I’m going to blame this one on good beer.   Or maybe good hockey.  Allow me to explain.

There was a stick-and-puck time at the Winterhawks Skating Center near Portland, OR.  I was on the ice, as were a couple of other goalies and a decent number of skaters.  The skaters were taking good shots, and several of them even spent some time working with me on goaltending drills.  It was a good session.

I took a break by the boards for a couple of minutes, during which I chatted up one of the other adults on the ice, a guy named Dave. (Yes, many of the skaters were adults, which was another nice change.)  Dave mentioned that there would be a really great pickup game the following night in nearby Vancouver, WA and invited me to go. I explained that my schedule forced me to decline, but I took the chance to ask him about other fun things to do in the Portland area.  “The Brewfest,” he said.

Portland is famous for the quantity and quality of its microbreweries.  The Brewfest, also known as the Oregon Brewers Festival, is an annual celebration of beer held in downtown Portland.  Over 80 beers are on tap for sampling.

After the stick-and-puck ended, I stowed my gear, hopped on a light-rail train, and headed downtown to drink some beer.  A short while later, the train arrived at a park along the river’s edge in Portland.

I got out and immediately saw a problem: the line to get in the Brewfest stretched more than a block.  What’s more, the festival itself seemed to be little more than a huge beer tent.  A tightly packed beer tent.

My enthusiasm for the Brewfest suddenly waned.

A good day for sailing in Portland with Mt. Hood in the background.

Instead, I decided to walk around downtown Portland for a while.  As I strolled along, I couldn’t help but notice the number of people wearing green.  Bars and restaurants were flying similar colors.  “What a coordinated city,” I thought.  Then I realized that all of the green was in celebration and support of a single group: the Timbers.  But who or what were they?

(continued at Part 2)