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.".

Futbol and Destiny

This past weekend's match between the Columbus Crew and the New England Revs was a rout.  No question that the Revs had the energy and organization to take the match and move to the next level of the playoffs.   That said, it was a sad moment when the Crew's Ethan Finlay raced in to get an attacking ball one-v-one with New England's stalwart Shuttleworth.  Finlay clearly recognized he could not get to the ball and did his best to rotate away from Shuttleworth's courageous slide to win it.  Despite that,  there was contact as there often is in the game. Shuttleworth lay on the turf as if he'd been pole-axed.   New England players swarmed Finlay who kept his cool and did not bite on the provocation.   He made his best effort to see that Shuttleworth was okay.  

Sadly,  the center referee judged that Finlay was guilty of dangerous play and issued him a straight red.  My guess is that serious review of the video will exonerate Finlay and give some pause to the capability of the official.

I'd say that one of the continuing questions about the quality of the MLS revolves around officiating---consistent, authoritative,  clear-headed officiating.   

This was a sorry excuse for officiating in a high stakes setting.   Not so good.

End of Season…not end of story

Tonight,  the Timbers gave a good accounting of themselves and soundly beat Dallas 2-0 in the final match of the season,  accruing 49 points.   I've got to say that it has been one heart-palpitating,  groan inducing,  high and low season.  No shortage of excitement.   But at bottom,  we weren't able to do what Coach Porter said early on needed to be done---we couldn't hit 50 points.   And that slim margin was enough to make tonight the end of the season.   Our team is good---very good at their best--and I have my season tickets paid for because I expect to be there to see them go even further next year.    But they are not yet where they can be--not yet the champions I see the potential for,  not yet the electrifying and consistent team that will be remembered two decades hence as legendary.   I want to believe that they can hit that mark--and so I'm in for the long haul.   

As for this season,  I give a solid shout out to the guys who have been there start to finish.  I give my best wishes for healing to Will Johnson,  I hope that injury isn't an end to your career.   And I look forward to coming back to share more joy next year.   

In 2015, we'll be celebrating the 40th anniversary of Portland Timbers' futbol,  a span that covers two thirds of my life.   An occurrence that led to me playing the game for nearly forty years myself.   And with any luck,  still getting out there when that forty year mark arrives.   I marvel at that statistic.   Who would have said,  back in the early days when Don Megson coached and Jimmy Kelly was the 'wee lad'  and Eric Beck recorded 'Green is the Color', that there would be Portland Timbers with a long and proud tradition and a universe of supporters who have RCTID inked on their bodies and their brains?   

I love it.   See you next year!

My favorite competition- the US Open Cup

The 2014 Lamar Hunt Open Cup came down to a fiercely contested battle between the Seattle Sounders and the Philadelphia Union.   The Union  suffered some bad luck--knocking the wood on attacks that most of the time would have garnered a goal.   But at the end Seattle drove the spike into the heart of the game under the interplay of Martins and Dempsey.   I'm not saying anything original in noting that these two may be the most dangerous duo in MLS.   

Regardless,  the match in Chester PA was exciting.   The Sounders have now netted their fourth Open Cup title. That compares to historic teams'  five Open Cup titles back in the days when soccer was mostly played by recent immigrants sponsored by big corporations.  

Let me reiterate---I love the Open Cup.   It's genuine American futbol as it's been around since 1914.   And even this year,  a team of nobodies beat an MLS side in the stages.  Futbol should be an aspirational game.  On a given day, a bunch of guys from Bohunk can man up and pull of the big upset.