With just two weeks left in the regular season for the Timbers Army football clubs, there was plenty of excitement going into the November 5 and 6 fixtures.  Rose City Athletic played a rare Saturday date in the afternoon, while FC Portlandia and North End United were playing for potential berths in their respective division championship matches.  TAFC, meanwhile, had some players saddled with injuries return to play for their match in the hopes from rebounding from their last match out inWashington County. 

For FC Portlandia, their Sunday match against Por Que No had plenty of importance associated with the result.  A win for the lads in purple would almost guarantee them into the GPSD Division 2 championship match.  Under the lights at Oregon City HS, FC Portlandia debuted their new sky blue look sponsored by Cartlandia and used a lone goal by Nabil Zerizef in the first half to earn a 1 to 0 victory in an extremely competitive match.  Por Que No put the Portlandia defense under pressure the entire match, but FCP held them off to earn an advantage in the berth for the championship.  They finish their regular season on November 13 against Sporting Commando atColumbiaPark inNorth Portland at 2 PM.  A win in that match not only assures the championship match berth but it would secure them promotion to Division 1 for next season.

I had to read about North End United’s match versus Mayday a few times to make sure that I caught all the nuances, and apparently the match report doesn’t even begin to underscore the craziness of their 2 all draw.  Apparently, the match featured some trash talking, great passing, and a bizarre penalty kick situation.  The contentious chatter continued after the final whistle apparently as there was some spirited banter amongst the participants that I’m sure wasn’t for the faint of ear.  It was a great result for NEU, however, as they fell behind 2 to 0 in the first half, but used second half goals from Marcus Nelson and Shiloh Rodriguez to earn the point.  If NEU wins this weekend against Oregon National Guard FC at Delta Park Strasser Field at 6 PM, they will assure themselves second place in Division 4 GPSD and play in the title game the following weekend.

Rose City Athletic played the rare Saturday at Glenhaven Park against long time Division 4 participants the Onetouchables, and the boys in red came out firing.  Bryan Boen continued his torrid goal scoring pace in getting his eleventh of the year, but he was outpaced by a hat trick for Eduardo Ramirez and a brace for Jose Lopez as RCA beat the Onetouchables 6 to 1.  Apparently the cold and windy conditions didn’t stall the RCA offense while they held the Onetouchables’ offense in check.  RCA will finish their fall campaign in Sherwood atSnyderPark on November 13 at 2:30 PM when they meet the Fiji Islanders.  A word of warning for RCA – theFiji guys might be big, but they are really quick as well.

TAFC was excited to welcome the return of midfielders Jesse Wagner and Eben Crawford back to the team, and they actually had available subs for the match against Sasquatch Gang FC at Columbia Park on November 6.  The pre-match festivities were highlighted by a pre-match kit switch for Sasquatch from their green to white, and a colorful discussion between TAFC manager Jerry Makare and the center official about clock management.  Once the match got started, TAFC held their ground for most of the first half but gave up 2 goals on great individual efforts.  Whether it was the lingering effects of the previous match or the sloppy conditions that made passing difficult, TAFC started to falter as the score tally rose for Sasquatch.  They did earn some redemption when Chris Tschirley scored in the second half, putting him officially in the top 10 of all time TAFC goal scorers over his career.  TAFC finishes the Fall Session this weekend against BDFC at Gladstone HS at 4 PM on November 13; while TAFC beat BDFC during the Spring 2010 season, BDFC is a much improved side.

The weekend also marked the first ever practice for the newest Timbers Army FC club, Old Growth FC.  Slated to join one of the over 40 divisions in GPSD for the Spring 2012 season, team founder Todd Diskin welcomed 12 participants to a rainy, drizzly practice on Saturday but everyone was smiles as they worked through various drills and a short scrimmage.  The motto on this day was just having fun and work on getting better, but knowing the participants on this club, I’m sure the competitive juices will start flowing once the fixtures begin in March.

—by Chris Rifer

A couple weeks ago we recapped the Timbers’ season and looked into the future for our beloved PTFC. This week we look back at the season that the MLS had, and what it needs to do – or not do – to continue growth.

Pieces like this are tough, because it is easy to come off as hypercritical and whiny. I imagine at some point over the next 2,700 words, including footnotes, I will come off as both. Keep in mind throughout that the league is doing a lot more right than it is doing wrong. The upward trajectory of MLS is prima facie evidence of that – nobody can seriously question that over the last three or four years the league has grown substantially in both popularity and quality. The league, however, still has areas that need improvement.

Finally, I regard these issues as equally important to Timbers fans as the issues facing the club. The reality is the MLS is still a fledgling league. Every club and its supporters have a vested interest in seeing the league develop. The bigger the league, the better the quality of soccer, the better the experience for everybody.

So, without further adieu, let’s pass judgment on Don Garber and the league under the guise of Good Don, Bad Don. As always, dissent is more than welcome.

Good Don

The Playoffs

There has been plenty of griping about the MLS Playoffs, primarily for the reason that it’s un-European. The argument goes that the season’s body of work should be the primary measure of success and should thereby determine the champion. All well and good. But let’s face it, a single-table points-winner-takes-all system without relegation could very well lead to the final months of the season being rendered pointless for most of the league.

Take this year, for example. If such a system had been in place, even with something like the top 3 or 4 qualifying for CCL, more than half the table would have been eliminated from meaningful competition by August. And here is the other thing: CCL play, while certainly a nice prize, doesn’t carry nearly the allure that the UEFA Champions League does. So, by August, with Galaxy virtually assured of winning the league, and only a handful of teams battling for a CCL spot they only moderately care about, we would have had a system in which more than half the league would be virtually playing for pride.

Instead, with the playoff system, we were treated to two months of thrilling soccer where virtually everybody[1] was still in contention. Until American soccer grows to the point of making relegation and promotion viable (which we’re not even close to, if it will ever happen), and until CCL truly becomes a major tournament (which we’re much closer to, but still have a ways to go), the playoffs create the most exciting league play of any system.

Relative Austerity

If you haven’t read Leander Schaerlaeckens’s article on the impending economic demise of European soccer, you should. The short of it is clubs have spent so wildly that several major European clubs are on the verge of financial collapse. We’re not talking Wigan and Napoli, folks, we’re talking clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, and Liverpool. Apparently you’re not the only one that thought $123 million for Ronaldo was crazy; turns out creditors did too (or at least they’re going to very soon).

Say what you will about MLS, but it has done a fantastic job of keeping payrolls modest while maximizing talent. Really, there are only a handful of gargantuan contracts in the league, with a number of other contracts that are bargains. Yes, as the league grows there will be greater necessity to shell out more money. But to date MLS has done a good job of avoiding the irrational exuberance of Europe, and has kept its fiscal house in decent order. The league should hold that principle sacred as the league continues to grow.

If European soccer does go through a major financial crisis, as may well happen in the next few years, there is going to be a lot of talent looking for a well-constructed, financially stable league to play in. MLS would be happy to oblige.

Past Expansion

Putting my anti-Seattle hat aside for just a moment, take an objective look at the MLS’s expansion decisions over the last three years. In three years MLS has added Seattle, Philadelphia, Vancouver and Portland. Now put together a list of the five best supported clubs in the league. All four of those clubs are on that list, with Portland, Philly and Seattle – in no particular order – solidly occupying the top three spots. Very shrewd.

