Photos: Moda Center Flying Ford Escape Saga
There was a basketball game on Thursday night at the Moda Center between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Indiana Pacers.
But one saga transcended those events going on between the lines. The Flying Ford Escape blimp, a staple at Blazers games crashed in section 209. For twitter, we are using #FlyingFordEscapeGate. Still it took Blazers staff nearly half way through the quarter to get the blimp out of the section.
This tweet from @debra30198 alerted me to the Ford Escape’s presence in section 209.
Crash in Sec 209 pic.twitter.com/VrGUIobcvd
— debra (@debra31098) December 5, 2014
These photos were taken from my media row seat at the Moda Center.
Plan after they failed to get it up to the 300 was apparently the tunnel route.
And then, the moment of truth. The Flying Ford escape fits in the tunnel!
A small victory against a beast of a blimp.
Twitter obviously had a pretty good time with the whole thing too.
RIP TO EVERYONE IN 209 WHO DIED DURING THE BLIMP CRASH OF 2014 BROUGHT TO YOU BY LANDMARK FORD pic.twitter.com/ELgPS8CKMZ
— Dane Carbaugh (@danecarbaugh) December 5, 2014
PICTURE ME ROLLIN pic.twitter.com/9GrPif6t23
— #TRILLBLAZIN# (@TRILLBLAZIN) December 5, 2014
Erik Gundersen
Erik Gundersen is the Trail Blazers beat reporter for The Columbian. He's a graduate of the Allen School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon in addition earning a degree in Spanish. He's covered the NBA for four seasons. You can also occasionally find his work on ESPN.com's NBA section for their TrueCities series. He also fist-bumped with Kanye West once. Follow @BlazerBanter on twitter for more Blazers and NBA news.