Rip City (Portland nickname)

Bill Schonely was announcing a Portland Trail Blazers basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers on February 18, 1971 (the Trail Blazers, playing in their first season, would lose, 136-114), when Blazers’ guard Jim Barnett took a long shot that went in the basket. “Rip City!” Schonely said. “Rip City” became so popular among Blazer fans that it was used as a nickname of the city of Portland itself. This wasn’t Schonely’s first use of the term; on January 1, 1971, the Oregonian newspaper humorously predicted, “Trailblazer broadcaster Bill Schonly eliminated ‘rip city’ and ‘over the equator’ from his basketball vocabulary.”
 
Schonely has claimed that he doesn’t remember what “rip city” means or where he got it from. “-city” was popular in 1960s-1970s slang; a basketball that goes through the hoop is often said to “rip” through the twine. Kansas University football coach Pepper Rodgers used “rip city” in 1969 to describe something very good or very bad.
 
   
Wikipedia: Nicknames of Portland, Oregon
Rip City
The nickname Rip City is usually used in the context of the city’s NBA team, the Portland Trail Blazers. The term was coined by the team’s play-by-play announcer Bill Schonely during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on February 18, 1971, the Blazers’ first season. In the days prior to the three-point field goal, Blazers’ guard Jim Barnett took an ill-advised long distance shot that nonetheless went in, giving the new team hope for a victory against the powerful Lakers. Excited, Schonely exclaimed “Rip City! All right!” Schonely admits that he has no idea how he came up with the expression, but it became synonymous with the team and the city of Portland.
 
Wikipedia: Bill Schonely
Bill Schonely (born June 1, 1929), nicknamed “The Schonz”, is an American sports broadcaster who was the first play-by-play announcer for the Portland Trail Blazers. A native of Pennsylvania, he worked in radio in Louisiana and Seattle before settling in Portland, Oregon. In addition to his work for the Blazers, he has also been a sportscaster for Major League Baseball games, several minor league baseball teams, college sports, National Hockey League games, and junior ice hockey.
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Schonely’s best-known phrase, “Rip City”, debuted in a game against the Lakers in 1970. The Blazers had fallen behind by a significant margin, yet rallied back to a two-point deficit. When a long jump shot by guard Jim Barnett tied the game, Schonely blurted out, “Rip City! All right!” an exhortation for which Schonely had no literal explanation. The Blazers lost 136-114 but the phrase stuck, became synonymous with Blazers basketball and even became a nickname for Portland itself.
 
Google News Archive
16 October 1969, Lawrence (KS) Daily Journal-World, “Will Penny Help Jays?”, pg. 24, col. 1:
“They’ve got all their people back on defense from last year,” Rodgers pointed out, “and they didn’t exactly let us go Rip City. We got only one touchdown on a drive up there last year.”
(Pepper Rogers, football coach of the Kansas University Jayhawks—ed.)
 
19 November 1969, Lawrence (KS) Daily Journal-World, pg. 6, cols. 1-2:
“Rip City” Music
Set for Halftime
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The song, the “Rip City Fight Song,” will be played for the first time at halftime of Saturday’s KU-Missouri football game.
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Barnes gave it the title. It’s based on the slang phrase “rip city” used by Pepper Rodgers, KU football coach. If Rodgers says “That was rip city out there today,” he could be describing the 44-20 lacing KU took at the hands of Iowa state earlier in the season or the 68-7 slaughter KU administered last year to New Mexico.
   
18 October 1970, The Sunday Oregonian (Portland, OR), “UO Gridders Breeze Past Vandals, 49-13,” sec. 3, pg. 6, col. 3:
An Oregon fumble and an offensive pass interference call stood the Vandals in good cause for about five minutes then, rip city.
 
1 January 1971, The Oregonian (Portland, OR), “An Offbeat Look At Sports For ‘71,” Sports, pg. 2, col. 3:
Trailblazer broadcaster Bill Schonly (sic) eliminated “rip city” and “over the equator” from his basketball vocabulary.
 
7 September 1971, The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Sports, pg. 3, col. 1 ad:
“Mr. Rip City”
SCHONELY on SPORTS
2 KATU
EYEWITNESS NEWS
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Return to Rip City
Author: Scott Zachry; Bill Schonely; NBA Entertainment, Inc.; CBS/Fox Video Sports.
Publisher: New York : CBS Fox Video Sports, ©1990.
Edition/Format:  VHS video : VHS tape Visual material : English
Summary: Recaps the 1990 season of the Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers. Shows highlights from season opening night through a franchise record 59 wins ... from playoff victories over Dallas, San Antonio and Phoenix and the NBA finals with Detroit.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Rip City magazine.
Publisher: Portland, Or. : Pacific Gateway Publications, [1992-
Edition/Format:  Journal, magazine : Periodical : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Rip City! : a quarter century with the Portland Trail Blazers
Author: Steve Cameron
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Taylor Pub. Co., ©1995.
Edition/Format:  Book : English
 
OregonLive.com
Ill-advised shot from feisty guard leaves indelible mark on Blazers
Published: Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 5:00 AM
By Jason Quick, The Oregonian
ORINDA, Calif. – Since the first tip at a Trail Blazers game in 1970, there have been more difficult, and more important shots than the one guard Jim Barnett took on Feb. 18, 1971.
 
But no shot in team history has proven to be more enduring than his long, high-arcing attempt at Memorial Coliseum that swished against the Lakers in that inaugural season.
 
The shot was ill-advised, taken much too quickly and from far too long of distance. And ultimately, Barnett and the Blazers had far too few baskets that night in a 136-114 loss.
 
But the shot produced one of the most lasting and defining moments in the team’s history.
 
It was the shot that spawned Rip City.
 
Bill Schonely, the Blazers radio voice, got caught up in the excitement, which created a brief moment of hope against the mighty Lakers. When the shot swished, Schonely blurted out “Rip City! All right!”
 
To this day, Schonely doesn’t know where “Rip City!” came from, or what it means.
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark RIP CITY
Goods and Services IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S: printed matter and publications, namely sports-oriented magazines, posters, programs, and media guides. FIRST USE: 19921100. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19921100
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 75933637
Filing Date March 2, 2000
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition April 24, 2001
Registration Number 2469361
Registration Date July 17, 2001
Owner (REGISTRANT) Trail Blazers Inc. CORPORATION OREGON One Center Court, Suite 200 Portland OREGON 97227
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record Nancy V. Stephens
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 8 (6-YR). SECTION 8(10-YR) 20110212.
Renewal 1ST RENEWAL 20110212
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark RIP CITY COFFEE
Goods and Services IC 030. US 046. G & S: coffee. FIRST USE: 19910521. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19910521
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 76424598
Filing Date June 26, 2002
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition October 14, 2003
Registration Number 2801849
Registration Date January 6, 2004
Owner (REGISTRANT) Boyd Coffee Company CORPORATION OREGON 19730 N.E. Sandy Boulevard Portland OREGON 97230
Attorney of Record Todd Mitchell
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “COFFEE” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR).
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark RIP CITY BREWING
Goods and Services IC 032. US 045 046 048. G & S: Beer
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 85317578
Filing Date May 10, 2011
Current Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition May 8, 2012
Owner (APPLICANT) Northwest Public House, LLC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY OREGON 2327 NW Kearney Street Portland OREGON 97210
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “BREWING” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE