—by Mike Coleman

The following is an opinion piece, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Timbers Army or the 107ist board of directors.

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On October 3^rd, this team sat below the red line with a handful of matches left to be played, and with two on the road in places where wins hadn’t been easy to come by: Salt Lake City and Carson. I don’t think I am alone in admitting that I didn’t think the mighty PTFC was going to the playoffs.

On October 4^th, I was lucky enough to be a guest at the annual Stand Together banquet. Merritt got up in front of the audience and guaranteed that the team would get the results that were needed for a playoff push. He said once we were in, anything could happen.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure they could do it. I won’t say I had completely given up hope of making the playoffs, but part of me didn’t believe there was any way we were going to be playing after October 25th.

Well, Merritt was right… and I was completely wrong.

48 hours ago we won a trophy. Silverware. Western Conference Champions.

In five days, we will challenge the Columbus Crew for the MLS Cup.

I never saw it coming. I just didn’t.

This team suddenly started playing in a manner that defied explanation. A gritty win in Salt Lake, dismantling the Galaxy in their home, and then finishing strong at Providence Park against Colorado.

We didn’t limp into the playoffs — we flat rolled into them.

Then two posts, a visit to our house in the middle of BC, and one bull ride later here we are.

It’s just so glorious.

But there’s a lesson here, at least for me:  You never know what’s going to happen. It’s not over until the soprano sings her final aria. (Is that a thing? I’ve only been to one opera.)

The 2015 Portland Timbers have taught me that you don’t give up hope: As long as there’s a chance, there’s a chance.

And don’t even get me started on the Timbers Army as a whole. The past 48 hours have been absolutely bonkers for those of us who volunteer behind the scenes. Frankly, I was a bit afraid of how it was going to come together, but what I have seen is everyone pitching in like a family does:

Joe needs a ride from Detroit to Columbus. We got you, fam.

Can someone help put together a tailgate? Totally. What do you need?

Sorry we sold out of tickets, and our site crashed. It’s ok. We appreciate the effort.

I’ve heard it said that you don’t learn about character until you face adversity. I think that I’ve learned a metric shit ton about the character of our Team, Town, and Timbers Army in the past 48 hours while we’re experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime run.

So where does this all leave me? I used to tell people, “I don’t know enough about soccer to comment on player moves or tactics.” I’m not sure when I felt like I got smart enough, but clearly I was wrong: I didn’t know diddly squat.

So going forward, I’ll leave it to people way smarter than me to debate what are the good trades vs the bad ones or which formation gives us the best chance for success. When things once again look grim in the middle of some future season (this is sports, it’s bound to happen) and folks start to grouse, I'll just say, “Remember 2015?”

Regardless of what happens on Sunday, I’m just going to spend the rest of my days in the TA reveling in the fact that I’m part of a vibrant, diverse community of supporters who are aligned behind a club that never gave up, even when part of me did.

If you'd like to add your name to the Timbers Army tickets waitlist, please follow the link below:

We will be making tickets available to waitlist members on a first-come, first-served basis if people with tickets refund their purchases on Eventbrite. We do not expect very many tickets to become available, but some already have!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mls-cup-final-107ist-ticket-waiting-list-tickets-19804384447

We will not be able to let you know where you are in line on the waitlist, but we will be announcing how many people are on the waitlist on Twitter at @TimbersArmyAway to let you know what your odds of receiving a ticket are.

If you have a ticket and would like to release a ticket to the waitlist, please follow the refund instructions on Eventbrite.

At 2pm today we'll be opening up the MLS Cup Final wait list to 107ist members!

We'll post a link to the waiting list right here at timbersarmy.org. The waiting list will be first come first served and we will release tickets until Saturday as people request refunds.

We do not expect many tickets to be made available this way, but there should be a few available.

I want to be added to the waitlist

Come back at 2pm PT and add your name!

Note due to high demand we will NOT be able to confirm where you are in line at any time, but we will be releasing the number of people on the list so you will have a sense of what your odds are.

I have a Timbers Army ticket I want to release to the waitlist

Simply request a refund for the Timbers Army ticket you purchased from Eventbrite and we'll take care of getting your ticket into good hands!

I have tickets outside the Timbers Army I'd like to offer to sell

The waitlist is only for Timbers Army tickets. If you'd like to sell your ticket to a 107ist member, please check the 107ist forums.

The Timbers have asked the 107ist to pick 10 raffle winners to receive a place on the team charter from Portland to Columbus. Each raffle winner will receive 2 complimentary seats on the charter and 2 Timbers Army seats to the MLS Cup Final. While the flight is complimentary, both Timbers Army seats together will cost $90+fees, and will come out of our remaining allocation. Supporters will have the option of selecting from one of two Alaska charters — a special fan charter departing on Saturday, December 5 and the team charter (yes, the one with the players) departing on Thursday, December 3.

