Without Question, The Best Weekend Ever

Sometimes it's hard to figure out what you want to do with your weekends in Portland. In a town with so many amazing things happening all the time, it's easy to feel yourself torn in multiple directions, trying to be at the right place at the right time.

This is not one of those weekends.

From 1:00 on Friday afternoon until late Sunday night, no one in town needs to be anywhere except at the Rose Quarter. The Rose Garden and Memorial Coliseum are hosting what is probably the most incredible confluence of events in Portland, and maybe world, history.

Our afternoons are taken care of all three days by the ridiculously big deal of tennis' Davis Cup Finals. U.S.A. vs. Russia. Andy Roddick and James Blake against whoever the Russians decide to throw out there. How this event ended up at Memorial Coliseum is not for any of us to ponder. If you can find tickets, go.

The tennis should be over by 7:00 or so each day, which will leave us all just enough time to scurry through the water-coming-out-of-the-ground thing to the Rose Garden, which is hosting what is undoubtedly the most mind-blowing weekend of its short life. Just take a look at this schedule:

Friday night, 8:00: MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER CHRISTMAS TOUR!!!!
Saturday night, 8:00: VAN HALEN!!!!
Sunday night, 8:00: TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA!!!!
There's no reason to leave! All three days, we get to spend the afternoon watching one of the biggest sporting events to hit Portland in forever, and then go and get our faces absolutely melted off in the evening. I'm bringing a sleeping bag.
Follow our live coverage of the Davis Cup here.