Balls bounced, nets swished, whistles blew. Fans cheered, music rocked. The 7th annual Trail Blazers Street Jam presented by adidas benefiting Special Olympics Oregon—Oregon’s premier summer basketball event and one of the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournaments in the Northwest—lit up the Rose Quarter again this summer. Athletes, sports fans, families and festival-goers showed up in full force to enjoy what has become one of Portland’s must-attend summer events.
More than 500 teams and 2,000 players of all ages and abilities competed on the blacktop in 15 competitive and recreational divisions. Athletes showcased their skills in the adidas Hot Shot Contest, the Intel AppUp Center 3-Point Shootout and the Oregonlive.com $10,000 Half-Court Shot. Rumor has it, during the finals of the Spirit Mountain Casino Slam Dunk Contest, the crowd’s oohs and ahs at the top-spinning, gravity-defying dunks of winner Lamar Hurd could be heard clear to Vancouver. Check out the video of the competition on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idvBZ9tVbn8.
Players, spectators and fans participated in an assortment of free festival activities including the McDonald’s Kids Clinic, a live concert by DJ Babu on the VTech Stage, a Broadway Scion video game zone, exhibitor tents, food and drink stations, and more. Even the weather gods brought their A-game.
Simply put, Street Jam 2010 jammed and set the bar another notch higher for future events.
