—by Chris Rifer

The 2013 U.S. Open Cup opener for the Portland Timbers couldn’t have been more different from 2012’s humiliating loss to Cal FC.

The Timbers scored early and often on Wednesday night, as Portland cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Wilmington Hammerheads of USL Pro.

The party started in earnest in the second minute, when Will Johnson’s corner found Frederic Piquionne all alone at the far post for an easy finish.  What the Timbers couldn’t do in 120 minutes in 2012, they did in two in 2013.

Fifteen minutes later, the Frenchman was at it again.  This time it was Michael Harrington who picked Piquionne out at the mouth of goal, where the veteran nodded clinically past Tony Hernandez, Wilmington’s helpless keeper.

The Hammerheads weren’t without chances, though.  In the 27^th minute Daniel Steres gathered a ball 25 yards out in the center of the field and unleashed a wicked volley that flew just wide of the far post.

Piquionne would ensure this one never got close, however, as in the 34^th minute he capped his hat trick when Kalif Alhassan put him though on goal with a chipped return pass, and Frederic hit a bouncing ball first time that beat Hernandez and nestled into the side netting.

Three minutes later, however, Wilmington twice came close to pulling one back.  In the 38^th minute, Kyle Greig—who tormented the Timbers’ backline all night—got head to a corner at the mouth of goal.  The ball slipped under Milos Kocic’s feet, but the stand-in keeper sat on the ball to keep it from crossing the line.

Greig nearly found the net again seconds later, when the Benedictine College alumnus got a diving head to a cross coming from deep on the right wing, but Kocic was there once again to push wide.

There was once again nothing Hernandez could do to keep Piquionne out in first half stoppage, however.  After Will Johnson whipped yet another set piece into the box, Piquionne got a driving head to the ball and buried his fourth in the far corner.  Forty-five minutes, five shots, four goals.[1]

From there, the match played out as casually as the 2012 version was desperate.

Wilmington got their goal in the 61^st minute when Paul Nicholson juggled an uncleared corner and hit a magnificent overhead volley past Kocic and into the net.  But the match was long gone for the game Hammerheads, and nothing they could do at that point could dampen spirits at Jeld-Wen Field.

On a night that symbolized a reversal of fortunes for the Timbers, it is only appropriate that the longest-serving Portland man would get himself on the scoresheet.  And perhaps even more appropriate that it was assisted by the most influential of the new generation of Timbers.

In the 73^rd minute, Will Johnson sent another perfect delivery to the far post where Futty nodded it down, past two confused Hammerheads defenders, and into the North End goal.

Oh, what a difference a year makes.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Chris Rifer

The only measure of quality that matters in soccer is that relative to a team’s opponent on game day.  On Saturday, the Portland Timbers were vastly superior to D.C. United, even if that conclusion was less about the Timbers than it is about Ben Olsen’s incoherent side.

Sequestered at the bottom of the table, D.C. came into Saturday’s match with a glimmer of hope coming off a draw against Sporting Kansas City.  And it was United that created the first chance serious chance of the game in the 12^th minute after a classy run through the middle from Chris Pontius[1] set Carlos Ruiz into all sorts of space on the left side of the box, but the Guatemalan’s backpost curler was no trouble for a well-positioned Donovan Ricketts.

For the next fifteen minutes, however, it was all Portland.  In the 17^th minute Darlington Nagbe ran into a vacant midfield and unleashed a shot from 30 yards that looked to catch Bill Hamid off his line, but the young goalkeeper leaped to nervously tip over the bar.

Space was once again the name of the game four minutes later, when Frederic Piquionne took a throw toward the center of the field where the D.C. United defense collapsed in on itself.  Piquionne found Rodney Wallace all by himself on the left side of the box where Wallace’s feet seemingly had enough time to roshambo for the right to strike the forthcoming shot.  As usual, his left came up scissors and sliced the ball into back of the net.

United continued to find itself in positive positions, but over and over again made a laughingstock of their chances. In the 26^th minute D.C. moved the ball easily through the Timbers’ defense, but Kyle Porter sent his shot from the left side of the box over the bar.

