Thebeerchaser Reflects and Recollects….

Posted on October 29, 2025 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 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 – #2)

I decided to start this post which will cover a variety of topics with the pictures above provided from the “trenches” – we’re supposed to be a battleground…These were taken at the Japanese Garden by my friend, retired lawyer, Doug Blomgren, and are emblematic of the Portland, Oregon that its residents know and love. (#3)

Photo courtesy of Linda Lehmann

In the photo above, you can see the edge of the Central Business District on the left. We acknowledge some real problems including homelessness, some bad actors who engaged in past unacceptable protests and a downtown which needs rejuvenation since the pandemic.

But we don’t need the National Guard as part of the solution, so let’s move on…. before the rainy season dampens our enthusiasm for seven months.

For Those Interested in People Dedicated to the Rule-of-Law (#4)

I often tell stories or give you anecdotes from my thirty-five + years of working with lawyers – six years as the Business Manager at the Oregon State Bar and then twenty-five years at the Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt firm – first as Business Manager and the last twelve as the Chief Operating Officer.

Bob Elfers, my former boss at both the Bar and Schwabe until he retired – a wonderful mentor who was a lawyer himself – once suggested that I get counseling because I loved working around lawyers.

Schwabe, as a firm, had a wonderful organizational sense of humor. I would suggest that a droll outlook is one of the factors conducive to dealing with stress and succeeding in the legal profession.

I’ve related a number of examples in prior Beerchaser posts including:

https://thebeerchaser.com/2020/08/31/beerchasers-of-the-quarter-lawyers-part-1/ and

https://thebeerchaser.com/2023/01/02/de-files-de-files-part-ii/

I shy away from stereotypes – lawyers are often the victims of negative portrayals – but with few exceptions, the attorneys with whom I worked and associated otherwise, were admirable professionals dedicated to the Rule of Law and advocating for their clients.

In order to earn a law degree, pass the bar and champion a position, one has to have determination and pride and I believe that these are factors in what one could label “the lawyer mentality.”

A Great Example

One of the younger lawyers at Schwabe a number of years ago was a devoted runner and a colleague asked the origins of this avocation. According to one of his friends, this young counselor who was an excellent lawyer, was in high school when the first Presidential Fitness Test was given to all students:

“The Presidential Fitness Test was a national physical fitness testing program conducted in United States public middle and high schools from the late 1950s until 2013, when it was replaced with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program…

The test was initially introduced by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 and has since evolved over the decades, with recent versions typically consisting of at least five exercises.

The original test consisted of push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, a standing broad jump, a shuttle run, a 50-yard dash, and a softball throw for distance.” (emphasis added) (Fitness-and-health.com) (#5)

Well, our young future lawyer did the softball throw and totally messed it up – so badly that his classmates laughed at him. He was totally humiliated and went home stewing.

The next day filled with determination, he returned to school and in a track meet set a school record in the 440-yard dash. He went on to become a star cross-country athlete at Dartmouth.

Last time I heard – and it has about forty years since he left Oregon – this soft-spoken and very intelligent guy – was a very successful attorney in Portland, Maine practicing insurance, labor and employment, workers’ compensation and four other areas of law. I assume he still runs each day. (#6 – #7)

“On July 31, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order reestablishing the Presidential Fitness Test, calling it ‘an important step in our mission to make America healthy again.’” (Axios.com)

I will be very interested to see if the staff and residents of the White House set an example by installing and using a climbing rope in the new Presidential Ballroom……

And Speaking of Sports

I’ve always thought of the term “equinox” in the twice-per-year solar context. According to Merriam Webster:

“Equinox descends from aequus, the Latin word for ‘equal’ or ‘even,’ and nox, the La word for ‘night’—a fitting history for a word that describes days of the year when the daytime and nighttime are equal in length.” (#8)

Well, I was happy and surprised to discover that yesterday (October 27th) was the “Sports Equinox.” Artificial intelligence states the origin cannot be attributed to one individual.

Based on my own experience, however, I have a strong feeling that a group of regulars at the historic Antlers Saloon in Wisdom, Montana came up with this descriptive term years ago over several pitchers of Budweiser on a cold October day.

