CONCACAEF Champions League

The marquee MLS teams may not be in the hunt for this trophy at the moment,  but there's no question that this bit o' bling is fiercely sought.   The matches this week were hard fought and attended by thousands of passionate fans.   America was upset by Herediano in a fierce contest.   And the Montreal Impact picked up a win in the first leg of their semi-final match.  I'd love to see the Timbers move up that chain.  To be tested in the broader world of futbol and to succeed is where a club's legacy begins to have true gold.   

Alan Gordon? What?

Tonight's match between the Timbers and the Galaxy provided rich terrain for commentary and as many sparks of excitement as you'd get running a knife blade over steel in a bad thriller.  I have deeply mixed feelings about what I saw tonight. 

Perspective number one.  The Portland Timbers playing without their midfield magician, Diego Valeri, not to mention Will Johnson,  took their game to the MLS Champions and forced them to wring out a draw in the very last seconds of the match.  Robbie Keane, perhaps the most dangerous forward in MLS, did not have much impact on this match.   

Perspective number two.  We've played two matches into the new season and we've pulled out two ties.  A year ago, we were at the same place in the standings.  In the match tonight, the team played aggressively and were organized against the best in the League.  The first goal by Adi was a beauty coming off the brilliant set up---Nagbe's backheel and Wallace's great run and perfectly timed pass to the streaking #9.    On the other hand Gyasi Zardes' run to the near post to finish the Galaxy's first goal looked like a replay of some most dangerous moments last year.  Borchers was covering in front of Zardes' run and Ridgewell was two yards off the space Zardes ran into--neither picked him up as he came through.   And thus, a goal given. 

Perspective number three.  Darlington Nagbe's individual effort several times in the game but clearly when he fought his way into the goal box and fed Adi for the second goal demonstrate what great capacity this team has.  I think Nagbe is both hero and tragic figure.  He does all he can and his excellence is rewarded by being subjected to thuggery.  I think the game is demeaned because there is not a remedy to the repeated 'soft fouls' that just take the player down, no malice to speak of.   The game is demeaned as a result.  

Perspective number four.   Alan Gordon had a wonderful season with the Timbers about ten years back. Scored well and was an upbeat and effective  forward.  We liked him.   Coming on for LA late tonight, though,  Gordon has been producing about one goal every three matches on average.  Not bad but not stellar.   To have him enter the game late and pull out the tying header in the dying seconds of the game is painful.   I watched it happen live and have looked at the replays and am at a loss to give some explanation to giving up the tie.   Perhaps it was the Roman curse,  the "Ides of March",  for which there is no explanation, only fate.  Amended comment: Gordo Time is apparently a phenomenon that trumps the Ides of March. 

I don't like that answer.  I'm looking forward to seeing the team break out of last year's pattern with our next game.   We've faced down two very good opponents and now it's time to show where we're headed.  

Finders Keepers. The Forty Years.

I watched the MLS highlights late on Sunday night and was somewhat astonished to see the two newest MLS teams--Orlando and New New York-- facing off with two past Portland Timber stars playing in the hole.   Josh Saunders whose name once echoed from the Army sections at every game opened for New York FC and struck his head on the left post making a save.  The crash ignited a discussion about head injury risks.  Saunders played on.  At the other end of the pitch was Donovan Ricketts who had anchored the Timbers' defense through last season but who was snagged by Orlando FC when the Timbers did not protect his contract.   The subsequent tie between the two teams in their first ever matches was no surprise.

As the years go by, the number of players and others who made notable contributions in the decades through which Portland Timbers have been competing increases steadily.   The legendary like Clive are well-remembered and deservedly so.  Jimmy Conway, Mick Poole, the list goes on and continues to get longer.   Fadi Afash?  Byron Alvarez?  Many players and others deserve remembering as the people who kept the Portland Timbers idea alive so that there could be a 40 year PTFC.   Art Dixon, Scott Benedetti, Brent Goulet.   There are hundreds who have been passionate about Portland Timbers Soccer---making sacrifices to be soccer players when there was no glory and few rewards.  

As we march on, the numbers will swell and sometime there will be enough Portland Timbers to fill the stadium even without fans.  I am grateful that I've had a chance to sit in on some parts of those four decades.   And I am excited to see what the endurance and passion of those past people has given us--a football club deeply rooted in the community and in a vision of what futbol symbolizes to that community.  Portland Timbers.  A grand adventure that has gone silent at times, but has never died. I expect to be there when I'm 85.

What comes of not keeping up with Timbers' scuttlebutt!

At the Simple Invitational match between the Whitecaps and the Timbers last night,  I looked out in the second half and saw the #11 jersey.  "Hey", I said to my friend Mark,  "when did Kalif sub in? "  He looked at me pityingly and said "Kalif's no longer a Timber.  He's gone."  And my response was surprise.   I liked Kalif and wished very much that he'd found his form with the Timbers.  I remember first seeing him as a new acquisition and being impressed by his dazzling foot skills.  I also remember him being knocked about in league play.   It wasn't until last season, I thought,  that he really had found enough physicality to hold his own and begin to re-exhibit some of the flare he'd shown in that first appearance. 

My other thought was how busy life has been since the end of the last season.  I've had little time to connect with what was happening with the team-- work, aging parents, adult children, grandkids.  Life is a blur.   And I'm looking forward to stepping out of that world occasionally to savor the next adventures of the Timbers, my team.  I'll miss Kalif out on the field but I hope that wherever he lands he's able to make his mark.   And one day we'll say, "oh yeah, I remember when he was just a kid and joined the Timbers.".