Supporting Supporters

This has a foot in both camps, as the transformation is incomplete, but there is no question that over the past three years MLS has made great strides in making its product more supporter-friendly. A lot of people speak about this as being the supporter v. soccer mom choice. To me, that’s a bit of a false choice as I’ve seen plenty of happy soccer moms in Jeld-Wen Field – the most supporter-friendly venue in MLS. The league seems to acknowledge this more and more, and on most fronts is making good progress toward marketing itself to both groups.

There are still blemishes, however, with this year’s most prominent being the debacle in New England, as supporters were arrested for being rambunctious and yelling “[YSA]”. I agree that YSA is unoriginal, perhaps annoying, and to some could even be offensive. But arrest-worthy? If I’m Don Garber and I see something like that happen, I’m in the owner’s office the next morning. I know the league doesn’t have complete control over all of its franchises’ actions, but it certainly has the ability to shape the culture. That’s happening, but there is still work to do.

Bad Don

The Referees

This one has been well documented.[2]

Future Expansion

This is not impeachment of Montreal. The jury is still out on them, and there is no reason to believe they won’t have the success of other recent expansions. This is mostly about the seemingly imminent addition of another team in New York.

Every time I watch a Red Bull New York match, I am amazed at how well they coordinate the folks sitting at midfield to wear the proper colors of the Red Bull logo. Oh, wait.

Here is the reality, the existing franchise in New York is toward the bottom half of the league in terms of support. The Viking Army has plenty of class, but lacks the numbers. Sure, a lot of this has to do with the fact that Red Bull Arena is well outside the City, but if you add another franchise – even if it is in the City – what is to keep the Red Bulls from becoming Chivas East?

There are some decent options out there. Orlando has made a nice debut in USL Pro. Las Vegas is a tragically underserved sports city that provides scant entertainment options for the folks who live there – believe it or not, most of the folks who live in Vegas don’t spend every weekend on The Strip. Now that Tijuana has moved up to Mexico’s top division, San Diego is a little bit less viable, but if they are ever relegated San Diego becomes a gold mine. Minneapolis, Milwaukie, and Indianapolis – at least in the abstract – all provide some promise. Memphis and Nashville may work as well.

Here is the other sticking point, Garber seems determined to grow beyond 20, and soon. Why? The league is healthy at a smaller number. Leagues, with the NFL being the only exception, often immediately regret the decision to over-expand.

Here is my plan: Around 2015 add one more franchise in either Orlando or Vegas. Move Chivas to either the spurned of those two cities or San Diego. Then sit at 20 for a while. If the league continues to grow, there may come a point where expanding beyond 20 is more viable, but what’s the rush?

The Glamour Franchises

I understand why MLS would like to have Galaxy and NYRB be the league’s cornerstone franchises. They are the biggest markets with the most international draw. But this brings up the same issue, especially with NYRB. Does it do the league any good to have an international audience tune in to a Red Bulls match and see a half full stadium with modest atmosphere? No.

It’s time for a little bit of rebranding. The glamour franchises need to be the liveliest. I’m talking again about Philly, Portland, Seattle, and Real Salt Lake, etc. Instead of spinning its wheels trying to market a mediocre product out of New Jersey, why doesn’t the league double down on the clubs that have paid dividends?

Not to go too John Edwards on you, but it feels like we have two MLSs emerging. One MLS is new, cutting-edge, and exciting. It markets itself to a largely young, urban-based clientele who grew up playing and enjoy watching soccer.

The other MLS is the old, warmed-over MLS trying to empty the suburbs’ cul-de-sacs into to its stadia. Nothing against the suburbs, but relying on that exclusively is a broken business model. To be perfectly honest, NYRB feels awfully old MLS to me, and that’s not the image the league wants to project.

Portland is fortunate insofar as it has that large group of young urbanites, and also a large group of folks who have been following PTFC since the NASL days. That’s the cornerstone of the franchise, and it’s a really strong one. Would that cornerstone be nearly as strong if they named the franchise the Portland Pioneers and built a generic 25,000 seat soccer-specific stadium in Wilsonville? That’s basically the old MLS business model – the Red Bulls’ model – and ultimately why the Red Bulls shouldn’t be a flagship franchise.

The Myriad Player Acquisition Mechanisms

Player acquisition in the MLS is absurdly confusing. There are no fewer than 12 player acquisition methods in MLS, including the allocation rankings, the SuperDraft, the Supplemental Draft, the Re-Entry Draft, discovery signings, home-grown player signings, the lottery, trades, and a few more minor ones. Ugh.

First off, many of these acquisition methods create the perverse incentive for a club that has been eliminated from contention to tank in hopes of boosting their positions in the respective rankings. It’s one thing to play for pride if it only affects one or two spots in the draft – like a team in the NBA or NFL – but it is another altogether when it affects nearly every method listed above and the amount of allocation money the league gives you.

Certainly one of the challenges a league has in putting together its player acquisition system is balancing the interest in parity with creating too great an incentive to tank. EPLitis, a common disease amongst top-flight soccer leagues in which the league is dominated year-in-and-year-out by a select few clubs, is certainly to be avoided. The MLS, however, has struck the balance too far on the side of parity in giving teams – almost literally – dozens of reasons to sacrifice meaningless late fixtures.

For one, I would challenge Garber to name one good reason why the Supplemental Draft, the Re-entry Draft (which is actually two drafts), and the lottery couldn’t just be replaced by a free market approach more like what is used internationally. Also, do allocation rankings serve any proper purpose other than to bury some of our best domestic talent on bad teams?[3]

I would dramatically simplify the system. Keep the SuperDraft and trades because they’re fun.[4] Institute a more free market approach with signings outside of those processes – be it signings of MLS players who are out of contract, foreign talent, young off-draft-cycle domestic talent, or veteran American talent returning from overseas. Keep allocation money, but make it so that every team that doesn’t make the playoffs gets the same amount so as to limit perverse incentives. So the 11^th team in the table would get the same amount as the 19^th. Finally, keep home-grown signings to promote the development of academies.

Finally, and here is the big one, make everything public. No more “we’re not disclosing how much allocation money we spent, or how much allocation money we have” garbage. Putting that stuff in the public forum gives everybody something else to write about, something else to complain about, and something else to create buzz about. It makes the offseason livelier and creates gossip about who is legitimately in the market to make big moves. On the whole, it would give people a lot more to talk about with MLS, which is just what the doctor ordered.

Wow, spent a lot of time on that one. Moving on…

The Playoff Format

I actually like the 10-team format. I’m fine with the single-match, higher seed gets home field format for the wild card rounds. The two leg aggregate goal series in the conference semis is a lot of fun. As I wrote about a couple weeks ago, the first leg of such a series very often produces some thrilling soccer, and depending on how the series goes, the second leg can be just as enthralling – as the middle of the Red Bulls – Galaxy second leg showed. So, to this point, I love it.

But after that, what the heck is MLS thinking? The conference finals, inexplicably, revert to the single-match, higher seed hosts format. Considering getting a draw on the road against equal competition is considered a quality result in soccer, to have this format for the conference finals is manifestly unjust. Just as the stakes are getting high, the MLS stacks the deck.[5]

If that’s not enough, though, then the MLS decides to put the MLS Cup in a neutral location. Really? Last year it was in Toronto. You want to play the biggest game of the year – between Colorado and Dallas – in Toronto? Toronto?![6]

Location problems aside, why would the league ever want to put its most important match in a neutral site, likely thousands of miles from the supporters of one or both teams? Or worse yet, as we’re going to experience, why would you ever give one team such a huge, completely fortuitous, advantage in the off-chance that the “neutral location” is their home stadium?[7] Wouldn’t you rather have two matches with packed stadia and frenzied supporters to trot out on primetime television as a two-part advertisement for American soccer to the country and the world?

