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Posted inQueer Issue 2026

Sparks Fly During the Portland Fire’s Opening Season

The Mercury’s guide to Portland’s first WNBA season since 2002
Avatar photo by Cameron Crowell

What follows is one of the many articles in the Mercury‘s 2026 Queer Issue. Find a print copy here, subscribe to get a copy mailed to you here, and if you’re feeling generous and want to keep these types of articles coming, support us here.—eds. On their first night as a Women’s National Basketball Association franchise, the Portland Fire […]

Posted inSports

The 2026 World Cup: Where to Watch, How it Works, and Ranking the Teams

(Almost) everything you could possibly want to know about the biggest sporting event of the summer.
Avatar photo by Abe Asher

The biggest sporting event in the history of the world kicks off in Mexico City on Thursday afternoon (June 11), and before long, it will arrive in the Pacific Northwest.  The 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition of the men’s tournament, will feature the largest field and most games in the competition’s illustrious history: […]

Posted inSports

Portland’s Newest Women’s Sports Team, the Cherry Bombs, Win First Match

Getting support from a sold-out crowd, tattoo artists, and an opera company didn’t hurt.
Avatar photo by Stephanie Kaloi

The mood was jovial at Southeast Portland’s Lents Field on Sunday, where a sold out crowd of 2,007 people assembled to watch the Portland Cherry Bombs—the USL W team that also represents the city’s latest foray into women’s sports—win their inaugural soccer match against the Drip FC, 4-0. Despite the more casual nature of Lents […]

Posted inSports

Portland Fire Blaze Their Own Trail

The Fire may have fallen short in their first game, but their blaze is only beginning to burn.
Avatar photo by Cameron Crowell

The Portland Fire may have lost their inaugural game as a WNBA franchise—98-83 to the Chicago Sky—but the new team undoubtedly ignited something in their fanbase. A sold out Moda Center crowd welcomed back women’s basketball to Portland on Saturday, May 9 for the first time since 2002, when the original Portland Fire closed up […]

Posted inThe Trail Blazers

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Déjà Vu

The Blazers choke against Spurs at home… again.
Avatar photo by Cameron Crowell

It’s déjà vu all over again. Another sold out Moda Center, another 15+ point second half lead for the Portland Trail Blazers, and another double digit loss—114-93—to the San Antonio Spurs. The Blazers now see themselves in a 3-1 hole in the best-of-7 series, setting up a do-or-die Game 5 against the Spurs in San […]

Posted inThe Trail Blazers

Blazers Miss Out on Opportunity To Take a Series Lead

Disappointment is nearly guaranteed in the playoffs, because hope is eternal.
Avatar photo by Cameron Crowell

The first playoff home game for the Portland Trailblazers since 2021 ended in disappointment as the Victor Wembanyama-less San Antonio Spurs pulled away late—120-108—putting the Blazers in a 1-2 hole in the best of seven series. In a game where the Blazers led by as many as 15 halfway through the third quarter, the Spurs’ […]

Posted inNews

Should Portlanders Pay Hundreds of Millions for a Refurbished Moda Center? City Councilors Say “Not So Fast”

With local budget cuts looming and Trail Blazers ownership committing to stay in Portland, some city leaders aren’t ready to pull out the checkbook.
Avatar photo by Abe Asher

On the heels of an intense lobbying campaign by the Portland Trail Blazers, the Oregon Legislature last month passed a $365 million funding package to renovate the Moda Center contingent on the Blazers remaining in Portland under new majority owner Tom Dundon. State leaders trumpeted the passage of the funding package as an economic boon […]

Posted inThe Trail Blazers

Off With Their Heads!

Portland officially declares April 12 No Kings Day after Blazers dethrone Sacramento Kings at Moda Center.
Avatar photo by Nolan Parker

After one of the rockiest season-starts imaginable, the Portland Trail Blazers, through incredible perseverance, earn themselves a postseason, the first game of which is at the Phoenix Suns tomorrow, April 14, at 7 PM PST.  First off, and let us say this loud and clear for those in the back, good fucking riddance, Chauncey Billups. […]

Posted inThe Trail Blazers

Blazers Sink the Clippers Battleship for All the 8th Seed Marbles

Matisse Thybulle and Donovan Clingan now sharpen their guillotine for Sunday against the Sacramento Kings.
Avatar photo by Cameron Crowell

With the 8th seed in the Western Conference on the line, the Portland Trail Blazers bested their Los Angeles Clippers conference rivals for a second time in two weeks, beating them 116-97. The Blazer win brings their record to 41-40 on the season, tied with the Clippers with only one game remaining in the regular […]

Posted inNews

A Portland Curler’s Fight For Her Right to Compete 

By controlling the purse strings and federal oversight, the Trump administration is upending participation in sports for trans women and girls across the nation—even at amateur and club levels.
Avatar photo by Courtney Vaughn

By controlling the purse strings and federal oversight, the Trump administration is upending participation in sports for trans women and girls across the nation—even at amateur and club levels. Sarah Maywalt remembers finding herself mesmerized while watching a Canadian broadcast channel in the late 1990s. On the TV: curling– the quirky game that sees competitors […]

Posted inSports

Anatomy of a March Madness Upset

Two days of Moda Center Madness inside the student section of High Point University, the school no one in Portland knew about.
Avatar photo Cameron Crowell

High Point University (12-seed) is down one with under a minute to go playing the heavily favored University of Wisconsin (5-seed). The High Point Panthers have yet to win a single game in the March Madness NCAA men’s basketball tournament since the tournament’s 1939 conception.  Star guard Nick Boyd dribbles the ball up the court […]

Posted inSports

True Basketball Sickos Descend on Portland

NCAA March Madness kicks off this week with games at Moda Center 
Avatar photo Cameron Crowell

March Madness is here. If you are a true basketball sicko you’ve probably already called out of work to watch the first two rounds of National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) tournament play, starting Thursday, March 19. If you’re not a basketball sicko and just looking for some high octane fun, play hooky and watch along. […]

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