...and that is where my proximity to other major metro area comes into play [think in terms of diriving distance...2 hours maximium] is my point still "invalid" to you?!?!?! p.s. GO BEAVS!!!
Seattle, as a city, has 30K more people than Portland, as a city, does. It's Seattle's metro that is more populous than Portland (and their metro encompasses a larger area too). I wouldn't be surprised if Oklahoma gets an ASG before Portland does. You know, to reward them for the cup of tea they've had while being in the NBA.
...get on the ball then, start up a "Bring the NBA AS Game to PDX" organization [kind of like the push for MLB]!!!
I would, but that might be kind of difficult for me to pull off, as I live in Atlanta. WAIT! I did pull off the KP gig, though. Hmmm......
Yeah, population wise Seattle and Denver are only 30k more than us and just as far away from most major cities. We are even closer to LA (a major city) than Seattle. I think Portland not getting an all-star game has more to do with the hotel arrangements than anything. but that's just my opinion
It's because of the hotels. If and when the Convention Center builds their Hotel Tower we wont be seeing the ASG in Portland.
...again, I am talking about the bulk of the major metro populous in and around the areas of discussion [remember, I said within a 2 hour drive, not flight!!!] There are more than enough hotels in PDX and the surrounding cities to host a measily little AS Game...are they "quality" hotel arrangements though [and are there located near the city center]?! That is more likely to the debate when considering accomodations in PDX for the AS Game...
thats what I'm saying, when people like Kanye West and 50 Cent come to town, they are going to want crazy nice hotels (as well as the players). I don't think they have enough quality hotels for these rich people.
...on a side note; NBA sets 2010 All-Star Game at new Cowboys stadium DALLAS (AP)—NBA Commissioner David Stern says the Dallas Cowboys new stadium in Arlington will host the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. Stern announced the plans Thursday in a ceremony outside the American Airlines Center near downtown Dallas, where the Dallas Mavericks play. Mavs owner Mark Cuban and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones also attended the ceremony. The game will be played at the stadium on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010. The all-rookie game and Saturday night festivities will take place the day before at the American Airlines Center. This will be the first time that the league’s All-Star competitions have been split between two venues since 1989, when the game was played at the Astrodome and other events went on at the Summit. Dallas last hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 1986, at Reunion Arena.
Portland hosted the Tournament of the Americas back in 92' in the Memorial Coliseum(12,888 cap)...Got a chance to see the debut of the Dream Team...anyone else make it to a game? <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/k2zSbnr--Fs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/k2zSbnr--Fs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
The hotel excuse is bullshit! We hosted a couple NBA Finals back in the day and did just fine. Tournament of the Americas went off without a hotel problem. Stern is sticking it to us for the whole gambling thing. Shit, Salt Lake City hosted BEFORE they built new hotels for the winter Olympics.
My dad took me to that game. I have a piece of notebook paper that has everybody from Larry Bird to Bill Russell to Magic to Rolando Blackman's autographs on it. When I was a kid, that was my coolest possession. Didn't get to go to the dunk contest where Jordan beat Kersey in the finals though!
May also be because of Oregon having Sports Lottery, although the Las Vegas game pretty much blows that theory out of the water. Portland will be getting some NCAA games for either the 2009 or '10 tournament, don't remember which, so maybe if those go smoothly the NBA will be forced to reevaluate Portland as a host.
From what I have heard it is NOT the number of Hotels in Portland, it is the lack of not having ONE large luxory hotel that can accomodate everyone. Whether or not it is BS I have no idea, but apparently they don't want everyone spread out in different places. What is Portland's biggest hotel?
It is the hotel issue. There are not enough hotels within a certain proximity of the Rose Garden. They are not going to stay in surrounding cities. You have former players, players in the all-star game, players in the rookie game, players in the Saturday events, those players families, the former players families, executives, groupies and friends of current and former players, you have all the celebrities that buy tickets for the game, you have people flown in for the game by businesses as part of a weekend of dealing, you have Stern and his executives. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Garden_Arena http://wweek.com/editorial/3215/7246/
