Was at my son’s playoff basketball game tonight at UofP and as we were walking to our seats, heard somebody say, “Hey man!”. Looked up and it was none other than Travis Outlaw. He looked great. Still in the same shape. Was very surprised to see him and asked why he was out our way. Said he has a son that lives out here and was visiting. Anyway, said he’s Still loves the city and how kind all the people are. Great seeing old players, thought I’d share. Always liked his game!
Always warms my heart to see players who visit Portland after their careers are over. That we mean as much to them as during their playing days. I remember seeing Kersey and Drexler around town growing up. It was always such a thrill.
Whatever happened to the charges/allegations of drug distribution? I always hoped for more game from him. Loved the short stretch he gave us. Especially, the game winner vs Memphis.
Hey, why not? Emeka Okafor is two years older, had been out of the league for five years and is playing quite well for NOP. It's not like any of these 10-day contract guys are going to see any PT anyway. Might as well let Trout retire a Blazer and finish his career where it started. At the very least, I hope they comp him some tickets while he's in town. I bet he'd get a huge ovation if they showed him on the jumbotron. BNM
I believe you may be thinking of the game winner he hit in MEM that started the 13 game winning streak in December, 2008. He also posterized Rodney Carney with a windmill dunk in Game 13 of that streak against PHI. I was at that game with my daughter. Through most of that game the Blazers looked lifeless and like they were going to lose. They were down by 7 with three minutes left in the third. They went on a huge run, outscoring PHI 43-11 over the last 15 minutes of the game to end up winning by 25. Outlaw's dunk was part of that run and really got the crowd into the game. BNM
Also had one at ATL a little later that season I loved Travis, he had the worst shot selection but then somehow the dude was clutch as hell.
He was a great 6th man/scorer off the bench on that 54-win 2008-09 team. He didn't have a great handle, but with that one-dribble pull up and his leaping ability, he could get his shot off against anyone. BNM
The Rose Garden absolutely exploded. Back then, I took my kids to a lot of Blazers games. We'd already been to a couple games during the winning streak. At the last minute, my daughter decided she wanted to go, but we didn't have tickets. Prior to the big winning steak, you could just walk up to the ticket window 10 minutes before the game and get good seats. Not that night. The game was sold out and I ended up getting us two seats in the top row, corner, from some guy on craigslist. Probably the worst seats I've ever had at a Blazers game, but it was worth it. My daughter still talks about that game and how loud the crowd was. BNM
Travis always seemed like a really good dude, too. Very humble and polite and well liked by his teammates. Hard to believe he's only 33. That seems like so long ago. BNM