When I planned my short February escape from wintery Saskatoon, I had a few criteria: (1) somewhere I hadn’t been before, (2) cheap airfare and hotel, and (3) get to attend at least one professional sporting event. Portland fit the bill on all of those including a Monday night Trail Blazers basketball game.

I probably follow basketball the least of the major North American sports, but always enjoy attending the game live as it’s much better in person than on TV. One thing I love about getting to an NBA game is arriving early, sneaking down to the lower level, and watching the players warm up. The size of the guys is amazing and seeing so many nearly 7-footers in one place is kind of cool.

I’m also always up to explore a new arena. Even though most of the new ones are fairly similar, the Moda Center in Portland had some unique touches including outposts of a couple of favourite downtown eateries. That let me fit in an extra meal here of a very respectable Bunk Sandwiches cuban sandwich. In fact, my meal came with this great view of the arena from one of the lower level corner seats.

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