Here is the solution, and again, it’s about simplicity. Keep the format for the wild card play-in. Then, everything is home-and-home aggregate goals series. Wild card matches on Wednesday. Conference semis on Saturday/Sunday and Wednesday/Thursday. Conference finals on the following Saturday/Sunday and Wednesday/Thursday. Time off for FIFA dates. Then the leg one of the MLS Cup on Thursday night, and leg two on Tuesday night in primetime.

Remember when I promised not to make this a whine-fest? Then I went off and spent 750 words on the good stuff and 1,500 on bad stuff. But trust me when I tell you that the league is doing much more right than it is wrong.

I should probably just stop.

Onward, Rose City!

In October, those of you who made it out to the "Fall Frenzy" at Adidas saw kids from seven Portland-area grade schools pursuing their joy – and the always-elusive soccer ball – under the watchful eyes of several Timbers Army coaches.

On Thursday, Nov. 17, you can see them compete on an entirely different playing field. Starting at 6:30, the kids of AC Portland – the next generation of Pongs and Purple Cows – will be raising their voices as part of the "Get Loud! Poetry Slam." Winners could qualify to take part in the America Scores National Poetry Slam to be held at the fabled Apollo Theater in New York City.

Admission is free, and because the Slam is being held in the Benson High auditorium, plenty of good seats will be available. Benson is located at 546 NE 12th Ave.; the Slam will last until about 8:30.

The fall weather reared up this past weekend in the Portland area, but that didn’t stop the TAFC teams from taking the pitch despite the conditions. With just a few weeks left in the regular Fall season, some of the clubs are jockeying for playoff positions and possible hopes of promotion while others are hoping for better results once the injury bug finally leaves them alone for a while.

FC Portlandia is in the throws of the GPSD Division 2 playoff race, and a win against their long standing rivals the Marmots would move them closer to securing a berth in the championship match. Playing on the turf at Cleveland High School, FC Portlandia was behind for most of the match until Anthony O’Reilly leveled the score at 2 with 15 minutes left. Only some stellar saves by the Marmots goalkeeper kept the boys in purple from securing the full three points, but the 2 all draw keeps FC Portlandia in the driver’s seat for the championship. They will need to deal with the loss of defender James Kinnon, who left the club to return to merry England but he is scheduled to rejoin the team sometime in spring 2012. FC Portlandia faces Por Que No under the lights at Oregon City High School on November 6 at 7:00 PM, and per their crack stats person, a win there would give them their desired berth in the finals.

Coming off their big derby win over TAFC the previous week, the North End United boys were hoping to keep their undefeated campaign going when they met Deacon Blue, a GPSD club with many Timbers Army members but not currently part of the Timbers Army FC initiative. Playing at Delta Park, NEU had an early advantage as Deacon Blue only fielded nine players to start, but reinforcements soon arrived for the opponents. Marcus Nelson scored a brace in the first half and helped set up NEU’s third goal in the first half as they defeated Deacon Blue 5 to 0. NEU hopes to keep their unblemished record in tact as they play the team they are currently tied with in second place on the GPSD Division 4 table, Mayday. The two sides get an early start time on the battle with a noon start time at Delta Park 6 on November 6.

Rose City Athletic, currently floating in the middle of the pack in GPSD Division 4, battled South VN on Sunday, another club within the pack chasing overall Division 4 leaders Ronler Hacres. While Bryan Boen continued his torrid scoring pace in notching his tenth goal of the Fall campaign, RCA struggled in the backline and let South VN control the pace and tempo of the match which they eventually won 3 to 1. RCA goalkeeper Casey McLaughlin made plenty of quality saves to try and keep things close, but RCA struggled with their offensive fast break and missed out on several key scoring opportunities in the loss. RCA hopes to rebound at Glenhaven Park on this Sunday when they face long time GPSD members the Onetouchables also at noon.

TAFC, meanwhile, continues to struggle with numbers as they fielded only 10 healthy players in meeting Ronler Hacres, the top side in GPSD D4. Despite the lack of numbers, TAFC held them scoreless for the first 25 minutes of the match until Ronler Hacres finally broke through off a quick counter. The shower of goals for the next few moments was only amplified with the torrent of rain that turned an already muddy field into a bog in certain areas. TAFC fought valiantly despite the lack of subs and the quickness of Ronler Hacres, but they ended up being held scoreless while the top team put up double digit goals. TAFC hopes to rebound this weekend and secure the return of many of their key players as they meet Sasquatch Gang FC at Columbia Park at 2 PM on November 6. In other TAFC news, manager Jerry Makare has announced that the new team name will be officially released soon just in time for the Winter session.

All TAFC clubs should be aware that this weekend is Daylight Savings Time, so many of us will be moving our clocks back one hour. If you happen to miss out on the fun, well at least you will be incredibly early for this weekend’s games. All clubs will continue regular season play through November 13, 2011, followed by any playoff dates. We’ll then have official announcements about Winter TAFC teams, and news of some new arrivals to the TAFC family very soon as well just in time for Spring session.

—by Lucas Grzybowski

What follows is a reconstruction of your correspondent's scattered memories from a boozy, brazen, bawdy, and...um, bfun 72 hours known as SLC Away, wherein the Timbers finished their season with a great point on the road, and the Timbers Army made a point of having a great time.

photo by Sarah Alley

Thursday October 20 2011: The Timbers had just officially been eliminated from playoff contention with New York's win over Philly, but there was one game left to play, one that many of us had been looking forward to for a long time: the Timbers first visit to the Wasatch Front since 2004, when they defeated the unfortunately named Utah Blitzz (who were led by the unfortunately criminal Fadi Afash and coached by the unfortunately wretched Chris Agnello) in the US Open Cup. I'd never been to Salt Lake City. I'd never followed the Timbers outside the pacific time zone. I'd never ridden 13 hours in a van with Matt Talley. This was gonna be a good one.

We left Portland at roughly 12:30am from Chez Talley, where we'd congregated a few hours before for dinner and drinks. 11 people in a 15-seater van, we were buzzing from all the hospi-Talley-ity (mac and cheese and whiskey, though not all in one dish), singing songs, whooping it up, lots of jeans-advertisement-style high fives. The sun came up about the time we hit Baker City.

I managed to doze for maybe an hour, and woke up when we stopped at a rest stop just across the Idaho border. The Snake River was beautiful in the morning sun, but I couldn't stop shivering, groggy to the point of bewilderment. What the hell was I doing in Idaho?

We picked up Jay in Boise and almost immediately the watermelon-flavored malt liquor appeared as if from nowhere. Watermelon-flavored malt liquor is awful but it does something beautiful and mysterious to Jay. About noon the bottles of Purple Cow vino were opened and I felt like a hundred bucks. Sleep is for the weak.

It seemed fitting that Wu-Tang Clan serenaded us as we crossed into Utah, drinking wine straight from the bottle because we're classy. We entered SLC to a collective, "Where's the rest of it?" The Temple looked too small, and the Occupy SLC campsite looked too large.

