Showcasing the strength of Rip City pride

Portland Trail Blazers Damian Lillard CJ McCollum Jusuf Nurkic(Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
Portland Trail Blazers Damian Lillard CJ McCollum Jusuf Nurkic(Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next

Nila Madison

https://twitter.com/nilamadison/status/900742667054727168

You may know Nila more commonly as “Jusuf Nurkić’s gf” on Twitter, where she is an absolute gem.

Combining NBA humor with trending memes alone would make Nila a staple on NBA Twitter.

But, Nila isn’t just any old fan. Nila is a Blazer fan, through and through, even in the deepest, darkest place to be a PDX fan: the Bay Area.

She isn’t behind enemy lines for nothing, though; Nila is an M.S. candidate in biology.

Nila helps represent the most resilient fans: those living outside of the comforts of Portland. With tough skin and meme-filled tweets, Nila rides high in the hearts of Rip City fans everywhere.

Give her a follow, learn her “Sc. R. E. A. M.” motto and give her props for keeping it real in the Bay.

How long have you been a Blazer fan?

The same time I officially became a Laker hater: during the new millennium, 1999-2000 Western Conference Finals.

What is your first/earliest Blazer-related memory?

My earliest Blazer-related memory was my family just always having games on the TV. As a young bull, it was merely background noise to me.

It wasn’t until I grew older that Rip City really struck a chord with me.

What does it mean to be part of Rip City?

To be a part of the Rip City community (even from afar) is like when MTV had music, when ESPN had sports, when a woman could be a single 25-year-old and not automatically destined to be a step-mom.

I’m aware everyone says this, but I really think every other fanbase pales in comparison to Rip City’s.

What makes you a unique fan, while also keeping you within the Trail Blazer fan realm?

I think what might set me apart as a Blazer fan is how out-of-pocket of a young lady I am. Anyone who has watched a single Trail Blazer game with me knows I turn into a *special* kind of psychopath…

How tough is it being a Blazers fan in Warriors territory, and how do you keep the spirit alive down there?

If we’re being honest, I blame Blazer-related woes for all my problems in life. For instance, I think the reason I was single for so long is because I live in Dub Nation: the crux of modern-day NBA fandom.

The way I was able to mitigate my Blazer-related issues and, thus, keep the spirit alive, was to get as many Bay Area Blazer fans together as possible to watch two games of Round One of the playoffs last season, and it made the last five years of living in San Francisco amongst Dubs fans worth the daily battles.

We now officially refer to the Portland to California fraternity as Beta Theta Pi Eta aka BTPH, short for “Both Teams Played Hard.”