I’ve been hearing rumblings within the organization that, after a 20-year hiatus, the Trail Blazers are bringing back the caricature-adorned drinking glasses this season. The team will distribute the glasses, which feature artistic renditions of LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum and Robin Lopez, on five different game nights at the Moda Center. The team will also wear their popular “Rip City” jerseys on those nights.
As of right now I don’t know what all the dates will be, but I know the LaMarcus Aldridge glass will be the first handed out at the game against the Spurs on Feb. 19. Everyone who attends those games will get a glass (though you have to pick up the glass after the game is over, given the NBA doesn’t look kindly on handing out throwable objects pregame) and season ticket holders are guaranteed to get at least one five-glass set per account.
The Trail Blazers have produced some quality promotional items over the years, such as the Rasheed Wallace lunchbox from Oil Can Henry’s, the Blazermania vinyl record featuring Bill Schonely from the folks at Equitable Savings and various bobbleheads from Wells Fargo.
But no item is held in higher regard by Trail Blazers fans than the series of drinking glasses featuring caricatures of Clyde Drexler, Terry Portland, Buck WIlliams, Kevin Duckworth, Jerome Jersey and Cliff Robinson that the team produced in consort with Dairy Queen back in the early 90′s. Those weren’t the first drinking glasses the team put out with local restaurants (for example, the team had a “Blazers Favorite Pizza” glass promotion with Sunshine Pizza Exchange back in the early 80′s that featured the like faces of Mychal Thompson and Peter Verhoeven), but they have been the most beloved and enduring. One of my favorite local watering holes, The Old Gold, even has a promotion during Blazers games in which you can get a Rainer served in a Trail Blazers Dairy Queen glass for a buck.
I’m not sure how many of the Dairy Queen glasses were made, but it would seem that, since the new glasses are only being distributed to fans at games, these will be even harder to come by in 20 years.
I might have to try to get to a game just for one these. So cool!
