—by Garrett Dittfurth

First off I’d like to wish the best to Troy Perkins. Thank you for everything you gave to our club. As one of the few players in the MLS bunch who truly understands what it means to play in Portland I wish you the very best in the rest of your career. Don’t forget about us because we won’t forget about you. I can’t wait to see you here again. When you hear us clapping off the team know that those claps are still directed at you as well.

Next I’d like to welcome Donavan Ricketts. You’ve got a great reputation and I’ve heard some very good things about you. Your resume is great and can’t be argued with. I wish you the very best of luck. It’s a hard situation to come in and replace a player with the class and respect of Troy Perkins. I don’t envy your position. If you conduct yourself with the same class and respect I’m positive you’ll be held in the same esteem Troy is now.

Obviously it’s a difficult thing losing players that mean something to the fans. I’ve heard some things said in the past 24 hours I find very troubling that don’t make things much easier.

“You know that you are going to get a hit form some people that it may not be popular with the fans, and rightfully so. I can understand that. Troy was a phenomenal person, a great human being, and a very good professional for us, but Ricketts is a very good professional, a great person, and, in my mind, a better goal keeper.”

This statement starts out fine and should have stopped before the “but.” Of course that’s where most of Gavin’s statements usually should stop. When he starts in with things like, “I don’t want to throw players under the bus, but.” When the but word comes out he should probably learn to stop talking. It would probably do wonders for the relationship with players.

I know there will be a lot of people out there telling me I don’t know what I’m talking about and to be fair I’m not going to give away sources. Let’s just say Twitter is a forum where many former players have accounts. When you see them retweet things and statements they make it’s pretty obvious of their opinions. One former player willing to go on record wrote this about Gavin. “My former coach and someone who I thought I knew very well but found out in the end I knew nothing about.” I can read between the lines in that statement. You should be able to as well. If it were just one player expressing that sentiment it would be an isolated incident, but it’s not isolated. It’s coming right and left from former players. It’s a giant big fat screaming glaring problem.

As far as coaching goes the last thing I want to hear about is two coach of the year awards at the USL level. To be fair 2007 was a good year but one year later the success couldn’t be replicated. How many minutes in a row did we go without a goal? Yes we had good years in 2009 and 2010 but we were playing with a loaded deck. The cream of the crop all wanted to play here for a shot at the MLS roster in 2011.

I’m not claiming to be the one to know the path moving forward on the pitch. I’ll leave that to others to speculate on. I can say one thing very plainly. Portland is a very different city than New York, L.A., and Columbus. The way we think and operate is very different than other cities and that reflects in the stadium and in the fans. If that isn’t recognized sooner rather than later I worry about what the future holds. If I had any advice I would give it would be to hire a consultant from St. Pauli to come here and then genuinely listen to them. Perhaps flying over there to see how things are set up would be worthwhile. Portland is far more St. Pauli than it ever will be London. It’s not called Little Beirut for nothing.

Operating a MLS franchise like an NBA team is not a good idea. The NBA acts the way it does towards fans because they have two or three generations of fans to lean back on. MLS needs to grow supporters culture and I see a lot of signs that the execs are getting a little ahead of themselves in thinking this is a mature league. It's getting there. If you'd like an example of clueless management just look at Toronto. They had a 20,000 person ticket waiting list just a few years and now their stadium looks empty because they got a little ahead of themselves. I don't want that to happen here.

Maybe Perkins leaving hurts so much because he connected with us and we connected with him. It wasn’t because he was just a goalie who had some quirks as has been ludicrously asserted. In the past there have been guys that played here that truly understood what playing here means. Byron Alvarez, Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, Scot Thompson, Ian Joy and Cameron Knowles come to mind. Those are players who will be remembered decades from now as club legends. Perkins was getting close to that level. In this season of disappointment he was making the comments you want to hear as a fan. He wasn’t saying things like, “we’re paid a lot of money and we’re professionals and we’ve got to pull it together.” That sounds like a mercenary. He was saying things like, “this affects me and it affects my family.” He openly talked about his passion for the game without making it sound like this was his job. When times are tough and the player who was well on his way to winning his second supporters player of the year award is traded away in a surprise move it feels like a sucker punch to the stomach.

I saw something Brent Disken mocked up on Twitter and thought it was very appropriate. I hope Troy sees it because all of us mean it.

