I received one suggestion for naming this here daily link thing. I'm going to use it unless something far more creative comes to me. Besides that I like it anyway.

Are you a season ticket holder? Head to the stadium to sample their prawn sandwiches on June 21st. Yum!

Kenny Cooper is a little regretful about his sideshow on Sunday against DC United.

In their continuing efforts to try and copy the huge success of Toronto FC our very polite Canadian friends to the North have sacked Teitur Thordarson and replaced him with Tom Soehn just 11 games into the season. The Southsiders once again don't agree with the Vancouver front office's decision. For a club that was pretty much a model of consistency and success during their time in the second division they're really doing a good job of trashing that tradition.

FIFA's Congress happened. SURPRISE they reelected Sepp Blatter. In one of the more humorous moments of today's proceedings FIFA allowed this guy on stage to trash England for trying to expose the corruption. These last few days sure have been interesting.

On a side note. If you ever questioned whether you should wear facepaint to a Timbers game the answer is no. NO NO NO NO NO. The comment win, "Sounders fans: The juggalos of MLS."

Good day to you all.

—by Garrett Dittfurth

Since we here at the Timbers Army blog are only here to create controversy we've come up with something new. Towards the end of the day or early evening I will troll through the internet and find various pieces of news that might be of interest so you can continue being lazy and not doing it yourself. Please thank Hierarchy5 for the idea on your own time. I'm going to start today and go from here out. So...

I don't know what I should call this as it will likely become a daily section. If you have any ideas please share below in the comments and then I will judge you based on your suggestions. Whattaya think?

Because the Timbers U-23s and Kitsap Pumas clearly have the largest sets of stones in the PDL they're going to use this Friday's 11:00 a.m. PDL match at JELD-WEN Field as the determining factor of who gets to play in the US Open Cup. Come on you saplings!

John Spencer is certainly a firery coach. Something gives me the idea that his players would die on the pitch for him. Stumptown Footy has a poll up and you can have an opinion on the matter as well.

If you haven't been following the FIFA and CONCACAF bribery scandal that's been going on you're missing out. It's fun of hijinx and plenty of drama. In today's news the acting CONCACAF chairman tried to fire the General Secretary Chuck Blazer. Who knows how this is going to play out because Chuck Blazer controls the Twitter, Facebook, and press machine of CONCACAF. Grant Wahl seems to have the same thought.

Sal Zizzo is becoming a true Portlander. Next on his list are skinny jeans and maniacal reading of Pitchfork.com.

New MLS power rankings are out. Have fun judging these completely arbitrary judgements.

Good day to you all.

—by Andrew Brawley

I think for more reasons than we care to admit, yesterday’s match against DC United will be a memorable one. A typically gloomy Pacific Northwest-style Memorial Day weekend. The penalty kick fiasco. Discussions of who was actually officiating the game (the center referee or the east linesman). No shortage of material.

One thing that I will remember is the tone of sections 101-108 & 201-208. While we were certainly louder than most other American supporters sections this weekend, I don’t believe our A-game was on display. The volume was down a notch or two. The breaks between chants seemed a bit longer. When compared to our previous five appearances this season, yesterday’s presence was above average, but not excellent.

I have a couple theories on why this happened. 1) An early Sunday afternoon game under cloudy skies (in late May) does not a festive atmosphere make. 2) DC United players of various interests (Davies, McCarty, Cronin) didn’t make an appearance. But I believe this last one might be the overarching reason:

3) Too many hangovers.

Folks, I read the Twitters and Facebooks. I know what most of us were up to. In this world where everyone shares everything at every possible juncture, it’s difficult to avoid the mundane updates. I’m just as guilty of this. So it’s not hard for me to recognize the signs. We were slower. We were quieter. We had to exert more energy for a lesser performance.

This morning I looked at the Timbers' schedule to find our next early afternoon home game. Thankfully it’s not a big deal of a game. Just a casual Sunday game, July 10th against Seattle on ESPN that kicks off (as of now) at 1:00 pm local time. No biggie.

So here’s where I’m going with this. I’m going to issue a challenge to the Timbers Army. It’s one that I know will get me a lot of flack. Some might even call it controversial. Even I’m having a hard time writing it down, but here it is:

I want all Timbers Army members to stay 100% sober on Saturday, July 9.

This includes all of July 9 (midnight to midnight), and part of July 10 (midnight to 6:00 am). You can only start drinking after 6:00 am on match day, and after you're within walking distance of JWF. That’s 30 hours of sobriety, followed by seven hours of “ramp-up time” prior to kick-off.

If we bring yesterday’s presence to the game on July 10, we’ll be begging ESPN to return to Portland in 2012. It simply won’t cut it. We have to bring everything we’ve got into the July 10 match, and coming in hung over will do far more harm than good.

So…who’s in for #ss79 (Sober Saturday on July 9th)?

—by Chris Rifer

In college I played a lot of NCAA Football 2004 on PlayStation. I know, I probably wasn’t the coolest kid on campus. But still, I was really good at NCAA 2004. Like multi-year 200-something game winning streak good. Each season, as I was slicing my way through the Pac-10 with high-double digit wins, I would run into one game where virtually everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Penalties, dropped passes, fumbles. You name it. The twists and turns of the game would be beyond absurd. Back in the day, my brother termed this game the “Oh No You Don’t Game.” Until Sunday I didn’t know the Oh No You Don’t Game happened in real life.