No Black-and-Red chance went as begging, however, as the one that presented itself in the 42^nd minute. After Ruiz again found himself in space on the right side of the box, he rolled a dangerous cross across the face of goal where no Timber could play it for fear of putting it into their net.  United’s attackers, however, were nonchalant in pouncing on the loose ball, and the cross that needed only a routine touch to level the score dribbled pathetically away.

The start to the second half brought more of the same. Perhaps attempting to see how far off the gas they could take their foot while retaining control, the Timbers came out flat.  But a pair of promisingly positioned headers from Perry Kitchen and Kyle Porter were wasted, cementing the feeling that a D.C. United score was impossible on account of their own foibles.

One guy who had no problem making the most of his chances on Saturday was Darlington Nagbe, who looked like the best player on the field for much of the match.  After a more familiar piece of buildup play found Nagbe in space in the midfield, he played back to Ryan Johnson and ran into the box.  Johnson, apparently trying to one-up Will Johnson from the week before, popped a pass over the top of the defense into the box, where Nagbe expertly used his body to get on the ball, earn space, and fire between Hamid’s wickets and into the net.

With the result settled and the highlight reel sealed, D.C. United set out to add a couple more bloopers to their weekly film session.

In the 65^th minute Kyle Porter sent a dangerous ball across the top of the box that had three Timbers too timid to play it.  Pescado played back to Pontius at the corner of the six, but the United captain’s effort sailed absurdly high.

Speaking of absurdly high, Lionard Pajoy joined the party after collecting a beautiful Dwayne Do Rosario long ball forward and stranding Donovan Ricketts off his line, but the Colombian sailed his shot from the top of the box.

Perhaps the most positive sign for the Timbers on Saturday was the ugliness of the win.  For one, it was a convincing win on the road when the Timbers weren’t playing anything close to their best soccer.  That, by itself, is a significant improvement over the last two years.  Additionally, Saturday showed that the Timbers aren’t just a system team.  Sure, the system is a big part of Portland success, but they proved they can still score goals and win games when Plan A isn’t available.  Well, at least against a vastly inferior opponent.

Notes & Observations

• Give Caleb Porter a healthy share of the credit for Saturday’s win.  Many coaches that have installed a system as successful as his will stick to it stubbornly, regardless of the personnel available or the opponent’s strengths.  Rather than dogmatically stick to his tactical guns, Porter pragmatically changed the Timbers’ shape and approach to fit the circumstances.  Faced with the loss of Diego Valeri, Porter recognized that the quick passing-based offensive system wasn’t going to be as effective.  So he set the team up to play much more direct.  Rather than replace Valeri with Kalif Alhassan, as he has done in the past to modest success, Porter brought on a second forward in Frederic Piquionne and shifted into a very traditional looking 4-4-2.  As a result, D.C. United’s backline couldn’t handle the Timbers’ front four.  And that alone was sufficient to carry Portland to an ugly win.
• That said, I’m not sure there’s another team in MLS that Portland beats on the road on Saturday, and probably a good number that they lose to.  In that respect, we saw how important Diego Valeri is to this Timbers team.  Without him, Portland misses a key attacking component to keep their offense firing on all cylinders.  Valeri’s injury doesn’t sound all that serious, but I would be shocked if he played in Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup match.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 6.5 Another solid game from Ricketts, whose positioning was solid all night.  United didn’t test him often, but credit the big keeper for being in the right spots and making finishes difficult for D.C.

Michael Harrington, 5.5 Struggled a little bit in the first half hour, but put in one of his better performances over the last sixty minutes.  Even got into the attack on an occasion in which Nagbe and Piquionne set him up beautifully at the top of the box.  Never mind that Harrington’s strike was poor.

Pa Modou Kah, 5.5 A decent first outing.  Got caught upfield once or twice, but overall his backline improved as the game went along.  Very early returns indicate he’s yet another solid signing for Caleb Porter.

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 4.5 On the whole a decent night for AJB, but he should have been whistled for a penalty as a result of his second half handball.  He got away with it on Saturday, but he needs to keep working to eliminate his weekly major mistake.

Jack Jewsbury, 4 A rough game for Jack at right back, as his positioning and one-on-one defending were a little bit looser than usual, especially in the first half.

Rodney Wallace, 6.5 Predictably a little bit quieter in this system, but his opener was very well taken and Rod contributed nicely on the defensive end on numerous occasions.