We checked into the Little America Hotel and immediately went crazy, throwing lamps out of windows, defecating in the sink, tearing the tags off the mattresses (just kidding, I defecated in the mini-fridge). It was Bedlam. What really happened is I calmly poured myself a whiskey and sat down to let my body adjust to the shock of no longer being in the van. It was a brilliant sunny autumn desert day, and we were among good friends at the beginning of what had already been a fun trip. Then Jay found the Mormon MI-5 listening device.

I was just looking for the Gideon bible!

After some more time spent relaxing in the rooms, drinking some of Utah's finest beer (no kidding, Talley found some 9% local brew, I felt like I was smoking crack at my grandmother's house), it was time for the party at Salt City United's bar, The Republican (of course it's called that). I took a wrong turn walking to the bar, and ended up going two or three blocks in the wrong direction; with the brobdingnagian size of the city blocks in SLC, that put me about half an hour out of my way. No worries, I thought; this is a big clean friendly town to wander around in. And then I was menaced by some drunken neck-tattoo douchebag wearing RSL gear who asked what my scarf was and then told me to fuck off about 50 times. Heavenly Father will not be happy with that guy when he finds out.

Anyway I made it to the pub. As I remembered from their visit here in May, the RSL supporters were a fun, friendly bunch. Songs were sung, drinks were drunk (including more good beer and actual liquor...my preconceptions! They are in ruins!). Then the lack of sleep started to catch up to me, and a few of us went back to the hotel; it was only about 8 blocks, but as I mentioned in SLC that's roughly the same distance Moses had to walk to get to Mt. Zion (get it? Utah? Zion? Desert wandering? Haha jk?), so we stopped on the way for some cheap and delicious street tacos.

Next morning we went touristing around what I suppose I have to call "downtown" Salt Lake City. It is the center of town, and there are a few big buildings and a light rail running through it, but it felt like every intersection was the corner of SE Powell and 82nd Ave, only with fewer prostitutes. Where the hell was everybody? (We later found out where everybody was: at the Temple.) I realize it's probably ironic for a Portlander to express amazement at the smallness and sterility of another US city, but it just felt weird.

We fortified with breakfast (good coffee too? Who knew etc.), and then made our way to the one part of SLC everyone has to see when they visit for the first time: I'm talking of course about the Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

Slightly less grandiose than the Temple.

Of course I'm really talking about the Temple. Without getting rude about religion and faith and otherness, I'll sum up my reaction to Temple Square by saying: WEIRD ME OUT BRO. I love being a tourist, and we encountered a number of very friendly people at the Temple who smiled, said hello and tried to make us feel welcome (some of whom even recognized our Timbers gear), but it was too close for me. There were a ton of people there for weddings, baptisms etc., and I felt a mixture of claustrophobia and the sense that I was trespassing in someone's living room. The Temple looked like the Disney World Cinderella castle, and even though we missed 12-foot Space Jesus(!) we did see some other interesting statues, and a whole slew of brides (Audrey asked me to keep a count: we spotted no fewer than a dozen during the 45 minutes we were in the Square).

There's no pity in Temple Square

After an appropriate amount of time spent gawking at the buildings and statuary in Temple Square (at the corner of Temple Street and Temple Street, just south of Temple Street, I wish I were making this up), we walked to the Occupy SLC camp. It was larger than I'd expected (I honestly didn't expect to see any protest at all in Salt Lake City), and was set up in the same park as a weekend flea market; we sadly arrived too late to visit the flea market, but we did see a couple guys towing an upright piano behind a bike. So, there's that.

Keep Salt Lake City Weird!

The pregame pub was called, fittingly, the Green Pig, and it was indeed lousy with Timbers Green by the time we got there, with larpers hanging from the light fixtures, doing larp shots out of each others' navels, and I even saw one guy just larp all over himself after larping a larp larp. After a couple Utah beers we larped over to the train for the ride to the stadium. I remember thinking at this moment: I wish my flask were bigger.

Cascadia Invades the Wasatch Front

From what I saw there is an abundance of space in downtown SLC, but for some reason the stadium is located about three towns down the valley, in Sandy. Happily though, their light rail is convenient and stops just a couple blocks (i.e., about a three-day hike) from Rio Tinto Stadium.

Outside the ground.

While we queued up outside the ground waiting for the gates to open, I was impressed by the number of fans already there. I remained impressed throughout the game by the good home crowd who filled the park, making lots of noise; there were flags and face painters all over the place, with a few of them even giving us the finger during the match (tsk). Even if their organized supporters groups are scattered and less than amazing (beyond the repetitive drums, can you hear RSL sing? I don't hear etc. etc.), the general atmosphere was pretty good.

One strange thing I noticed, apart from the fact that I was in Utah, were bunches of kids with KFC buckets on their heads. Hahaha am I right, it stands for Kenny Fucking Cooper, but really why were they wearing fried chicken buckets on their heads?

photo by Sarah Alley

As for the game itself, well I'm no Chris Rifer (you can read his match report here), but here's my take: FLARES! FLAGS! FLASK (shh!)! FUTTY!! I'm gonna keep on loving you, cuz it's the only thing I know how to doooooo.... And so on. I haven't had as much fun at an away game since...well actually I had a blast at Seattle Away this year, but SLC Away ranks with my favorite Timbers awaydays of all time.

photo by Sarah Alley

That was pretty much the end of the trip. By the time the match ended, I was too pooped from the past 48 hours to even think about hitting the bar, so a few of us just hung out in the hotel S'ing the S. If I have to include a denouement, let's go with: the ride home was long and ass-numbing, and Talley ate a McRib. The end.

—by Chris Rifer

Say what you will about 2011, but it certainly provided its fair share of ups and downs. From the high of breaking a bottle of champagne over the Timbers’ inaugural MLS campaign to the low of being throttled 3-1 at Colorado. From the low of earning one point from the first three games to the high of earning 15 from the first five home matches. From the high of silencing the Clink to the low of letting the return fixture slip away. From the low of being the last team eliminated from playoff contention to the high of Futty’s equalizer in Salt Lake. Ultimately there is disappointment at the lack of a playoff berth, but the season has certainly been worth the price of admission.

So, let’s grade our boys in green and look forward to the changes that need to be made on Morrison Street for 2012.

For starters, I recommend reading Geoffrey Arnold’s grades if you haven’t already. I differ on several points, but his write-up is thoughtful and enjoyable. Speaking of Arnold, I feel like the guy deserves some kudos for a solid season himself. Last year and the beginning of this year I was unimpressed with him. He seemed to me to be the guy who drew the short straw and had to cover the Timbers. Credit where credit is due, however. He grew into the role as the year went along and became a pretty good beat reporter by the finale. I hope to see him back next season.

That said, without further adieu, here are my grades by unit. As always, tell me why I’m out of my mind.

Looking Back

The Keepers, A-

Troy Perkins struggled a little bit with consistency early on, but by the end of the season was a dominant keeper. Simply put, without him the Timbers would not have been even close to 42 points. His best efforts came in preserving results on the road against Chicago and D.C., during both of which he was otherworldly. The D.C. result must have been especially satisfying for Troy, knocking the team that benched him and sent him packing out of playoff contention. I look forward to several more years of Perkins tending goal, hopefully before he hands of the reins to Jake Gleeson. Gleeson came on in a tight spot after early injuries to both Perkins and Adin Brown. All he did was produce a couple MLS Saves of the Week and preside over the Timbers first two MLS wins. Quality start. He showed in exhibitions throughout the season that he still requires some seasoning, but the talent and the structure around him is there.

