Game Day Vs. Minnesota and Way to Stay Classy, Lents

It's game day!!! The Timbers face their rivals to the east from the land of lakes, the Minnesota Thunder!!

http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2009/06/game_day_minnesota_thunder_at.html - The O previews the game, but let's recap some specifics:

Game Time: 8 pm at PGE Park. It's a late start because of the broadcast.
Broadcast: You can listen to the match at www.portlandtimbers.com, or watch in on Fox Soccer Channel, channel 401 in the Portland area if you have digital cable.
Special Night: It's Teddy Bear Toss night, where teddy bears go flying after the first Timbers goal. Last year, it was bears ahoy after an early goal, and it's always a fun night to see things landing on the pitch for a good reason. Timber Joey also has a birthday celebration tonight at Barracuda after the match.
Overall History: The Timbers have a winning record against the Thunder with a 10 - 5 - 11 record in 26 meetings throughout the years. At home, the Timbers are 5 - 3 - 5, while on the road, they are 5 - 2 - 6 versus the Thunder.
Timbers Form: Still unbeaten in 10 league matches, a friendly and 2 Open Cup matches since losing their opener in Vancouver. They sit with 20 points at 5 - 1 - 5, and most recently, drew on the road in Carolina last Thursday 0 - 0 and in Charleston on Saturday 1 - 1. They beat Sonoma County on Tuesday 3 to 0 to advance in the Open Cup.
Timber Player Updates: At this point, we know Ryan Pore, Tony McManus and Takuro Nishimura have been dealing with injuries and visa issues. Pore and McManus have targeted the Montreal match on 6/28 for their possible return or at the very least the 7/1 Open Cup match vs. FC Puke Green. No word on Nishimura so far, but I'd like to see him return soon. Everyone else appears to be healthy and ready to play.
Timber Key Players: Mandjou Keita is on a tear lately, with 3 league goals to tie Ryan Pore for the team lead in goals, and Keita got 2 goals on Tuesday in the Open Cup match. He's playing very well lately, and his partner up front, George Josten, has also played well, getting a goal in the Open Cup match as well. Brian Farber continues his stellar play, leading the team with 2 assists, but Johan Claesson and Keith Savage have also played well in the middle by keeping thing stable and providing support in the front or back as needed. The defense continues their stellar play, giving up only 5 goals on the season so far, and Steve Cronin making some rather incredible saves and heady keeper moves. Can't say enough about the job Keel, Hayes, Scot, Cam and Danso have done in back. One guy I've been impressed with lately is Taka Suzuki, who seems to have found a place in the midfield, showing some creativity and flair that have been missing lately. He has made some nice plays and is showing some hustle, and it's good to see him showing some skills.
Upcoming Timbers Matches: They get a break for a bit, not playing again until June 28th versus Montreal, but then play 7/1 versus FC Puke Green, 7/2 in a friendly against Bayern Munich II and then head to the road to play Minnesota on 7/4
Thunder Form: Courtesy of their website, the Thunder got their first win of the 2009 USL campaign on Sunday 6/14 versus Carolina at home 2 to nil. They also beat the Chicago Fire PDL team 4 to nil in the Open Cup to advance to a meeting with the Kansas City WIzards on 6/30 at home, and their next league match in the USL after tonight is the 27th when they host Rochester. They currently sit in last place in the USL Division 1 with 7 points and a 1 - 5 - 4 record in 10 games played.
Thunder Player Updates: Per their website, the team has been playing better lately, but got off to a really rough start. They have two injuries to Kevin Friedland and Rich Costanzo, as Friedland has hamstring issues and Costanzo has a dislocated elbow. Everyone else is healthy.
Thunder Key Players: The Thunder have 3 players with 2 goals each, Brian Cvilikas, Leonel Saint-Preux, and Ricardo Sanchez, while Sanchez has 3 assists to lead the team. Long time Thunder player Melvin Tarley returns to the Rose City, along with a former Timber, Lawrence Olum, who has a goal and assist. Olum was a midfielder for the Timbers last season, and was a fan favorite with his high energy runs. Nick Platter returns as the long time Thunder net minder, a veteran of many Timber - Thunder matches.
Key Notes: Former Thunder player and coach Amos McGee is now coach with the Timbers, so he faces his old side tonight. McGee resigned from the team last year, and was replaced by Manny Lagos, who is still coach of the Thunder. The Thunder are playing a bit better after their rough start, but the Timbers are on a roll right now, not having a loss since April and they are getting a lot of contributions across the pitch.
Prediction: As much as I'd like to rely on the records here, I don't think this game will be as easy as people might think. Minnesota is a scrappy team, and they traditionally play smart soccer by trying to control the midfield and make short passes to their attacking forwards. But, the Timbers are playing very well lately, and tonight gives them a chance to keep the streak going before a much needed break after a rough road trip. I expect 3 goals from the Timbers, and the Thunder get 1 to keep it interesting, but in the end, it will be a Timbers win and they'll be bears flying all over the place.

