This website is now going strong in its 18th year covering the Portland Trail Blazers. It shows no signs of stopping either. We’ve long since given up counting the generations of Blazers fans who have passed through these virtual doorways to share their thoughts, analysis, hopes, fears, angst, joy, and dreams. I personally, can remember the first three waves of fans we welcomed. We’re now probably beyond 15 iterations of community, each one bringing new gifts and insights.
(Side Note: This generation is probably one of the best analytical groups we’ve ever had. I love reading the comments and seeing different takes, combined with stats and comparisons and smart byplay. Thank you all for that!)
Our roll of staff members—now numbering in the multiple dozens, including some fairly high-profile alumni—has been filled by writers putting their heart and soul into not just the team, but the people who want to read about it. Fun fact: the Blazers have never succeeded at a high level in the entire history of this site. The closest they got was getting swept out of the 2019 Western Conference Finals. But you wouldn’t know it by the way our staff thinks about, writes about, and cares about the squad. Our championship happens every time we post an interesting question, return three hours later, and go, “Geez! 200 comments!” Or when we post a Game Day Thread for a pedestrian matchup on a Tuesday night in January and top 1000. That’s cool too.
Through the years, with all the analysis and discussion, we’ve never put a thing behind a paywall. This site has remained free for all who wish to read and participate. We give our staff what we can along the way, but we always give our readers everything we have. We don’t ask you to pay it back as much as pay it forward.
The one, consistent, organized way we do that is by sponsoring Blazer’s Edge Night, our annual charity event that sends hundreds (really thousands) of kids in the Portland area to see the Blazers play. Each year we assemble a group of young folks led by teachers, counselors, coaches, and other adults who work with them. The assembled group comes from underserved areas. The vast majority of our participants would never be able to see a Blazers game on their own. Even if they could afford it, they couldn’t arrange transportation and safe chaperoning. We make it possible by saying, “Yes!” to the adults in their lives who write in and ask if they can take the kids they serve to a game.
The reason we’re able to give that “yes” comes down to you. Readers of this site purchase tickets directly from the Blazers for this event from a pool that’s been set aside for this purpose. If our readers respond and buy up the tickets for the kids, the kids get to go. If not, they don’t.
This year Blazer’s Edge Night will happen on March 25th as the Blazers face the Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s by far the highest-profile opponent we’ve ever seen for this event! But there are still hundreds of tickets unbought. It doesn’t matter how exciting that game will be if our kids don’t get to see it.
So we’re asking... if you love the site, the community, and the coverage, don’t worry about paying us, but could you buy a ticket or two (at least) to send the kids who are waiting to go. Not only is it a feel-good thing to do in this holiday season, it helps pass on to another generation the fandom we’ve all grown up with.
You can help with this year’s event by purchasing tickets to give to local kids! It’s easy. You just go through this link to purchase tickets from the Blazers from our designated group page, just as if you were buying them for yourself. Instead of going into your account, tickets purchased through this page get put into the pool for Blazer’s Edge Night. Once all the tickets are purchased, we let our local youth leaders know that they can take their kids and celebration ensues!
Please take a moment to give a ticket or two, or more if you can. Thank you for supporting this event and the broader Portland community!