I think a lot of people would say New York. When the Knicks are rolling, Madison Square Garden is rocking. It is home to the perennial MLB favorite Yankees, occasional National League contenders in the Mets, and let’s not forget the two NFL franchises — the Giants and Jets. The city is also home to the U.S. Open in tennis, and many other big events.

Some might argue Philadelphia or Boston. Even if their teams are down, the fans remain passionate, loud and opinionated.

Fans of college sports might throw out Lincoln, Nebraska; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; or Durham, North Carolina.

But what about Portland, Oregon?

Yes, Portland.

To an outsider, the Rose City is home to flannel-wearing hippies who work two hours a week while dreaming of becoming clowns.

But for those of us lucky enough to live here (or to claim it as our own, despite living 110 miles to the south), Portland is a city full of passionate people.

On Monday, the Portland Timbers, a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in 2011, announced that they had surpassed 10,000 season-ticket sales for their inaugural season.

That’s a one, followed by four zeros.

For soccer.

In the United States.

PGE Park, where the Timbers will play upon completion of a $31 million renovation, will hold approximately 20,000 people. Season ticket sales have been capped at 12,000.

The Portland Trail Blazers at one time rode the longest-consecutive sellout streak in NBA history, a streak that only came to an end when fans began boycotting a team that had become known as the “Jail Blazers” for the players’ off-court transgressions. The boycott and empty seats, which I would argue came from a place of passion for the franchise, ultimately led to a complete rebuilding of the roster. Now, the team once again sells out regularly.

To the south, the University of Oregon and Oregon State University have both benefited greatly by drawing on fan support from Portland. The lanes of Interstate 5, Oregon’s main traffic artery, become a parking lot for miles on game days at both universities.

In Portland, such strong fan support might not be passion after all. It could be simple economics. The metro area is the largest in the country with only one professional franchise in the “big four” leagues — the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL.

In fact, when cities are ranked based on population per sports franchise, Portland tops the list as the most under-served metro area in the United States (see data below).

Citizens of Portland are simply starved for sports options, so much so that Oregonians account for a significant number of Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners ticket sales and television viewers.

A November 2007 press release from the Mariners indicated that the team is “a strong product for FSN Northwest in Portland, averaging a 2.3 rating” from 2005-2007.

That rating is actually higher than the hometown numbers of five MLB franchises during the first half of the 2010 baseball season, according to a Sports Business Journal report.

Maybe it’s the sports starvation that fuels the Rose City’s passion.

Is Portland the most passionate sports community in the nation? Perhaps.

But one thing’s for sure — the Timbers are cashing in.

Team Splat, in its second year of putting together a film for the Portland 48 Hour Film Project, was comprised of both professional and amateur cast and crew. Their 2009 film, “The Sample”, won best Cinematography and Best Directing from the festival judges.

At 6:45 on Friday evening, Kevin Curry, one of the writers for Team Splat, was showing his anxiousness in getting started.

“Come on Devon,” he said, as he anxiously awaited a text message from director Devon Lyon, who was meeting with representatives from the other 53 teams and project directors.

From that meeting, Team Splat would learn which genre they would be required to produce.

“As long as it’s not a western or musical, I’m fine with it,” Curry said.

The 48 Hour Film Project was created in 2001 by Mark Ruppert, who recruited several other filmmakers from the Washington, D.C., area to attempt to make short films under a tight deadline.

The films were, maybe surprisingly, watchable. So the event grew.

This year, 52 American cities, 27 international cities and even a community in the virtual world Second Life participated in the event, each with their own judges, production teams and gala events.

As the event kicks off in each city, production teams are given a genre and the name of a character that must be included in the film, as well as a prop and a line of dialogue.

Genres range from buddy film to fantasy, road movie, sci-fi and even film de femme, a genre invented by the project to feature strong female leads (such as “Juno,” “Frida” or “Erin Brockovich”).

“We got mockumentary,” Curry proclaimed to those who had gathered in the studio’s largest room.

“What’s that?” someone asked.

“The TV show ‘The Office’ is a mockumentary,” someone else replied from across the room.

“I’m really happy with it,” Curry said. “We can go in almost any direction.”

Shortly after, word came that every team in the Portland project would need to include a character named Pete or Pam Patterson, who was an artist, as well as some pistachio nuts as a prop and the line, “I have a surprise for you.”

With that, the clock had started ticking.

Scott Nelson (left) and Kevin Curry brainstorm a storyline for their 48 Hour Film Project.

At 7:08 p.m., Curry headed upstairs to the office with Scott Nelson, the other writer for Team Splat, to begin working on a storyline. The cast began dressing up in superhero costumes and getting make-up, while the crew began loading gear into vehicles.

Lyon had received permits to film that evening in a nearby park.

“We’re not sure what we’ll be able to do tonight,” Lyon said, “but, because of the tight deadline, we’ve got to get something on film. Something we get tonight will be usable.”

At 7:44 p.m., Nelson and Curry were struggling to get a scene written while there was still enough daylight to shoot at the park. They had decided that a simple mockumentary was too basic, there needed to be a twist. So, the writers decided to create a mockumentary of a mockumentary.

