At the Rose Garden Arena, January 5, 2012, before the Trail Blazers' game against the Los Angeles Lakers

Before every home game members of the Blazers Stunt Team head for a pre-selected section of seats (always one in the 300-numbered section) and wait until the need for a basketball down on the court is announced--so that the game can begin on time and all that.

Spotlights mark the section and one of the stunt team members hands the basketball to a fan at the top of the section in what is known as "the upper bowl." Fans pass the ball along until it reaches the front row of the section and is handed back to a guy on the stunt team. He semi-dramatically drops it down into the 200 section to another guy on the stunt team who hands it off to a fan in that section. Finally, with some prodding into action by other stunt team members, the ball makes it to the court. There usually some little kid waits to carry it to center court where it is given to the officials and the kid is escorted off the court by stunt team members.

I sit on the front row of "the upper bowl" in section 312. The night I took this photo, ball delivery began in the section to the right of mine. One of these days my section get to do ball delivery. I believe I will then get a chance to have my hands on the game ball--hooray!