The match got off to its expected start with the Timbers controlling possession, if struggling to make the final pass. In an instant, however, D.C. United would turn the game on its head. In their first real push into their attacking third, Chris Pontius threw the ball inbounds to Blake Brettschneider on the endline who headed back into the box and onto the foot of Perry Kitchen. Perry knocked the ball into the open net for his first MLS goal.

The Timbers pushed hard for the equalizer in the first half, and appeared to have it when Kenny Cooper slotted past Bill Hamid. Not so fast. Cooper had jumped early on his run, and the goal was nullified by an offside call. After another Jack Jewsbury corner was cleared only as far as Diego Chara, who ran into a threatening position in the box looking to cross. Not so fast. The referee blew the whistle for halftime.

The second half got off to a similar start. Portland appeared to be pushing for the equalizer when Kenny Cooper again broke free—this time on a Jewsbury free kick from the left wing. Cooper nodded Jewsbury’s perfect service into the back of the net, and the game appeared to be back on level terms. Not so fast. Cooper had again jumped early, pulling himself offside just before Jewsbury struck the ball.

Finally, the Timbers got their equalizer. On a Jeremy Hall long throw, United defender Dejan Jakovic pulled Cooper down in the box, yielding a penalty. If things weren’t weird before, they were about to get Twilight Zone. Hamid saved Cooper’s first penalty effort, in large part because he illegally came off his line to cut down the angle. The assistant referee was on the call, and Cooper was awarded another penalty. Hamid, however, again saved the second penalty, but for the same reason—he had come off his line, and the Timbers were awarded a third penalty. This time Jewsbury stepped up to the spot and pounded the ball into the upper left corner. All was level, and the Timbers were again thinking about three points.

Not so fast. Those thoughts would be short-lived. As Chris Pontius lined up a shot at the top of the box, Diego Chara slid in to tackle the ball away. Chara missed the ball with his feet, and as he was sliding by the ball grazed over his arm as Pontius took a touch. It was about as incidental a handball as you will find, but Geoff Gamble, the young referee in his second MLS match, signaled for a penalty. Pontius smashed the penalty into the top left corner, and in the 74^th minute D.C. once again had the lead.

United looked to put the game on ice in the 85^th minute, as Josh Wolff took a ball off the head of Brettschneider and slotted it past a charging but isolated Troy Perkins. We’re done, right? Not so fast.

Just three minutes later, Hall again took a long throw and found the head of Jorge Perlaza, who nodded it into the bottom right corner past Hamid. Three minutes later in stoppage time it was again Perlaza, whose shot from distance beat Hamid but skipped tantalizingly wide of the target. In the end, Portland couldn’t find the final equalizer and dropped their first league match at Jeld-Wen Field.

Match Observations

• I hate talking about the referee a lot in match reports, but when they affect the game like Gamble did, it demands discussion. First off, the linesman was correct to disallow Cooper’s goals. He was offside both times, although the second was quite a bit closer than the first. That should not in any way be taken a vindication of Gamble and his crew. They were atrocious. First off, I have never seen a half or fulltime whistle blown when the attacking team had possession of the ball in the box. It is true that added time is entirely at the discretion at the referee, but referees generally exercise their discretion more responsibly in blowing the whistle after the danger has been cleared. Moreover, Gamble flat blew the Chara handball. When he was talking about it with Jewsbury after the play, the camera appeared to show him motioning to Captain Jack like Chara had hooked the ball in his arm. Nothing could be further from reality. The ball did glance off Chara’s arm, but only really as a result of a Pontius touch, and the incidental touch on Chara’s arm did not affect the play in any way. Chara certainly did not reach for the ball, and his arm was not really even extended away from his body. Is that a handball at midfield? Probably, but to give a game-changing penalty for such an incidental, inconsequential handball is the height of refereeing irresponsibility. Lest we think the bad calls only went D.C.’s way, however, there were plenty of head-scratchers that favored Portland. My favorite? Jeremy Hall went up to make a play on a long ball in the first half, but out-ran the ball. As he was flying by, he blatantly handled the ball. Gamble made a call, but incredibly awarded the free kick to the Timbers. I think I’ve said my bit on this subject.
• Portland didn’t deserve to win the match. The defense that has been so reliable was bad all day. They were constantly caught out of shape and left Perkins on an island several times. The Timbers’ midfield dominated the match, as Portland had a 60-40 possession advantage and, for once, didn’t get killed in passing accuracy. United only had 7 open play crosses and two corners, to the Timbers 23 and 8, respectively. In spite of that, Portland’s backline escorted D.C. to 10 shots with five on target. Perhaps the loss was a bit unjust, but the defense simply didn’t play well enough to earn three points.
• In the first half, Portland showed an alarming lack of quality and creativity in the attacking third. Again, the midfield was dominant, but when Portland moved into the attacking third they showed little in the way of danger.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 5 I had a hard time with this one. None of the goals were really a result of his mistakes, and he did make a couple nice saves. That said, he also had a self-inflicted nervous moment or two that he escaped from. Not his best match, but he’s not the reason the Timbers lost.

