So much futbol to comment on...

I just turned off the replay of the exhibition match between Chelsea and Man City in St. Louis, one of the oldest and staunchest hotbeds of soccer in the US.   What a crazy but entertaining match for the audience of 46,000?  Did I get that number right?  Regardless it was a lot o' folks.   And Man City coming back from a three goal deficit to win 4-3 can't be dismissed as exciting.

Turn back the clock to Saturday afternoon when the Portland Timbers took on DC United in DC and came home with to notches on their gunbelts, a 2-0 win in a hardscrabble match.  Who would have imagined that this shift in outcomes was possible with so many of the same players as we've fielded in previous years.   I am so impressed with the impact that the coaching change has made.    And it's wonderful to see the players who've worked so hard and had so little to show for it in 2012 be rewarded for their efforts this year.   Makes me happy.


I am particularly happy to see Rodney Wallace explode into a ferocious and deadly scorer.  I have said in the past that I was not a fan of Wallace on the back line when he started.  And even moved to midfield,  I was nervous.  But his role in this year's team as an attacking wing is thrilling to watch.   I see hunger and determination and poise under pressure and character.   Rodney, I am glad that the Timbers have found the right role for you.  


On a different theme,  the Galaxy's butchery of the Sounders was not fun to see.  It speaks to the fact that the Galaxy are a well-oiled machine regardless of whether they have a British supastar.   I was sad that the front end of the match report was about Robbie Rogers' return and not about the match itself.  I think it's sad that Rogers and other professional athletes still have to make this the first issue people talk about instead of their performance on the field.
The Sounders seem to have lost their way,  an observation that gives me little consolation since I know they will look to claw their way back to credibility over us.   At the same time, I'd like to see the PNW Cascadia teams and San Jose--the old guard-- be the strongest and grittiest part of the MLS.    We spent decades in the stands willing various versions of our teams to hold on because one day 'the game was going to be successful'.   And here it is.  And here we are.   And the scars from getting here mean we should always aspire to live up to that legacy. 

Signing off for now!

Can it really be? Portland Timbers hunker down and grab a road win!

I tuned in late tonight to the Timbers' away match against Sporting KC.  By the time I had found the channel,  the team was already in a 0-1 hole.   And the oppressive, dark feeling of being down in a well with the water rising  surfaced back in the corner of my mind.   But I truly want the good to prevail,  and so I found myself jumping up and down on the couch,  heart pounding,  and trying to respond to my relatives who share the game around the state via text message.  Yes!! It was mostly all Yes!!

I am wary of defining 'turning corners'  until years after the event.  I am wary of wanting to have a scary great team creating legends until the legends are already carved in stone.  I am wary of hoping too much from a simple football match.  All that being said,  I was enchanted by this game.   The players showed courage,  energy, poise.   They were hungry.  They were creative.   They were fierce.   And nothing seemed likely to stop them.   

When Futty went down---I exhaled a string of expletives.  How many times has that happened?  Just when we hit our stride we're hamstrung by the hobbling of a key player.  And Futty's injury was not a small loss in a team that looked much as a winning team should look.  

Despite that,  we took home a win.   We saw what was possible.  We sent a tremor,  I hope, through the ranks of the storied teams of MLS.   PTFC.   It's gonna be the brand you see streaming by you.

I can't wait for the next match.

Portland Timbers claw out a victory in KC

Timbers fan assaulted before San Jose match

San Jose Hooligans?   The match against the Quakes on Sunday night was a rough one to no one's surprise.  I was a little taken aback that it was Alan Gordon, the former Timber, who ended up being the goat in the game,  but his elbow into Silvestre's face was just as clear as the one a week earlier which took out Valeri.  But then San Jose has always played a physical style in recent years.  What did catch me by surprise was the story of an attack on a Timbers' fan in his car driving to the match.   I've generally been impressed with the ability of the competing fan groups to be vocal rivals without devolving into more physical and thuggish competition,  particularly when there's so much beer involved.   This is the first time in recent years I recall hearing of a scuffle like this in PDX.  It certainly isn't a good sign for Timbers' Army members going south for the return leg next week.   And it seems strange to me in other ways.  The culture and demographics that have been connected to hooliganism since ancient Rome could certainly be found in modern American cities as well.  But are the young counter cultural and hipster fans who make up a chunk of the faces at Jeld-Wen cut from that cloth?   Alienated and angry?  There must be a few in any large group,  but I'm surprised that there might be enough to travel to a distant city and assault a local fan on a public street.  Or perhaps the rise of football here in the states, with its mythology of fan violence, is an attractor to people who would have been American sport fans torching cars in their city after winning a championship in something.   Another phenomenon I don't quite get. 

We'll see.  In the meantime, I'd really like to see the kabosh put on violence where it can be identified and stopped: on the pitch. 

Potpuorri de Futbol! While waiting for our boys' next match.

I've been a little frustrated because of constraints on my personal time on the field the last several weeks. I'm sure that will all change now that the O50's Spring Season has started.

We're off this weekend because so many of the guys--on all our league teams--are up in Victoria at the Bill Drew Memorial Tournament  playing under the Mojos' banner.  I'm jealous 'cause we're not there,  but I'm also hopeful that those who went have a great run on the field and come back with no injuries.  Mar and I enjoyed being there but it wasn't possible this year.   

So I'm satisfying myself with streaming football off the web.   And isn't it great to live in a time when you can do that?   Holy cow!   

What did I 'dip into' and sample this past few days?    Well perhaps the most satisfying bit was the derby between City and United which City won.  Again.  I enjoyed seeing it. 
I happened to tune into the Mexican League match between Cruz Azul and Tijuana which the Blues won crushingly with four unanswered goals.  I haven't looked at the table for the league but I enjoyed seeing such fine goals.  The fourth goal was a gem---excellent communication from the top of the box to Xavier Orozco and a crisp shot from a difficult angle.   Made me wonder whether Orozco's available for a loan.
Last off,  I saw that the Thorns, RCTIFD's new women's side tied 1-1 in the first ever match in that league with Christine Sinclair being forced to finish a pk to make the table.   I hope that their 'come from behind beginning' doesn't mean too much....you know we're gettin' this vibe in PDX.   

That's it.  See you in the stands!