"You've got to feel for Timothy Davey. The affable Davey is general manager of Spirit of '77 on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a few blocks' walk from the Rose Quarter.

Davey rushed to open Spirit of '77 last October, 10 days before the first Trail Blazers game of the year. Spirit might be classified as a sports bar, but foremost it is a Blazers fan hangout, according to Davey. Last year, 82 of the bar's busiest 100 nights were Blazers game dates. Fans stop by before and after attending the games, or to watch away games on television.

Training camp should be three weeks away, but the NBA is at odds with its players over negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, and the executive director of the players' union says cancellation of the season is likely.

If union official Billy Hunter is right, it's going to be a winter of adjustment for Portlanders. For some more than others.

Arena ticket sellers, vendors and parking attendants could lose jobs along with Blazers front office staff. In addition, the city of Portland's 6 percent take of ticket and parking revenue from Blazers games – $3.65 million last season – would disappear."