Enjoying Local Women's Sports

 Minneapolis, MN

Lynx Basketball Finals

The other night Donna and I attended game 3 of the MN Lynx vs. New York Liberty WNBA Finals.  It was an incredibly exciting game but sadly a loss and they ended up losing the series a few games later.  We had a great time cheering them on and we will cheer them on again next year.  The games are incredibly entertaining.

We all got "Free" T-Shirts to wear and towels to wave.

It was the largest attendance for a Lynx game yet at 19,521 attendees.

Donna sporting her spots shirt and sports hand towel.

Golden Gophers Hockey

About a week later we attended the women's Minnesota University Golden Gophers Hockey Game vs. The Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks.  It was a really fun game.  Seats were general admission so we were able to sit in a few different places to check out the action.  We decided our favorite place to sit was low in the corners so that you could see the whole rink in one view.  It was really fun watching the puck bank around the glass right in front of you.  We will have to try other hockey games in these seats.

We took a selfie with Goldy the Gopher.

Ridder Arena appears to be a dedicated arena for the Women's Hockey Team.

We have been to Otter Tail County!

It was a really fun game.  "We" won 8 to 2.  Another great thing about the night is that we were able to take The Green Line light rail right there.  It was an easy trip and we look forward to seeing more sporting events at UMN.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Disney World, check it out.  We went to Disney World and survived a Hurricane (The windy kind, not the drinky kind).

Rip City!

 Portland, OR

Moda Center

Tonight we went to Moda Center for a Portland Trail Blazers Game.  I always look on Stub Hub for cheap tickets and the other day I picked up 2 tickets for $18 all in for Portland vs. NY York Knicks.  It's always fun to see a sporting event in a new place and check out the arena.  As an added bonus, the arena is only a 15 minute walk from our place.

They had some nice merch.

The name Rip City came about in 1971, during The Trail Blazers first season, when Bill Schonely, the announcer for The Trail Blazers, was so overwhelmed by excitement, he yelled, "Rip City!" when Jim Barnett made an improbably shot during a game against The Lakers.

High Five if you have to pee!

The Ultra Club didn't seem very exclusive so we didn't join.

Portland is "Plaid Out"

Donna fills her water bottle at a water bottle filler.  After taking this photo I found out the filler wasn't working so the photo is a lie!

The view from the cheap seats was great.

Portland is the opposite of a dry county.  There is alcohol around every corner.

Donna pointed out these cool condiment logos.

The view from the cheap seats was fine.

Fire!

I made good use of my 4x optical zoom here.

Halftime Entertainment was provided by Ms. Viola Brand, an Artistic Cyclist.  Before researching her and Artistic Cycling,  my only context were these scenes from The 1986 Kevin Bacon Film, Quicksilver.  Here and Here.

This is the soda cup that the guy next to me dropped on the floor full of soda.  It was an expensive mistake.

As I was looking around noticed something odd.  The Trail Blazers retired #30 twice.  In 2008 they retired Bobby Gross' #30 and Terry Porter's #30 well after both players had retired.

In the end, New York prevailed.  Most of the teams we have gone to see have won their games when we were there.  I guess we didn't bring the winning magic tonight.

The walk home was very pretty.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Burger, A Beer, and Pinball, check it out.

The Golden Band From Tigerland

 Baton Rouge, LA

Geaux Tigers!

The Band and Team Procession to the Field

LSU has a tradition of only having night games at Tiger Stadium and having a celebrated procession about 2 hours before kickoff where the band marches and plays heading to the stadium and then the team follows up.  We are into the whole marching band thing so we braved the rain to go watch the procession.  We were told the game against UAB (The University of Alabama at Birmingham) wasn't a "Big" game so we figured between the rain and the less popular opponent the crowds would be light.  Nope!  People were packed in and partying!  The first band to go by was the Alumni Band.  An older teen was standing next to me and watched them go by and said something like, "That's it?"  Her parent explained that it was just the Alumni Band.  She responded with, "I don't even know what that means".  

The Alumni band makes its way to the field.

We had hoped for a cool marching band experience but we got a running band.  It was still cool.

$4 Tickets to the Game

During the week I was checking Stubhub for ticket prices.  On gameday I found 2 that were $4 each.  I asked Donna if she wanted to spend a few bucks to show up to the game late, watch the band, and then leave.  That sounded great to Donna so I pulled the trigger on the tickets.  After the procession we headed home to dry off and wait for the right time to head to Tiger Stadium.  I was watching updates on the game and we headed over around the start of the 2nd quarter.  It was going to be about a 15 minute walk.  We got to our seats with about 7 minutes left in the quarter.  We got to see an LSU touchdown which was a bonus.

We were up top and the stadium was much larger and much steeper than I had thought it would be.

The band played in the stands until it was time to head to the field for half-time.

I took the opportunity to take photos from the top of the stadium.

You can see the state capitol in the distance.

Touchdown!

The band sounded great and their marching was pretty tight.

The Alumni Band also got to get out on the field.

Tiger Stadium

Tiger stadium holds 102,000 people.  It's probably the 2nd largest stadium I have been to.  2nd to The Auto Club Speedway in Fontana which holds 120,000 people.  2 weeks ago LSU played a huge rival, The University of Alabama.  Alabama came into Baton Rouge the favorite and left having lost in a dramatic fashion.  The game had eight lead changes and went to overtime.  Alabama scored quickly in overtime and put LSU in a bad spot but LSU came through with a touchdown and decided to play for the 2 point conversion instead of locking up a tie.  It paid off with a dramatic victory that caused the crowd to rush the field resulting in a $250,000 fine from the SEC.  During the game the crowd was so "stompy" and noisy that they set off the seismograph at LSU.  Tonight's game was very different.  LSU did win but the crowd was much smaller and it wasn't as big of a deal.

It's really fun being so close to a university.  They are great places to walk around and they provide a lot of low cost opportunities for fun. 

That's it for today.  If you missed yesterday's post you can find it here.