Portland has been on the road their past three games but the Pilots men’s basketball team will finally be at home Thursday for the first time in two weeks. Thursday evening’s game against USF also marks Portland’s first home game since legendary fan Mauro Potestio died.
I first learned about Potestio in a tweet by Diamond Leung who said that “Portland fans encouraged to wear bowties to Thursday’s game in honor of Mauro Potestio, who passed away after attending 898 straight games.”
The fact he mentioned blew my mind so I researched the story further. Come to find out Potestio attended 898 straight basketball games, a streak that began on December 8th, 1949 and ended on January 29th, 2011. The legend never missed a home game in 62 years, and in total he attended 1,154 Pilots basketball games.
Potestio also served as the sports information director during the 80s and the golf coach from 88-01. The streak absolutely blows my mind, and Potestio has easily set the standard for passionate fans. To read more about the Portland graduate, go here. I just hope the fans all show up in bowties Thursday night and turn that place into an Orville Redenbacher festival in honor of Potestio.