Rodney Wallace, 4 One of the culpable parties on the third goal. It was sort of a fluky goal, but he and Futty should have had Wolff bracketed. Wallace, though, was wrongsided and too far behind, letting the ball bounce to Wolff’s feet and put the Timbers in critical condition.

Futty, 4.5 I’m not sure why Wallace was playing behind Wolff and Futty was in front of him, or why Futty had drifted so far up field when Brettschneider played the ball in the air. Nonetheless, he gets a half bump up for being robbed of a goal by a great save in the first half.

Eric Brunner, 5 Wasn’t his steadying self in the center of the defense, but gets spared a negative grade because he really wasn’t culpable on any of the goals.

Jeremy Hall, 5.5 Had a number of nice long throws, including two that led to eventual goals. He also may have been Portland’s best player in defense today. Still, on the big screen before the match Jeremy said that he wished he could have the superpower of invisibility. Funny, because there are some times when he appears to have that superpower.

Kalif Alhassan, 5 Was pretty dynamic on the ball at times, making several nice runs at goal and collecting the ball well at midfield. That said, he had his fingerprints all over the first concession, as Kitchen was his mark and Kalif was left watching as young Perry slotted the ball home.

Diego Chara, 6 I am learning to appreciate Chara more and more. He has a pretty remarkable knack for dispossessing opposing players of the ball. It’s like he sort of just sidles up to them and before anybody knows it, Chara has himself between his foe and the ball. His passing in the midfield is by far the crispest (Microsoft assures me that’s a word) on the team.

Jack Jewsbury, 6.5 He and Chara teamed to dominate the midfield, and it was a wise move (probably by Spenny) for Jack to take the third penalty and put it home. My one criticism: After Gamble awards that penalty to D.C., Captain Jack needs to get in his face a bit more. Gamble needs to feel the heat of that call, and Jewsbury was a bit too nice. Compare Jack’s reaction after a bad penalty call against D.C.’s reaction after a pretty obvious penalty call. This referee showed that he was bullyable (that definitely isn’t a word), and in that situation Jack needs to be more of a bully.

Sal Zizzo, 5 Had some nice runs up the right side, but really didn’t create that much from them. Today was Sallie’s chance to show that the difference between he and Nagbe was too dramatic to keep starting Darlington. He failed.

Jorge Perlaza, 6 As Spencer put it last week, his movement is electric. Was deserving of the goal he notched late to make things interesting. Unlucky not to find the equalizer in stoppage that would have sent Jeld-Wen into pandemonium.

Kenny Cooper, 3.5 Boy, oh boy. I love how active Cooper was trying to be up front, but he was caught offside four times—twice famously. He has to do a better job with that. He was getting good service today, but nullified a lot of it. Also, when your manager calls you off a PK—especially after you have had the first two (illegally) saved—just step back and let your teammate take it. His reaction to that took him out of the game at a crucial time. Not what you want from your target man. He is in no danger of benching, nor should he be, but Kenny has to put this very bad day at the office behind him and break out of his funk.

Ryan Pore, 5 Moved very well up front, but when it came time to make the decisive touch he was tragically lacking.

Adam Moffat, INC Didn’t make much of an impact in short duty. To be honest, it was kind of a funny move by Spencer, as Chara had been good. Shouldn’t have shaved his beard, either.

Belated Ajax Observations

• First of all, that was a lot of fun. Ajax is probably internationally a top-10 club, and their quality and depth showed throughout.
• All things considered, I thought the Timbers actually acquitted themselves pretty well. Obviously, Ajax more than outclassed Portland, but other than the two goals—one of which we will get to in a moment—Ajax really didn’t have many great opportunities. Portland’s defensive shape was pretty good throughout, and the team of Brunner, Futty, and Horst in the middle were at times dominant.
• Speaking of Brunner, Futty, and Horst, at the start of the season I strongly felt that the Timbers needed to bring in another central back in order to be successful. I was wrong. Those three guys have showed that they have what it takes to lock down a solid backline, leaving the Timbers a lot of options with what they can spend their remaining money on. NOTE: I wrote this before the United match. I think I still stand by it, but reserve the right to change my mind at a future date. After all, what’s the point of writing about sports if you can’t shamelessly flip-flop? Right, John Canzano?
• Eddie Johnson’s missed opportunity was one of the worst misses I have seen by anybody in a Timbers uniform. The cross was pretty much perfect and he couldn’t have been more than three yards out from a wide open net.
• He only got a few minutes of run, but I thought Kalif was again electric. If, as rumored, Ajax has their eye on him, they must have liked what they saw in his brief stint.

First Trimester Awards

We’re approximately one-third the way through the season, and because I have nothing better to do, I decided to hand out some awards and grade the front office. Of course, as always, sound off.

MVP – Jack Jewsbury. Is there any question that the most important factor in the Timbers’ early season success has been the set piece? No. Who has their hand in every set piece taken? Captain Jack. Therefore, he is your MVP. Honorable Mention: Eric Brunner, Kalif Alhassan.