Will Johnson, 4.5 The central midfield just had a little bit of an off day.  Nothing too bad from Will Johnson or Diego Chara, but passes didn’t quite find their marks on many occasions and a few more missed tackles than we’re used to seeing from these guys.

Diego Chara, 4.5 See Will Johnson.  This is probably a rating relative to their usual stellar production, though.

Darlington Nagbe, 7.5 An easy man of the match selection for me. Nagbe was good wherever Caleb Porter put him, be it outside on the right wing where he started, or the more central areas he moved into as the match went along.

Frederic Piquionne, 6 A very nice outing for Piquionne, who deserved his assist.  Held the ball up nicely on Saturday and distributed well once his colleagues joined in the attack.

Ryan Johnson, 6 Subtle again from Johnson, but a nicely played ball through to Nagbe earned him an assist.  Ryan’s movement was malleable on Saturday, as well, bending a very flexible United defense out of shape on multiple occasions.

Ben Zemanski, INC Although he played 17 minutes, D.C. had long since given up when he came on, limiting his opportunity to make his mark.

Jose Valencia, 5.5 You can tell Trencito likes scoring goals, regardless of the situation.  He didn’t get one on Saturday, but wasn’t far off.

Kalif Alhassan, INC.

Preseason Prediction: United 2, Timbers 0.

Actual Result: Timbers 2, United 0. Whoops.

Onward, Rose City!

Reactions to the display have been overwhelming. One photo set on Tumblr has been reblogged over 20,000 times. Additionally, we've received hundreds of comments in various online forums commending us on the display. And, as one would expect, there have been a few emails as well.

One of those emails came from Pride Northwest. Pride NW is a non-profit that works to promote equality and understanding around LGBTQ issues. They're also the group that puts together the annual pride parade in downtown Portland.

They have invited the Timbers Army to be a featured group in this year's parade, and we're inviting you to join us. This is an incredible opportunity to show all of Portland how much equality means to the Timbers Army.

If you want to participate, here's what you need to know:

The parade takes place on June 16th (yes, that's Father's day), and participants will need to be staged up by 10:30 a.m. downtown. They expect that we'll be done marching by around 12:30 p.m. - so that gives you plenty of time to make it back up to Jeld-Wen if you are planning on attending the Thorns match that afternoon.

—by Mike Coleman

—by Mike Coleman

Note: you can click on any graphic to make it larger and more readable

Welcome back to the latest installment of the power rankings. Each week I look at a bunch of power rankings, and amalgamate the results here. Typically I look at six reports, but this week its only 5 (ESPN, Bleacher Report, Sporting News, MLS, and The Oregonian), as Soccer By Ives hasn't yet published any rankings for week 12 (which is understandable with all the news coming out yesterday about Manchester Yankees City Football Club).

When I look at the rankings I take an average to see how teams stack up overall, and then also look at points in the past 5 games as another measure of form. Additionally I look at the average movement in the rankings week over week for each team. Finally I use standard deviation (which is a way of looking at the variation in a set of numbers) to see how much agreement there is between 'the experts' (a low standard deviation indicates a high level of agreement, a higher standard deviation could indicate a high level of disagreement).

Here are this weeks raw numbers:

So, as you can see we have a new number one. The surging New York Red Bulls have benefitted from a very nice run of form plus some late game heroics from Tim Cahill that took down the the Galaxy to move past FC Dallas (who were torn asunder by Fishing Village FC this week). The Timbers fell a spot (from 2nd to a tie for 3rd), but there is a wide variety of opinions on where they should be ranked (more on that in a few paragraphs).  And while some things have changed at the top, things at the bottom are pretty much the same as they ever were - with D.C. United bringing up the rear once again.

If you look at points through the past 5 games (PP5G), it's pretty consistent. Most teams are with in 4 spots in the rankings of where they can be found in the PP5G. The relationship between ranking and PP5G is much less volatile than it has been in the past few weeks (I've only been doing these rankings since Week 9)

In terms of winners and losers - this week's big winner (again) are Fishing Village FC (you do remember this is being hosted on ta Timbers Army website right). After scoring 4 goals for a 2nd week in a row, and taking down the consensus best team in the league they jump an average of 3.8 spots (adding to the 5.3 spots from last week). In other news, New York picked up a respectable 2.4 spots. This week's big loser was the Dynamo. They dropped a whopping 3.6 spots after dropping 3 points at home in convincing fashion to New England.

