In the past two weeks Portland celebrated the final regular-season home games of two hometown favorites, the soon-to-be Major League Portland Timbers (soccer) and the now-possibly-defunct Portland Beavers (baseball), and it’s got us thinking about the great sports in this town. Here on the McDonald Group real estate blog we often talk about great restaurants, family-friendly music and art events, and news in the Portland Real Estate and development worlds, but today we’re going to look at the sports that brought Portland, Oregon some of her nicknames, including Rip City and Soccer City.
The Portland Trail Blazers, known as the Blazers to locals, are probably our most well-known team. The team plays their home games in the Rose Garden Arena on Portland’s East Side and has incredibly loyal and enthusiastic fans. If you’re visiting Portland during basketball season, be sure to check out a Blazers’ game to get a glimpse of Portland’s rowdier side. Don’t forget to wear your red, black, white, and silver, because Blazers’ fans are often swept up in “Blazermania” and sure know how to party! Five hall-of-fame players have worn the Blazers’ Jersey, including Lenny Wilkens, Bill Walton, Clyde Drexler, Dražen Petrović, and Scottie Pippen. The Blazers’ mascot is Blaze the Trail Cat, a two-tone silver-colored mountain lion, which has been the team’s official mascot since 2002.
Portland’s nickname Rip City is connected to the Blazers, and was coined in 1971 during the Blazers’ first season. The story goes that the Blazers’ guard Jim Barnett made an improbable long distance shot to give the team hope of beating the mighty Los Angeles Lakers, causing the Blazers’ announcer Bill Schonely to shout, “Rip City! All right!” Although Schonely himself claims he has no idea what the phrase actually meant, the name stuck, and you can still see billboards, store names, sports memorabilia, and advertisements that reference the Rip City name.
Starting next year, the Blazers will no longer be the only major league team in Oregon – our soccer team, the Portland Timbers, is joining Major League Soccer and taking over PGE Park in Portland’s Northwest district. Timbers fans could give any other sports fans a run for their money, as the “Timbers Army,” the center of Portland soccer fandom, remains standing through every Timbers game singing, chanting, clapping, and yelling in a series of ritualized cheers and timed songs. If you check out a Timbers game, wear your greens and whites, and look out for Timber Joey, the team’s current mascot, a lumberjack who waves a chainsaw around the field and cuts a round of a giant log every time the team scores. The Timbers’ rivals are the Seattle Sounders and the Vancouver Whitecaps, both of which will be in the Major League by next year. For next year’s move to the Majors, PGE park is being converted from a baseball field to a permanent soccer field, and Portland is gearing up to hold on to the title of Soccer City, USA! That nickname was earned when the Timbers when it drew some huge crowds for games in the now-defunct North American Soccer League, and we’re going to top those records in the coming year.
One of our lesser-known teams is the Portland Beavers, our minor league baseball team, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. In a bittersweet move, the Timbers’ growth into a Major League team means the Beavers have lost their home at PGE Park. Because no suitable location was found for the new home of the baseball team, the Beavers were put up for sale and relocation, and will likely be in Southern California by next year. The last game of the Portland Beavers was full of emotion and pride, and we hope there is still a future for baseball in Portland, but we’re willing to be the Timbers will make the transition worthwhile.
Our other hometown teams include the Portland Winterhawks, our Junior Hockey club, and many Rugby clubs throughout town. There’s something for everyone in Portland, and the future looks bright for even more sports in the City of Roses!
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