Biggest Surprise – Kalif Ahassan. I expected him to get some minutes this year, but I didn’t think he was going to be a regular starter, much less one of the Timbers’ best players. He has picked up right where he left off the late stages of last year, and continued to improve and show more of that tremendous potential. He is either going to be a great Timber for a long time or earn the club a hefty transfer fee. Honorable Mention: Futty, Jake Gleeson.

Biggest Disappointment – Kevin Goldthwaite. The Timbers signed him last year expecting him to come in and compete for a starting spot on the MLS roster. He won that starting spot—then promptly lost it due to impressively poor performance. Since then, he hasn’t sniffed the pitch except in a virtual reserve match in U.S. Open Cup Qualifying. Dishonorable Mention: Adin Brown, Peter Lowry, Adam Moffat.

Most Improved Player – Rodney Wallace. In the first two league matches of the season, Rod was bad. Like, really bad. Like, Rebecca Black “Friday” bad. Okay, I got a little carried away there. Since then he has progressed virtually every week. Now he is the “No, No, No, No…Alright!” guy on the roster. The way he plays defense is at times a bit blood pressure-raising, but he gets the job done. His improvement is one of the major differences between what was an awful defense at the beginning of the campaign and a usually stingy one now. Honorable Mention: Kalif Alhassan, Jeremy Hall.

Most Poised to Make the Jump – Freddie Braun. Hasn’t had much first team time, but when he has, he has made the most of it. In both the Open Cup Qualifier against the Quakes and the second half against Ajax, Braun has impressed at right back. He’s still young, but the Timbers have to like what they see out of their former U-23er. Honorable Mention: Brian Umony, Jorge Perlaza. I didn’t consider Gleeson here because, well, in my mind he already has made the jump.

Grading the Front Office

John Spencer, A-: In the words of the great Yul Brenner from “Cool Runnings,” in John Spencer I see a badass motha’ who don’t take no crap off nobody. I think sometimes he lets that distract him, and perhaps the team, a little bit—as I think we saw during the post-Seattle comments. That said, Sunday aside, he has done an incredible job of turning a team that looked awful into a legitimate playoff contender in a matter of a few weeks, and if the team keeps it up he will have to be the favorite for MLS Coach of the Year.

Gavin Wilkinson, B+: His saving grace was getting the Diego Chara deal done and the resurgence of Rodney Wallace. The McCarty trade went from looking inexcusable to brilliant in a matter of a couple weeks. As is to be expected, some of his Expansion Draft picks have fallen flat (Moffat, Lowry), while others have been surprisingly successful (Brunner, Horst). His signings from the 2^nd division have generally been good, with Kalif, Futty, Gleeson, and Braun being the highlights. There have been a couple that have disappointed thus far, namely Goldthwaite and Johnson—although it’s probably too early to close the book on Eddie. In the end, the positives have far outweighed the negatives, and any questions about whether Gavin was qualified to handle such a high profile job have been resoundingly put to rest.

Merritt Paulson, A: Now granted, I am not on the inside of Army-FO relations, in fact far from it, but I don’t think from an organizational standpoint the first trimester could have gone any better. The Army and the FO appear to have a good working relationship, which has certainly helped take The North End to another level this year. The Timbers have become the darlings of the MLS because of a surprisingly quality team, creative marketing campaigns, and a loud, sold out Jeld-Wen Field. Merritt gets credit for all of these things, and also for throwing chips and hot dogs to the travelling Army in Seattle. It’s good to be the boss when things are going well, so Merritt gets the credit right now. Just don’t look to your cross-town major sports franchise owner as a role model.

2,991 words! If you have made it this far, you have my hearty congratulations and gratitude. Onward, Rose City!

—by Lucas Grzybowski

As we look forward to tonight's friendly with Dutch heavyweights AFC Ajax, I'm reminded of the first international friendly the Timbers played during the USL era. It was in my second season supporting the club, and I still feel like it was the biggest exhibition match they've played (though tonight's attendance is certain to eclipse the 15K+ we had that day). I'm talking of course about the 2005 friendly vs English club Sunderland AFC.

Photo by Allison Andrews

2004 had been a fantastic season for the Timbers, both on the pitch (winning the Commissioner's Cup before succumbing to the fish mob in the playoffs), and off it (the TA experienced a real growth spurt, eventually filling OMG the entirety of section 107!). In 2005 hopes were high: the team had cast off the old-new-old badge, with the tree motif (which I still hold dear), in favor of the new-old-new-old-NASL-retro badge (which I also still hold dear); all the new fans from the previous season were champing at the bit to get back in the park and support their newfound love; and even with the loss of super striker One(-season-wonder) Alan Gordon, the squad looked likely to repeat their success from 2004 (helped by the full signing of 2004 loanee Scot Thompson).

The 2005 season had begun well enough; the Timbers were unbeaten in their first six, but then they went into a stretch where they lost seven games out of 12, including what remains the most brutal defeat I've personally witnessed on home turf (a 0-5 drubbing at the hands of Rochester, who were at the time a perennial league powerhouse).

Then along came a team from the North East of England, who wore a candy-striped uniform and had just been promoted to the Premier League. They spoke in incomprehensible accents, they called themselves "Mackems," and they came in large and loud numbers across an ocean and a continent to support their team on a pre-season (for them) tour of the western US and Canada.