Here's the link to sign up:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mls-cup-airfare-raffle-107ist-members-only-tickets-19774175090

PASSWORD: CupBoundAndDown

This offer is exclusively for 107ist members. Any non-107ist entries are void. We will be checking.

This is non-transferable. Before entering, please make sure you are able to pay the $90 for both tickets. If you have not paid for your tickets by Sunday at noon we reserve the right not to release them to you. Also, if you are not on the plane, we will void your tickets, refund your purchase (if made) and release your tickets to the waitlist. You cannot enter this contest just for the tickets.

You will be invited to select from the Thursday flight with the team or the Saturday flight. We will be drawing 5 winners for each plane.

If you’ve already purchased tickets to the game, you are still welcome to enter, but if you have already purchased tickets, you will not receive any additional tickets, unless you have only purchased one ticket, in which case you’ll purchase the second ticket. We’ll release your tickets to the wait list. If we draw someone who is not a 107ist member, we’ll re-draw.

The draw will be made 6:30pm PT tonight, Dec. 1st, at the Fanladen by a board member and two independent observers. This offer is open exclusively to 107ist members as of December 1, 2015. Winners do not need to be present to win. We hope to live-stream the event. Odds of winning approximately 1:1000. Approximate retail value $1300.

Here is the link to sign up for the second raffle. The link will be open from 12pm to 5pm.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ticket-drawing-for-mls-cup-final-tickets-tickets-19795747614

NOTE: In case you missed it, we changed this to a lottery last night because Alaska Airlines and the Timbers Front Office gave us seats on their charter plane, which unfortunately cut into our remaining allotment. If you're a 107ist, you're welcome to enter both raffles. If you win the first raffle you will not be eligible to win this raffle. See here.

The winners will be drawn at 6:30pm PT tonight live from the Fanladen. No purchase necessary. Winners do not have to be present to win.

We will be drawing 29 tickets after the conclusion of the first drawing. We hope to live-stream the drawing. Winners will be notified immediately following the drawing and will be allowed to purchase 1 ticket in the Timbers Army section for the MLS Cup final within 24 hours of the link going out. We will contact all winners. If you do not purchase the ticket in this allotted time frame, the ticket will go to the next person on the waitlist. If you already have two tickets to the TA Section at the game, we reserve the right to refund your purchase and release your ticket to the next person on the waitlist. One entry per person.

The prize for this raffle is the right to purchase 1 ticket and has no retail value. Odds of winning approximately 29:2000.

The following 10 people have won the Timbers Army Alaska Airlines raffle:
James Callahan
Rachael Snow
Sean Karp
Chad Smith
Megan Drake
Taylor Leischman
Steve Pierson
Gabriel Bliss
Gary Read
Jon Hance

The following 27 people have won the Timbers Army General Public raffle:
Chris Fortney
Shelby Hasti
Leila Sanders
Angela Gurchak
Barbara Anderson
John Lundin
Bridget Cook
Coby Cohen
Kyle Findley
Christopher Knotts
Krista Tate
Trista Zugel-Bensel
Zack Jackman
Steve Neal
Kyle Layton
Mark Brenneman
Luke Nettleton
Kimberly Kahn
Mindy Chambers
Jose Gutierrez
Reuben Unrau
Eugenia Kim
Andrew Kirkman
Kirk Sandberg
Matthew Brown
Joaquin Diaz

We will be emailing all winners tonight with information on how to purchase. Do not expect the email immediately.

We have no more tickets available in our allocation, but will be releasing a small number to the wait list tomorrow morning.

Cuz I'm TA since 2007 and I've got a book with my name in the title!

This is an opinion piece and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the 107ist or the Timbers Army.

We've sold almost all of our Timbers Army tickets, but there are still a few ways to make it to the match!

Timbers Season Ticket Holder Sweepstakes

The Timbers will raffle off a couple hundred tickets to season ticket holders. If you are a season ticket holder, you should have received a link from the front office. These seats are not in the Timbers Army section, and we are not administering them.

Timbers Charter Sweepstakes

If you're looking for a ticket AND transportation, check out the very cool Timbers charter sweepstakes here: http://www.timbers.com/MLSCup-flyaway The club has chartered two planes, one for fans and one for the team, and winners will be able to fly out to Columbus and receive a match ticket. These seats are not in the Timbers Army section.

Noon Pacific Time for the final Timbers Army allotment

See here: General Public Sale and Travel Offer MLS Cup Final

Tickets will be distributed at MAPFRE Stadium before the game. You will have to show photo ID to pick up your ticket.