As far as standar deviation goes, this is the first week were there was no team that we ranked the same across the board (in previous weeks DC United and FC Dallas were ranked the consensus worst and best respectively). In terms of both rankings and movement Portland is the team the 'experts' least agree on. If you look at their individual rankings 3 of the 5 'experts' have them at #2 but the other two have them at #5 and #6 - that's a pretty huge disparity. Additionally in movement one 'expert' kept them at #2, two others moved them from #3 to #2, and the other two experts dropped them from #4 to #6 (MLS) and #3 to #5 (Bleacher Report). FC Dallas is in a similar boat as Portland - being the 2nd most debated team in both movement and rankings. In their case they rank anywhere from #1 (MLS) to #5 (Oregon Live) (they also have two rankings at #3 and one at #2). Clearly folks didn't know how much to read into what happened up north.

For folks who want to see trends over time, here are the average rankings for each team form Week 1 - Week 12 and a graph that is painful to look at and virtually worthless

Well that's it for this week, if you have question, comments or concerns - let me know.

 

 

—by Chris Rifer

Now it’s a home and home.  Obviously thinking of the team’s effort to retain the Cascadia Cup, that was the sentiment from Caleb Porter in the postgame press conference.  Any number of times on Saturday, however, the Timbers could have found themselves chasing the race for the Cascadia Cup.  As they have done over and over this season, however, Portland found a way to secure a result and come out of BC Place with a point.

Despite the Timbers’ exertion of control over much of the first ten minutes, Vancouver came away with the first legitimate chance on goal.  After Futty blocked a pair of Caps chances in the tenth minute, Gershon Koffie found himself in space 20 yards out, but sent his shot well high.

Portland would turn its possession into a golden opportunity three minutes later, when a Diego Valeri shot from a tight angle on the right escaped Brad Knighton’s grasp and bounced tantalizingly in front of goal, but Rodney Wallace couldn’t find a way to push it across the goalline before Vancouver cleared it behind for a corner.

Six minutes later Ryan Johnson got loose on the left side, but his dangerous low cross evaded a Timber’s finishing touch and skipped harmlessly across the face of goal.

There would be no evading a brilliant set piece from Camilo three minutes later.  After Will Johnson got suckered into a soft foul on Camilo just outside the box on the right, the Brazilian hammered the ball inside the near post to give the Caps their first goal against Portland in this building.

As they have all year, however, the Timbers reacted calmly to the concession and came right back.  In the 30^th minute Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe combined on the weaker left side of Vancouver’s defense to give Valeri a little bit of space.  The Argentine fired a cross to the top of the six where Rodney Wallace got head to it, but Knighton made a deceptively difficult save above his head to preserve the lead.

After controlling almost 70% of the ball in the first half, there was a feeling at halftime that there was a goal out there for the Timbers.  That goal came in the 52^nd minute after Andy O’Brien clearly handled a Will Johnson shot in the box, prompting the referee to blow for a penalty.[1]  The Captain coolly stepped to the spot and buried the penalty.

As good as the Timbers’ response to their concession was, their reaction to equalizing was equally bad.  Two minutes later, the Timbers’ defense, Will Johnson prominently included, needlessly flattened at the top of the box after a Whitecaps attacking throw.  Koffie—who was the best player on the field for much of the match—took full advantage of the space and curled a beautiful shot into the net.

The ensuing minutes were among the nerviest of 2013 for Portland.  While Vancouver had a hard time getting into gear to put the game away, the Timbers struggled to find the midfield dynamism they have showed so often this year.  For much of the next twenty minutes it looked like the Timbers’ nine-match unbeaten streak was fated to come to an end in Vancouver.

That fate was seemingly sealed in the 81^st minute, when Futty gave a little tug to Camilo in a footrace for a Nigel Reo-Coker long ball.  The Brazilian cast a line in the water by tumbling to the ground, and the referee took it hook, line, and sinker, giving the Gambian a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Certainly the Timbers couldn’t find their way back a goal and a man down.  The Caps would discover, however, that it’s hard to stop a runaway Trencito.