**This is my personal opinion and does not reflect the feelings of the 107ist board. I speak for myself**

—by Chris Rifer

At ten o’clock Tuesday morning the Portland Timbers announced that Troy Perkins had been traded to Montreal for Donovan Ricketts.

In the wake of the trade, there has been speculation that the Perkins deal was only the first step of a major roster overhaul likely to take place over the course of the coming days and weeks. That speculation is buttressed by the fact that Merritt Paulson, who frequently comments on new acquisitions and major outgoing players, has remained silent throughout the day – suggesting he may be bunkered down with his consigliere and capos orchestrating such major overhaul.

While any major changes would doubtless be related to the team’s atrocious form of late, Paulson foreshadowed it a couple weeks ago when he – in a moment of honest twitter-induced frustration – suggested dissatisfaction with a number of moves made and not made under John Spencer’s managerial tenure. Paulson apparently feels if he had a wartime consigliere he wouldn’t be in this mess.

Any forthcoming roster overhaul, then, can be seen as a housecleaning of sorts. Whether ill- or well-advised, if it occurs it will likely represent Paulson, Gavin Wilkinson, and the remainder of the Timbers braintrust going Michael Corleone on the remnants of the John Spencer era.

So, in anticipation of the Timbers front office settling a few more scores in the coming days,[1] and in the spirit of “The Godfather” Parts I and II,[2] let’s talk about what has happened and what is to come by analogizing outgone and potentially outgoing Timbers with some of Mikey’s most notorious hits.

Troy Perkins: Hyman Roth – Like Roth, Perkins was a vital partner for the Timbers organization from the time of its first MLS kick until Tuesday morning. In 2011 he was named the Supporters’ Player of the Year. Perkins’ quiet intensity, experience, and consistency made him a mainstay in the lineup and a leader on the team.

In my view, it’s tough to see how the trade pencils out for the Timbers. At the outset it should be noted that Perkins was having a passable, but not fantastic season. While Perkins had only been primarily responsible for a relative handful of goals this season, he was not the hero his team needed, as evidenced by the 12 goals conceded in the brutal four game stretch that spanned just two July weeks.

Nonetheless, Ricketts’ season does not match the All-Star past the Timbers’ brass bragged about to anybody that would listen on Tuesday. While a 59% save percentage and 1.64 goal against average can be partially blamed on a dysfunctional Impact defense, Ricketts has been as mistake prone in 2012 as any point in his MLS career.

Additionally, the 35-year-old Ricketts also represents a doubling down on the Timbers’ young reserve goalkeepers. It is clear that the brass is now dedicated to handing the reigns to either Jake Gleeson or Joe Bendik within the next couple seasons.

Simply put, then, the Timbers traded a keeper of solid, if unspectacular, form for a keeper of very questionable form with a shorter expiration date and young, largely untested keepers behind him. All the while, the club further drained the already-shrinking reservoir of supporter goodwill.

The trade is made, however, so here’s hoping the change of scenery can help Ricketts recover some of his old form and lead the Timbers out of a pretty dark period. Like Roth, however, the once-trusty Perkins found the end of his Timbers days in unlikely fashion on Tuesday.

Kris Boyd: Virgil Sollozzo – Mikey’s first major hit was the muscle that protected the underbelly of the Tattaglia family that apparently spearheaded the effort to assassinate Vito Corleone. Perhaps nobody more closely represents the Spencer era than Boyd. And perhaps nobody has reacted as negatively to the end of Spencer’s reign as Boyd. Boyd was undoubtedly the most prominent piece of muscle brought in to help the Timbers make the jump in year two. While Boyd has had some success in leading the team with seven goals, his form after Spencer’s firing – with the exception of the LA Galaxy match – has been atrocious. This poor form makes it difficult to justify Boyd’s continued occupation of a designated player spot, a massive contract, and place in the striker rotation ahead of several younger, cheaper options. In what appears to be a season dedicated to a youth movement, it seems more and more likely that the once unthinkable may happen – Boyd may be shipped out before the end of his first season.

Steven Smith: Captain McCluskey – Michael famously knocked off Sollozzo’s crooked cop in the same veal-serving restaurant as The Turk. Like McCluskey, Smith is inextricably tied to Boyd as Spencer’s loyal countryman. After a promising start, Smith has consistently looked overmatched over the past two months, making numerous mistakes that led to concessions. Simply put, if the Timbers are to get such inconsistent play from their left back, they don’t want to pay six figures for it. Like Michael’s hit of McCluskey, it would be a bold move to send a new signing packing after three months on board, but ultimately Smith’s crooked form at left back would likely smooth over the public relations hit the Timbers family would take.