The Central Defenders, B

The best central defense $187,000 can buy. Eric Brunner, Futty, and David Horst are sort of a sandlot central defense. There were times, especially early on, where it looked like the talent just wasn’t there. Once the chemistry developed between these three, however, the defense became stout. The numbers don’t lie: Over the first 17 games the Timbers conceded 29 goals. Over the last 17 they conceded 19. That’s not entirely attributable to the boys in the middle, but a good share of it is. On top of all of that, they added six goals, including three from Futty, two from Brunner and one improbably from Kevin Goldthwaite.

The Flanks, C+

 The outside backs struggled with consistency throughout. Steve Purdy, Jeremy Hall, Rodney Wallace, Mike Chabala, and Lovel Palmer have all seen significant time on the flanks, and no combination ever proved to stabilize the corps for any extended period of time. Chabala brought a bit more consistency to the left side, but Palmer proved to only be a marginal upgrade on the right. Wallace provides youth and potential, but the lack of quality and questionable decision-making – if I see him needlessly clear a ball to the center of the field one more time I am going to burst a blood vessel – makes me wonder whether that potential will ever be fulfilled.

The Central Midfielders, A-

Diego Chara began slowly and developed into a star. Jack Jewsbury began as a star and finished slowly. James Marcelin was James Marcelin throughout. All of that added up to a central midfield that was one of the best units in the league, but ultimately never really had everybody clicking at once. Looking back, with one major exception, Jack was pretty much as advertised. Good leader that was good at everything but great at nothing. That exception, obviously, is set pieces, where Jack was nothing short of fantastic. That’s a big exception, though, that let the Timbers put a lot of points on the table early on. Diego spent much of his first couple months in the club looking upfield with his palms raised to the sky. The chemistry took a while to develop, and while there were flashes of brilliance, they were just flashes. Well, eventually those flashes turned into radiance. Once Diego got more comfortable he was better able to not only contribute defensively, but also orchestrate the offense, even occasionally showing his ridiculous pace.

The Wings, C-

Specious: having deceptive attraction or allure; the Timbers wings. There is plenty of talent here – at times, perhaps, a glut of talent. Sal Zizzo, Kalif Alhassan, and Darlington Nagbe all had moments of tremendous class. Kalif is as good as anybody on the team with the ball at his feet. Sal uses his pace as well as just about anybody in the league. Darlington possesses a dynamism that is rare in a player of his age. And yet, the wings accounted for a grand total of one goal this year. Yep, one. The same total as Kevin Goldthwaite. Cringe. [Note: I know Darlington had two goals on the season, but one came against New England when he was playing as a striker] And even that goal really had little to go with playing from the wings as much as Darlington Nagbe hitting the greatest goal in modern Timbers history (yep, I said it) off a set piece clearance. On top of that, the wings only had 11 assists combined. Folks, that’s poor. Like, really poor. Like, I can’t believe the Timbers logged 42 points with such anemic production from the wings, poor. Forget the lack of production from the strikeforce, if you want to identify one thing that will make the Timbers goals-for number swell, it’s right here. So, the point is, improvements must be made.

The Strikeforce, B-

I know. You’re going crazy because the wings got a C- and the strikers got a B-, but hear me out. First of all, the strikeforce logged 17 goals this season. Not enough, but approximately 16 more than one. Both Kenny Cooper and Jorge Perlaza went through extended periods where they struggled to score. But on the flip side, both went through stretches – or for Jorge, flashes – where they got hot. And then there is one more important consideration: The strikeforce wasn’t exactly flush with service, either. The Timbers struggled to find anybody who could consistently send balls in during the run of play. So, all things considered, while you would certainly want your strikeforce to be tallying at least in the mid-to-high twenties, their pedestrian production wasn’t entirely their fault. Still, they weren’t exactly heroes, either.

The Manager, B+

Is there any question that this team was significantly better at the end of the season than it was at the beginning? No. The Timbers were so much more competitive on a night-in-and-night-out basis in September than they were in May. Sure, Portland struck some home gold early on, but they were getting absolutely killed on the road. That early home gold may have been a bit of fool’s gold. There was nothing foolish about some of the positive results late in the season. Still, sometimes his substitution patterns were a little bit peculiar, and I would have liked to see a little bit more continuity in the Starting XI. Not all of that was his fault, as injuries and international call ups certainly get in the way, but that certainly impeded the development of chemistry to a certain extent. On the whole, however, an impressive start for a first-time leading man.

The Technical Director, A-

Every move Gavin made ended up working out, even if not quite in the way we thought it would. Trading Dax looked like a disaster when it appeared the mystery central midfielder wouldn’t come. Then Diego showed up, and that was good. Lovel Palmer was a bit of a disappointment – not to mention the surprise that Adam Moffat turned out to be for Houston – but Mike Chabala really came on and stabilized the left side for a while, making that move worthwhile. Buying Jack Jewsbury for peanuts was brilliant. Buying Sal Zizzo for peanuts was also smart. Drafting Darlington Nagbe was a no-brainer. But now comes the hard part; taking the team from decent to a contender.

Speaking of which…

Looking Onward

This operates under the fiction that everybody is either already under contract for next year, or could be if the Timbers so desired. Categorized by Gavin’s reaction upon receiving the inquiry…

“Are you offering a seven-figure transfer fee? Okay, then no.”

Diego Chara – I don’t know how many times I’ve written that he’s a star, but he is.

Jake Gleeson – Too much talent, too much potential. No way he’s going anywhere.

Darlington Nagbe – Ditto.

Troy Perkins – There aren’t that many great keepers out there, and Gleeson isn’t ready yet. For that reason, you have to keep Troy around for a couple more years at least.

“I’m not hanging up, but this probably isn’t going to happen.”

Kalif Alhassan – Simply put, his stock probably hasn’t risen high enough yet to make this worth the Timbers while. If he ever learns to shoot, though, Europe will likely come calling. At which point, a hefty transfer fee will probably be in the cards.

Kenny Cooper – Given his tepid summer and torrid finish, the Timbers have seen his potential, but his stock elsewhere probably isn’t high. I think Portland would deal Cooper for the right price, but they’re not going to get the right price. So, the choice is either sell Kenny for 50 cents on the dollar or keep him around and see if he can replicate his fall form for a whole season. Easy decision. Also, one other point to make on Kenny. He is a target striker. As the name suggests, target strikers are supposed to present a target in front of goal, ideally for an easy finish. The fact, then, that many of Kenny’s goals are easy finishes indicates that he has done his job well – i.e. he put himself in perfect position to finish. So don’t come ‘round here with the “he only scores easy goals” whine. It’s meritless.

Eric Brunner – Good center backs aren’t the hardest things in the world to find, but I think Brunner is going to have to produce for another year before serious interest is generated. Plus, he emerged as a leader on the team and was the backbone of a vastly improved backline.

Rodney Wallace – Sort of like Cooper, at this point his potential is probably worth more to Portland than his market value will garner. Rod is on a shorter leash, though.

Also In This Category – Freddie Braun, Eric Alexander, Chris Taylor.

