https://fire.wnba.com/old-trapper-sweepstakes

Greetings, fellow Fire fans! A friend of mine is taking her just-turned-five daughter to the game on September 17. The girl is pretty into sports and so we hope she'll be fairly attentive to the game, but... what is there inside the Moda to amuse a young one should their attention lag?

I went by the Kid Zone about half an hour before tip-off yesterday. Nobody seemed to be "manning" the place (i.e., nobody was at the Make-A-Poster table, etc.)... just a couple of kids (and not kids) tossing the mini-balls in the mini-baskets. Are there times during the game when activities are actually hosted?

And are there any other child-friendly activities for 300-level ticket holders elsewhere in the arena? I could have sworn I saw face painting once on the 100 level, but may that was a one-time deal? It doesn't look like there's a set place for kids to meet Rose (and I don't think the young one would be up for an hour wait in line).

There will be three adults with her, so plenty of opportunity to tag team (while the other watch the game). Any advice is much appreciated! TIA!!

(this actually was one of the best player pressers i've seen this year. good stuff from both, worth the full watch. also, though she doesn't come right out and say it, it's pretty clear em intends to remain in portland next season)

em

- i personally need to do better. too many turnovers on my part, be more connected defensively. as a team, we're tired, back after a competitive road trip, but we need to come out the next two games against them and show them who we are. i think we're special enough to make this a more competitive game as this effort was embarrassing. we're in good spirits and looking forward to the break, but tonight is not who we are

- we had good shots, just didn't make them. some of the disruption was gsv's defense. we need to do a better job with high gap defense and understanding what our next option is when the first is taken away. we know how good we are

- visiting the van lith family in WA to get some chill at the water, get some schoolwork done, use their ice tub

- kind of missing that dawg, that corgi. needed to be more aggressive tonight. we weren't the electrifying team we can be. i think we feel freeness to try things out as a team, but also knowing what we trying in this stretch will be what we can look to next season. we want to stay where we are in the standings; being just a spot out of the playoffs is similar to the valks finishing 8 last year.

meg

- we made some adjustments especially in zone and liked our second half response, but agree with em, we have to respond better out the gate

- one of the nights when the shots weren't falling, felt good and got open looks. when you're a team that shoots 3 at high volume, you live and you die by it

- great to have SAB back. we missed her presence. brings us together, lights up a room.

- likes the style/game ESP plays and looking forward to the WWC experience, and playing with iyana again and getting her into the fire fold a little bit and how we work. haven't been able to talk to her much during the season, but she was super excited about being drafted to portland

- like experimenting with the playoffs no longer on the line. sometimes we get in a rut if things don't go our way, and working on that to get out of a little quicker

Pancake needed to give a red card

The Sparks let her go. I love her and think she's fun to watch and would love to have her on our team. Do y'all think she'd be a good fit?

- won the 2nd half by 5 pts. had a good game plan coming in, but executing it was a different reality. credit to gsv, really hard to keep them in front of us, and digging out of the 1Q deficit was too difficult to dig out of. gsv is intentional about iso's and kicking out, and we have to be able to contain and stay in front of them. combine that with being 3/22 at one point from 3. we'll see them twice after fiba break, so goal is to get a w in one of those

- glad we got a look with zone defensive coverage as we barely practice it. group did well executing it and being disruptive with it. we struggled to cover them 1v1 so we had to try something else.

- even trying new ATO, players in different spots, learning new things to get on film for next season. feel good about where we are on offense, just a couple tweaks. defensively, i like the identity and getting actions on PnR defense. it's 1v1 defense where we need solutions. it's preventing us from making that jump to playoff tier

- shoutout u/nikfromtheO first beat in the new portland fire era.

- won't know until film study, but felt shot quality was excellent with open looks. the games where I'm not frustrated offensively is when those quality looks aren't created. you accept that nights like this happen and there's little you can do about it but crash the boards aggressively and be elite in other areas

- teja's first career start; glad he had the chance to coach her this year. a lot of things media/fans don't see, the IQ, mentorship, you can't put a price on that.

Available at the souvenir store by entry A6

With us going into this FIBA break and reaching the near end of the season. I thought this would be an appropriate time to see who you guys would like to see the Fire take a look at for next season. For me personally, I love our roster, I want to keep at least 75-80% of it if possible and just get some add-ons to go with Iyana Martin, Nika Muhl, and the big return of SAB next season.

There's a few players that I've had my eyes on that I'd like to see us give a look to. I think we absolutely need to keep culture as the forefront and not just bring in talent who's great, but can be toxic to the locker room. We've got a locker room right now, that's near perfect with no drama unlike the rest of the league. I like that college type of atmosphere we have on this team. We seem to play as a team and this is something that will carry us into the future.

I think our vibe here is a huge presence of international players with a few American players sprinkled in, but mostly international like the New York Liberty's roster. We did a really great job at finding Frieda Buhner, as I wouldn't mind getting another gem like that from overseas in the draft instead of a popular American college player.

Alanna Smith is somebody I'd like to see reunite with Bridget Carleton if Dallas chooses Awak Kuier over her.

One of the first players that I mentioned on here before was Lucy Olsen. We really could've used a combo guard who has PG experience. She knows how to create her own shot and could've provided some extra scoring we needed off the bench. Also, Gianna Kneepkens from the Sun, could be available, as she'd be a great replacement for Karlie Samuelson who can shoot the 3 ball.

That one Aussie girl Miela Sowah off the Valks who got some run late in the game. She wouldn't be bad fit here. I really wanted Saffron Shiels, but the Tempo drafted her and are waiting for her to get healthy.

I really wish we could've bought in Kennedy Basham from TCU to provide some extra frontcourt help this season. Some players that we love be retiring quietly, too, if they don't continue their pro careers overseas, which sucks. I'm still a Stan for Grace Berger and Serena Sundell, they never came into the league this season, so not sure about them.

Future wise, I'm holding out for hope that we can draft Zhang Ziyu or Clara Strack is somebody that I'd be taking a close look at in the draft. In the future get a Syla Swords, or Delaney Gibb from BYU.

There's a few players like these girls who we can use around the league.

Edit: Recipient has been selected, thanks for the well wishes. Go Fire!

Section 301, Row H

My wife and I were supposed to go for our anniversary today but I came down with a cold :(

Would like to spread some joy instead, 2 tickets up for grabs. I’ll randomly choose somebody who comments on this post in an hour or two and transfer through Ticketmaster.

Thank you to all the amazing fans who gave me tips on finding great seats for today’s game. I’ve got a few day of questions -

How early should we get there? I usually get in to Ballhalla an hour or so before tip off to watch shooting practice and the pre show kicks off about 30 minutes. Are there usually any activations outside the arena?

Any must have food inside?

TIA!!!! We’ve had the most wonderful weekend in Portland. Thank you for all your advice!

Fire merchant trade today at the game. I have the pictured items available for trade.

I’m specifically looking for either of the rival pins given at the Seattle hosted games, the shoe keychain or one of the art prints given out at one of the earlier games.

Has there been an official announcement of Corgi races with Pancake by the team???

From Instagram https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcqbaIdO1mp

Separate trip made by Gabby Williams, Marine Johannes, and Pauline Astier
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcqsJD4Nktd/?l=1

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Claimed!