Eric Alexander: Salvatore Tessio – Once the likely heir to a Corleone spin-off family, Sallie Tessio was knocked off by Michael after it became clear that he had betrayed the family to Don Barzini. When Alexander arrived from Dallas many – including us at The Morrison Report[3] - hailed him as the Timbers’ future somewhere in the midfield. Instead, Alexander has been the height of inconsistency since coming to Morrison Street. With any number of players now sitting above him on the depth chart on the wings, Alexander may well be shipped out before he further betrays his value.

Lovel Palmer: Khartoum – Yep, the horse whose head ended up spending the night in Jack Woltz’s bed. Palmer is analogized to Khartoum for one simple reason: Paulson will likely have to pull a similar trick to find anybody willing to take on Palmer.[4]

Others Who Could Be Shipped Out

Okay, so I’m not clever enough to think of Godfather parallels for every Timber that could find a new home in the potential roster restructuring.[5] So, here are three more guys who could go if a willing partner can be found.

Sal Zizzo – Pretty much in the same boat as Alexander. Probably not as valuable to trade partners, but also a little more expensive to keep. Hard to see Sal break into the lineup on the wings consistently, which makes him possible trade bait.

Mike Chabala – Another longtime Spencer guy who could be on the outs if a taker can’t be found for Smith. What Smith has on Chewy in talent, Chewy has on Smith in heart. They both make mistakes. Chabala also costs less than Smith.

Mike Fucito– Could have decent value for another guy that looks hopelessly buried on the depth chart. If Boyd goes, however, there could be a genuine competition to be the first striker off the bench, so don’t be surprised to see Fucito stay in such an instance.

—by Chris Rifer

When things are as bad as they are right now for the Timbers, a home draw against FC Dallas marks progress. That, however, is really just a reflection of how bad things are.

The Timbers struggled to establish control early on, as Dallas saw a good portion of the possession and chances in the early going. In the 13^th minute, Troy Perkins narrowly cut out a ball destined for Brek Shea at the top of the box.

Portland’s first chance came a minute later, as Franck Songo’o found Hanyer Mosquera on a cross at the far post, but the Colombian center-half couldn’t nod the ball on frame. The action continued just a minute later, when a deflected Timbers’ clearance found Shea ten yards from goal, but Perkins stoned the temperamental American’s effort.

The Timbers nearly broke the seal in the 34^th minute, as Darlington Nagbe’s swerving shot from thirty yards sailed just wide. Kevin Hartman, the MLS’s most decorated goalkeeper, was forced into action for the first time in the 37^th minute, as he saw that a Kris Boyd set piece sailed just beyond the far post.

Once again, however, the Timbers couldn’t ripen their modest first half superiority into fruit under the blistering sun.

Coming out of the locker room, Franck Songo’o looked like he might be able to put the Timbers on top, but the Cameroonian didn’t make the most of his shot from the top of the 18, resulting in an easy save for the White Puma.

Portland narrowly averted disaster a minute later when Julian deGuzman’s ungodly contract shanked a dribbling cross from six yards in front of goal.

The Timbers would show no aversion to disaster in the 51^st minute, however, as Kosuke Kimura let Shea earn a step on him. After collecting the ball on the left wing, the Burn’s My Little Pony-coifed midfielder crossed to an unmarked Scott Sealy who easily tapped home.

Chivas vu? Not quite. Just as things looked to be turning south for the Timbers, Zach Lloyd earned a needless second yellow card 75 yards from goal when he pulled Songo’o down from behind.

You would’ve had a hard time believing the Timbers were playing with a man-advantage for the next several minutes, however, as Portland seemed desperately unable to take advantage of the ten-man Hoops.

In the 61^st minute, however, Gavin Wilkinson, the Timbers’ beleaguered interim manager, made perhaps the first difference-making substitution of his stewardship when he replaced the ineffective Boyd and the understandably inconsistent Brent Richards with Bright Dike and Danny Mwanga.[1]

Seven minutes later, Dike intercepted a lazy back-pass from Jair Benitez, but Hartman closed him down near the top of the box before Dike could brighten the Timbers’ day. Hartman would one-up himself ten minutes later, as he reacted magnificently from the ground to deny a goal-bound Mwanga volley.