Last night, the Lents URAC held a public open house to talk about the stadium deal for the Beavers, although some of the anticipation of the night was pulled out of the air with the earlier announcement that the soccer and baseball stadium efforts had been decoupled, and would proceed separately from each other. The baseball opponents held a rally, and when the actual meeting started up, Merritt Paulson spoke to the crowd and was greeted by jeers and boos. Apparently, Randy Leonard suffered a similar fate last night, and there was a report of something thrown at him by someone in the crowd. Also, Nick Fish, the city's self professed biggest soccer fan was there to tell the opponents he supports their efforts and won't let the city take away Lents Park.

The whole stadium thing has reached epic proportions of ineptitude, and I can pin a lot of blame on the architects and the Trail Blazers for killing the MC idea, but I can't think of any reason why people need to get so worked up that they throw things at city leaders or purposefully boo people who are there just trying to make their position known. I get that this is a passionate issue and people are entitled to their opinions, but have we all just lost whatever decorum or respect we have for each other that we have to turn public meetings into a spectacle.

I get that many of people in Lents don't like this idea, but by acting this way, you do nothing more than perpetuate the stereotypes that many residents outside the area hold of Lents - crime filled, working class, uneducated. I hold out hope that public debate and discourse can always occur in a civilized manner, but then I read about these kind of reminders of why that will never happen. It's too bad, because this will mean that some other part of the city will get a very nice ball park to enjoy and help their area while MLS comes to Portland and revitalized the area around PGE Park, and Lents will be known as the area with the big Walmart. Nice calling card there, but hey, if it's what you all want, the rest of us won't stand in your way.

So Now What Happens

I couldn't think of a better title after last week's events, but it is a question I've been asked by a lot of my friends. Especially since the City Council voted 3 to 2 to the agreement to work on an agreement, so what's the next step?

Well, I could write it all down, or just link you to Mark Larrabee's last article about it, which really does a good job of explaining the next steps. There's still a lot of work to do, but what this does do is allow Merritt Paulson to start talking more to MLS, and allows more concrete work to be done in firming up the financing. There's still the $15 million dollar question to be figured out, plus there's also the question of where do the Trail Blazers stand on all of this?

As you may know from reading this blog or the newspaper, the Trail Blazers made a last ditch attempt to submarine the MLS deal. I did get a very nice email from the team about it, saying it was miscommunication on their part, but they want to make sure their vision matches the vision for the area. With all due respect to the team, the Coliseum isn't theirs to decide what to do, and the fact that this tidbit of information is even under contention makes me more angry at the team. They've finally got things going the right way on the court, but instead of making smart business decisions, they make short sighted decisions without gaging the impact. A large portion of the team's fan base still can't see the games on cable because Comcast Sports Net isn't on most satellite systems, the team is raising ticket prices in most parts of the arena, and then this. Seriously, are you just trying to kill any good will the town has for this team? I know it's hard to separate the team from the business end, but for me, that's really what I will need to do over the next few weeks. It's sad because I am happy they are making a playoff run, but at the same time, the greed and lack of forethought lately makes me wonder about the culture of the team.

The schools are also ramping up for any fight about the potential of an urban renewal district, courtesy of the commissioner of the county, Ted Wheeler. One organization, Stand for Children, was so proud of their efforts to get this removed, they celebrated the decision with a congratulatory email, which some of the Timbers Army received. I can understand wanting to protect your domain, but as has been pointed out, it's not as if the city was the only group to profit from these districts, as schools and other public services have benefited from these. I wonder what will happen now if schools try these type of bonds to finance their expansion, and how some people might react to it? What frustrated me about their conduct during the hearing and afterwards is that Portland Public Schools was the only group with their hands out so to speak, saying the idea would harm them, yet other school districts would be affected as well. Plus, this idea had been on the table for months, and instead of being constructive and helping the process along, you wait for an last minute tactic to attempt to destroy it. Wow, that's thinking about the city as a whole.

