—by Andrew Brawley
I’m trying to be the best Timbers fan I can be. Honestly, I’m giving it as much time and energy that I can afford (not to mention what I can afford out of my wallet). But I had an incident this past weekend that is forcing me to question just how devoted I am:
I didn’t start watching yesterday’s Timbers @ Galaxy match until about 35 minutes into the 1st half.
Before you go off in the comments section below, allow me to present the facts. Then, please judge accordingly. This was an unusual weekend. I had family in town from northern California, and I see them maybe twice a year. Whenever I am with my family, we usually take a day or two off work to increase the amount of time we spend together. Despite the physical distance, we’re actually quite close.
My Mom is fully aware of my devotion to the Timbers. She watched my brother and I play soccer as kids. She’s aware that soccer is far from being the biggest sport in the US, and hopes to see its relevance rise. She regularly asks me how the latest Timbers match went, regardless of whether it was at home or away. I hope to take her to a game one day so she can experience the awesomeness of watching a Timbers match from the Timbers Army section.
She was also aware that I have not missed watching a single match (home-in-person or away-on TV) in 2012. As we spent Sunday out and about, simultaneously entertaining my nieces and Grandpa with a Fathers’ Day brunch, a trip to OMSI, and eating Cool Moon ice cream at Jamison Square (side note: try the Thai Iced Tea flavor!), I was regularly checking my watch to monitor the time it would take to get home in time for the Timbers match. If I were to say something like “hey, we should probably start making our way home so I can watch the game,” nobody would’ve raised an eyebrow.
Unfortunately, I never said that.
As the minutes ticked away on my watch that afternoon, I just couldn’t muster up the nerve to say anything. My wife was texting me, wondering if I was gonna make it home in time. She then started texting match happenings to me. I had plenty of opportunities to say something, but I never did. It wasn’t out of fear. It wasn’t out of spite. It was simply a matter of “meh…I’ll just watch the game when I get home.”
It occurred to me today that this is a high (or low) watermark of indifference for me. All sorts of questions were spinning around my head:
- Am I now just “Rose City Till I’m Wounded?” #RCTIW
- Does this move me down the season ticket renewal list?
- Do I have to trade in my old-school No Pity scarf for a new-school version?
- Did I hurt the local TV ratings?
- Do I hate the Timbers?
I won’t go into the list of recent events that have brought me to this lowly phase. Odds are good that anyone reading this is fully aware of the Timbers’ recent performance on the pitch, and we don’t need to rehash it to death in this space. While I can only speak for myself, I have a good feeling that I’m not the only one in this boat.
I think the frustrating part in all of this is that nobody seems to know what it will take for any positive momentum on the pitch. Some fans are calling for players to be traded. Some fans are calling for firings of upper management. I’m not convinced that any of these will actually help. In fact, I think most would agree that such moves would cause more harm than good. Rocking the boat for the sake of rocking the boat is never a good thing.
So let’s assume that we (and I do mean WE, as in players, coaches, front office and fans alike) are simply stuck with what we’ve got at this point, and we gotta ride this thing out as is. With this in mind, I'm forced to ask: have we taken full inventory of all assets available to us? Have we addressed the issues in a frank manner? Are we being as transparent as possible? Have we used every ounce of fuel in the tank?
Call me a Negative Nelly, but I believe the answer for all parties involved is ‘no.’ I’m not convinced players are calling each other out and holding peers responsible for sub-par performance. I’m not convinced coaches have researched every possible scenario that is available and likely to win three points for each outing. I’m not convinced the front office (particularly those at the top) has taken steps to ensure that all cylinders (from coaches and players to game-day operations) are firing at maximum power. And I’m also not convinced that fans have had a civil conversation about the Timbers at any point this season. One week we’re gonna win the league, the next week we want someone's head to be the ball.
Here's the part where I mention we’re hosting Seattle this weekend.
If there was ever a time for soul-searching on all sides, it’s now. And I don’t mean the kind where you volunteer a couple hours at the co-op or animal shelter to make yourself feel better. I mean the kind where Indiana Jones had to perform the Leap of Faith so he could reach the Holy Grail, then prove it again so he could save his dad, Bond…James Bond.
(OK, I just went to an extreme that I called everyone else out for. Totes my bad, but you all recognize the analogy, so there!)
I’m going to do my damnedest to walk into this Sunday’s game with every ounce of energy, strength and enthusiasm I can get my hands on, and I intend to leave it all at JELD-WEN Field. Admittedly, my fuel tank these days is probably a bit smaller than the fuel tank I had on March 12th (personal physique jokes aside), but I can assure you this slightly smaller fuel tank will still be full. I can only hope and pray that all other fuel tanks in the building are also full, regardless of size. A win would obviously be nice, but even a loss wouldn’t necessarily break my spirit. I simply need to be convinced that all parties (players, coaches, front office and fans alike) brought a full tank and left with an empty one. If everyone brings 100% and it’s still not good enough, at least we can say we brought 100%.
Anything short of "everything left on the field" will likely bring comparisons to the Rapture (and don't say I didn't warn you). Like in all situations, I hope cooler heads will prevail, but I just can't see evasive actions not happening if we see one more sub-par performance on the pitch.
Now, where did I put that bottle of Liquid Schwartz? (Sorry...this was the best clip I could find.)
This is an opinion piece and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the 107ist or the TA.