The Burn’s goalkeeper couldn’t come to Dallas’ rescue on the ensuing throw, however. After the White Puma punched out another Timbers’ chance, Jack Jewsbury volleyed home the clearance from 20 yards out with his left foot. If Hartman’s 78^th minute save was the Save of the Week, Jewsbury’s 79^th minute goal might just be the Goal of the Week.

Despite the man-advantage and momentum, however, Portland couldn’t put together a serious effort at a winner. Portland’s draw momentarily relinquishes possession of the wooden spoon to Toronto FC, with next week’s fixture at BMO Stadium perhaps determining permanent custody.[2]

Match Observations

• Well, it wasn’t a loss.
• It is worth acknowledging that the Dallas team Portland played on Sunday was vastly superior to those the Timbers faced earlier this season. That Dallas team isn’t the 23-points-from-24-matches team of the season to date. Dallas’ poor season has been injury, suspension, and mental breakdown-induced. The Timbers’ poor season, on the other hand, has been stink-induced.
• Like last week, Portland’s midfield continued to be just fine, but the ineptitude in the final third is still atrocious. When the strikers are making runs, the right cross isn’t there. When the right cross is there, the strikers aren’t making runs.
• Meanwhile, the defense continues to make two or three major mistakes per game at home. When a team is scoring goals, those mistakes are easily forgiven. When you’re inept up front, however, those mistakes are often disastrous. So it was last week against Chivas, and so it nearly was on Sunday.
• Hey MLS, thanks for the 4:00pm start in August. Even the Coppertone girl was getting fried on Sunday.
• Finally, thanks to all the artists and 107ists who made the Art Takeover happen on Saturday. Absolutely incredible job for a great cause.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 7 Quietly a very nice game for Troy. Come through with a number of nice plays for the Timbers, thrice keeping Shea from scoring and consistently covering his defense’s mistakes. Nothing he could do about the concession.

Steven Smith, 5 Quiet night on the left flank. Dallas was more interested in moving down their left side, so Smith can’t get too much credit, but I’ll take a quiet game from Smith any day.

Hanyer Mosquera, 6 Bears no fault for the concession, and otherwise had a decent outing. Most of the problems were coming from the right side of the defense, and, where possible, both Mosco and Horst did a decent job of solving them.

David Horst, 5.5 See Mosco. Bears a tiny bit of culpability for getting beat by Sealy, but probably couldn’t have hung with him even if he had been on top of covering the run.

Kosuke Kimura, 3 Had a tough task in dealing with a motivated Brek Shea and didn’t exactly rise to it. Shea found ample space to play in all night, including on the concession.

Jack Jewsbury, 6 Had a relatively quiet— though competent—night until he made a little bit of magic in the 79^th minute. It was May 2011 stuff from Jack.

Diego Chara, 6.5 Did what Diego does. Like last week, was more involved in the attack than he previously has been, and had a few nice runs forward. Now if only his strikers would learn to play off of him.

Franck Songo’o, 7 With apologies to Chara, Franck has been the Timbers’ best player over the last six weeks. Was given license to roam a little bit on Sunday and took advantage, finding space to make plays when he floated centrally and sending decent crosses in when he stayed out wide.

Darlington Nagbe, 5.5 A quieter night for Darlington with Franck working centrally a little bit more. Nagbe needs to learn to play off of that more consistently, as there—at least theoretically—is promise in the idea of Songo’o, Nagbe, and Chara building the attack through the middle. Did so occasionally on Sunday, but also seemed to disappear at times. His 34^th minute strike was just short of magical. That’s what we need to see more of from Darlington.

Brent Richards, 4 Had a hard time in the attack on Sunday. Brent still doesn’t seem completely comfortable with the increased speed and technical ability of the first team game, but there’s only one way to get him there. Rescued his grade a little bit by doing a nice job of consistently tracking back to help out on Shea. He’ll continue to make mistakes here and there, but Brent needs to stay in the team to further develop. At this point, why not?

Kris Boyd, 2 Has the look of a striker that is desperately out of synch. Not only is he not finishing chances—though he didn’t have anything to speak of on Sunday—but he’s not making the runs he needs to make to put himself in position to get them. Very often the crosses or entry balls were there to be had, but Boyd was nowhere to be found.

