I have always loved the US Open Cup. The idea of a cup competition which any team can enter, any team can tumble the giants, any team can aspire to reach beyond their normal fields of play is the stuff of legends. Add to that the fact that the Cup is the oldest competition of its kind in the States, and it says volumes about the place of football---yes, that football--in American sports history.
So I am unusually charged up to have my hometown crew, the Portland Timbers RCTID, claw their way back from a 0-1 deficit to Dallas to finish the quarterfinal match 3-2 with a gutsy and relentless battle for the win. That puts the Timbers in a semifinal match against RSL, also by chance their closest rival in the League table, to go forward to the Open Cup championship.
This excites me. It excites me beyond winning the MLS Championship. Because the Open Cup Champions are inscribed on a long list of hallowed teams who, through their love of football, made the game an American game long before it hit the mainstream. And carving their names into that list will, in my opinion, be there long after individuals leagues and teams have been forgotten. Being on that list would cement Portland's claim to be 'Soccer City USA', a place where a sport which had no roots became a central part of the community's self-identity.
The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Soccer. Football. Legends.
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