“Let’s talk compensation…”

Jack Jewsbury – You want to buy assets low and sell them high. Jack’s stock is never going to be as high as it is right now. There are teams that could use a good central midfielder that is quality on set pieces. Portland just happens to have such a guy, and he was All-Star last year. At this point, at least within the league, Jack is the Timbers’ biggest bargaining chip. I don’t think you go out of your way to ship him out, but offers are likely to come, and it would be wise to listen. This should not be interpreted in any way as a call for Jack’s ouster, however. I would love to see him in a PTFC shirt for the rest of his career, but don’t turn down sweet offers for him.

Sal Zizzo – Doesn’t have quite the enticing upside that Kalif has and, let’s face it, right wings are a dime a dozen. Still, Sal showed enough this year that his value around the league is likely to be respectable.

Jorge Perlaza – With the emergence of Darlington Nagbe at striker, a decent offer for Perlaza would be hard for Gavin to turn down. Still, it is premature to pull the plug. Foreigners often take a year to adjust to the league, and strikers are notorious for needing to be comfortable before producing. If Perlaza got consistent minutes in 2012, double-digit goals wouldn’t shock me.

Futty – The Timbers wouldn’t be loathe to find an upgrade at center back, and Futty’s performance both with the Timbers and the Gambian national team may make him attractive to some defensively challenged clubs looking for MLS talent.

Also In This Category – James Marcelin, David Horst, Mike Chabala, Bright Dike, Eddie Johnson, Steve Purdy, Brian Umony, Spencer Thompson.

“Thanks for returning my call…”

Lovel Palmer – A disappointing debut with Portland for Lovel. At this point, it is hard not to think an able replacement isn’t out there at decent value. He should be actively shopped.

Peter Lowry – He’s a legitimate MLS player that has been buried amongst the Timbers’ promising youngsters. I think an amicable separation maybe in everybody’s best interest. I will say this, however, I would miss Pete’s Twitter feed.

“Send me a case of Lion Red and we’ll call it even.”

Adin Brown, Rodrigo Lopez, Kevin Goldthwaite.

The Roster Priorities

1. Bring in a dynamic outside midfielder. Around the globe, this is one of the easier things to find, and there is no reason Portland can’t land one. The production from that position was abysmal. If there is one thing Gavin can do to improve the attack, this is it.
2. Upgrade at right back. Let’s face it, Lovel Palmer didn’t sweep anybody off their feet. Right back isn’t the easiest spot to fill with value, but it’s not nearly as hard as left back. Money is probably better spent here than on the other side, where good left backs are hard to find and mediocre left backs are often over-compensated. Chewy is serviceable now and Rod will hopefully be serviceable in the future.
3. Upgrade at center back. Brunner did well, and I have no qualms about opening another season with him as the primary center back. Still, while Brunner is a decent Batman, he would be an amazing Robin.
4. If there is a good striker out there for the right price, hang the expense.
5. Bring back some of the young talent has been on the reserve squad this season. Brian Umony, Freddie Braun, and Chris Taylor have all been impressive when I have had the opportunity to see them. Each are a couple years away from consistently contributing on the first team level, but each have shown that they have the potential to be legitimate MLS players.

A Reward for Making It This Far

If you have made it this far in this 2,600 word marathon, you deserve a treat:

Seattle Sounders MLS Playoff Record: 0-4-1. 1 GF, 7 GA.

Chicken soup for the 107ist’s soul.

Oh, and to preempt the inevitable comment from a troll, we know you have a big stadium, and we know you have thrice won a tournament that everybody else treats as a glorified reserve league. Nobody is terribly impressed by either.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Chris Rifer

Leg one of the MLS Cup Playoffs Conference Semifinals was not kind to home teams. After the first two days of action, all four semis look to be virtually locked up as three teams now have to go on the road to dig out of holes and one – much to the delight of supporters of the mighty PTFC – heads home with quite a mountain to climb.

As I watched a couple of the matches on Sunday, though, I was reminded why I love the first leg of aggregate goals series – they almost always yield some of the most entertaining attacking soccer you will see. In many situations in leg two, one team will go into a shell looking to protect their spoils from the previous match. Leg one, however, is usually no holds barred. Home teams play with a certain desperation knowing they need to come away with a lead to have a legitimate chance at the series. Away teams play with the hunger of knowing if they can force across one goal – even in a close loss or a draw – they can give themselves a big leg up heading home for the return match. The result is often some genuinely beautiful play.

Real Salt Lake – 3, Seattle Sounders FC – 0

In the most lopsided match of the weekend, Real Salt Lake dominated the Sounders on a chilly evening in Salt Lake City. The Sounders looked overmatched in every single phase of the game, with perhaps their best opportunity coming off of an errant Alvaro Fernandez cross that skidded off the bar.

RSL wasn’t lacking for opportunities, however, as Alvaro Saborio logged 40^th and 52^nd minute goals to put the Claret and Cobalt up two. The Costa Rican poached the first from teammate Chris Wingert, as he redirected Wingert’s goal-bound slot even more securely into the net from a dubiously onside position.

If his first was a bit cheap, his second more than made up for it with class. After Javier Morales sent in a dangerous cross from the right wing, Saborio reached across the on-looking Jeff Parke with his right foot and flicked the ball behind Parke’s back to the far post.

But for the efforts of Kasey Keller, this one could have been even bloodier. While Keller made several stops, none were more dramatic than that in the 47^th minute. First, Keller deflected Robbie Russell’s hard shot from distance. The rebound fell to Morales, but Keller dove to parry his point-blank effort away before Andy Williams’ final effort sailed over the bar.

Keller couldn’t single-handedly keep Seattle in this one, however, as Ned Grabavoy’s 88th minute shot deflected off of Brad Evans, past Keller and into the net.

The lopsided loss likely puts a nail in the coffin of Seattle’s season and Kasey Keller’s league cup-less career. The Xboxers now head back to the Clink needing a miracle to avoid the label of postseason choke artists.

Red Bull New York – 0, Los Angeles Galaxy – 1

A 15^th minute goal from Mike Magee was all the L.A. Galaxy needed to top the Jersey-based Red Bulls.  After David Beckham sent a long chip forward, the Red Bull defense relaxed, confident that Robbie Keane would be flagged for offside. Keane, however, wasn’t involved in the play, as Magee – the midfielder and emergency goalkeeper – slotted the ball far post past the observant Frank Rost.

Thereafter, with an away goal and confidence of their own superiority in hand, the Galaxy were happy to sit back and weather whatever the identity-less Red Bulls threw their way. USL Timbers alumnus Josh Saunders came up with a number of class saves, most notably a 49^th minute denial of Joel Lindpere’s goal-bound shot. Ultimately that was enough to secure Galaxy the 1-0 victory, taking a huge advantage back to L.A.

The fireworks weren’t over, though, as just after the final whistle renowned whiner Rafa Marquez showed his boyish immaturity again by throwing the ball at Landon Donovan. Marquez would throw a punch in the direction of Adam Cristman, who confronted Marquez before Stephen Keel would catch an apparently errant Juninho elbow in the mouth. Neither Juninho nor Marquez will appear in the second leg as a result of red cards issued. With luck, that toss and punch will mark the end of Rafa Marquez’s embarrassing MLS career.

Philadelphia Union – 1, Houston Dynamo – 2

The Houston Dynamo are perhaps the league’s hottest team, and by far the East’s best hope to knock off the West’s juggernauts. They showed it in Portland earlier this month, and they showed it again Saturday afternoon in Phily.