Bright Dike, 6 Dike came in and highlighted the activity the Timbers had been missing up top. Good outing from Bright, who looks determined to work his was consistently back into the team. I still wonder, however, if he has the quality to make himself an everyday player in MLS.

Danny Mwanga, 5.5 Robbed of a goal by Hartman. Wasn’t terribly active otherwise, but one golden opportunity in 30 minutes is more than his strikeforce predecessors made in 60.

Kalif Alhassan, 5 Did a solid job of facilitating through the middle, but I can’t help but think Kalif is a little bit wasted in the middle. He’s not a make-the-right-pass type of midfielder. Rather, he’s more effective where he can break his man down and send a cross into the box.[3] Kalif needs to be on the wing, but I’m not entirely sure who to relegate to the bench in his favor.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 2, Dallas 1. Castillo, Boyd, Alhassan.

Actual Result: Timbers 1, Dallas 1. Sealy, Jewsbury.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Michelle Frye

The Timbers Army Blood Drive July 27, 2012 in Vancouver was a huge success for Red Cross. We obtained 65 pints of blood which tied the number of pints donated at the April Drive at Jeld-Wen field. These donations will help save numerous lives. Red Cross donor donations are usually crucial in the summertime and this year more so than others as various blood types were at emergency levels which meant they had less than a three day supply. So the Timbers Army rose up again to help the Red Cross in their continuing battle to obtain as much blood supply as they can.

The success of this Drive does not end there. My day started at 9am on Friday picking up donated sandwiches from Subway and brewed ice tea from Starbucks. At 10am the Drive began, as people came through registering, I asked where they heard about the Drive as I was curious. Several came from mass emails sent from Clark County Indoor Soccer from their database. Among those where many Timbers fans and I asked if they knew anything about the 107ists. The majority of them never heard the term before. So my volunteerism at the 107ist table on game days, paid off. I was able to educate several people on what we do for our Communities and to support the Army up in the stands and encouraged several folks to sign up. In fact, one woman wanted to join as she really liked the charity aspect and giving back to the Community but financially she was in a pinch so I offered to pay her first year’s dues if she was really interested. She joined right on the spot and also joined Timbers Army Northern Alliance Charity Chapter (TANACC) Facebook page so she could start volunteering right away. Several others who were already 107ists joined TANACC as well. TANACC is a new Facebook group for those interested in carrying out the mission of the 107ists into Southwest Washington.

We were also successful at reaching the youth. Mass emails went out through all youth soccer clubs in Southwest Washington to those kids who played and were over the age of 16. We had several youth players show up with parental consent forms in hand, ready to donate. So we were able to reach out to those in their early years and hopefully this will be just the beginning for them in giving back to those in need.

Some other little tidbits that made the day so special was one man rode his bike from Portland, two hours each way, and once he arrived at the Blood Drive discovered he forgot his wallet at home which had his I.D. in it which is required by Red Cross to donate. He donated at the first TA drive and really wanted to do this one as well so he was a little disappointed but in good spirits as he made an attempt anyways which was very honorable. Jokingly he said he learned his lesson and will be at the next TA drive with wallet and I.D. in hand. At least he got some good exercise!

Brent Richards also showed up about 5pm or so as he used to work for Clark County Indoor Soccer so he wanted to come by and support the Blood Drive as well as visit with some of his previous co-workers. He was kind enough to do some autographs and take some pictures with folks. We volunteers at the time had some nice one on one time with him to chit chat a bit which was a lot of fun.

We had another couple come out a little later and when asked how they heard about the drive, they said that they saw me on the 5 o’clock news but they didn’t say where the Drive was held so they googled it to find out where we were and came right down. I thought that was so wonderful that they saw a Timbers Army Blood Drive was happening, dropped what they were doing, and immediately came out.

So all in all, this event was a success in many ways, we received 65 pints of blood for the Red Cross which is so desperately needed. We educated people about the 107ists and our mission and hopefully we will see several new sign-ups. We got some 16 and 17 year old kids to fight the fear of a needle for a good cause and hopefully they will continue on and give back to their community by doing charitable acts. I also think we got our first home grown player, Brent Richards, excited to see that the 107ists are doing charity acts in his neighborhood.