Photo by Tye Ortega

July 23, 2005 was one of the most exciting days of my time as a Timbers supporter; and that's with a game that ended in a nil-nil draw! It was the first time I'd seen PGE Park at anything close to full capacity (over 15k, which by 2010 was considered a sold-out crowd), and it was certainly the first time I'd seen opposing fans in numbers.

Photo by Allison Andrews

(An aside, in light of recent rumblings about away fans in the Woodshed: Before the match began, a Sunderland fan climbed atop the North End dugout [remember those?] to hang a PTFC/SAFC banner (see above) that they'd made for their trip. Even on this lovefest of a day, the sight of an away fan in the Shed was enough to inspire jeers and a missile to be hurled - I think it was an empty cup - at which the Mackem merely smiled and waved and continued with his work. The moral is: Keep away fans out of the Shed, no matter how friendly they are.)

A couple tidbits from the game: Byron Alvarez missed a penalty kick that would have given the Timbers a 1-0 lead, but in some way if felt good for the game to end drawn. It was the one and only appearance between the posts of fan favorite Sam Reynolds (he of the traveling TA parents), who subbed for Josh Saunders and played the second half.

Misty water-colored mem'ries...of the way we were

After the game there was much revelry. Parties were attended. Chebs were seen. Thick Mackem accents became even more inscrutable with the addition of drink. And after that raucous day, the friendships that were forged proved to be long-lasting: three dozen odd Timbers supporters made the return trip to the UK the following season to support Sunderland against English giants Manchester United (and also against one of their regional rivals).

GERRIN!

That TA trip to the UK is a good long bunch of stories, but too long for this blog post. One thing I'll mention here is that your author (pictured), one joyous night in Seaham, won, and to my knowledge is still in possession of, the "Special Relationship" Pint Drinking Championship, Individual Category. (They creamed us in the Boat Race.)

Since that time Seaham's Finest, one Gary_The_Mackem, has been back to Portland for some Timbers matches, and our own Kip and Jen Kesgard spent part of their honeymoon over in England with the Mackems. When TA nerds like me tell you it's a lifestyle, it's no bullshit!

I'm not crazy about mid-season friendlies; I think it can demean the entirety of American soccer that we play meaningless exhibitions in between real games. I'm not crazy about them, but they can be lots of fun. Meeting supporters from around the globe has been a real thrill, and an eye-opener for a soccer neonate like me. As long as the teams play friendly, and no one gets hurt, there's really little to complain about. Plus it's the only time I don't utterly hate seeing a game end in a penalty shootout (which the Timbers didn't start doing until a couple years later, I believe vs AC Milan Primavera).

Have fun with our Dutch guests tonight, and represent the Rose City proudly. Show them a good time, buy them beers, swap scarves and stories, and try to keep in mind that the game is called "friendly" for a reason. Whereas normally your opponent, no matter how high the regard in which you hold them, is an enemy for 90 minutes...perhaps tonight the Ajax supporters can be 90-minute frenemies?

The 107ist Board has agreed to join adidas and the Portland Timbers in supporting an ambitious and exciting project that will use soccer as part of an after-school program focused on elementary students in the Portland area.

The project – Portland Advantage Centers – will meld soccer with after-school programs intended to boost student achievement and literacy.  The Centers are envisioned as community gathering places hosting both recreational and organized soccer. Volunteers will work with kids on both schoolwork and soccer.

This project will kick off during the summer with a field-development project, hopefullly at James John Elementary School in North Portland.  Plans call for having six Advantage Centers running by this fall, at schools in both Portland and Beaverton.

Timbers Army and 107ist members will be invited to take part in publicity and fund-raising campaigns that will begin in June.  In addition, there will be hands-on work parties, the first of which will transform the concrete playground at James John Elementary and install a new artificial turf soccer field. 

The board discussed the proposal at three meetings, and formed a subcommittee to work further with project organizers.   We felt that the Advantage Centers project aligned well with our mission:  "To promote soccer in Portland from the grass roots to the highest professional level."

—by Chris Rifer

Osama Bin Laden was killed, Oprah filmed her last show, and the planet survived a rapture prophecy. All of these things have happened since a Timber that isn’t a central defender scored a goal. Usually when a club goes the better part of a month without any of their forwards, midfielders, or outside backs adding to their account, they make a beeline to the bottom of the table. Not your Portland Timbers, however. They have taken seven points out of nine in the midst of such a stretch.

Coming into Saturday, the match between the Timbers and Columbus Crew was billed as a matchup of Eric Brunner against his former team and their prolific scorer, Emilio Renteria. Well, Renteria lasted all of 38 minutes while Brunner scored the winning goal and led his defense to a clean sheet. Advantage, Brunner.

In spite of the storylines, the Timbers’ win was not marked by the dominant, exhilarating play they have showed at Jeld-Wen Field thus far this year. Columbus controlled the first 20 minutes of the match, as Renteria and fellow Crew striker Tommy Heinemann repeatedly sent Portland’s backline scrambling. The Timbers came out flat, lacking any rhythm and not seriously challenging the Crew defense. As they have been for the past month, however, the Timbers defense was up for the challenge.

