Harry Glickman (born May 13, 1924, in [[Portland, Oregon]]) is a retired journalist, [[promoter (entertainment)|]], and sports executive. He was one of the founders of the [[Portland Trail Blazers]], and was the team's president from 1987 to 1994. Glickman is considered as the "father" of professional sports in [[Oregon]].
== Early life and career ==
Glickman grew up in the [[Great Depression]] Portland, son of Polish immigrant Bessie, who worked in the lady’s garment industry, and Glickman also had a job as a [[paperboy]].ref Bessie would trade letters in [[Yiddish]] with her family in [[Wysokie, Hrubieszów County|]] until 1939, when [[...|the Nazis invaded the country]], and sent Glickman's relatives to the [[Treblinka extermination camp]].ref Glickman played basketball at , where he graduated in 1941.ref
Afterwards Glickman enrolled at the [[University of Oregon]] with a degree in [[journalism]]. He had plans to become a sportswriter, and served as the campus correspondant for [[The Oregonian]], the director of the university’s athletic news bureau, and wrote for the school paper as well as [[The Register-Guard]].ref Glickman left college to enlist for [[World War II]], spending three years at the [[12th Armored Division]] of the [[...|7th Army]].ref After returning to Portland, he graduated in 1948.ref When a job offer at The Oregonian fell through, Glickman took to promoting sporting events.ref
Opening a company named Oregon Attractions, Glickman began with boxing matches, and branched off into show business events. In 1955, he promoted a [[Pacific Northwest]] tour for [[Judy Garland]], but once she refused to appear on stage for the last concert in [[Spokane, Washington]], Glickman got so irritated he swore to only work with sports. Afterwards, Glickman's achievements included preseason games for [[National Football League]] teams at Portland’s [[Multnomah Stadium]], games by the [[Harlem Globetrotters]] and post-season NBA All-Star games at the newly opened .refref
In 1960, he was one of the founders of the [[Portland Buckaroos]] of the [[Western Hockey League (minor pro)|]], a now-defunct minor hockey league (and one of to bear that name).refref The Buckaroos were one of the most successful franchises in minor league hockey history, winning three WHL championships, and playing in three others, during their 13 years in the Western Hockey League. (The WHL would fold in 1974, largely as a result of losing major market teams in Los Angeles and Vancouver to the [[National Hockey League]] (NHL) and others, including [[Colorado Avalanche|Denver]] and [[Phoenix Coyotes|Phoenix]], to the [[World Hockey Association]] (which later merged with the NHL). The Buckaroos ultimately folded in 1975, after moving to a different league.
== Portland Trail Blazers ==
Glickman was interested in creating a basketball team in Portland as soon as the was opened in 1954.ref While the NBA refused his offer, in 1959 Glickman negotiated with [[Abe Saperstein]] to have a team on his [[American Basketball League (1961–1963)|]], but the league folded before he could do so.ref In 1970, Glickman, working without any investor support, won an expansion franchise with the [[National Basketball Association]], subject to coming up with $3.8 million in a matter of days. Glickman soon rounded up 3 wealthy real estate developers led by [[Herman Sarkowsky]] of Seattle, who then brought in [[Larry Weinberg]] of Los Angeles and [[Robert Schmertz]] of Boston.refrefref Later, Sarkowskly and Schmertz sold their shares to Weinberg, who was the teams majority owner until the club was sold to [[Paul Allen]] in 1988. Glickman oversaw all business and basketball operations as the General Manager of the franchise from its inception in 1970 until his retirement in 1987, and continues as the Blazers' president emeritus. After Paul Allen brought the club, Glickman's son, Marshall, was promoted to Senior Vice-President and was ultimately named president in 1994.
