—by Matthew Lindley

If Sunday just can’t come soon enough for you, I have good news.  There is a match on Saturday afternoon.

No, you won’t see Diego Chara, there won’t be tifo, and there is no conference title on the line.  But to the players on the pitch, this might as well be the MLS Cup final.

Saturday at 5:30pm at Lincoln High School, Special Olympics of Oregon teams up with the Timbers Army for the 2^nd annual SOOR Unified Match.  Two teams comprised of half TA and half Special Olympics Athletes face off in an exhibition.

Just seeing the faces last year of these athletes as they received their complimentary jerseys for the match, met their new “teammates” (the TA) and marched out in front of their gathered family friends and coaches, I knew this was one of the single greatest things I’d ever be honored to be a part of.  I don’t remember the names of my teammates that day, but I’ll never forget the smiles.

Every election season we hear from people who wish they knew the candidates for the board a little better in order to make an informed choice. Here's a list of ways you can get to know these fine individuals, grill them with impossible questions, and thank them for stepping up to lead.

1) Review candidate profiles.

2) Participate in each candidate's thread on the member forums (login required).

3) Join the fun for the in person moderated forum at Artists Rep on December 12. Doors at 1:00, forum starting at 2:00. Please submit questions for the moderator to use as well.

Voting will run from 12/16 to 12/21. If you are a 2015 member please keep an eye out for the email with your ballot on the 16th.

Tickets are now on sale for all.  Get them here

How much are tickets? $25.

How many do we have?  210

How long do I have to buy them? Sales will end Monday, November 23rd at 5:00pm.

How do I get my ticket? Tickets will be distributed electronically via email in the form of a PDF sometime during the week before match day.

What time does the match start? We don't know yet. Time is still TBD. Per the FC Dallas website, it will either be 4:00pm or 6:30pm.

What section will the Timbers Army be in at Toyota Stadium? We will be in section 122

Will there be a tailgate or something before the match? Most likely. Check out the Lone Star Brigade on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/lonestarbrigade

Questions? Contact travel@timbersarmy.org. We'll respond as quickly as possible.

Tickets are now on sale for 107ist members here.

How much are tickets? $25 for members. $28 for non-members.

How many do we have?  At least 250

How long do I have to buy them? Member pre-sale ends 11/18. After that, tickets will be open to non-members. Sales for all will end Friday, November 20th at 5pm.

How do I get my ticket? Tickets will be distributed electronically via email in the form of a PDF sometime during the week before match day.

What time does the match start? We don't know yet. Time is still TBD. Per the FC Dallas website, it will either be 4:00pm or 6:30pm.

What section will the Timbers Army be in at Toyota Stadium? We will be in section 119

Will there be a tailgate or something before the match? Most likely. Check out the Lone Star Brigade on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/lonestarbrigade

Questions? Contact awaytravel@107ist.org. We'll respond as quickly as possible.

On September 23^rd we had the honor of being a part of over 1,000 volunteers around the country in 27 veteran’s cemeteries for the first annual Saluting Branches event.  Arborists from 220 companies donated an estimated $1 million of services doing pruning, removals, planting, and taking inventories.  For our part, we had a crew of our members at Willamette National Cemetery.  The only non-arborist organization involved in the national event, our group followed behind the crews doing basic cleanup.  This enabled the professionals to focus on the skilled labor and our help was greatly appreciated.  Together we helped make our local place of honor for our veterans become a safer, more beautiful place.  Thanks to our friends at Urban Forest Pro for inviting us.  It was a very special day and the weather was perfect.  Let’s do it again next year, shall we?

Vancouver Away Playoff Tickets On Sale Now!

We have been in conversation with the front offices of both clubs and can now update you with the following information:

Price: Tickets will be $35 for 107ist members; $40 for non-members.

Allocation: 750

Deadline: Thursday November 5th, 2015 at noon

107ist member Pre-Sale: 107ist members will have first chance to buy tickets through Monday, November 2 at noon.  Check your email now for the link. If you did not receive an email, check your spam/junk folders and then contact: memberinfo@107ist.org

General Sale:  Tickets to general public will go on sale on Monday at noon.  Go here to purchase.

Pick-Up Location:  Tickets will NOT be distributed electronically.  Pickup in person at the Railway Club beginning at approximately 2:30 pm on match day.

Transportation/Lodging: You will need to make your own arrangements for both transportation and lodging. We will not be doing buses/trains.

Thanks all!

The below comes from our beloved 108 capo, Sunday White. Please honor the tradition and buy your capo a pint for a great cause!

Get out your piggy banks, dump out those growlers full o’ coin, and grab some bills off that stack under your mattress because it is time for our annual #BYCAP Capo/DnT fundraising event.