The Timbers asserted themselves a bit more as the half progressed, but ultimately failed to put anything on frame in the first half. The best chance of the half came from Columbus, as an incredible Andres Mendoza cross found Heinemann at the far post, but a brilliant reaction from Troy Perkins parried Heinemann’s header wide.

As flat as Portland looked in the first half, they looked equally sharp to open the second. Barely 30 seconds after intermission, Jack Jewsbury quickly played a free kick at the edge of the box to Kalif Alhassan. With virtually no pressure, Kalif crossed to a completely unmarked Eric Brunner who nodded the ball through the disorganized Columbus defense and into the net.

Portland’s chances didn’t end there. In the ensuing 15 minutes, both Kalif Alhassan and Jorge Perlaza missed promising opportunities inside the box that would have ended any suspense.

The Timbers couldn’t find that second goal, however, and as the half wore on Columbus began to more urgently search for an equalizer. In the 87^th minute, Crew midfielder Robbie Rodgers hit a shot from the top of the box that skidded past Perkins but glanced off the outside of the post.

From there, however, Portland put on a clinic on how to kill off the waning moments of a 1-0 match. Crisp passing and movement from the Timbers kept Columbus from even sniffing their attacking third in stoppage time, much less coming close to an equalizer.

Even if it was less than aesthetically pleasing at times, the win gives Portland their fifth win at Jeld-Wen Field and perfect 15^th point out of 15 at home.

Match Observations

• At some point the lack of production from the midfield and strikeforce has to be a concern. It seems that teams are trying to pack in against Portland a little bit. That has created challenges, especially for Jorge Perlaza, Kenny Cooper, and Kalif Alhassan, but has also resulted in relieving the defense of a bit of pressure. Eventually teams are going to realize that isn’t a viable strategy against the Timbers. Portland is so good on set pieces that the Timbers are likely to get on the board via the free kick regardless of whether a team packs in or plays a bit more freely. Considering the odds of scoring more than once are slim when a team plays relatively conservatively, this strategy is ultimately self-defeating. As we have seen over the last couple weeks, so long as opponents keep things tight, the lack of production up front isn’t a huge issue. When things open up, though, Perlaza, Alhassan and Cooper are going to have to produce to keep Portland on their torrid pace.
• I don’t usually like to harp on refereeing, but Saturday’s was the worst we have seen all year. The officiating was at best erratic. The referee gave some free kicks that were just flat undeserved, and ignored some obvious fouls—most prominently including Futty’s late tackle on Renteria in the first half which deserved at least a yellow card.
• This is ridiculously early, but the disparity between the conferences is substantial. At this point in the season there are six teams in the West that are indisputably better than the third best team in the East, and with the recent run of form from Chivas you could argue that now there are seven. It is easy to foresee the maximum-possible six teams from the West getting into the playoffs. The most eye-opening statistic: The West is +17 in goal differential.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 6.5 He struggled in distribution again, but was an absolute stud in goal. His first half denial of Heinemann might be the save of the week, and came up huge with a number of other big stops. Brunner is the sexy pick for Man of the Match, but don’t forget about Troy’s play in goal that preserved the clean sheet.

Rodney Wallace, 6 Didn’t get forward much, but had maybe his best game in defense. Won a ton of tough balls on his left side, and was helpful in controlling Columbus’ movement up front.

Futty, 5.5 Had a nice game in defense even though he was posed with a bit more of a challenge. Columbus’ forwards’ movement was excellent, posing challenges especially for Portland’s center backs. They did well to keep a clean sheet, even if they conceded a few good chances.

Eric Brunner, 6.5 Gets a bonus for scoring the goal, and otherwise rose to the occasion in defense. He was sort of the darling of the week—going against his old club—and he completed the storyline by delivering the winner.

Jeremy Hall, 4.5 Over the last couple weeks he has shown a disturbing tendency to not pick up his marks, and the Timbers were almost punished for that a couple times, especially on Heinemann’s first half diving header.

Kalif Alhassan, 5 He occasionally looked good with the ball at his feet, but had a couple good opportunities to shoot on goal and failed to hit frame either time.

Jack Jewsbury, 5.5 Gets credit for having the presence of mind to take the free kick quickly to set up the goal, and had a decent day in the center of the midfield. Still, didn’t have his best day on set pieces.

Diego Chara, 5.5 Didn’t have many plays that you would consider game changing, but the difference that Chara has brought to the midfield is very noticeable. Before Chara the offense ran almost exclusively up the wings, and while the Timbers still like to move up the wings, the passing and movement in the midfield has improved dramatically since his arrival, to say nothing of the Timbers’ newfound ability to defensively control the game in the midfield.

Darlington Nagbe, 5.5 I was a little surprised to see him come off at half, as I thought Darlington had one of his better halves of the season. His movement was pretty good, and he looked to have a better feel for how to create with his pace.

Jorge Perlaza, 5 As usual, he had a few of his nice runs, but when he gets a chance in front of goal like he got in the second half, he has to put it on frame.

Kenny Cooper, 4.5 Cooper needs to rediscover the disruptiveness that he showed early in the season. Not all of this is on him, as he has become the feature of just about everybody’s defensive game plan, and he is working awfully hard to get the ball at his feet by tracking back into midfield, but he has been virtually silenced in the past three matches.