(I’d like to go back and confirm this with bartender, Bernie and the bar mascot, Fritz, who I met on my 2019 road trip through Idaho and Montana.)

According to USA Today:

“It’s the 2025 Sports Equinox. Similar to a solar equinox, when the sun lines up perfectly with the Earth’s equator to signal the change of seasons, the sports seasons from the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL all align. For the only time this year, all those major professional sports leagues have games scheduled on the same day.”

“(October 27th was) the 30th sports equinox. Enjoy the opportunity because there was a 16-year period from 1985-2001 where sports fans went without one.There was just one sports equinox from 1986 to 2009, taking place in 2001 after the MLB season was paused because of 9/1.” (Professionalfootballnetwork.com)

My son-in-law, Ryan, made a compelling, but losing case that Major League Soccer should be added. I don’t know when the next Sports Equinox will take place, but why not have similar celebrations for beer, ice cream and fast food…(#9 – #11)

When “Choking” is Really Unacceptable

Now to finish on my sports theme, I was happy during the last NBA season to see PJ Carlesimo play a major role in the broadcasts during the season and in the finals. After his coaching career, he’s worked for TNT, Westwood One, Fox Sports, the Pac-12 Network, NBC, Comcast Sportsnet and is a lead NBA radio analyst for ESPN. (#12)

A Survivor

PJ is a survivor, and his coaching career spanned almost forty years. He’s probably been hired and fired by more teams than any other NBA coach besides Doc Rivers. We knew this amiable personality in Portland when he coached the Trailblazers for three years (1994-1997). Although he made the playoffs each one, he couldn’t escape the first round, was fired and then became head coach of the Golden State Warriors.

We greeted him in Portland again at my former law firm in January 1998 during an arbitration over the termination and suspension of NBA All-Star Latrell Sprewell over what is known as the “choking incident.” (#14)

“On December 1, 1997, Sprewell attacked head coach P. J. Carlesimo during a Warriors practice in Oakland. When Carlesimo yelled at him to make crisper passes (specifically asking him to ‘put a little mustard’ on a pass), Sprewell responded that he was not in the mood for criticism and told the coach to keep his distance.

When Carlesimo approached, Sprewell threatened to kill him and dragged him backward by his throat, choking him for 7 to 10 seconds before his teammates and assistant coaches pulled him off Carlesimo. Sprewell returned about 20 minutes later after showering and changing and again accosted Carlesimo. He landed a glancing blow at Carlesimo’s right cheek before being dragged away again by the assistant coaches.” (Wikipedia)

In the first step of legal proceedings that went on for years, Sprewell took his case to arbitration. The NBA and Players’ Association knew with the witnesses testifying, it made economic and scheduling sense to break the arbitration into West Coast and East Coast hearings. Since PJ and some Golden State coaches and players who were testifying, were in the midst of the 1997-8 season, it had to be scheduled around the NBA games.

As a result of a contact by Mike Fennel, a former Schwabe lawyer who became General Counsel for the Trailblazers, the NBA contacted the Blazers about a site for the Portland hearing – one with multiple large conference rooms, comfortable waiting areas, business equipment such as computers, faxes, etc.

Most importantly, they wanted secure facilities to prevent media and interested fans from interfering or disrupting the proceedings. For example, during the hearing, the NBA had security guys stationed on the roofs of surrounding buildings to keep photographers from shooting the proceedings!) Schwabe, located on five floors in a thirty-three floor high-rise fit the bill and was named as the site of the hearing.

19th Floor Conference Center – one of three floors used during the arbitration

Golden State had a game with the Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday, January 29th and with Seattle on Thursday the 31st (they beat the Blazers and lost to the Sonics!) so their appearances could be worked into that window.

The Portland hearing went on for four days and we had scads of print and media reporters in our lobby trying to intercept witnesses going up to the hearing. We were clever and the NBA players and coaches surreptitiously rode up the freight elevators from the basement parking lot to the 19th floor thereby avoiding the press.

The security arrangements, negotiations over facilities and billing made it one of the most interesting experiences during my twenty-five years at the firm.

