Yep, that's me and my grinning face sitting in between Mike and Mike in the Portland Trail Blazers' Rose Garden Arena broadcast area down in the lower level of the arena. Me! Mike Rice on the left of the photo, Mike Barrett on the right. Wednesday, February 20, from 5-8 p.m. the annual Player Palooza event took place for season ticket holders who RSVPed. I tell you what, I stood in line here and I stood in line there, I took pictures every where! This right here is one of two photos that kind strangers took of me with my Nikon D50. I really like these two guys and their broadcasts of the Blazers. I just had to pat Rice on the back, couldn't help myself! Besides taking photos, I hugged other members of the media, Blazers' coaches and Blazers' players! Basketball heaven!
Oh, and I ended up on the KGW Sports last night--I saw it at 10 p.m. when they broadcast on Channel 3. Just me and JJ Hickson in the same story about Player Palooza--so fine! I had run into Joe Becker, KGW sportscaster, in the Blazers' weight room. I recognized him, but my mind went completely blank, so I said, "Oh, oh. I know who you are but, help me out, I can't remember your name!" "Joe, Joe Becker," he replied. I said, "Your pause before you say the last thing!" "Right!" he said! We got to talking about what a treat it was to be there, that he'd never even been in the weight room, and how much we were enjoying the event. Before I knew it, he asked if he could interview me about Player Palooza when the Brian/Bryan, the cameraman, came back to that area. I asked, "Is that Ace Sports Photographer?" He grinned really big and said, "Yes!" So we talked while Brian/Bryan recorded, shook hands and I continued on the tour. When I got home, I found his e-mail at KGW and sent him one, saying how neat it was to have met him and Brian/Bryan, that I was headed for the recliner and the heating pad with my iPhone set to go off for the 10 p.m. news. He e-mailed back and said that he enjoyed meeting me, too, that there had been a short piece about Player Palooza on at 6:30 p.m., that they used a comment from JJ and a comment from me and that it was going to on again at 10 and 11 p.m. Thank goodness I had the timer set on the phone so that I could see it at 10 p.m. because I fell asleep after that and didn't wake up until 12:25 p.m.