—by Mike Coleman

It seems strange that his even needs to be said, I mean we're all adults here (except for the kids, they're kids). But, alas, it appears it does need to be said: Don't steal the flags.

They're not a Darlington Nagbe face or a set of Alaska Airlines pins or a House of Pane shirt - in short, they're not your free gift for showing up and sitting in the north end.

Those flags that you feel entitled to abscond off with are bought and paid for with 107ist dollars. These are also the same dollars that fund our community giving - you know, like when we buy uniforms for kids in need or build an accessible playground or refurbish soccer fields around Portland. They're also the same dollars that go to fund our large-scale tifo displays.

So when you take a flag, and we have to buy a replacement - that's money that doesn't go to advancing our mission to support soccer from the grassroots to the highest level. It's money that goes to replace something we already had.

Now, I'm sure you, constant reader, aren't the person who actually steals the flags. But, maybe you've seen one of these clowns perpetrating said nefarious act. If so, take action!

Kindly ask the person what they're doing, explain the flags are not theirs to keep (they're all stamped 'property of the 107ist', and kindly ask for it back .

I certainly don't want anyone to get punched in the nose over a flag, so if they get obnoxious find a capo and let them know. Capos know who our internal TA security folks are and we can deal with it. If no capo is handy, you can always alert an usher. Or you can point at the fool, and begin chanting "don't steal the flag" - get others to join in - it'll be fun.

Finally, if you do have a flag in your possession, we will always grant you amnesty if you return it. Just bring it back to the stadium, and leave it - poke it through the fence if you have to.

No questions asked.