I would like to thank Clark County Indoor Soccer for the use of their facility and their helpful staff and it worked quite well with the buses with their large parking lot and the use of their space inside for registration. There was also ample area inside for people to congregate together while waiting their turn to donate, eat some sandwiches/snacks, chat and hang out. I would also like to thank orwaSubway.com who donated six platters of sandwiches for the event. This gentleman owns 18 Subways in Portland and Southwest Washington and is a 107ist as well as many of his employees. He was so glad that I reached out to him as he and his employees do a lot of charity work both in Portland and Washington but never with the 107ists. So he said he would be very interested in partnering with us on future endeavors. Also I would like to thank the Starbucks store located at 1900 NE 162nd Ave., Vancouver for donating gallons and gallons of flavored ice tea for the event as well.

Also, big thanks to all the volunteers who helped plan, organize, spread the word and volunteered at this event! This whole experience was one big blast for me and feel honored to have hosted this one!

—by Chris Rifer

I’ve had Sunday’s match circled on my calendar since the Fiasco in Frisco two weeks ago. If that match wasn’t over by halftime, it was in the 48^th minute when David Ferreira found Jackson for the Hoops’ third goal. The Timbers never showed any sign of life, and after the match the boys in green pointed out the obvious in admitting that some had quit on the game.

While the Timbers got exactly what they deserved that day in Dallas, let’s be honest, Dallas rubbed Portland’s noses in it. Dallas was going directly at goal for all 90 minutes, despite the result never being in doubt. Their last goal came in the 81^st, when Dallas was already 4-0 up. And to really rub it in, Dallas inserted Timbers-reject James Marcelin in the 78^th minute.

Now, personally, I don’t have any moral objection to what Schellas Hyndman’s boys did that day. If the Timbers didn’t want to get beat 5-0 and let James Marcelin take his rightful place in garbage time, they should have done something about it. They didn’t.

On Sunday they get a second chance.

The Timbers are in the midst of their darkest period in at least the last four years. There is nothing positive to take out of the last month of soccer played by the Morrison Street boys.

But players over and over have said they still believe they have a decent team. They still believe that can play good soccer. They still believe they can get results.

Well, now is the time to prove it, boys. Dallas punked you two weeks ago. And after that they rubbed your face in the dirt.

If the Timbers have any professional pride, there is only one result on Sunday: A multiple-goal victory. With tackles flying all over the plastic pitch Hyndman will complain about after the game.

If the Timbers want respect from anybody in the league, they don’t just need to beat Dallas on Sunday. They need to embarrass them.

No Pity.

Art Takeover is a poster show organized by Factory North and the Timbers Army with all proceeds going to Harper’s Playground.

Original Timber’s Army-inspired poster designs from 30 local designers/artists will be on display and sold on Saturday, August 4th, at Coava during normal business hours, and during a special after-hours event featuring beer, wine, cocktails and snacks provided by many our generous sponsors. Each poster will be hand-pulled, numbered and signed by the artist.

All proceeds from poster sales will go to Harper’s Playground, which is working to build an all-inclusive playground where people of all abilities can play together at Arbor Lodge Park.

—by Matthew Talley

Ladies and Gentlemen...We are capos.

Contrary to popular belief, we are not cheerleaders.  We are not ambassadors.  We are not your buddies.  We are the men and women who give everything we have within us to ensure that YOU support the Portland Timbers through thick and thin, and we are nothing more or less than that.

Much has been made of us this season.  We're not the "in crowd."  We're not "glory seekers."  We're not "dancing monkeys."  We're folks who pay for our season tickets, and turn our backs to EVERY match to make sure that the boys in green hear a unified Timbers Army supporting them through Hell of high water.  And we are damn glad to do the work we do.

In the past 3 weeks, our team has lost ten points in the playoff hunt, and we've gone minus ten in goal differential .  PTFC is spiraling towards the Wooden Spoon.  The players have lost their fighting spirit, and no longer play for pride.  The Timbers Army has become more of a spectacle than a supporters group.  And complaints on social media have ranged from "Our team sucks" to "Gavin Out," to "My capo was mean to me" have been doled out aplenty about like candy on Halloween in a rich neighborhood.

But through it all, the capos continue to give their all for the club, their town, and the TA.  And it's about time I do the same.  I became a board member in the past year, and I have been so focused on being a nice guy, I have shunned my duties as a capo, which is not to be The Nicest Guy in the TA.  I'm supposed to be a motivator.  I'm supposed to be a fighter.  I'm supposed to give it my all, even when the scoreboard says I should quit.  And it's about time I start doing that.

