Tag: Portland Trailblazers

Posted on

Sports & A Beer – How to Fix the Portland Trailblazers

Before my beloved and frustrating Trailblazers went on a big 8-1 winning streak in January and February things were looking dire. They were sitting at 13-28 and had suffered some serious blowout losses. It was looking like yet another season of waving the white flag in the hopes of getting a shot at drafting Cooper Flagg.

But now things are looking better and with continued good play we just might be the top of the non-playoff tier in the Western Conference. The next progressive step would be playoffs next year.

To do that there are two things that I hope the organization and head coach Billups do to evolve the team like the logo above…

First, we do need to trim the roster a bit and hopefully acquire some additional long term draft picks. The Time Lord Robert Williams III could fetch some attention as could Jabari Walker and Matisse Thybulle and as good as Jerami Grant has been as a Blazer, he could garner us some picks as well. The roster reduction will provide a flight path for more minutes for Clingan, Scoot and Dalano Banton.

Second, solidify a rotation and send in waves of fresh players. Being able to bring players who have started like Scoot, Shaedon, Dalano and Clingan off the bench allows us less of a productivity drop off so I would kindly suggest doing hockey like shifts and just tire other teams out.

For beer, I would suggest locating a new brewery and buying a few of their beers in a can taster flight of sorts. Wild Parrot Brewing in East Pasadena springs to mind as does ISM Brewing in Long Beach.

Posted on

Blazing Glass

Blazer Glassware is back and you can get Sharpe, Scoot or Clingan to hold a Portland beer in style.  Or use them for cocktails or cider.  Anything you put in the glass will be better than yet another rebuilding season of NBA basketball.

Posted on

NBA Draft – Blazers Edition 2024

The first bit of business to unpack is that my beloved Blazers sent Malcom Brogdon, the 14th pick (which became ) and future picks (a first and a pair of seconds) to the Washington Wizards for 23 year old Deni Avdija. A tall shooting forward (yeah) coming off a real good year. This move is good in two ways as it lowers the wage bill and it frees up space for our large group of youngsters to get playing time as we essentially free up two roster spots.

Now with just one pick in the lottery, it was just a matter of who would fall to #7 and wasn’t a 6’9″ forward. That person was NCAA Champ and second UConn Husky off the board, Donovan Clingan. A 7’2″ center with a strong all around game that could be a real strong piece for the Blazers. Might be considered a safe pick but a good start.

The newly split draft continued on Thursday and Portland kicked the 34th pick down the road for future picks, then cashed out on the 40th pick and during the wild and confusing ride that was the 2nd round trade-a-thon, also cashed out on pick 52. I would have liked to see them pick up Jamal Shead from Houston or Cam Spencer from UConn for backcourt hustle but it was not to be and now we see if we can trim a few veteran players off so that all of our young-ins can get some court time.

I guess I will need to find a Connecticut beer for Clingan and Israeli beer for Avdija.

Posted on

Blazers Re-Start and Re-Mix

The 2023/2024 season starts, for me, with the Portland Trailblazers and our three S’s (Simons, Sharpe and Scoot) vs the Los Angeles Clippers.

The pre-season finished at 1-3 with the only W coming against a team from New Zealand but that was to be expected with only two returning starters and an average age of just shy of 24. But this season should be fun for a few reasons:

  • Expectations are low – no disappointment at failing Dame’s quest for a title
  • Exciting talent – not only #3 pick Scoot Henderson but Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara and new pick-ups DeAndre Ayton and Robert Williams
  • Future picks – even if this season doesn’t show potential, the future just might.
  • Fun rivalries – games against young teams like OKC and Chet and Spurs with Wemby should be the start of something new

Yes, this is not a beer-centric post but for years, I have kinda dreaded watching the Blazers knowing that the balance wasn’t right no matter the effort but now I can sit back and look for progress with a session beer or maybe a Widmer Hefeweizen and enjoy without getting tense. Plus, who knows, maybe Portland breweries are already concocting beers with Blazer themes for this new team.

Posted on

A Podcast & A Beer – The Brief Case

It is NBA season and time for this beer blogger to root for my Portland Trailblazers, and to do so effectively I will be turning to this new podcast, The Brief Case…

These are bite sized, under twenty minute podcasts from long time Blazer writer Holdahl. It is a nice behind the scenes soundbite from players alongside some betting information which is a bit incongruous to me. The episodes that I have listened to thankfully do not veer in the rush to analyze each game as a momentous occasion that troubles some sports podcasts.

To pair with this podcast, I would recommend alighting upon a favorite brewery to match with your favorite team. Choose a starting line-up of core beers, then find a bench of five more beers and taste through them all to re-acquaint yourself with why that brewery is your favorite.

Posted on

In the Rafters

NBA Season is fast approaching and as I fervently wish that my Trailblazers start strong one team in the Association has finished strong, the Boston Celtics (my Dad’s favorite team).

They also have a great beer partner in Jack’s Abby that has a Celtics beer with a great name….

Maybe a Portland brewery will be able to create a Second Banner Belgian Dubbel in the future.

Posted on

Sharpe at 7

Each year (when Portland has a first round pick), I take the opportunity to make tenuous beer connections and since the Blazers tanked semi-succesfully to pick #7, I definitely had to have an NBA draft post this year.

Since Shaedon Sharpe basically has a stop over at Kentucky, let’s instead head to the province of Ontario in Canada.

So let’s go to London and what I hope Rip City will become, a Powerhouse.

They have a smoked pineapple Gose that sounds great but since I am thinking about an NBA ‘ship, their Daydream Dunkels sounds even better this day.

Also, welcome to PDX, Jerami Grant!

Posted on

Rasta Monsta

Former Portland Trailblazer forward Brian Grant has collaborated with Portland brewery Von Ebert to release a beer benefitting his foundation, Rasta Monsta is set to be released at the Blazers home court, Moda Center near the end of this basketball season, starting March 30th.

Rasta Monsta will be the first beer done by Grant but Von Ebert has been helping his Pints for Parkinsons cause in the past. 

photo from The Oregonian

The Brian Grant Foundation seeks to “help improve the well-being of people with Parkinson’s,” and one of the ways it has done that in the past is via its Pints for Parkinson’s fundraiser, which featured a beer passport.

Von Ebert describes the beer as having “notes of guava, overripe mango, and a touch of pineapple, with a crisp malt backbone holding it all together.”

Posted on

Riip City

I have listened and now watched on YouTube the final seconds of Portland’s one and only NBA championship win many times and with Bill Schonely, the voice and totem of the Trailblazers retiring, I wish that I could find this beer….

Three cheers for The Schonz!