After Will Johnson picked up a loose 84^th minute header in the center of the field, he lobbed a long ball forward into the path of Jose Valencia.  Trencito handled the ball on the way down, but both the center referee and the linesman’s views were obstructed, and after a deft cut back shed his defenders, the youngster slotted past Knighton like he’d been there a million times.  For a player who doesn’t have many moments on the field, the young Colombian sure seems to make them count.

Despite being up a man, Vancouver couldn’t seriously threaten to pull ahead once again.

The result is huge for Portland.  Not only does it run the unbeaten streak to ten games, it also levels the Cascadian playing field, as the Timbers have erased their two-match away disadvantage by earning draws at Seattle and Vancouver.

Game on.

Notes & Observations

• Sort of a strange performance from the Timbers.  While they were often sloppy in their passing, Portland still managed 63% possession and a respectable 79% pass completion percentage. The Timbers shot themselves in the foot on multiple occasions, including both concessions, but battled back.
• This team’s pluck is uncanny. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a team that can rally as consistently and as often as the Timbers have in 2013.  Saturday marked the fourth time in the ten-game streak that the Timbers have fallen behind on the road to come back and earn a result.
• Six of the Timbers’ results in the ten unbeaten have come on the road, surpassing the total number of road draws and wins the Timbers earned in 2012.
• There may be hay to be made on the rest of Portland current three-match road trip.  The Timbers’ next two games are winnable fixtures at DC United and Chicago Fire, whose eleven points combined are eight fewer than Portland’s 19.
• The reemergence of Koffie is the difference between the Whitecaps on Saturday and the Whitecaps two weeks ago.  He was fantastic Saturday and could make the Caps dangerous going forward.

Timbers Grades

Donovan Ricketts, 5 Completely helpless on both concessions, but he also didn’t bail his team out on Saturday.  Average day for a goalkeeper.

Michael Harrington, 3 Another poor performance in a generally poor month for Harrington.  Upgrade his seat from lukewarm to toasty.

Futty, 4 Can’t pin either concession on the center backs, and Vancouver’s other chances were limited, but Futty needs to be a little bit smarter with Camilo.  Yes, it looked like a dive.  But it would have been a shocker if he hadn’t gone down in the face of even a penumbra of a touch.

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 6 Whereas Futty struggled with Camilo, AJB used his width to good effect in controlling him on a number of occasions.  Good showing from Jean-Baptiste, who stated his case to pair with Pa Kah when everybody is healthy and available.

Jack Jewsbury, 4.5 Decent game defensively, but Jack had a couple opportunities for dangerous crosses that he didn’t capitalize on.

Diego Chara, 7 The best Timber on Saturday.  Had a difficult task in matching up alternately with Reo-Coker and Koffie, and showed very well.  Was a touch looser in his passing than usual, but was massive in winning the ball back in midfield.

Will Johnson, 5 This is a tough grade.  A goal and an assist will generally earn a player an impressive scorecard, but he was culpable on both concessions for failing to mark Koffie and giving Camilo the opportunity to hug the turf leading to the set piece goal.

Diego Valeri, 4 As tough a game as Valeri has had.  Didn’t do too poorly in the opening half hour, but as the rhythm of the game got choppier, Valeri looked increasingly uncomfortable.  Right now Diego is the prohibitive favorite to take home the Diego Chara Award,[2] given to the player with the biggest difference between him home and away performances.

Darlington Nagbe, 6 Went down early, but was very effective in combinations and using his movement to open spaces in a Whitecaps defensive midfield that seemingly had a lot of them early on.

Rodney Wallace, 6 Rod had a tough task running into the right side of a Caps’ defense that features Y.P. Lee and Andy O’Brien.  Wallace did well, however, nearly finding the net twice in the first half.

Ryan Johnson, 4 A step off all day, as he had a couple crucial moments that weren’t quite right, including having his steps wrong in collecting a perfectly weighted ball from Kalif Alhassan in the second half.

Kalif Alhassan, 5.5 Pretty poor in the first half, but Kalif worked into the game nicely as the second half went along, settling the ball in the center of midfield and feeding it out to promising attacking areas.

Frederic Piquionne, 6 This was a nice example of good Frederic.  Held the ball up well and distributed nicely after he came in.  Once the Timbers pulled level, Piquionne did a decent impression of a right back to add some extra defense.

