February 6
It was on Feb. 6, 1970, when one of Oregon’s most loved — if not the most loved — sports franchises came into existence. The Portland Trail Blazers and Rip City. It all started with Harry Glickman, an entrepreneur of professional sports, having a dream of top-level sports for his hometown of Portland. A group of local investors and the NBA expansion committee met in Philadelphia, and the expansion committee raised the franchise price tag to $3.7 million, causing the group of investors — who were prepared to give $2 million — to back out, leaving no financial support to make it happen.
Back in Portland, Glickman got a call from then-Seattle Sonics general manager Dick Vertlieb, who, according to the team, said he “knew a guy” who might be interested in staking an NBA franchise, but made it clear he was not interested in being part of the ownership. That guy was Herman Sarkowsky, a home builder in Seattle, and the possible interest of two developer friends, Larry Weinberg (who would become owner of the team) and Robert Schmertz.
The league had set a deadline to select its new teams, and when the deadline rolled around, Glickman still hadn’t heard from Sarkowsky. Glickman went to Los Angeles with only a scheme to try and persuade the NBA’s Board of Governors to accept Portland. He had hoped a good faith offer would work. Once inside the hotel room of the chairman of the expansion committee and Baltimore Bullets owner Abe Pollin, the mood changed. A few members of the committee, led by the owner of the New York Knicks, did not want Portland in the league.
Back in Portland, Glickman got a call from then-Seattle Sonics general manager Dick Vertlieb, who, according to the team, said he “knew a guy” who might be interested in staking an NBA franchise, but made it clear he was not interested in being part of the ownership. That guy was Herman Sarkowsky, a home builder in Seattle, and the possible interest of two developer friends, Larry Weinberg (who would become owner of the team) and Robert Schmertz.
The league had set a deadline to select its new teams, and when the deadline rolled around, Glickman still hadn’t heard from Sarkowsky. Glickman went to Los Angeles with only a scheme to try and persuade the NBA’s Board of Governors to accept Portland. He had hoped a good faith offer would work. Once inside the hotel room of the chairman of the expansion committee and Baltimore Bullets owner Abe Pollin, the mood changed. A few members of the committee, led by the owner of the New York Knicks, did not want Portland in the league.
So Glickman left the room dejected. When he reached the lobby of the hotel, with the feeling that his dream had failed, he remembered he had left his raincoat back in the room. “When I got there,” Glickman said, “Pollin was on the phone: ‘Harry it’s for you … some guy named Sarkowsky is on the phone.’ He had reached Weinberg, who was eager to buy into an NBA franchise and finally got in touch with Schmertz, who was in. And Portland was granted an NBA franchise.
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“When we got this franchise, we didn’t have any support, any political groups … we had very little from the media,” Glickman said Wednesday at a press conference. “I hope that changes now, because of the very day we got this franchise, we held a press conference the very next day saying, ‘we hope we (as in Oregon) have another major league team.’ And my biggest disappointment is, we haven’t had another one to join us. I hope we don’t have to wait another 48 years to get one.”
Now 50 years later, it’s time to celebrate 50 years and the 50th anniversary of the beloved franchise. And plans are underway to do so. Read more at ... https://www.dailyastorian.com/sports/local/blazers-ready-for-th-birthday-bash/article_94ec4d36-2b62-11e9-9df7-5b79519ebeda.html
As Harry Glickman tells it, the decision to grant Portland an NBA franchise came down to a forgotten raincoat, a locked bathroom and a harrowing drive through downtown Los Angeles to Beverly Hills. ....
read more from OPB at ... https://www.opb.org/news/article/portland-trail-blazers-founded-raincoat-harry-glickman/
https://www.koin.com/news/where-we-live-the-man-behind-the-trail-blazers/
Now 50 years later, it’s time to celebrate 50 years and the 50th anniversary of the beloved franchise. And plans are underway to do so. Read more at ... https://www.dailyastorian.com/sports/local/blazers-ready-for-th-birthday-bash/article_94ec4d36-2b62-11e9-9df7-5b79519ebeda.html
As Harry Glickman tells it, the decision to grant Portland an NBA franchise came down to a forgotten raincoat, a locked bathroom and a harrowing drive through downtown Los Angeles to Beverly Hills. ....
read more from OPB at ... https://www.opb.org/news/article/portland-trail-blazers-founded-raincoat-harry-glickman/
https://www.koin.com/news/where-we-live-the-man-behind-the-trail-blazers/
February 20
Stu Inman was hired as the chief scout for the new NBA team.
Inman. who was selected in the sixth round of the 1950 NBA Draft from San Jose State University by the Chicago Stags, would spend the next 16 years working for the team. Besides being the chief scout, Inman was also VP of Player Personnel before becoming the GM from 1981 to 1986. He also compiled a 6-20 record as interim coach in 1971-72. |
https://oregonsportsnews.com/portland-trail-blazers-historical-profile-stu-inman/