“When you have as a little time as this, structure is important,” Nelson said.

At 8:09 p.m., Lyon, the actors and crew had enough direction from the writers to begin filming at Tualatin Community Park. Most of the 45-minute filming session was improvised.

Ultimately, only a small portion was usable in the final film.

The cast and crew headed home, dreading a 6:30 a.m. casting call and the long day of filming ahead. For Nelson and Curry, their long day had already begun.

“Whose crazy idea was this?” Nelson asked. “It’s a lot like having a baby. It sucks. You’re sleep-deprived and stressed. But, a few months later you start thinking ‘that was fun. I have this little baby. Let’s do it again.’ ”

At 5:49 a.m. on Saturday, Lyon appeared at the top of the staircase leading into the office, where the writers were still working on a final script. They had been up all night, and the burnout is apparent on the face of both Nelson and Curry.

As the actors began showing up a few minutes later, getting into costume and make-up, the final script was handed off to Lyon, while Nelson and Curry discussed their plans for a nap.

The first scene of the day was filmed outdoors, with the actors wearing undergarments.

At 7:55 a.m., shooting for the first tangible scene of the film began outside of a comic book shop. The actors received direction and quickly learned their lines.

“Just our clothes? Seriously? I’d rather be vaporized,” Mercedes Rose said directly into the camera as she and the other actors headed down a sidewalk in their undergarments.

The script still didn’t make a lot of sense to most of the actors and crew. This first scene was being shot out of context, as part of the film’s second act. The cast speculated on how to develop a mind-set around characters they had only recently been introduced to for the first time.

And so it goes in the film industry, particularly with this condensed 48 Hour Project.

While the crew tore down equipment and moved into the comic book shop for the next scene, the actors gathered around a table of coffee and morning treats while memorizing the next set of lines.

Despite not knowing which genre Team Splat would be given, Lyon had gained permits and permission to shoot at three locations near the studio: the comic book store, a large warehouse and the city park.

“We weren’t sure how we would use the comic book shop and the warehouse,” Lyon said, “but we knew that we’d be able to build a script around those locations.”

As shooting was about to begin inside the store, a comic book shop patron, oblivious to the production going on around him, walked in the front door.

“You’ll need to come back later,” said Ryan Shurtleff, an employee of the shop who’d been cast as an extra. Out he walked, and filming resumed.

Director Devon Lyon gives instruction to one of his actors, Neil Wade Freer.

At 10:27 a.m., the production team arrived at the large warehouse, which was to be used as the evil lair for the story’s villain, and would be the location of the film’s most pivotal scenes.

As each scene wrapped, the storyline began to take shape, despite being produced out of order. By then, the actors felt fully confident in their characters.

At 2:41 p.m., nearly 20-hours after production began, shooting wrapped for most of the cast as the climactic battle scene was completed.

Two hours later, Lyon yelled, “That’s a wrap!” after the completion of a character’s solo scene.

The actors who remained until the end congratulated each other on a job well done, and, one by one, headed home. Many of the crew, however, headed inside the studio to get started on post-production, which included an original score and special effects that would go on to win that category at the festival a couple weeks later.

The cast and crew of Team Splat gather to watch the final product.

With 45 minutes to spare, the final product was sent off to 48 Hour Film Project headquarters.

Team Splat had done it.

The remaining crew, and some of the cast, assembled to watch the finished product they had created together over the previous 48 hours.

Everyone left the studio proud of what they had accomplished.

It was nothing short of a superhuman feat.

A casual conversation with several others in the hot tub circled around to Dancer and myself.

“What brings you to Mt. Hood?” a man in his late 30’s asked.

Kevin Curry (left) and Rick Dancer prepare the shot for interviews in the Senate Appropriations Committee room at the U.S. Capitol Building.

Dancer, a producer on the film, had been hired by Portland-based Lyon Films to interview family, friends and former colleagues of Senator Mark Hatfield for a feature-length documentary on the man who served Oregon as a member of the state legislature, as Secretary of State, Governor and, ultimately, 30 years as Senator. His name is on buildings at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) and the Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland, among others. I was invited along to document the behind-the-scenes process and act as a research assistant.

“You’re kidding,” the man responded. “I’m Robert Hatfield. … Mark is my cousin.”

As you travel around the state of Oregon and talk to people, you’ll inevitably find someone who’s been touched by Mark Hatfield. That’s why Kevin Curry and Devon Lyon decided to create a film about the Senator, who is now 88.

“We want to make him more than a name on a building,” Dancer said. “We want people to hear the stories of those closest to him … the lives that he touched.”

The next morning we met up with Curry, Lyon and Ryan Walters, the cameraman for the documentary, at Portland International Airport. This would be the crew’s first trip outside the state.

“We’ve interviewed most of the people we’re going to get here in Oregon; those who worked with Hatfield at the state level,” Curry said while we waited to board the plane. “Now, we’ll be meeting with those who worked for him in the Senate.”

Rick Dancer (left) interviews Senator John Warner.