Jose Valencia, 7 Okay, Vancouver fans, it was totally a handball.  But showed poise well beyond his years in calmly cutting it back, rendering Knighton helpless, and rolling it past the keeper.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 2, Whitecaps 2.  Valeri,[3] Jewsbury.

Actual Result: Timbers 2, Whitecaps 2.  Will Johnson, Valencia.

Onward, Rose City!

107ist is organizing a Central Oregon away day to view the June 8 match v. Chicago.

Central Oregon has a lot of Timbers supporters but has yet to establish a coordinated group like some of the other areas in the state. We're hoping to bring dozens of TA along to share ideas and help them network together and jump start their group.

We're coordinating with Bend supporters for the right venue (kids allowed) and seeking a hotel partner. We are also exploring a possible service opportunity for Saturday before the match. These details will be finalized soon.

There's great camping and recreation in Bend and the surrounding area. If you want to join us camping, Tumalo State Park has a few dozen spots still available, Loop C is where we're setting up.

So start planning and join us in Bend for the Chicago match!

Join fellow TA Twitterati at 107ist partner Sellwood Public House in attempting to have reasonably normal in-person interactions with people you may or may not have ever actually met. Luckily there will be beer available. While themes of previous editions of the Meet and Tweet have alternated between naïve hopes for the new season and crushing disappointment over the current one, this event promises the opportunity to exchange nice words about things that are actually happening.Whether your tweet count is ten or ten thousand (or zero, for that matter), if you know what #RCTID is, you are welcome to attend. This is one event where no one will mock you for looking at your smartyphone in the middle of a conversation.

Saturday June 1st 7:00PM

Sellwood Public House - 8132 SE 13th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97202

The following is a guest post that comes to us from one of those involved in creating the anti-homophobia display in the stadium prior to the dismantling of Chivas USA. The Timbers Army joins many other supporters groups around the world in our opposition to homophobia. You can see many of those displays on the Football Fans Against Homophobia web page (warning: it's in German). I hope you enjoy reading this guest post as much as I did.

I, Anonymous,

Am the target MLS fan: I am a male in my mid-20's, from the suburbs of Everywhere, USA.

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.

- Harvey Fierstein

I can't tell you exactly when or how it happened, but at some point hate-speech took over my life. Did someone pass a note around the entire school? Was this some cruel game of telephone? Who decided saying incredibly ignorant shit was suddenly cool? The first time I said the "F-word" I had no clue what it meant, but in time, “fag” and I developed a close personal relationship.

Once profanity became mainstream, hate-speech became the schoolyard slang of kids everywhere. Throughout my adolescence "fag" was tossed around almost as much as the word "dude". The act of doing something uncool meant you were a "faggot", while anything remotely negative was quickly dismissed as "gay". Needless to say, my love of soccer, music and fashion instantly made me an easy target. "Fag" might as well have been my nickname through high school. Every time I heard the word it burned me emotionally. Even as a heterosexual male, it made me feel like less of a human, and less of a man. My refusal to play the part of the macho alpha-male made me marked among my peers. I'd be lying if I said it didn't keep me up some nights.

Straight Americans need... an education of the heart and soul. They must understand - to begin with - how it can feel to spend years denying your own deepest truths, to sit silently through classes, meals, and church services while people you love toss off remarks that brutalize your soul.

- Bruce Bawer in The Advocate

In spite of the fact that I had been bullied, I was never deterred from spreading my own brand of hatred, tossing hateful words around with exceptional accuracy. I labeled anything uncool as "gay", and dismissed those I disagreed with as "fags". Even though, by now, I now understood the meaning of these hateful words, they spilled from my mouth with little rhyme or reason. The majority of the time I was substituting the word "gay" for "bad", never considering that I was essentially saying homosexuality = bad. I often think back to these times and consider all those around me who were experiencing internal struggles with sexuality, and the pain and confusion they must have felt. I had plenty of friends and classmates who were involved in long-term heterosexual relationships before coming out and my choice to stubbornly follow the crowd only added to the perpetual cycle of hatred and pain. Though I tried, passing this pain onto others did little to cure my personal misunderstandings.

