My First Trip to the Sports Arena 1985

The S & S Express Steve Simpson and Jumpin' Joe Savaldi

     My first trip to the Portland Sports Arena was in 1985.  I wanted to have a sleep over so I was mad about going. Boy do I sound like a whiny kid!  It was kids free night and we were poor so that was our only chance to go.  Mom packed up the kids and little did she know that she would be making this trip so many times in the future. 
     The first thing you see after you walked under the 7Up Sports Arena sign was some wrestler photos in the entry and then a huge painting of Andre the Giant.  We all assumed it was life size and it looked ENORMOUS to little kids.  That's pretty much all it took.  That Andre painting.  I was hooked before I even walked past the ticket counter that was no doubt manned by Mark Owen.
     The smokey haze in the air, the stale popcorn, grouchy security guards that didn't want kids running around, loud music and non-stop action just got to me and after that night I couldn't get enough.
     I spent all of the money I had on this S & S Express button that night.  I also lost my voice screaming things like , "Break It!  Break It!'  and "Whale on the Beach!"