February Figuring – Part III

Posted on February 18, 2026 by Thebeerchaser

When is an Assist not Really That Helpful?

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post. #1)

Since 2013, the Portland Trailblazers NBA team and Moda Health Systems have promoted their Assist Program: “…using on-court assists to raise money for all-abilities playgrounds in Oregon where every BODY can play.”

It works like this. Each time a Trailblazer player records an assist, Moda and the Blazers each pony up a $10 donation to help a community in Oregon build a playground.

That goal sounds laudable, but I question whether our superb TV announcers, Kevin Calabro and Lamar Hurd, should be so effusive when they espouse it several times each game. (#2)

In my last blog post, I mentioned how two junior high teachers gave me a foundation to analyze figures. Earl Gipe in eighth-grade math and Don Gribble in ninth-grade algebra, taught me to dig below the surface when assessing numbers. Working with lawyers for thirty-five years also taught me to question assumptions.

Looking at NBA team statistics, the Blazers don’t fare well in assists. They ranked 27th out of 30 NBA teams in 2025 and have averaged just 25.4 assists per game over the last six seasons – 24.7 in 2025. If we assume 80 regular-season games, that accrues to a donation of $39,520 by the two corporations last year. (#3)

But what really irritates me is that the combined donation of $20 hasn’t risen since 2013. Let’s look at one inflation calculator:

“…$1 in 2013 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1.39 today (2026), an increase of $0.39 over 13 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.57% per year between 2013 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 39.13%.

This means that today’s prices are 1.39 times as high as average prices since 2013, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index. A dollar today only buys 71.942% of what it could buy back then.”

When I first expressed my gripe in a Beerchaser post in 2021, being naïve, I suspected with inflationary trends, Moda and the Blazers would up the ante for the 2021-2 NBA season to at least $15 or $20 each per assist.

No way! Evidently Moda’s slogan of “Be Better,” doesn’t spill over to its charitable endeavors even five years later. (#4 – #5)

Without trying to belabor the point, let’s look at the current cost of commercial playground equipment. According to Recreational.com, Large playgrounds – city parks, HOAs, rec centers – (the intent of the Moda and the Blazer program) cost: $90,000 – $150,000+. This includes essential play equipment, site prep, surface material and professional installation.

Other relevant statistics I found:

Recent Inflation Spikes: The highest inflationary pressure for playground equipment occurred recently, with year-over-year price changes of 3.47% in 2021, 10.86% in 2022, and 7.42% in 2023.

Key Cost Drivers: Prices have been driven up by tariffs (20–25%) on raw materials like steel, vinyl, and PVC, alongside increased demand post-pandemic.

So the Moda/Blazer annual donation of not quite $40,000 is not very praiseworthy. Perhaps they should have indexed the amount per assist to the increase in the cost of popcorn and other concession products from 2013…(#6)

One Final Irony

The Blazers have a new owner in 2026 and there is high-level and informed concern that he will move the team to Seattle or another city that could be more financially attractive. Billionaire Tom Dundon has leverage because the Moda Center is thirty years old.

Estimates for improvements to make it last structurally and be competitive with the amenities of other modern arenas for the next twenty years are at least $600 million.

The State of Oregon, City of Portland and Multnomah County realize that losing the Blazers would be another blow to the economics and credibility of Portland and the State. It would eliminate thousands of job and millions in loss revenue from taxes on player salaries, lodging and hospitality establishments, etc.

It’s been reported that discussions have tentatively developed a collective amount of $510 million in public funding. There is proposed State legislation to create “a new Oregon Arena Fund and give the state joint ownership of the building with the city of Portland.” (#7)

You’re talking about a BIG Assist!

It’s ironic and almost comical to me that while the Blazers have gone cheap on the Moda Assist Program that they come to the Oregon Legislature “hat-in-hand” for over 1/2 billion dollars. Many taxpayers are not happy as there are many other critical priorities. (#8)

And I would love it if one of our Legislators would respond:

“Let’s see, Mr. Dundon, you’re asking for and are likely to receive about $510,000,000 of the 600 million it’s going to cost to retrofit and upgrade the Moda Center for the Blazers over the next twenty years of a lease.