It’s important that allies truly become allies. Saying “I have gay friends” doesn’t make you an ally. An ally actually fights for something. Cleaning up your language and pointing out that it’s not right when others use hateful language makes you an ally. This creates a better atmosphere where closeted people – especially those in the sports world – can feel comfortable being themselves.

- Tony Jovenitt

When I was 18, I moved to Soccer City, USA, where I met my second family - the Timbers Army. Any time you're talking about a large number of people, you're bound to run into differing view-points, especially on issues considered political or religious. It didn't take me long to notice that you can find all types of people at a Timbers match. All colors, shapes, sizes, and sexual preferences. With a member-policy like "if you want to be Timbers Army you already are," how can you go wrong? I am proud to say in my many years supporting the Timbers, I've never seen a case of explicit bigotry. I am even more proud to say that individuals in the TA who may say things "in the heat of the match" have always been quickly educated on why hate-speech is unacceptable. Rather than ignoring topics some would like to avoid, the TA has embraced the education of its members. In a complete 180 from my adolescence, now referring to something as "gay" was the exact opposite of cool. In fact, it made YOU look like the asshole. I found myself cutting these words from my vocabulary almost instantly. It felt incredibly liberating to be involved in a community where the only thing that truly matters is supporting the Timbers.

What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it's curved like a road through mountains.

- Tennessee Williams in A Streetcar Named Desire

This past weekend, the Timbers Army unveiled a display in support of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, which takes place Friday, May 17. Some saw this as an opportunity to counter Alan Gordon's remarks made during his last trip to Portland. Others saw this as Portland taking another opportunity to be hip and jump on the Robbie Rogers/Jason Collins bandwagon. In reality, this was the Timbers Army expressing what they've always believed - soccer should be enjoyed by everyone. This was a cry to set aside whatever differences we may have and enjoy the beautiful game (yes, you, internet comment sections). There have been comments about how safe and welcoming PTFC matches are for people of all types. If tifo displays like this spread awareness to others that may be curious about MLS, it can only be positive for supporters groups, as well as the league and its clubs. In the few days following the Anti-Homophobia display, there has been widespread support for the Timbers from sources that otherwise may not have even known the club - or the Timbers Army - existed. This outreach can be crucial to the growth of the TA. These values that have been the cornerstones of the Timbers Army since 2001 can also serve as an education and connection with new fans today.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/soccer-fans-take-a-powerful-stand-for-gay-rights

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/05/portland-timbers-international-day-against-homophobia/?sf12746072=1

http://www.pqmonthly.com/timbers-army-takes-a-colorful-stand-against-homophobia/14479

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/05/13/us-portland-football-fans-choreograph-giant-anti-homophobia-rainbow-flag/

“Football was my escape, my purpose, my identity. Football hid my secret, gave me more joy than I could have ever imagined."

- Robbie Rogers

The Timbers Army should be proud to lead the way on these issues. With over 10 years of equality and acceptance under our belt, we should embrace the opportunity to share our culture through these displays. There may be other supporter groups throughout the league that are still stuck in the same adolescent phase I found myself in during high school. The TA should be proud to educate others on how they too can cultivate an atmosphere that is comfortable for all soccer fans, and not just the young straight male that many view as the prototypical soccer fan. Regardless of issues they may be dealing with in their personal lives, every human deserves the opportunity to escape and experience joy. For many throughout Portland, that joy can be found on match day amongst the TA.

Here in the North End, you are not black or white - you are green and gold.

You are not gay or straight - you are Timbers Army.

On May 1st, Atticus taught all of us some lessons about life, love, and real magic. If you were fortunate enough to be present on that special day, you may or may not have come away with a scarf, but you certainly have memories to last a lifetime.

Today, somebody has been inspired to spread the love in his own way. An anonymous donor had the good fortune to wind up with an extra Atticus scarf, and he wants to share in a way that will benefit others. He is offering the scarf in a raffle with the proceeds going to charity, so that others can experience some of the joy that Atticus shared with his teammates and with all of us.

If you would like a shot at owning a tangible reminder of that special day, you can donate below. $5 gets you one chance at the scarf, $10 gets you two chances, and so on. All proceeds will be donated to charity to support others like Atticus.

Drawing will be held on Wednesday, May 29th at 6pm at the fanladen. Winner need not be present, and we will ship the scarf to you if you can't make it to the fanladen in person.

Link to donate is here: