Sports
See also: Sports in Portland, OregonOregon is home to two professional sports teams which are both based in Portland: Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA and the Portland Timbers of MLS.
Until 2011, the only major professional sports team in Oregon was the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association. From the 1970s to the 1990s, the Blazers were one of the most successful teams in the NBA in terms of both win-loss record and attendance. In the early 21st century, the team's popularity declined due to personnel and financial issues, but revived after the departure of controversial players and the acquisition of new players such as Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Greg Oden.
The Blazers play in the Rose Garden in Portland's Lloyd District, which also is home to the Portland Winterhawks of the junior-league Western Hockey League.
The Timbers play at Jeld-Wen Field, which is just west of downtown Portland. The Timbers repurposed the formerly multi-use stadium into a soccer-only configuration in fall 2010, increasing the seating in the process.
Portland has had minor-league baseball teams in the past, including the Portland Beavers and Portland Rockies, who played most recently at PGE Park. Portland has also actively pursued a Major League Baseball team. It was announced in March 2009 that the Portland Timbers will begin MLS play starting in 2011.
Eugene and Salem also have minor-league baseball teams. The Eugene Emeralds and the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes both play in the Single-A Northwest League. Oregon also has four teams in the fledgling International Basketball League: the Portland Chinooks, Central Oregon Hotshots, Salem Stampede, and the Eugene Chargers.
The Oregon State Beavers and the University of Oregon Ducks football teams of the Pacific-12 Conference meet annually in the Civil War. Both schools have had recent success in other sports as well: Oregon State won back-to-back college baseball championships in 2006 and 2007, and the University of Oregon won back-to-back NCAA men's cross country championships in 2007 and 2008.
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Oregon
Famous quotes containing the word sports:
“Reading about ethics is about as likely to improve one’s behavior as reading about sports is to make one into an athlete.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“I looked so much like a guy you couldn’t tell if I was a boy or a girl. I had no hair, I wore guys’ clothes, I walked like a guy ... [ellipsis in source] I didn’t do anything right except sports. I was a social dropout, but sports was a way I could be acceptable to other kids and to my family.”
—Karen Logan (b. 1949)
“In the end, I think you really only get as far as you’re allowed to get.”
—Gayle Gardner, U.S. sports reporter. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 87 (June 17, 1991)