—By Garrett Dittfurth
What are we here for? We love our team, our town, our culture and everything about that. We are here to support our boys night in and night out despite their record. We were here in 2006 when Chris Agnello ruined everything. We were there in 2008 supporting when our overachieving club of 2007 shat the bed and finished dead last. We celebrated in 2009 when we won the regular season and crashed out of the playoffs. We underachieved in 2010 and we were still there. We changed the game in 2011 when we went to MLS and took everything to a new level. You don't need me to tell you that. Just look at quotes from every person affiliated with MLS on any level to confirm that.
There is nothing personal involved here. It's just something that needs to be said. This isn't Manchester United. This town will never be reveling in championship after championship as we're a small market and L.A. and N.Y.C. will always blow a ton of cash on players. That's not us. We're as close to St. Pauli in the U.S. as anyone is going to get. We get that and understand it. What we also get is passion for our club. What we connect with is players that understand that same passion. Troy Perkins got it and we also are well aware of how he was treated on his way out and want him to understand we appreciated him. I hate to make another sport reference but because there is a lack of other professional clubs here I have to do it. There is a reason every Blazers player from the 80s and 90s are idolized here. It is because of how involved they were personally. They made a connection here with the fans and many of them still live here despite being traded off or finishing their careers elsewhere.
Don't get me wrong. I understand soccer is a business and players are traded or sold and it happens. It's part of the game. What I want to be clear about is that players come and go but that connection between fans and players is really what is valued. We may not win a cup every year but the player who goes out of their way to make it clear how much they care will always be valued by every supporter. Especially here.
Byron Alvarez and Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar don't have a mural of them painted on the side of a building at a patio near the field because they were just some dudes collecting a paycheck. If you want to play here and collect a paycheck I guess that's cool. You'd better produce because I myself care about more things than collecting a paycheck. Whenever Scot Thompson shows up on the field he's going to get a big S-C-O-T Scot with One T chant because he was more than collecting a paycheck. Cameron Knowles earned his 6-6-6 chant for how he left his heart on the field and in our hearts. Ian Joy was here for one year and I can still sing his chant word for word as many others can do because he was the charismatic captain.
Those players got it. David Horst gets it. It may look like I am picking on him because he posted something but I'm not. He is a player that I know gets it. I'm just trying to make it clear why Troy Perkins got chanted off the field tonight. Remember the name on the front and they'll remember the name on the back. Troy was someone that did just that.
It's as simple as that. Remember the name on the front and we'll remember the name on the back. 90 minutes we supported our team with everything. At the end Perkins got clapped and chanted off because he remembered the name on the front when he was here. We'll remember the name on his back.
*My opinion is my opinion and does not reflect the 107ist board or anything of the sort*