I devoted three blog posts to this story and the link to the third is below. And if you want the scoop on some of the fascinating human interest aspects such as PJ’s favorite restaurant – an Italian restaurant in West Linn where I lived – check them out.

https://thebeerchaser.com/2022/03/21/yoking-the-choke-part-iii/

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1 – #2. Courtesy of Doug Blomgren. October 27, 2025.

#3. Courtesy of Linda Lehman. October 28, 2025.

#4. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Balanced scale of Justice (blue).svg – Wikimedia Commons) This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Author: User:Perhelion, color edited by User:Deu – 12 March 2015

#5. Wikimedia Commons (File:Reáltanoda utca, Eötvös József Gimnázium. Fortepan 14630.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Foto: Fortepan / MHSZ – 1969.

#6 – #7. ChatGPT – (https://chatgpt.com/c/690143e3-ef40-832c-911e-2e2326cc66c6).

#8. Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Earth-lighting-equinox_af.png) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. (no additional attribution info available.)

#9. Wikimedia Commons (File:Brooklyn Nets vs Portland Trail Blazers.jpg – Wikimedia Commons). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author:
squirrel83 – 18 November 2013.

#10. Wikimedia Commons (File:Washington Football Team vs Green Bay Packers, 2021.jpg – Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: All-Pro Reels – 24 October 2021.

# 11. Wikimedia Commons (File:2024-10-14 Harbin Ice Hockey Arena Shanghai Cooperation Organization Ice Hockey Match 2.png – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BwtGX0PmPU) – 11 February 2025.

#12. Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/P._J._Carlesimo_2015_cropped.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: MavsFan28 – 26 September 2015.

#13. Latrell Sprewell Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/123246144405531/photos/pb.100042176306027.-2207520000../1131335593596576/?type=3).

Yoking “The Choke” – Part II

Posted on March 2, 2022 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.)

In the last post on Thebeerchaser, “Yoking the Choke – Part I” – I described two interesting events not directly related to our clients at Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt PC – the law firm where I served as the COO before I retired.

The filming of some scenes of “The Last Innocent Man” – an HBO movie in 1987 and hosting the three and on-half day West Coast hearing of former NBA star, Latrell Sprewell’s arbitration in 1998, both brought some well-known Hollywood celebrities, athletes and coaches to our offices.

Sprewell choked his coach, PJ Carlesimo in December,1997, an incident which garnered not only national, but international attention. “The Choke” (hereafter referenced as “TC”) and its related events read like a bad sports novel, but before telling you about our law firm’s connection, let’s go back twenty-five years for context and recollections that might depress you.

1997 is not a year ingrained in most of our memories. Why would you want to remember “Bitch” (No. 15) and Madonna’s “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” (No. 87) – two of the “Billboard Year-end Hot 100 Singles” that year? (Madonna didn’t even edge out No. 82 “Macarena” – inexplicably down from its No 1 ranking in 1996.)

And neither television’s Seinfeld at No. 1 (Seinfeld then announced that 1997 was the final season) or “Men in Black” on the big silver screen in 1997, are exactly cultural icons that pull us back. (Seinfeld fans will remember Art Vandelay, President of Vandelay Industries who was a Beerchaser-of-the-Month in this blog in 2014.)

Art Vandelay – President of Vandelay Industries

But if you look at a chronology of significant events occurring in December of that year from “On This Day.com” besides those below which I thought were interesting, you’ll find five references to Latrell Sprewell – shown following the vivid description of TC itself:

12/1 – “Howard Stern Radio Show” premiers on Davenport Iowa radio station KORB.

12/11 – Delegates from 150 industrial nations attending a UN climate conference in Kyoto, Japan, reach agreement to control heat-trapping greenhouse gases. (Obviously, we’ve made incredible progress….!!?? See note at the end of the post)

*6 Map of Parties to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol – Orange and Red are not parties.

12/17 – Saturday Night Live Comedian, Chris Farley, died of an overdose of a combination of cocaine and morphine, commonly known as a “speedball.”

Embed from Getty Images

12/29 – Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu. (I guess this taught us a lot about containing pandemics….)

12/31 – More Swedes died than were born in 1997 – 1st time since 1809. (I couldn’t resist that one….)