Sal Zizzo, 5.5 Zizzo wasn’t quite as active as he has been coming on in the last few matches, but still had a nice outing. His vision and passing is still quite a step above Nagbe’s.

Ryan Pore, 5 Was fairly nondescript in his short stint. I must admit, I’m not entirely sure about this pattern of bringing Pore on for Perlaza in the waning moments. Pore probably does bring a marginal improvement in defense over Perlaza, but it’s to the detriment of a lot of offense.

James Marcelin, INC Had a couple nice moments, and another obvious foul that wasn’t called, but wasn’t on for long enough to really make an impact.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Chris Rifer

On Saturday night the Kings of Cascadia headed north, looking to steal a result from an ever-confident Sounders side in the first Cascadia Cup fixture in MLS history. On a night with weather befitting Cascadia, in front of a mostly-full Qwest Field, the Timbers played the Sounders to a 1-1 draw, sending the trash-bag-poncho-clad Rave Green faithful home disappointed.

In the first half the Timbers had the better of the run of play. After weathering a little Sounders pressure in the opening minutes, the Timbers created the majority of the chances and looked far and away the more threatening side. In spite of the Timbers’ control, Portland struggled to find much in the way of golden opportunities, rarely making Kasey Keller work beyond his comfort zone.

If the chances were few for the Timbers, they were downright endangered for Seattle. Great Clips commercials on the JumboTron substantially outnumbered the Sounders’ chances in the first 45 minutes, as the Timbers’ defense was more than ready to answer any question the Sounders asked of them. Seattle’s best chance came in the waning minutes of the half, as a Fredy Montero free kick sailed wide into the side netting—sending a significant portion of Sounders fans into a delirious, if a bit confused celebration.

The second half, however, brought an end to Seattle’s offensive impotence. The first ten minutes after intermission saw a once-composed Timbers defense turn into a sieve. The Sounders created several chances in the opening moments of the second period, and saw their efforts pay off as a Montero header found Alvaro Fernandez completely unmarked at the corner of the box. Fernandez had time to take two touches and blast past a helpless Troy Perkins to put Seattle on top momentarily.

The Sounders’ lead wouldn’t last, however, as in the 65^th minute Jack Jewsbury sent another one of his signature set pieces into the box. In a virtual replay of their goal against Philadelphia, Futty nodded Jewsbury’s service past an onrushing Kasey Keller to equalize.

The remainder of the match was an up and down affair that saw plenty of action in each side’s attacking third but no quality chances to speak of. Both sides believed they earned a penalty—Portland after an arguably cynical take down of Kenny Cooper in the box and Seattle after an apparent incidental handball by Futty—but the referee resisted the urge to change the result.

In the end, the draw was a just result that sent the saturated Timbers Army home satisfied. Questions about whether Portland can compete on the road have been put on hold, as the Timbers did not have any problem playing on level terms with Seattle at Qwest Field. The draw gives the Timbers a much needed away point, and the early inside track to retain the Cascadia Cup.

Match Observations

• Other than a pretty terrible first ten minutes to begin the second half, the Timbers defense again showed the form that they put on display at home the last two weeks. Seattle spent a fair amount of time in Timbers territory on Saturday, but other than the goal, the Timbers defense kept Seattle from creating any chances that would seriously make Perkins work.
• The conditions worked out perfectly for Portland. The away team in a derby match very rarely wins a pretty game. The Timbers, then, wanted to make the match ugly and look to scratch out a result. The conditions were amenable to such a tactic, and it paid off in the draw.
• For some reason I always go to Seattle expecting the Sounders’ supporters section to be bigger and louder. I always leave underwhelmed. Certainly they spent a lot on their tifo, as their banners looked like they cost quite a bit to have made for them. Aside from that, though, the Sounders customers were less than breathtaking. I can’t help but equate Seattle customers to Donald Trump. They talk to everybody who will listen about how great they are, but really don’t have that much cause to brag. The fact that they can fill about half the seats in an NFL stadium doesn’t really sweep me off my feet.
• Finally, I’d like to take a moment to give a big thank you to some real class supporters. Joanne and the rest of the travel team, including all of the bus captains, did an incredible job putting all of this on. The Seattle away trip poses some pretty unique challenges, and everybody involved in organizing it did an incredible job. Thank you!

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 5.5 Again, his defense didn’t make him work a whole lot. Can’t blame him for the goal, and came up nicely in a couple spots in clearing out a few crosses and stopping a couple shots.

Rodney Wallace, 5.5 Rod is best when he can face up his opponent on the wing. In that situation he does a really good job of contesting the cross, blocking it or making the winger send it into a place he doesn’t want to. That said, he can still be a little stressful when the opponent is on the counterattack or when called upon to play a ball in the air.

Futty, 6.5 Probably the man of the match for the Timbers. Before the match I saw an article that said he was one of the best in the league at playing balls in the air off of set pieces. When I read that I thought it was a bit premature. Turns out it wasn’t as much premature as prophetic. Has clearly secured his starting spot alongside Brunner, and played as well in defense as he did in getting his melon on Jewsbury’s service.

