON. MAY 7TH
PRESIDENT S MESSAGE: Can t believe it is already time for the playoffs. And we are IN!! But with this team, no surprise since everything is possible. During the season with its ups and downs ( most predicted us 9th or 10th in the West ) we were in the middle of a 13 game winning streak and holding 3rd place. Amazing!! And what fun! A big thank you to Chad Doing for coming to our March meeting with all kinds of great stories, giving us a shout out on the 5th quarter and even letting me join him on his pre-game radio show. So nice!! After the show we had several people stop by the Booth to comment and three who signed up for the club!! Lucky to have him back with the Blazers! Here we go!! Blazers and Boosters!! Cheryl HOW DID YOU BECOME A MEMBER? The question was put to the board and here is how they answered. CHERYL AND FRED -WALKING IN THE TOWN OF DAMASCUS, A LADY PASSED THEM WITH LOTS OF BUTTONS ON HER VEST (ONE WAS A BLAZER BOOTER BUTTON) AND CHERYL AND FRED ASKED HER ABOUT THE CLUB. CANDY AND BOB - A FRIEND CANDY WORKED WITH INVITED THEM TO THE SUMMER PICNIC. BOBBY WAS INTERESTED IN B-BALL. BOBBY GOT TO GO TO THE ALL STAR GAME BECAUSE OF MAKE A WISH AND IT CEMENTED THEIR LOVE OF THE GAME. SHARON - HER SON, BRYAN, ASKED A LADY PASSING OUT THE PROGRAMS HOW SHE GOT TO DO THAT, AND WHAT WAS THE BLAZER BOOSTER CLUB AND HE SIGNED HIS MOTHER UP. GRACIE AND BENSON - MET SOME OF THE BOOSTERS AT THE SUMMER LEAGUE AND DECIDED WE WERE FUN PEOPLE. GLORIA- WAS A BOOSTER WITH THE WOMEN S FIRE, WNBA TEAM AND MET ROGER LEE WHO WAS A BLAZER BOOSTER. NEIL AND TERE- ROGER LEE INVITED THEM TO A PICNIC.
Hillsboro Hops Baseball 7/26/18: Blazer Booster Excursion As discussed at our 3/26/18 meeting, I am organizing a group of Blazer Boosters (and guests) to attend the July 26, 2018 Hillsboro Hops baseball game. Game time is 7:05 PM. The game is their HARRY POTTER NIGHT, so there will be plenty of related ingame activities. Thanks to those of you who signed up at the last Booster meeting to tentatively attend. The purpose of the list was to see if we could get enough people (minimum 20 required with NO maximum) to buy a group package. Sign-up resulted in 17 people. Hopefully, we can reach at least 20 by either some deciding to bring extra guests OR more Boosters deciding to attend once they learn about this excursion. I will be talking payment at our next 2 Booster meetings (Mondays April 16 and May 7), although you're welcome to pay in advance. Cost is $34 per person. You can pay cash, check or money order (made out to Neil Lefkowitz), or via PayPal. If you will NOT be attending that April 17 meeting, please contact me BEFOREHAND to arrange payment. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS or want to pay before the April 16 meeting, contact me via e-mail at NEILLEFK@comcast.net OR phone me at 503-292-9549 (AFTER Noon 12 PM). Guests are very welcome as long as they're attending with a Blazer Booster, so feel free to bring friends and family. If we don't get to 20, you can just attend the game (we'll still all sit together) OR first join us at around 4:30 for an inexpensive dinner at Beaverton's Sweet Tomatoes (buffet: soup/salad/pizza/pasta/etc.). Hop seats would be $16 and I'd refund $18 (i.e. $34 minus $16). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Assuming we can get 20 or more people, we'll purchase the Silver Slugger Package. Price is $34: A. Includes an all-you-can-eat buffet dinner in their newly remodeled left field picnic pavilion (covered overhead to protect from sun) which will give us reserved tables in the pavilion (buffet itself is shared with other groups). B. Buffet includes hamburgers, hotdogs, side dishes, soft drinks & water. Vegetarians can request veggie-burgers and veggie-dogs, but must let me know well in advance (Hops require this notification). C. Includes box seat tickets (will try to get first base side to avoid sitting in sun). D. Buffet opens around 6 PM (when doors open) and continues to 6 th or 7 th inning. You can stay and watch from the outfield or wander to your seats (and go back and forth if desired).
Ideal First Round Matchup for the Portland Trail Blazers by Garrett Thornton The Portland Trail Blazers are 77 games into the season and have clinched a playoff spot and are on the verge of clinching home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The team that now sits at 48-29 has come a long way from when they were 22-21 just over halfway through the season. This is the time of year that more people are scoreboard watching around the league than any other point in the season. Every single game can make a big difference in seeding in the playoffs. The #4-#9 seeded teams in the Western Conference are only separated by 3 games. The Western Conference has been incredibly competitive all season but could hit a crescendo over the last week and a half of the regular season. Each team is jockeying for playoff positioning and trying to matchup with an ideal team in the first round. The teams currently ranked 4-8 are the Spurs, Thunder, Jazz, Timberwolves, and Pelicans. That is an incredibly stacked group of teams! Who would the Blazers match up best with in the first round? 1 Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite the big offseason acquisitions of Carmelo Anthony and Paul George, the Blazers have dominated the Thunder this season. The Blazers won all 4 matchups this season by a total of 26 points. One of those games was without Damian Lillard. With all of the hype surrounding Russell Westbrook and the Thunder, it sure would be fun to watch the Blazers beat up on them in the first round. 2 New Orleans Pelicans. Anthony Davis is a legit top-5 player in this league. The Blazers and Pelicans split their season series, 2-2. The difference in this series is that the Pelicans are a collection of pieces surrounding Anthony Davis, the Blazers are a cohesive team. If Boogie Cousins was healthy we may view this differently, but this would be a good matchup for the Blazers. 3 Minnesota Timberwolves. Everyone had the Timberwolves as a top 4 team in the west before the season started. With a couple weeks left in the season they are barely hanging onto a playoff spot. With the impending return of Jimmy Butler, the Timberwolves could be a dangerous team in the postseason. While this is a good and talented team now, give them another season to gel as a team and improve, and they could be really scary.
4 Utah Jazz. Not many teams in the league are as hot as the Jazz for the last couple of months. The Jazz found themselves at 19-28 towards the end of January. They then won 21 out of 23 games to vault themselves into the playoff conversation. This is a dominant defensive team, with the 2 nd best defensive rating. This team, led by Rudy Cookie Monsters: Thank you to Shanna White for organizing the treats at our meetings. Our delicious treats at the March meeting were brought to you by: Debbie Herr, Marja Yingling, Cliff Brewer, Terry Rameriz, Gloria Feiring, Voni Wisely, Bev Butler, Gracie and Benson Lee, Gloria and Jayla Phillips. NEEDED: Cookie monsters for April meeting. Call or email Sharon if you can bring treats for April. WHEELS HELPING AT OUR MEETING WE ROCKED WILD WINGS AT THE WATCH PARTY
CHAD DOING VISITED AND HAD LOTS OF INTERESTING OPINIONS. INFORMATION ON THE BLAZER BOOSTER CLUB: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blazerboosterclub Email questions or concerns blazerboosterclub@gmail.com