OT - I met one of the "big shots"

[Mark Padgett]

No, not a player, but a former NBA team big shot. I mentioned before that I am at an assisted living center as I recover from my heart surgery (and other things). One of the guys here (named Herb)is a personal friend of former Portland Trailblazer president and GM, Harry Glickman. Harry is responsible for bringing a pro team to Portland. Yesterday, he came to visit Herb and Herb contacted me to come to his room to meet Harry. We talked about the Blazers and coaches and referees and lots of other basketball related stuff. One story he told me was about the time Frank Leyden of the Utah Jazz was trying to get tossed from a game because his team was getting clobbered by the Blazers but Earl Strom told Frank he wasn't going to toss him because, "If I have to put up with this crap, you do too", except he didn't say "crap".

I told Harry about some of my more humorous referee experiences and he laughed quite a few times. Before he left, I got him to agree to come back here soon and give a presentation to us residents on how he got the idea of bringing a pro team to Portland and how it happened, plus any other stories he has from his days in the league.

It was a real pleasure meeting this guy and I look forward to him coming back.