In the 5^th minute Andre Hainault found the end of a Brad Davis set piece and nodded it past Faryd Mondragon for the opener. Characteristic of a first half that was among the most entertaining soccer you will see, though, the Union would pull level just two minutes later when Sebastien Le Toux one-timed a feed over the top from Michael Farfan past Tally Hall.

Houston wasn’t done, however, as Calen Carr got on the end of a searching ball with a beautiful run and knocked it past a stranded Mondragon. With two road goals and a lead in hand, Houston was happy to play out the final hour. With eight orange shirts often behind the ball, the Union struggled to create anything that would wash the bitter taste out of the mouths of those in the River End.

Colorado Rapids – 0, Sporting KC – 2

Baldomero Toledo was the referee of this match, so you know we’re going to talk about the officiating. More on that in a second.

Whereas the other matches in the first leg provided early excitement, the Bulldog Supporters were treated to a dud of a first half. While Colorado had the better of the play early on, they couldn’t create anything of note.

In the 49th minute, however, Teal Bunbury leaked out of the midfield, took a Julio Cesar pass and slotted it past Matt Pickens for the opener.

Enter Toledo. After Tyrone Marshall lost track of Bunbury, the youngster collected a pass in the box and appeared to swerve into the path of the trailing Marshall and fall to the ground. Toledo quickly pointed at the spot and showed Marshall a straight red card. Bunbury rolled the penalty past Pickens for the two-goal advantage that Sporting would never concede.

The penalty and red card are both points of debate. From my view, Bunbury made the most of contact that he largely created by playing the ball into Marshall’s path. That said, Marshall is certainly at fault for putting himself in that position with some straight up awful defending. The red card, then, comes automatically by rule as Toldeo adjudged Marshall to have committed a foul that stopped a clear goal-scoring opportunity. I don’t like the referee’s judgment or the rule, but they combined to form a mountain for the ‘Pids to climb.

MLS playoffs got you down? Check out some Over 30 Division 2 soccer. Delta Park is lovely this time of year.

In a largely rain-soaked game that featured one team loaning two players to the other team to make a legal squad, during which one guy inexplicably played wearing pants and a completely different color shirt than his teammates, Ricky, as in the Father of the Suns of Ricky, scored the winner for Portland Griffons today. Pic cuz it happened:

Welcome to the first of what I hope will be an interesting feature highlighting the adventures of the various Timbers Army Football Clubs playing in the Greater Portland Soccer District leagues.  I was asked to provide this weekly update to the 107ist membership to help spur interest in TAFC matches and highlight accomplishments in their respective weekly fixtures.  As one of the team that blogs about the Timbers for Oregonlive.com on a regular basis, I’m used to sifting through tons of information to provide recaps.  As a defender and midfielder for TAFC since the first season, however, I look at the new initiative with the TAFC club umbrella with pride because I think it is another wonderful idea created by the 107st in their overall mission to provide support to soccer within the region at any level.

This weekly post will recap the exploits of the four Timbers Army specific football clubs that are currently in season.  We do realize there are many teams that have Timbers Army members, but the four clubs currently in the umbrella of Timbers Army FC were all formed amongst TA that wanted to play soccer with their fellow supporters while being ambassadors for the Army within the soccer community.  In future updates, I hope to talk more about new TA clubs being formed as well as highlight those TA that play for other clubs regionally.

The current makeup of clubs includes the original Timbers Army Football Club formed in 2008 which has been a staple of GPSD Division 4 since its inception.  The team will be renamed for the Winter 2012 term and promises to honor the heritage of being the inaugural club created for Timbers Army members within GPSD.  FC Portlandia was created during the Winter 2008 term from former members of TAFC, and they have achieved great on the pitch success in advancing to GPSD Division 2 where they currently reside while also being fashionable in purple.  They’ve also represented the Timbers Army in matches played against the Emerald City Supporters from the land where we do not speak their name.

North End United joined the fray in 2009 after an extremely successful first version of a supporter’s cup, playing the Timbers Army FC during Thanksgiving Weekend in 2008.  As with TAFC, there are plenty of age ranges represented with NEU and they’ve achieved promotion a few times to higher divisions in GPSD, but they currently reside in Division 4.  The new kids on the block are Rose City Athletic, joining GPSD Division 4 in the spring of 2011 and have enjoyed some memorable wins in their short history.  They also wear the Timbers’ newest color of Rose City red, keeping with the long tradition of Timbers Army Football clubs being extremely fashion forward.

This weekend’s matches were highlighted by depleted rosters due to travel to Salt Lake City, and a derby match between TAFC and NEU played under spectacular fall weather.  Let’s start our recap by looking at FC Portlandia who played GDST Young Boys at Oregon City High School.  Having played them twice before and winning each time, the boys in purple kept their winning streak alive with a 6 to 1 win behind an Anthony O’Reilly hat trick.  FC Portland sits in third place in the Division 2 standings, and has a key battle this weekend against their old rivals the Marmots.  Match time is 4:00 PM on Sunday, October 30^th at Cleveland High School.

Rose City Athletic had one of the early matches in Division 4, playing host to BDFC at Delta Park.  While they had a full club with substitutes available, the club struggled with their form and passing and allowed BDFC to secure a 4 to 1 win.  The lone RCA goal was scored by Bryan Boen, and the club hopes to rebound from their loss this weekend with a match against South VN at Delta Park #6 at 2:00 PM.  RCA currently resides in fifth place in the Division 4 table, hoping to jump up on the table.

The final match highlighting the Timbers Army clubs was a derby between two long standing rivals, North End United and the soon to be renamed TAFC.  Both clubs featured depleted rosters because of travel, but they were able to get enough players ready to have a full starting eleven.  Behind a Marcus Nelson hat trick and some really wicked goals by his teammates, North End United defeated TAFC 7 to 2 in a friendly, well played match.  Eben Crawford notched a brace for TAFC with two unassisted goals, but TAFC was done in by a lack of subs and the overall speed of NEU.  I should know this after spending most of match trying to chase Marcus, Allen, Rem, and any number of other players in their attack.

NEU resumes their schedule on October 30 with a 2 PM match against Deacon Blue at Delta Park #7; Deacon Blue is one of the many GPSD clubs with a large Timbers Army contingent that is not currently within the TAFC structure.  TAFC travels out to the Washington County Fairgrounds for a date with Ronler Hacres at 12 noon on October 30.  In the current table, NEU sits in third place with 13 points, 4 wins and 2 draws, while TAFC has avoided the winless donut with a 1 win, 6 loss record and 3 points, but they have some winnable fixtures forthcoming.

—by Chris Rifer

The juxtaposition between Saturday night and March 19^th tells the story of the season. In the season opener, the Timbers showed how far they had to go. In the finale they showed how far they had come. No, it wasn’t a flawless performance on Saturday, but it was inspired, gritty, and ultimately successful.

On paper, the Timbers had nothing to pay for on Saturday. In fact, they had a lot not to play for. At stake were two spots in the SuperDraft, a host of allocation money, and positioning in several of MLS’s myriad player acquisition mechanisms. With so much to gain for the future, what is the significance of a few meaningless points to finish the season?

A lot, as it turns out.

For the first 45 minutes Portland outworked RSL, but failed to create much in the way of goal-scoring opportunities. All too often Portland seemed eager to take a hopeful crack from distance rather than see the build-up through to the finish.