The Actual Incident

But before listing the Sprewell items, let’s look at a detailed description of the incident as described in the subsequent 2001 US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Spreewell v Golden State Warriors:

“Tensions between Sprewell and Carlesimo climaxed during a closed-door practice on December 1, 1997, during which Carlesimo told Sprewell to pass the ball to a teammate for a quick shot. Despite Sprewell’s contention that he passed the ball ‘admirably, as one would expect of an All-Star,’ Carlesimo rebuked Sprewell for not putting more speed on his pass.

When Carlesimo subsequently repeated his criticism, Sprewell slammed the ball down and directed several expletives at Carlesimo. Carlesimo responded with a similar showing of sophistication. Sprewell immediately either walked or lunged at Carlesimo and wrapped his hands around Carlesimo’s neck. With his arms fully extended, Sprewell moved Carlesimo backwards, saying ‘I will kill you’

Carlesimo offered no resistance. Sprewell grasped Carlesimo’s neck for approximately seven to ten seconds — the time it took for other players and coaches to restrain Sprewell. Sprewell then left the practice floor, saying ‘trade me, get me out of here, I will kill you,’ to which Carlesimo countered, ‘I am here.'”

Note: The above images are courtesy of Paul Eide, the creator and author of a great sports blog (I-80 Sports Blog). It covers all major sports and is a wonderful source of articles and opinions.

Paul is a freelance journalist since 2000 and has had his work published via AskMen, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, Busted Coverage, and Autotrader. You should check it out and subscribe to his e-blast. His description of The Choke can be accessed at the link above.

As promised, the December, 1996 Sprewell Chronology from the LA Times Archives:

* Dec. 1– Sprewell attacks Carlesimo at a practice; the Golden State Warriors suspend Sprewell without pay for at least 10 games.

* Dec. 3 –The Warriors terminate Sprewell’s $32 million contract.

* Dec. 4 — The NBA suspends Sprewell for one year, with Commissioner David Stern saying, “A sports league does not have to accept or condone behavior that would not be tolerated in any other segment of society.”

* Dec. 5 — The Players’ Association files grievances against the NBA and the Warriors (on behalf of Spreewell).

* Dec. 9 — In his first public comments on the attack, Sprewell says his conduct was unacceptable. “I am a good person and I’ve never had any situation like this come up before,” he says. “I feel 10 years of hard work shouldn’t be taken away for one mistake. My career didn’t happen overnight and I don’t feel it should be taken away overnight.”

* Dec. 10 — “With six former teammates behind him and famed attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. at his side, fired pro basketball star Latrell Sprewell apologized publicly Tuesday to his former coach for choking him last week.” (emphasis added) Buffalo News 1/10/1996

What’s somewhat both ironic and humorous – as are a lot of elements of this story – is Johnnie Cochran serving as a member/advisor of his legal team. That’s because Sprewell then made a comment in a January 23, 1997 interview with the New York Post stating: (LA Times Archives)

“I’m not as bad as everyone has made me out to be. It’s as if I’m another O.J. Simpson. Yes, I was wrong, but I didn’t kill anybody. I’m not a double murderer.” (Emphasis added)

The Law Firm Connection

Readers who have made it this far may be asking, “Okay Beerchaser, so what’s the link with the law firm and the Sprewell arbitration that you’ve mentioned?” In the next post, I will go into detail about the interactions and logistics of that multi-day hearing, but first, why did they select Schwabe’s Portland office as the site?

The NBA and Players’ Association knew with the witnesses testifying, it made economic and scheduling sense to break the arbitration into West Coast and East Coast hearings. Since PJ and some Golden State coaches and players who were testifying, were in the midst of the 1997-8 season, it had to be scheduled around the NBA games.

The NBA contacted the Blazers about a site for the Portland hearing – one with multiple large conference rooms, comfortable waiting areas, business equipment such as computers, faxes, etc. and most importantly, secure facilities to prevent media and interested fans from interfering or disrupting the proceedings.

The late Mike Fennel, was a Schwabe associate attorney after he graduated from law school in 1983 and subsequently spent five years as one of the Trail Blazer’s outside counsel at another firm doing primarily basketball related work.

When the Trail Blazers decided to build the Portland Rose Garden, they wanted to have an in-house General Counsel and Mike’s experience with the basketball side made him the prime candidate.

