I’m not ashamed to admit that whenever I play basketball, even if it’s just shooting hoops, I am pretending I am in the NBA. Pretty much everything that entertains us in the modern world is predicated upon the idea of imagination. In a lot of ways, personal taste just boils down to one’s ability to let go and be transported by something. The more fantasy (usually involving ourselves) we can invest in a given mode of entertainment, the more we respond to it.
THURSDAY, FEB. 28 Men’s basketball North Dakota 74 Vikings 66 Top performers Aaron Moore: 16 points, 15 rebounds, 3 steals SATURDAY, MARCH 2 Women’s basketball Northern Colorado 63 Vikings 48…
As the erratic sunshine begins to creep slowly back into our lives and mornings offer promises of mild days with light gray cast skies to come, it’s about time to bust out the bicycle.
The Portland Timbers left Jeld-Wen Field with a 1-1 draw against the Swedish club AIK on Saturday in the last game of their preseason schedule. The team finished with a record of 3-2-2 and now look to the season opener, which is scheduled for this coming Sunday at home versus the New York Red Bulls.
Leading up to the weekend of the Daytona 500, the discussion was almost exclusively centered on Danica Patrick. The former open-wheel racer made headlines when she qualified in the pole position for the Great American Race. Out in front of the field for five of the day’s 200 laps, she would become the first woman to hold the lead in any top-level NASCAR event under green-flag conditions. Patrick would finish eighth overall, also the best-ever final result achieved by a female in the 54-year history of the race.
In less than a month, I will be flying to Phoenix for five days of sun and baseball. From mid-February to late March, southern Arizona is a hotbed of baseball activity with teams such as the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers. And although more than 1.5 million people attended games during last year’s Cactus League spring training, the ballparks usually aren’t filled, allowing onlookers to choose their own seats and, if desired, get up close and personal with their favorite players. It’s a much different environment than a regular season exhibition game and one that, so far, has produced quite a bit of interesting news.
The Portland State women’s softball team dropped all four games last weekend to third-ranked Arizona State University. The Vikings put up a solid fight, but were unable to break through against the undefeated Sun Devil squad. Much like the previous weekend, however, the Vikings offered glimpses of the team’s potential, including impressive power hitting and improved defense.
THURSDAY FEB. 28 Men’s Basketball Vikings vs. North Dakota Peter Stott Center, 7:35 p.m. FRIDAY MAR. 1 Men’s Tennis Vikings @ University of Portland Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center, 2 p.m. Softball…
The University of Idaho came ready to play against Portland State last Saturday, starting strong and eventually overrunning the Vikings 7-0 in a nonconference matchup. The Vikings are on a three-match losing streak and have fallen to last place in the Big Sky Conference.
The Portland Trail Blazers went to the Staples Center to take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday in a matchup of Western Conference rivals. The Lakers were looking to keep their postseason chances alive, while the Blazers hoped to stop the bleeding from a six-game losing streak and a drop in the standings.
Aaron Moore was one rebound away from a double-double in Portland State’s 66-58 victory over the University of California, Riverside at the Stott Center on Saturday. With the football team cheering on their fellow Vikings as part of the crowd of 870, PSU’s men’s basketball survived a second-half surge by the visitors to win their third game in a row. Part of the final year of ESPN’s BracketBusters program, the showdown against the Highlanders was PSU’s seventh appearance in the 11-year run of the series.