While traveling regularly from one end of the country to the other, it’s a wonder that Hatfield, in his time as Senator, was able to get any work done. It’s a near day-long process that Hatfield, by instruction of his long-time chief of staff, Gerry Frank, did every three weeks or so, to keep in touch with the people and issues of Oregon.

After a long day of travel and a late dinner in Georgetown, where a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir was on the menu, we decided to go see the capitol at night.

“It’s pretty amazing, the five of us being here,” Lyon said to me while walking back to the car after we’d viewed the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Wall, World War II Memorial, Washington Memorial and the south lawn of the White House. “We’ve got a group of guys really committed to this project who can also take a step back and appreciate where we are.”

The Lincoln Memorial at night on the first day of the Hatfield Documentary Project trip to Washington, D.C.

For all the negative things that can be said about our country, and especially what specifically goes on in D.C., there’s something magical about our nation’s capitol. The bright white stone of the monuments against a black night sky are stunning. It is a place full of idealism, mixed with strong doses of realism. A memorial to Lincoln not only represents the ideals of a nation, but also, a nation divided.

Like the Lincoln Memorial, Hatfield represented contrasting ideas.

In World War II, Hatfield saw first-hand the tragedy of war. As a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, he was a landing craft officer during the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. And he was among the first to witness the effects, on the ground, of the atom bomb in Hiroshima.

“He was a pro-life Republican,” Dancer said, “but he took being pro-life all the way. He was also anti-war and against capital punishment.”

This mentality was in stark contrast to traditional Republican ideology, and could likely be traced back to the war.

Rick Dancer (foreground) interviews Jim Towey, former legal counsel to Sen. Hatfield.

“He was a man of such character and integrity,” said Jim Towey, who worked with Hatfield as a legislative aide and legal counsel, before going on to serve Mother Teresa of Calcutta as U.S. legal counsel.

“(Hatfield) wasn’t a conservative Republican. He wasn’t an ultra anything,” said Sen. Pete Domenici, who himself served as a Republican Senator from New Mexico for 36 years. “On the big issues of the day, he was a very independent Senator.”

“It’s hard for a U.S. Senator to go against the popular will, yet he was willing to do that, and often, was right,” Towey said.

As the first day of interviews was beginning to wrap up, the theme of the day — and ultimately the trip — was that Hatfield was an independent man who wasn’t interested in playing political games or partisanship. He sometimes took a stance against the agendas of those who voted him into office, but at the end of the day, they would vote him back in because he was a man with integrity.

“It was not the ballot box, but Judgment Day that guided Mark Hatfield’s life,” Towey said.

“Would a politician like Hatfield be voted into office today? Would they be able to keep their job?” Dancer asked interviewee after interviewee.

Probably not, most responded.

Account after account told of a Hatfield who was never interested in fundraising or campaigning. His only true campaign in 30 years as a Senator was in 1990, his final election, against Democrat challenger Harry Longsdale. Hatfield raised $1 million in a single month late in the campaign in order to sway the public in his favor, ultimately winning re-election with 53 percent of the vote.

Politics had changed, and several staffers acknowledged that they felt Hatfield had grown tired of it, and he knew an independent mind couldn’t survive a partisan congress.

“We were lucky Oregon sent him (to the Senate),” Domenici said.

As our week of interviews in D.C. continued, Hatfield’s legacy was confirmed again and again. By Senators Daniel Inouye and Thad Cochran from the Senate appropriations committee room at the Capitol building, the committee Hatfield chaired for eight years. By former staffers Jenna Dorn, Mark Van de Water, Martin B. Gold, Sen. John Warner, Sen. Gordon Smith and others.

“Mark Hatfield knew exactly who he was, and exactly what he needed to do for Oregon,” said Keith Kennedy, another former Hatfield staffer. “There’s a rich story here and it needs to be told.”

Thanks to Lyon, Curry, Dancer and Walters, it will be.

The Hatfield Documentary crew takes a quick lunch break in a car full of people and gear. (From front to back, left to right): Rick Dancer, Kevin Curry, Devon Lyon, Ryan Walters, Joshua Kagi.

Oregon Public Broadcasting has shown interest in broadcasting a version of the film. Upon its completion, the feature-length documentary will be placed in high schools and universities across the state.

When taking off from Reagan National Airport just across the Potomic River from D.C., our plane flew over the Lincoln Memorial, giving us a bird’s-eye view of the National Mall all the way to the Capitol. It was a sunny day, giving us a romanticized, postcard-like view of a city.

As our plane descended into Portland, flying low under the rain clouds during the first winter-like storm in the mountains, I thought, “our political climate is much more like these dark clouds, rain and turbulence than the sunshine and romantic views of D.C.”

Hatfield’s former colleagues and staffers were nearly unanimous in thinking a man like him could not succeed in today’s political climate.

They’re probably right.

But worry not — Oregon was lucky to have him once, and with this documentary film, maybe another man or woman will be inspired to be the next Mark Hatfield.

———
The Hatfield Film Project released this short series of interviews prior to the D.C. trip. For updates on the film’s progress, visit HatfieldFilm.com, follow them on twitter or visit their page on Facebook.