Mike Fennell – an outstanding lawyer and gentleman *13

In 1992 he became the first in-house General Counsel for an NBA team as Senior Vice President/General Counsel for the Trail Blazers from 1992 to October 2012. During his time at the Blazers, he assisted with all of the Trail Blazers legal matters including providing support on player contract negotiations, other team-related issues and the building of the Moda Center. Additionally, he served as General Counsel for other Paul Allen affiliates that operated in Portland.

Mike contacted us at Schwabe towards the end of 1997 and asked if we would be willing to discuss hosting the hearings. We agreed to negotiate the details with the NBA and Players’ Association. Those discussions and the following negotiations on the logistics were some of the most stimulating I experienced in my twenty-five years at the firm.

In the next post, I’ll also make a tribute to Mike who passed away far too young (61) in December 2018 after being diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2014.

Note in Closing on the Kyoto Protocol and Beyond…..

Climate change is a critical global issue (among many these days). As stated in a 3/1/22 article entitled ” Another Troubling Climate Report:”

“A highly anticipated report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded there is a ‘brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all.’ It warned of certain ‘tipping points’ that could increase climate risks if global temperatures exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (it’s already increased 1.1 degrees).”

How effective was the Kyoto Protocol? According to an October, 2020 post from Earth.org.

“The U.S. was originally part of the agreement, but dropped out in 2001 due to the concern of an economic turndown. George Bush, the former US president, stated that complying with the Protocol would mean limiting the country’s growth and argued that there could be other ways to cut emissions without harming the economy.

When Canada withdrew in 2011, many thought the Protocol had failed. A year later, estimates showed a 20% drop in developed countries emissions (vis-à-vis 1990 levels). Despite global emissions rising by an overall 38% over the same period, Kyoto Protocol’s effect remains significant.

…It is more reasonable to see the Kyoto Protocol as a first step toward a greater international commitment to reversing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.”

Fortunately, the Paris Agreement, adopted by 196 Parties and effective on 4 November 2016, is now a legally binding international treaty on climate change.

“The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.”

On January 20, 2021 – his first day in office – President Biden signed the instrument to bring the United States back into the Paris Agreement.

* 14 The Paris Agreement – Blue = Parties, Yellow = Signatories, Black = Parties also covered by European Union ratification

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

*1 (https://www.amazon.com/Last-Innocent-Man-Ed-Harris/dp/B000CN9VS2)

*2 Latrell Sprewell Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/123246144405531/photos/pb.100042176306027.-2207520000../1131335593596576/?type=3)

*3 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madonna_Rebel_Heart_Tour_2015_-_Stockholm_(23051472299)_(cropped).jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: chrisweger 14 November 2015.

*4 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seinfeld.svg) This logo image consists only of simple geometric shapes or text. It does not meet the threshold of originality needed for copyright protection, and is therefore in the public domain.

*5 Public Domain – Wikimedia Common (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Men_In_Black_logo.png) This logo image consists only of simple geometric shapes or text. It does not meet the threshold of originality needed for copyright protection, and is therefore in the public domain. Author: Universal Orlando – 1997.

*6 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kyoto_Protocol_parties.svg) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. Author: User:Canuckguy, User:Danlaycock – 2 October 2014.

*7 I-80 Sports Blog (https://i80sportsblog.com/latrell-sprewell-chokes-pj-carlesimo/)

*8 Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P._J._Carlesimo_2015_cropped.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: MavsFan28 – 26 September 205.

*9 Latrell Sprewell Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/123246144405531/photos/pb.100042176306027.-2207520000../123246191072193/?type=3)

*10 Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnie_Cochran#/media/File:Johnnie_cochran_2001_cropped_retouched.jpg) By Mark Winograd (Personal photo) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

*11 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Basketball.png) This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Reisio. This applies worldwide. Author: Reisio 26 January 2006.

*12 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rockefeller_Park_td_(2019-03-09)_101_-_Basketball_Courts.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Tdorante10 9 March 2019.

*13 Oregon Live (https://obits.oregonlive.com/us/obituaries/oregon/name/michael-fennell-obituary?id=15737681)

*14 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ParisAgreement.svg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: L.tak 22 April 2016.

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Thebeerchaser Reflects and Recollects….

Yoking “The Choke” – Part II