Portland Beavers are done, Merritt, you suck.

I’m going to get this part of my rant, right out of the way. I know Merritt Paulson meant well when he bought the Timbers and the Beavers in 2007. I know that he wants very much to be the guy that brings relevance to other sports not called basketball to Portland. I get that. Problem is, he misplayed his hand locally in trying to balance both teams playing at PGE Park downtown.

And so, in the end, (at least from my citizen’s view) he was left to scramble on where to stick the Beavers since it was clear the Timbers would play at PGE Park exclusively. Worst of all, the time was running out and no solutions could be made on where the Beavers would play. And so, traditions that were established, kids who actually emulate some of these guys, and all of the fun of being in a mid size ball park in the middle of Portland were all thrown out.

As a baseball fan, I will admit that a Beaver’s game is NOT MLB. But it IS a fun time with all the trimmings of a big league game. Good food, great intimate ball park, and the 7th inning stretch. The seats are affordable and it’s a great way to spend an afternoon. My son and I started to go to games over the last 3 years and it’s become a quasi family tradition now. Thanks to Merritt and his business partners, these traditions for THOUSANDS of Portland families are now being shipped to Lake Elsinore, California (??!!) for the 2011 season.

So Merritt, thanks. Thanks a lot. It’s tough to understand how Portland couldn’t accommodate both teams but we’ll never know how now. So with that, I’ll give you the final 7th inning stretch we’ll experience in Portland for a LONG time. Good show dude, you suck.

PS – The Beaver’s slammed Las Vegas in this game 6-2. Just sayin.