The gulf of quality on the field showed from time to time, as Portland struggled to fully contain Alvaro Saborio and RSL’s attack. Despite being pinned down on a couple occasions, Portland weathered the storm and established themselves as no pushover despite the presumptive disparity in quality and motivation.

Just as it appeared Portland would escape into halftime at a scoreless draw, Fabian Espindola found Saborio with a beautiful ball coming out of the midfield. Saborio beat Futty to it and looped the ball over Troy Perkins after the Portland keeper came halfway out in a rare showing of indecision. In a first half that had been played on relatively level terms, it was a sucker punch going into intermission.

Unlike so many times before, however, Portland wouldn’t back down after the initial blow was struck. The Timbers responded with increasing intensity as the match became more physical in the second half.

Portland appeared to have set up the equalizer in the 55^th minute after Chris Wingert—already on a yellow card—handled a ball in the box. Wingert avoided being sent off—surely to Kalif Alhassan’s incredulous jealousy—but the Timbers were awarded the penalty. Jack Jewsbury, however, in the midst of a cold spell on the score sheet, sent the effort high off the crossbar, leading Will Johnson to jump in his face in taunting celebration.

This should have been the Timbers death knell. But again the Timbers refused to yield— apparently determined to play to the final whistle of the season.

Real, however, would hold the lead well into the night. In the 89^th minute they almost salted the match away after a miscommunication between Perkins and Eric Brunner allowed Saborio to try to chip the ball into the net again. This time, however, the ball would glance off the post amidst the confusion in front of goal.

Portland would punish RSL’s inability to put the match on ice two minutes later. After Brian Umony collected the ball on the right wing he sent it in toward Bright Dike in the box. Dike couldn’t get a deflection on the ball, however, as RSL keeper Nick Rimando did well to break up the play. The ball got through, however, and waiting far post was Futty who slotted the ball into the open net.

The result was the first one that the Timbers have earned at the death this year. There have been plenty of disappointments late in matches since March, but earning this draw in the 90^th minute leaves the Rose City with a better taste in its mouth as it enters what promises to be a fascinating offseason.

Match Observations

• I don’t know about you, but I yelled about as loudly after Futty’s goal as I have any this season. In the grand scheme it was entirely meaningless. But two factors made this especially satisfying: First, it was nice to see the boys’ inspired effort rewarded in a match in which they had every reason to pack it in. Injuries, motivation, disappointment, and a tough opponent on the road all provided excuses. The Timbers weren’t having any of it. Second, RSL showed a pretty surprising lack of class and discipline in the 2^nd half. From Johnson’s juvenile taunting of Jewsbury after the penalty to Saborio’s petulant push of Eric Brunner’s face in retaliation for goodness-knows-what, it was nice to see a side that comported themselves so shamefully be handed a little dose of justice.
• After Columbus’s collapse against Chicago, Portland actually slides to 12^th on the table—and this is good news for the Timbers! Portland got a good result out of last night and found a way to get bumped up a spot in player acquisition rankings. Let’s discuss this—and how perverse it may be— in a couple weeks.
• You know, John Spencer really went out of his way a few weeks ago to refute the notion that the Timbers were an under-talented, over-achieving team. Here is the thing: I’m not sure he’s right, and Saturday certainly didn’t do anything to buttress his argument. The Timbers for much of the night weren’t pretty, but they were effective. Still, the quality was lacking, especially in the final third. With Darlington Nagbe—and to a lesser extent Sal Zizzo—I really only felt confident in the attack with the ball at Diego Chara’s feet. I do think this is a hardworking team, but I think the knock on the Timbers—that they lack the quality and dynamism to be an elite side—isn’t altogether inaccurate. Again, we’ll come back to this topic.
• Finally, on a personal note, I would like to thank the folks at timbersarmy.org and all of you for letting me write these this year. While school and travel occasionally took me away from writing, I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to do this. If you’ll have me, I would eagerly do it again next year. Also, I’ll plan on posting about any major front office moves that are made this offseason. For starters, over the next couple weeks, I’ll write posts about where the Timbers need to go from here and where the MLS needs to go. Until then, thank you for a fantastic season.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 4 In what has been an outstanding season for Perkins, this was actually a pretty poor night. He made Saborio’s goal easy by getting caught halfway, and almost let RSL put the nail in the coffin in the miscommunication with Brunner. Still, anybody who isn’t excited for Perkins to be the Timbers’ keeper for the next several years is out of their mind.

Rodney Wallace, 5 Rodney, Rodney, Rodney. Our relationship can best be described as love-hate. You had your way marauding up the RSL right side, at times on Saturday. Then you also had a number of moments where you got punked in defense, gave the ball away needlessly, or took a hopeless shot from deep. Here’s the thing: I hate that I want to keep you on the roster, but I think I do.

Futty, 5 Got beat on Saborio’s goal, but otherwise had a pretty good night in back. The defense, on the whole, was solid.

Eric Brunner, 6 Brunner isn’t going to get any awards this year. Not one. And that’s a shame. Underrated, underappreciated, and undercompensated. That’s Eric Brunner. Eric, please be in a Timbers shirt for a long time. Oh, and Jurgen Klinsmann (because I know you read this), give Eric a look. If you can tell me one thing that Tim Ream does that Brunner doesn’t, I’ll excuse your lack of consideration for at least bringing him into camp.

Lovel Palmer, 4.5 Decent defensively, but I’m getting awfully tired of offensive possessions ending with a Palmer mishit.

James Marcelin, 5.5 Held the ball up nicely at times, and had an overall solid defensive night. Had a few giveaways, though, that make you cringe at the MLS level.

Eric Alexander, 5.5 Had his best moments when he found himself on the ball closer to the center of the pitch. I’m getting closer to my initial optimism about him after an interlude of skepticism.

Jack Jewsbury, 4.5 It’s been a little bit of a rough fall for Jack, capped off by his penalty miss. Still, he carried the team on his back for extended periods of the season and is responsible for by far the most points on the team. While Perkins was worthy, it was maybe a bit harsh not to give him Supporters POY. The people have spoken, however, even if I respectfully dissent.

Diego Chara, 6.5 I just can’t help falling in love with Diego. It took him a little while to adjust, but now he is blossoming into a bona fide star. On Saturday he was again incredibly box-to-box, being both the Timbers most creative player in the attack and one of the biggest contributors on defense. My favorite thing: The fact that he’s 5’5”, has a propensity for hard fouls, and jogs away from them with his innocent “I’m so tiny, how could I have fouled him that hard?” grin on his face. Brings a similar grin to my face every time.

Kalif Alhassan, 5.5 Pretty typical Kalif on Saturday. Fantastic with the ball at his feet but struggled to make the final pass or put a good effort on frame.

Kenny Cooper, 4.5 John Strong ably pointed out how difficult playing in the 4-5-1 is for Kenny. He’s obviously not terribly dynamic, and being that isolated really limits his ability to be the target forward that he is. It showed.

Bright Dike, 6 Being disruptive is what Bright Dike does. Bright Dike was disruptive on Saturday night. That led to a goal. Cool.

Brian Umony, 5.5 Was pretty anonymous until he sent that cross in. It was a good dangerous ball, however.

David Horst, 5.5 Played awfully tough in back in a short spell. As usual, wasn’t taking anything off of anybody.

And so, for one final time in 2011…

Onward, Rose City!