Traveling with the team

As the Pfister Narrator, I do not approach sports figures or celebrities when they are staying at the Pfister. Oh, I sneak glances when I see them pass through the lobby and maybe elbow the person next to me with a “well, look at him” nod, but I allow them to have the privacy they deserve without Nosy Lady Journalist in their face, asking a bunch of Qs.

It’s tempting to chat up the famous types, but the combination of top-notch service and personal space is one of the aspects of staying at the Pfister so many famous folk appreciate and so I, of course, don’t mess with that.

But when I stumble upon people who work for sports figures or celebrities, I let myself get a bit chatty. Such was the case when I met Anie and Chris who were traveling with the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team.

Anie is the team’s massage therapist and goes to most of the away games with the guys. It’s a lot of time on the road – from fall to spring – but she enjoys the work and considers herself very lucky to have the job.

She could not disclose very much about her massage practices or how often she gave massages. I understood this and eventually I stopped asking such questions and moved onto more neutral queries like, “How’s the team doing?” (9 and 2 at the time) and “How’s the soup?” (It was the Pfister’s French onion soup, and she said it was delicious. I really have to try this, it looked cheesy and bready and amazing.)

Honestly, I had no idea teams even had massage therapists travel with them and, as a person who has always believed wholeheartedly in the healing and proactive powers of massage therapy, cranial sacral therapy, reiki and the like, I was really happy to hear this.

“Pretty much all of the teams have a massage therapist now,” says Anie, who has practiced massage for six years. “It’s a pretty normal treatment. The world is changing. It’s getting more holistic.”

Well here’s to that.