My knees hurt.  My voice continues to weaken as weeks go by.  I miss the USL days, and I miss the friends that I used to stand with before I was a capo.  And I am so damn frustrated at some folks in my sections whose top priority is getting "their spot" in the TA and posting photos of their bros on Instagram that they forget that the Portland Timbers are playing that day.  And you know what?  That is my fault, and I need to get over it.

I haven't been tough enough.  I haven't been merciless.  I haven't gone a full 90.  I have showed pity on the folks who want to take in the "TA Experience" more than they want to give their all to the club.  Those are my failures, and when I think back to the 2012 season, this is what I have to live with.  But no more.

I'm giving my all to the Timbers for the rest of the season.  And Sections 102 and 103, I'm coming, and Hell is coming with me.  I'm going to scream.  I'm going to shout.  A profanity or two might slip.  And if you're a "statue" and just "want to watch the match," I'm going to point out you out, mock you, and not relent until you sing a song, shuffle to Tetris, or pogo until I am satisfied.  You bought a ticket.  You came down to the lower bowl.  You wanted to be a part of the TA, even for just one night.  Now you're going to do what my fellow capos and I say.

Again, we're not the "in crowd."  We're not "glory seekers."  We're not "dancing monkeys."  This is who we are:

Sunday: You might brag about how bad you are.  She is everything that you brag about being.

Camm: He takes the temperature on the field.  And unlike the weatherman, he gets it right, every time.

Timberista: A true gentleman.  You'll miss him dearly when he's gone.

Bickle:  Living history.

Pong: The best of us.  The capos wouldn't be who they are today if it wasn't for his acceptance, teaching, and passion.

TimberJoe:  Want to know why the capos are so together as a group?  Ask him.  He did the heavy lifting this off-season.

Cowbell: My capo.  I would follow that guy to the gates of Hell.  Why wouldn't you do the same?

IceFunk: That's no bro.  That's a guy who grew up in the Timbers Army, created his own section when there was nothing, and leads it like Patton.

Milo: This man is the future.  Follow his lead.

Patch: 200 level and the top of 102/103.  This is not a spectator sport. You're Timbers Army too.  And he will remind you of that.

We are capos.  You might not like us all the time, you might not want to do what we say, but you will respect us.  Because we will make you bend to our will to support the Timbers no matter what happens on the pitch.  You didn't elect us.  You inherited us.  And we will be here long after a great many of you cash in your season tickets and tell stories of fondness and lorn at dinner parties about that time when you were a part of the Timbers Army.

We are capos.  We'll never quit.

—by Andrew Brawley

Anyone claiming to be Timbers Army is well aware that the 2012 Timbers’ season has fallen short of pre-season expectations. For some unknown reason, the team just can’t seem to pin down that magic recipe that will propel the team back into the playoff hunt. So here we are, more than half way through the season, holding up the bottom of the table, tied with Toronto FC, who claimed the record for worst season start in MLS history, and 14 points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

As the approach toward last night’s match vs. Chivas USA rolled on, the first sign of what should be a real concern for the Timbers front office became evident: season ticket holders were selling their tickets and having to compete for buyers.

Folks, the marketplace appears to have spoken.

Since the announcement of MLS adding Portland to its portfolio, the Timbers were the hottest ticket in town. This was no surprise, as such an occurrence is natural for most expansion teams. Add to it that the Timbers already existed in various forms since the 1970’s, and that the Blazers were still feeling the hangover effects of Greg Oden, and you can see why Timbers owner Merritt Paulson had no qualms with making such an investment in our market.

Since opening day, getting tickets to a Timbers game meant you had to: A) be a season ticket holder; B) be at the front of the line at the box office; C) click very fast on Ticketmaster; D) buy from a dirty, filthy scalper, or E) wish illness on somebody who had tickets, forcing them to sell to you.

I hate to say it, but those days might be over.

It’s not like the Timbers have to worry too much about maintaining a sellout streak. Anyone attending Blazers games in the past year can attest that a technical sellout certainly doesn’t mean every seat was filled. It just means that every available ticket was distributed, either via point-of-sale or promotional means. When you consider stadium capacity, minus season tickets and single-match tickets already sold, there’s not much ticket inventory left for the remainder of 2012. I have no doubt the Timbers can maintain their sellout streak this season, and can probably do so with minimal numbers of tickets being given away for promotional purposes.