Currently, you and Moda contribute $20 per assist for community playgrounds. Let’s make a comparison and see how our potential taxpayer largesse amortizes for your “playground” from 2030 to 2050.

Using the Blazer average of 25 assists per game over the 80 game NBA regular season for twenty years, that equates to about 40,000 assists.

If you divide $510 million by 40,000, it results in a payout of $12,750 per assist or 637.5 times the amount you and Moda have given since 2013. Maybe you should go back and rethink this!”

Ending on a More Positive Note

We love Lake Grove Presbyterian Church where we worship each Sunday.”

Our communities, nation and the world are going through some very challenging times that have a tendency to divide us. While it would be easy to refrain from addressing current events, the wonderful pastoral staff conveyed to the congregation about one month ago that bears repeating (even on a blog primarily about bars and breweries!).

Regardless of your faith or philosophy, the conceptual message is worth remembering and affirming. (#9 – #10)

“We worship today again with a lot on our hearts and minds. The events in the world around us, including the actions of some of our own governmental leaders, often leave us befuddled.

We recognize the cloud of confusion that the actions in Venezuela stir up. We are also aware of the need to begin this new year at LGPC in a strong and positive fashion. We have not had time to shape a well-thought-out response.

We can say this: We plead with leaders, especially those who claim to be Christians, to follow the teachings and example of Jesus, the Prince of peace, and to refrain from the use of violence to accomplish political goals—in this, and in every case.”

Cheers and Blessings

External Photo Attribution

#1. Wikimedia Commons (File:Moda Center at night.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Parker Knight – Portland, Oregon, USA – 11 November 2016.

#2. Lamar Hurd Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10102602558498898&set=pb.19706263.-2207520000&type=3) (cropped)

#3. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isolated_basketball.png) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: Photography by User: MrX – 26 September 2004.

#4. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Playground_Square_Albert_Thomas_-_Talence_France_-_22_August_2020.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Such0012 22 August 2020.

#5. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Childrens_Game_Park_01621.jpg) Lhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en. Author: Nevit 2008.

#6. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Popcorn_in_bucket.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Corn cheese – 20 January 2023.

#7. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dollar_sign_capitalism_logo.svg) This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Author: OwcaGierka – 13 November 2022.

#8. Wikimedia Commons (File:Salem, OR – State Capitol State Park – Capitol Building (4).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Jrozwado – 2 September 2016.

#9. Lake Grove Presbyterian Church Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=791647823001675&set=a.572288721604254).

#10. Lake Grove Presbyterian Church Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=624641723035620&set=pb.100064693928590.-2207520000&type=3).

Autumn Oscillations

Posted on November 3, 2021 by Thebeerchaser

(Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. An * designates external photo – attribution is at the end of the post.)

Oscillation is defined as the repetitive variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation besides the old-fashioned fan above, include a swinging pendulum and alternating current. Wikipedia

And at least for Thebeerchaser that seems to describe events over the last ten months after we survived 2020 – a year we all want to forget. The swings in COVID statistics at one point in 2021 appeared to be more optimistic only to repeatedly regress.

Even my Oregon State Beavers and the Portland Trailblazers seem to vary from strong and compelling performances one week to lackluster and somewhat uninspired play the next. (The Beavs were on a roll after a great victory over Utah, but then shot themselves in their digitized front paws in Berkley on Saturday in a bad loss to California.)

Beavs shoot themsleves *2

My heart goes out to the small business owners – most notably in the hospitality industry, who have optimistically reopened only to be repeatedly shut down again or living with restrictions that affect profitability while they try to hire enough help to stay open and cope with diminished supply chains.

Regardless of whether its politics, the weather, educational or public health policy or my inclination to exercise on a regular basis and have a reasonable diet, it seems that issues have swung from one pole to the other.

The exception may be the stock market and my desire to Beerchase at new watering holes once again.

But at least for this blog post, I’m going to shift back and forth – oscillate if you will, from bars and breweries to corporate myopia, etc. I will start with some positives such as the suggestion by author Colson Whitehead in his novel, The Noble Hustle that we “drink hormone-free, humanely slaughtered beer. Eat micro chicken. Compare sadnesses. Things of that sort.”