The game day volunteers you know as the Timbers Army Capos/DnT, supported by our non-profit leadership, the 107ist, have championed an annual fundraiser for the last 5 years to support a cause that we, the vocal and passionate Capos, drums and trumpets of this team and town, can really get behind. This Thursday it is time to Buy Your Capo A Pint. (aka #BYCAP)

The jist of this is that we Capos/DnT, help the people of the Timbers army to find their voice during match day. We are raising funds on this day to donate to Camp Meadowood Springs. A youth camp that helps children and teens find their voice.

http://meadowoodsprings.org/about/

Camp Meadowood Springs is a unique summer camp experience for individuals and their families impacted by communication and/or social learning challenges and is open to children and teens. Since 1964, Camp Meadowood Springs has helped over 3,000 individuals overcome their unique social learning challenges, and continues to grow and adapt.

Buy Your Capo A Pint is a chance for you to say a resounding and effective “THANK YOU” to the volunteers of the MLS’s most insatiable supporters. We [Capos/Drums/Trumpets] are requesting that you take that spare change, that small bill, whatever you would consider to be the value of a ‘thank you beverage’ for a hard-working capo, and put that money into our pickle buckets and help our future, our youth grow into their voice.

We are also asking that those of you that want to say thank you, but cannot make it to the stadium on Thursday’s 10/29 match, to be a part of this fundraising endeavor by donating via this paypal link. Every dollar helps. #TeamTownTA

If you are unable to make the match to donate in person please follow this link.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=UJC6PYWN3TBX6

Each year we have a fan vote to see who ends up as Supporters Player of the Year. This player can be anyone on the team. There is no criteria. This player can be whomever you feel is the best player, most embedded in the community, or you feel who wears the badge with pride. Here's the list of past winners.

2011: Troy Perkins
2012: Diego Chara
2013: Will Johnson
2014: Diego Valeri

We are happy to report we have our first repeat winner. The man with the million dollar smile himself.

With 30.4% of the vote Diego Chara is your 2015 Supporters Player of the Year. Congratulations, Diego!

Authored by: Steph Nova (@stefnoves)

Steph offers up her opinions on chanting in the North End. This editorial represents the views of Steph Nova, and may or may not represent the opinion of the Timbers Army, the 107ist, or its board of directors.

“Hey, Portland Timbers- We salute you!”

This is what the players hear as they come onto the pitch, the din of the Timbers Army behind them, singing in full voice. But I’ve noticed something a bit different lately- people are ad-libbing a bit. And it’s kind of distressing.

The idea of the Timbers Army, as I’ve been told, is that we’re here to support PTFC. Support generally means positive, enthusiastic cheering for the good guys in green, but recently I’ve noticed a lot more negativity from the North End. I dunno if it’s new people coming in, folks getting mad at the lackluster results the Timbers have provided all season, or just a misunderstanding of the game. The loudest chants coming from us this season seem to be “Fuck you, Ref!”, really any line with profanity in it, and hollering “dodgy keeper!” at fellas who are keeping embarrassingly clean sheets against PTFC.

The most obnoxious one in my view, though- how we’re starting matches off without “We salute you.” The rise of people chanting “Hey, Portland Timbers- Fuck Seattle!” is shameful as hell. People are chanting that when we're up against any team, not just SSFC and it’s weird. Sure, there’s a few “Fuck [Rival team of the day here]”, but way too many people are hollering about Seattle every chance they get.

Not only are these people proving the ECS right when they claim that the Timbers Army is “obsessed” with them, but it takes away encouragement for the guys we’re ostensibly there for- and that’s totally against the point of what we’re supposed to do.

Think about what kind of supporters you want to be for this final home match (…of the regular season, at least). Sure, there’s no “right” way to support, but do you really want to be the jerk yelling about our rivals when we could be celebrating another season with our beloved, mighty PTFC?

In the wake of the historic win in Carson, I suggested (with the help of Twitter) a list of 10 of the best matches in the Timbers' MLS era. Almost 300 people weighed in on the list, and the results are in.

One thing is clear, beating Seattle in any form is always a favorite. Nearly half of you chose beating Seattle in the playoffs as your top choice, with an almost even split between beating them up at Seahawks Stadium or down here on our home pitch. The 3rd place finisher was the meltdown in Tukwila this year, and ~4% of the votes went to the leading write in candidate: Adi's Chainsaw Massacre/Timbers Wonderland (6/28/15) - truth be told this was one I should have included because the result was OUTSTANDING, the tifo was amazing, and the energy that day was off the charts.

For a full list of how the voting went, check the graphic below.

Thanks to those of you who chose to weigh in with your comments here, on Twitter, and Facebook.