The Timbers Army Waitlist

We'll be launching the Timbers Army tickets waitlist through Eventbrite. Tomorrow afternoon we'll be opening up a link for you to put your name down and we'll be releasing tickets first-come first-serve if we get any extras. Check back here or on Twitter ( @TimbersArmyAway ) tomorrow morning for exact times - but it will definitely be after the other sale. We don't expect much movement, but it can't hurt to put your name down! The waitlist will be exclusively for 2015 or 2016 107ist members

The Secondary Market

We can't recommend this, but sometimes StubHub is your only way into the match.

If you have a ticket...

As noted above, tickets will be distributed a couple hours before the match begins at MAPFRE Stadium. You will have to show a Photo ID to pick up your ticket.

Alaska Airlines is chartering a plane – yes, chartering a plane – for Timbers supporters to attend MLS Cup this Sunday, December 6 against the Columbus Crew! Timbers supporters will have a chance to fly to the MLS Cup in style via their very own Alaska Airlines 737. Alaska Airlines and the Portland Timbers front office have graciously offered a select number of seats exclusively to 107ist members on their two charters! The 107ist just received the full details from the Timbers front office tonight, so we apologize for changing the ticketing procedure on such short notice, but here goes.

The Timbers have asked the 107ist to pick 10 raffle winners to receive a place on the team charter from Portland to Columbus. Each raffle winner will receive 2 complimentary seats on the charter and 2 Timbers Army seats to the MLS Cup Final. While the flight is complimentary, both Timbers Army seats together will cost $90+fees, and will come out of our remaining allocation. Supporters will have the option of selecting from one of two Alaska charters -- a special fan charter departing on Saturday, December 5 and the team charter (yes, the one with the players) departing on Thursday, December 3.

Because we are doing a lottery for the plane tickets, because of high demand, and because of the fact many people experienced problems refreshing during today's sale, we'll also be doing a lottery for our remaining allotment, instead of the first-at-12pm setup we had planned.

Here's the plan.

We will be opening two Eventbrite links at noon PST tomorrow. The links will close at 5pm PST, and getting in early won't increase your chances of winning.

The first will be a raffle exclusively for 107ist members for the seats on the charter plane. If you've already purchased tickets to the game, you are still welcome to enter, but if you have already purchased tickets, you will not receive any additional tickets, unless you have only purchased one ticket, in which case you'll purchase the second ticket. If we draw someone who is not a 107ist member, we'll re-draw. We'll also release any tickets to the wait list.

The plane raffle is non-transferable.

The second will be a raffle for the general public for our small number remaining TA seats. No plane travel involved. One entry per person. The winners will have the right to purchase 1 MLS Cup TA ticket within 24 hours - if no purchase is made, the ticket will be offered to the TA wait list. If you've already purchased 1, you'll be able to win a second, but you can't win a third.

107ist members are welcome to enter both raffles but cannot win the second raffle if they win the first raffle.

We reserve the right to make changes at any time.

The drawing will be held at the Fanladen tomorrow night by a 107ist board member and two independent watchers.

The approximate retail value of the Alaska Airlines raffle is $1300. The approximate retail value of the second raffle is $0. First raffle open exclusively to 107ist members as of December 1, 2015. No purchase necessary for the second raffle. Odds of winning first raffle approximately 10:1000, second raffle 29:2000.

The Timbers will be playing the MLS Cup in Columbus, Ohio!

Your next steps to booking a place at Mapfre Stadium in the Timbers Army sections:

Are you a 107ist member (for either 2015 or 2016)? We'll be in touch with you shortly about purchasing tickets. They'll go on sale at 8am Monday morning, Pacific time.

Are you not currently a member? Tickets will go on sale at noon Pacific Time on Tuesday. We have held back a very small number of tickets in case we sell out to 107ists, so we will definitely be selling tickets Tuesday at noon, but the quantity is based on how many tickets we have left. If you become a member now, we apologize you'll still have to wait until Tuesday in order to purchase a ticket. You'll be able to do so here at timbersarmy.org so keep checking back!

Frequently Asked Questions

Cost: $48.47

Where will we be sitting? We'll be sitting in sections 113-117 at Mapfre Stadium. Seating will be general admission, just like the normal Timbers Army.

How many can I buy: You can buy two tickets per 107ist membership.

How many do we have? 900 tickets.

Are there ADA seats available? There are 4 ADA seats available in sections 113-117. Please contact us if you'll need an ADA seat.

Will the 107ist be offering travel packages? Unfortunately, for a number of different reasons, we're not able to provide any sort of transportation package to this match. You'll have to get there on your own.