The Evolution of Darwin’s…

And I was pleased to see that in spite of the pandemic, adverse weather (It’s been raining since the 4th of July…”) and other challenges, one of my favorite dive bars is back in operation and thriving. Darwin’s Theory in Anchorage Alaska that we visited in 2014 is a watering hole with tradition and class:

“(Darwin’s celebrated its 40th year of existence. It was exactly forty years since the doors opened on Thursday, September 10, 1981. Darwin (an Oregon State grad) was 37 years old at the time and has been the only male Bartender since.”

Farewell Henry…!

Contrasting the good news from Alaska, is the bad news from Oregon: “Legendary Weinhard’s Beer to be Discontinued.”

“Henry’s Private Reserve, once the pride of Northwest beer drinkers and hailed by many as Oregon’s first craft beer is being discontinued by current owner Molson Coors.”

How Molson Coors rather than the Blitz Weinhard Brewery came to be the decision maker is another sad story and trend in beer production.

Blitz Weinhard was one of our favorite college beers in the late sixties and early seventies and then the Wessinger Brothers, great-great grandsons of the founder of the Portland brewery, sold it to Pabst in 1979. It subsequently was sold to Strohs before being acquired by Molson Coors. (This paragraph provides a story in itself of a sad trend in independent brewing.)

According to one beer expert and author:

“….after production was moved elsewhere, (Henry’s) had not been what it was at one time. The quality rally deteriorated. It’s a common story when these popular brands get bought; they find a way to cut corners. We still see it when craft beers today get bought by big beer.”

Moda Health – “Be Better” – Maybe Next Year?

Earlier this year in a March blog post, I expressed my chagrin at the frothy rhetoric of Portland Trailblazers and Moda Health for their ongoing campaign called “Moda Assist”. The Blazers and the health-care corporate giant (in the case of Moda, a “non-profit” corporate giant….)” magnanimously” each contribute $10 for every assist the Trailblazers make in the regular season.

In 2019, the Blazers finished last in the NBA with this statistic and in 2020, 29th of the thirty NBA teams, averaging 20.4 and 21.4 per game respectively. For you math wizards, that means the two corporations combined shelled out about $32,000 for a regular eighty-game season (although the last 2020-1 season was shortened because of COVID).

I reminded readers that the arena naming rights for the former Portland Rose Garden, according to a 2012 Lund Report, “Moda expects to pay out $40 million for those naming rights. Moda paid the Blazers approximately $40 million over a ten-year period for the naming rights.“ The story was covered locally in Oregon LIve.

$40 Million for Naming Rights to the Blazers *6

Well, with the economy chugging away again, I was not surprised to see a recent headline entitled, “Moda Health Signals Its Financial Woes Are Behind It.” The Oregonian article states:

“Thanks, in part, to the proceeds of Moda’s $250 million US Supreme Court victory (in 2020) over the federal government, the company closed a deal to buy back the equity stake it had sold to a California dental company.”

So being naïve, I suspected with inflationary trends, Moda and the Blazers would up the ante for the 2021-2 NBA season to at least $15 or $20 each per assist. No way! Evidently Moda’s slogan of “Be Better,” doesn’t spill over to its charitable endeavors.

“Be better” – as long as it does not affect profitability….. *7

Perhaps restating some of the info from Gametime.com. a supplier which advises communities on playgrounds, may reinforce my feeling of righteous indignation about this program:

“You should budget around $1,000 per child. That makes the average cost of playground equipment between $15,000 and $50,000. If you are looking for a larger play structure with inclusive (accessible) features or a custom design, set a budget closer to $150,000.” (Emphasis provided – Mar 12, 2020).

Accolades to Oregon City Brewing

Since Oregon City was my home for almost twenty years and I still live right across the Willamette River, I was pleased to see that Oregon City Brewing Company in September ranked seventh among the nation’s top ten breweries at the 2021 US Open Beer Championship.

According to a September 6) press release: “

“Breweries from Antioquia, Columbia to Columbia, South Carolina sent more than 8000 beers representing over 140 different styles to the 2021 U.S. Open Beer Championship. Today, the U.S. Open Beer Championship announces the medal winners and Grand National Champion.”

