Blazers.com wants you to meet the people behind the team. These people come to work full of dedication for their job and passion for the game. The next personality profile in our series is with Director of Game Operations Joe Bivona.

Blazers.com: Thanks for sitting down with us Joe! Portland fans always talk about what a great experience our games are, so let's tell them what you do to make that happen.


Blazers.com: So tell us exactly what you do as Director of Game Operations?
Joe: Well, I basically organize and manage everything that you experience at a Blazers game except the game itself. The BlazerDancers, Stunt Team, sponsor promotions, music, the video presentation on the big screens, etc. All the fun stuff.


Blazers.com: So how do you coordinate all of those things at the games?
Joe: It's really a thoroughly choreographed production much like a live television or radio program. During the game itself I sit at the game operations table at the back of Section 101 and direct all of the in-arena activities. I'm on my headset with everyone from the music guy to the video director who runs the big screens to the spotlight operators. Basically I manage all of their activities in accordance with the game format. Of course anything can happen with the game on the court, so often I have to make last second calls to change activities on the fly.


Blazers.com: Sounds like a fun job!
Joe: For the most part it is. It's pretty cool to be able to push one button on my computer, put "De-Fense" on the big screens and have 20,000 Blazers fans yelling "De-Fense!" One of the fun parts is the immediate response (or lack thereof) that we get from the fans in the form of cheers or laughter. We know pretty quickly if something we've done has worked, or bombed.


Blazers.com: What qualifications do you need for a job like that?
Joe: Since there are only 29 of these jobs in the world, luck is a big factor! Really though, it's a unique combination of marketing, sponsorship, organizational, creative, broadcasting and production skills. It helps to be a little bit crazy too. Creativity is such a big part of it, so you have to have a bit of a warped mindset. (yup, he's warped)


Blazers.com: What exactly is your background?
Joe: I guess I unknowingly started down this path in college when I ran promotions and prize giveaways at basketball games at the little Division II school I went to. I then went to get my MBA at Wake Forest University in North Carolina and I was lucky enough to get an internship with the Charlotte Hornets when they were an expansion team. After that I got a job running operations and public relations with the Quad City Thunder, a minor league basketball team. I finally got a break in 1994 and returned to the NBA as Director of Special Events with the New Jersey Nets. After three seasons in Jersey, the call came to go West and I moved to Portland in 1997.


Blazers.com: How is working for the Blazers compared to with the Nets?
Joe: In my business you look for three things in a situation... great fans, good arena and a good team. Portland has all three, so that's what makes it one of the best jobs in the league. I'll also throw in management support. The Blazers have really made a commitment to providing a great game experience for our fans, so that makes my job a lot easier with that kind of support.


Blazers.com: What was it like working in the minor leagues?
Joe: At first it seemed like a step backwards to work in the CBA for the Quad City Thunder, but in the end it was the best thing that could have happened to my career. There's something special about working in a small organization where you wear lots of hats. I got experience and responsibility that I couldn't have gotten anywhere else. You also have much closer relationships with the players and coaches as well. Since the players in the minor leagues aren't making much more money than you are, there's a lot more common ground with them.

In addition, our team was very good, so I got used to winning. It really couldn't have worked out any better, in 1994 we won the CBA Championship and a month later I got my first real NBA job with the New Jersey Nets. I know it's not an NBA Championship ring, but it's a ring none-the-less! In fact the coach of that 1994 CBA Title team was current Blazers assistant Dan Panaggio and his assistant was none other than our new head coach Maurice Cheeks... who would have thought that three people from that obscure team would be reunited now with the Trail Blazers?


Blazers.com: Have you ever worked in any other sport?
Joe: Basketball is really the only sport that I would want to work in. I just couldn't sit through 82 baseball games! Although, I have done some free-lance consulting work with a variety of teams including the New York Giants as well as a few arena football teams and even professional roller hockey.


Blazers.com: What are some of your most memorable moments?
Joe: There are lots...

In 1988 when I was interning in Charlotte, my mother sang the National Anthem and then the Hornets beat the Bulls by one point at the buzzer in Michael Jordan's first game in his home state of North Carolina. The whole city of Charlotte went nuts!

In 1993 in Quad City we took the saying "it's not over until the fat lady sings" literally and had our own Brunhilde-style character come out and lip sync an operatic ditty at the end of every win. This wild idea proved so popular that USA Today picked up on it and put a picture of her and a story on the front page of the sports section.

The 1994 CBA Title that I mentioned earlier. There's nothing like cutting down the nets with the team after winning a championship!

The Blazers 1999 and 2000 playoff runs to the Western Conference Finals. Particularly the 1999 playoffs when we first used the flame throwers during player introductions. People just jumped out of their seats the first time we shot those off! Really, Blazers fans are so passionate that there's nothing like the intensity and noise of the Rose Garden during the playoffs.

In 2000 I got to fill in at a Portland Fire game as Spot the mascot. I probably lost 10 pounds sweating in that costume, but what a blast it was being a mascot for a night!

2001 Clyde Drexler Night. I took a leading role in organizing and managing this and it was great to see it all come together so successfully.


Blazers.com: How about some you'd rather forget?
Joe: Hmmmmm, there's a lot of those too! Everything we do is in a live and fast paced environment, so things inevitably go wrong on occasion. Here's a few that stand out:

In 1994 in Quad City we would shoot off fireworks when our mascot dunked off of the mini trampoline. One time the fireworks guy used way too much explosive powder and almost blew a hole in the court. It totally disrupted the visiting team in their huddle, left a black spot on the court and caused the mascot to break his nose on the rim. I wasn't sure who was going to wring my neck first -- the visiting coach, my boss or the league commissioner who was in attendance.

In 1995 while working for the New Jersey Nets I faced a unique situation. When we played the Knicks, even in our building there would be more Knicks fans than Nets fans. Perhaps the lowest moment of my career was having to turn up the volume of the music to drown out the chants of "Lets Go Knicks" in the Nets home arena!!!

In 1997 at a Blazers game during a "hippity hop" contest we had a woman so vigorously hippity hopping that her top came loose, exposing her... well, you know.

One time last season we did a big video introduction for the Tony Roma's Rib Giveaway..except somebody forgot to get the ribs. So we had a rib giveaway with no ribs! Pretty embarrassing.


Blazers.com: So what do you have in store for the upcoming Blazers season?
Joe: We actually have a lot of new and fun things planned for the season. As for specifics, you'll have to come to the games to find out!


Blazers.com: Thanks Joe! You have a great job and we can tell you love it!

Blazers.com will continue to provide these inside interviews with the people that make our organization successful.

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