Eric Brunner, 5.5 Fairly nondescript match from Brunner, which is more of a compliment than anything for a central defender. Bears some responsibility for the miscommunication on Seattle’s goal, but otherwise, still lead a very effective backline.

Jeremy Hall, 4.5 Didn’t provide a whole lot coming forward, but that is to be expected when the Timbers are away. Had a couple misplays, and Fernandez was probably his mark on the Sounders’ goal, but was generally reliable on his flank.

Kalif Alhassan, 5.5 There wasn’t a ton of room to operate for Kalif, as he was clearly a point of emphasis for the Sounders defense. Made a couple nice runs with the ball at his feet, but didn’t have the opportunity to be his usual self.

Diego Chara, 5.5 He’s more dynamic when the game is a bit more open, but Chara was overall impressive in the center of the midfield. He and Jewsbury were getting quite a bit of respect from Seattle’s midfield, as they were sitting quite a ways back much of the night. I don’t know if he won the matchup with Osvaldo Alonso, but he certainly didn’t lose it.

Jack Jewsbury, 6 Gets credit for a good game in the center of the midfield, but again created the Timbers’ breakthrough with brilliant service off of a set piece. Right now he is the engine behind Portland’s greatest strength, and if the Timbers keep up their torrid scoring pace on set pieces, Jewsbury could be in line for some league honors.

Darlington Nagbe, 4.5 I feel like I say this every week, but he just needs some time. He again showed how hard he is to knock off the ball, but sometimes that is to the Timbers’ detriment. He has a tendency to try to make something happen himself rather than make the proper pass or send a cross into the box.

Jorge Perlaza, 5 I can’t give him a negative grade because his lack of impact on the match wasn’t really his fault. The Sounders were very tight in back, and Perlaza really didn’t have anything in the way of service.

Kenny Cooper, 5.5 Largely the same as Perlaza. He didn’t have much service, but he gets bumped up slightly for creating a bit more himself. Had two shots on target and was perhaps a bit unlucky not to draw a penalty.

Sal Zizzo, 6 Drew the foul that led to the equalizing free kick. In the last couple games Sal has stated an interesting case that he should see the pitch quite a bit. Nagbe just needs more time on the pitch to develop, so I would be surprised to see Zizzo take his place in the starting XI, but I think we will consistently see Zizzo before the 70^th minute on that right side.

Ryan Pore, 5 Came on late for Perlaza to help salt away the draw. Didn’t have much of an impact, but was a shrewd move as he provides a bit more in defense than Perlaza. Despite the Sounders’ desperate search for a winner late, with Pore’s help the Timbers kept Seattle from ever seriously threatening.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Lucas Grzybowski

After a super-charged, bliss-filled day of singing, eating, drinking, and soaking in it, during which all the Timbers Army boys and girls behaved themselves impeccably, and the Timbers Boys left qwest field with a well-earned point, this is the image that lingers in my mind.

photo by Craig Mitchelldyer, amazing shoop skillz by yours truly

Thoughts, links, stuff, et cetera (I'll add to this list as things emerge from my subconscious):

• Bus rides can be stressful. Bus rides to seatle can be...worse than stressful. Saturday's bus trip - a full 10-bus convoy of shrieking TA love - went off without any real problems. OK, there was apparently a weird t-shirt crush at Centralia, and one of the buses needed a jump to get us out of fishville after the game; but for what was the largest bus trip the TA has ever undertaken, and the most logistically complex (unnecessarily so, thanks to sounders moronic and cowardly front office), it was smooth as a Jack Jewsbury set piece. So here's a big fat THANK YOU to the 107ist travel committee, to the bus captains, to the bus drivers, and to the traveling TA for making this happen. As our fearless Presidente tweeted in the midst of the madness: "I love everybody right now."
• Merritt Paulson's impromptu largesse from the luxury suite during halftime. The TA said "we have no nachos!" MP replied, "Let them eat hot dogs!" and hurled a bag of hot dogs from the suite's buffet into the adoring throng, along with some bags of potato chips and, my favorite, a bottle of mustard. I had a bite of one of the hot dogs; the bread was hard, the meat was cold, and I ended up with mustard all in my beard; it was the best bite of food I've ever had. I think it was a kosher beef dog.
• sounders fans should be commended for showing up in large numbers, game in and game out, in pouring rain etc. Numbers don't lie, and 36k+ is impressive. But their supporters section — the rowdy people who stand and sing and jump around the whole game — is teeny weeny and soft as shit. It looks slightly smaller than the Woodshed ca. 2007 (which, to any sounders fans reading this, is before soccer was invented). Add the piped-in (or amplified) crowd noise, and you can color me wholly unimpressed with the atmosphere at qwest field (however, I will admit that the leveque banner gave me a giggle, well played there).
• I have a personal friend in FUTTY. Flying along on a wing and a prayer, who could it be? Believe it or not... it's just FUTTY. If it wasn't already apparent, our man FUTTY has joined the Pantheon. Seeing him make "Pissbags" Keller look foolish on the equalizer was a moment I'll cherish for always. Futty...Futty...FUTTY!!!

2011 Seattle Away tifo at the Seattle Sounders.