It has been a few years since I’ve been at OC Brewing although in the last year, I’ve made four visits to a great new bar with food courts right across the street – Corner 14, which I reviewed a few months ago.

Last time I was there, OC Brewing, which opened in 2014, did not have it’s own food – it was a cooperative arrangement for a few items from Olympic Provisions, there was minimal space inside and the outside patio was not impressive. That said, we loved the Elevator IPA which was then their flagship beer.

The Elevator goes up AND down. Let it push your buttons. *12

This family-owned brewery with a great story has since made impressive strides, however, and has improved their outside seating, developed a good menu and has a very robust tap list. According to Willamette Week:

“….their new beer garden and food cart pod should begin operating in late November (2021). Earlier this year, the business began converting three 7,000-square-foot gravel parking lots surrounding the taproom.”

They now have about forty beers on tap including their five medal winners from the US Open Beer Championship – Desideratum (gold) – Beast of Burton (gold) – Very A Gris able (silver) – Coming to Fruition Marionberry (silver) and Coming to Fruition Cherry (bronze).

Creative expansion is also planned for a location in Canby – about nine miles south according to a a September 9th New School Beer post. Following the example of Steeplejack Brewing in Portland which restored an historic church, OC Brewing will

“…be officially taking over the former Canby Public Library, vacant since 2016, renaming it The Canby Beer Library, and expanding its brand with a taproom serving 40+ beers, a space for a barrel-aging program, a cidery, as well as spaces for other tenants, including restaurants, to fill the huge space.”

Now the top-ten ranking in the Beer Championship is evidently focused strictly on beer quality rather than the overall ambiance of the establishment because the Brewery still has a way to go including making some improvements in its website. That said, it’s a great sucess story to this point for its founder, Bryce Morrow and their skilled Brewmaster, David Vohden.

I will be looking forward to visiting and will report…….

Leaving on a Positive Swing of the Pendulum

Since I took a shot at two corporations above (Trailblazers and Moda Health), I will wind down with a shout out to an Oregon corporation which brings good cheer to countless travelers along Oregon Highway 18 each fall. From a blog “Unusual Places“:

“In 2011, two Hampton Lumber employees decided to create an arboreal design that would evoke joy in every person who saw it. Dennis Creel and David Hampton designed a smiley face similar to an emoji that would greet motorists as they drove through rural Oregon.

Creel and Hampton created the smiley face by planting a mixture of larch—which is a type of fir tree that turns yellow in the fall—and evergreen Douglas fir trees. Larch trees form a circular face, and Douglas fir trees form wide, happy eyes and a smiling mouth.

Raise a mug to Hampton Lumber. We love seeing the pumpkin when we drive to the beach in Lincoln City.

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

*1 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Electric_Oscillating_Table_Fan_by_Emer) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1926.

*2 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver#/media/File:Picture_Natural_History_-_No_40_41_42_-_Beaver_feet_and_tail.png) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1926. Author: Mary E. C. Boutell 1869.

*3 (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Oscillating_pendulum.gif) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Ruryk 19 April 2011.

*4 Wikimedia Commons: (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Brewing_process_chart_%28no_text%29.svg) Lhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en. Author: Amitchell125 21 July 2019.

*5 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Weinhard%27s_Brewery_(Clohessy_and_Strengele,_1890).jpg) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17. Author: Clohessy & Strengele 1890.

*6 Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moda_Center_at_night.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Parker Knight from Portland, Oregon, USA 11 November 2016.

*7 Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Basketball_02.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:James_Moore200 3 February 2021.

*8 Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Playground_Square_Albert_Thomas_-_Talence_France_-_22_August_2020.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Such0012 22 August 2020.

*9 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Childrens_Game_Park_01621.jpg) Lhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en. Author: Nevit 2008.

*10 – 12 Oregon City Brewing Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/oregoncitybrewing/photos/4192492017466267) Oregon City Brewing Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/oregoncitybrewing/photos/a.721502207898616/1328526310529533)

*13 -14 Unusual Places: (https://unusualplaces.org/smiley-face-forest-oregon/)