However, it looks like the varnish has worn off. Last night’s crowd was a bit more typical than what you might see at a “premier” game against Seattle or Los Angeles. With the Timbers recent on-pitch woes, and the opponent not exactly being one of high profile within the league, it’s safe to say that the appeal of last night’s match was far lesser than where it could have been if the Timbers were performing within pre-season expectations.

While the volume of hardcore fans increases with each loss (which are now mounting up rather quickly), there’s one thing that speaks louder than even the most passionate fans: the bottom line.

This weekend saw supply finally catching up with demand. If current trends continue, supply will be greater than demand, which means there may be unsold tickets, which could lead to less revenue generated at concession stands, the team store, etc. Less sets of eyes watching the Jumbotron and staring at above-urinal posters during matches, or watching local TV broadcasts, means unhappy sponsors who paid for advertising and sponsorships with expectations of CPM’s (cost-per-mille, or cost-per-thousand) that are not being met.

Everyone in the Timbers universe (players, fans, front office, media, etc.) wants the Timbers to succeed. But anyone who thinks the Timbers can and/or will succeed without proper business acumen is only fooling themselves. Sports is a fun industry, but it’s still an industry, a.k.a. business. I don’t believe we, as fans, are so naïve to think otherwise. However, there will eventually come a time when ESPN and NBC Sports review the upcoming MLS schedule, look at Portland’s matches, and say “oh, the Timbers Army? Been there, done that. What else do they got there?” Unless there is a product on the pitch worthy of national attention, could we blame them for taking their traveling camera crew elsewhere?

And it’s not like we necessarily want to be the focal point. I bet if you asked any Timbers fan what they would prefer to be the reason for a Timbers match being aired on national TV, every single one of them would prefer that reason to be for the team itself, and not what’s going on in the stands. (Maybe that would be a valid poll for season ticket holders.) The Timbers Army has had quite the run of press coverage this year. We’d happily trade all of it for improved performance on the pitch. We know what we do is fun and interesting because we’re always interested in making it fun. But do we feel that we should be the focal point of the Timbers’ share in the global sports marketplace? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

As a season ticket holder, I began this season prepared to renew for 2013 with an increased price tag. I was expecting that to happen in correlation with a successful season. Even without a playoff spot, a successful season can still be had. Now, I’d be hard-pressed to accept a price hike without some kind of serious discussion and/or argument with my ticket rep.

New talent is expensive. Existing salaries will only go up. Overhead never gets cheaper. Maintaining an existing customer base is far cheaper than creating a new one. This is Business 101. Merritt Paulson is a smart man. He has an MBA from Harvard. He has the drive to win. He has the means to achieve his goals. So I will part with this question:

Can Merritt achieve his goals with the current assets, infrastructure and management in place?

 

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

In the afterglow of last Tuesday's friendly vs Aston Villa ("afterglow" in this case is defined as "a game after which we didn't all feel like drinking bleach to rinse out the rancid taste"), there's more English-soccer-related news that might interest you. No, not the Olympic tournament that kicked off yesterday (featuring Team Good Britain—downgraded from Great after giving up a late equalizer to Senegal today), I'm talking about Fantasy EPL!

Last year's EPL top goal scorer and leading fantasy points man Robin van Persie. He's the most expensive player, and probably worth it...but where will he play?

If you've played before, you know how it works; and if you were on the Timbers Army league last year, you'll automatically join it as soon as you set up your team.

To join the Timbers Army league, go to fantasy.premierleague.com; once you've registered your team (it's free), go to Leagues > Join a League > Private League. When asked for the code, enter 210575-60962.

EPL kicks off on August 18, so you have plenty of time to craft a perfect team, without any players from [insert team you hate here], and with a really clever name and a color scheme that says "way too much time spent playing fantasy soccer."

Good luck and may the nerdiest nerd win!

Victory!

We won 12-6. Kinda we were in the driver's seat for most of the game. They did score the first goal, but the lack of subs for their team really hurt them.

Final Score: Coat? FC 12, opponent 6

Goal scorers:

Mike Kuh 3

Reid Storm 3

Milon Good 2

Jade Bryant 2

Josh Lawrence 1

Hansell 1