I get that educating kids is expensive and schools need attention, but I also have an educator in my family and a relative that works for a school as a secretary, and I get to see the other side of the equation. Teachers working long hours with little direction, trying to manage the testing needs with actual learning, while the districts continue to throw money at the situation and the results are average at best. Two issues that I see with the schools is the budgeting process itself and the influx of new students. Oregon's budget process doesn't allow districts to keep any funds they don't spend, so agencies need to spend it in order to prove it was a need, and if you don't spend it, it may or may not be added in future budgets. So instead of spending wisely and trying to save, it's a matter of spend it or else, so many decisions may not be the wisest. And when you are trying to educate a vastly changing populace about here, I know it's a challenge, but is it the right choice to try and educate kids in Spanish, hoping they will be able to catch up with the rest of the class? Not that I want to pile on complaints I hear about all the time, but it is frustrating to hear about children who either can't learn English or don't want to, so it's a matter of the districts to meet the need, even if that slows down everybody else. I get that for many people that move here, it's comfortable to speak in your native tongue, but at the same time, say I moved to Italy, I wouldn't expect the Italians to all speak English for me, I'd learn the language.

And I never want to short change the schools, because I understand education is important, but at the same time, is that the only thing that should even benefit from state budgets, city budgets or windfalls? I remember being told that school districts would fail if they didn't get more money, and that conversation was when I was in 7th grade, which is almost 30 years ago. I kept hearing it during my school days there, while in Spokane at college, and during the nearly 20 years I've lived in Oregon. At some point, you have to ask yourself when is it enough? The gloom and doom message is great every now and then, and it's easy to say it's about the kids and their future, but at what point do you have to start asking yourself is it time to look elsewhere? I'm not advocating pulling massive amounts of money out of schools, but rather look at the financing angle and see if there's a better way to do this. The tax structure in Oregon is already wacky, and subject to the volatility of the housing markets, since property tax remains a key funding source, and the ups and down of employment. If people are losing homes and jobs, that does impact us greatly as a state, but when things are good in those areas, we are fine. Maybe it's time to find something more stable.

But at this point, those discussions are long off, and probably won't happen for a while. For now, the focus is on contacting MLS to alert them to what Portland can bring, and providing grass roots support when Merritt does make his MLS pitch. He will be in Seattle this Thursday to start the MLS season, and while I don't expect an announcement for us there, I would expect it soon. Vancouver has already been linked as a near definite choice, and I'm glad they got chosen. They are a smart soccer market, have great fans, and it's a beautiful city to visit, and I look forward to many trips up there over the years. And the Timbers actually started their season last week in San Jose, and play at the University of Portland on Friday versus New York Red Bull. Showing support of the current USL team helps the overall MLS effort, so if you can come, please do, and if not, find another game soon to attend and bring a friend. There's still a lot to do, and many questions to answer. But one thing is not in dispute. Portland is Soccer City USA, and the MLS is coming, whether the naysayers like it or not.

I'll provide my thoughts about Friday over the weekend, stay dry out there everybody.

Decompressing From the Weekend

I know it's a great weekend when I'm ready to go back to work to rest up from my weekend plans. It might be a different way of thinking, but I like to think about it like this. If I'm so busy doing things and being with friends or family and I look at work like a nice break from living, the drudgery won't seem nearly as bad. So far, it's worked pretty well, but I'm also new to my new job and I'm figuring out all of the quirks of my team. So far, they know me as the new guy from Portland that loves soccer and got married this year, but that's about it. It's a bit hard when over half of your team resides in the Midwest and you only talk to them by phone. I can say that it can be done to make strong friendships by simply chatting over the phone, because I made a lot during my last job. So to say leaving there for my new position was hard would be an understatement, but I needed a new challenge, and so I'm trying something different. Which brings me back to my starting point, in a roundabout way.

The Timbers' season is almost officially over after this weekend, as Minnesota decided to score 4 goals versus Charleston and didn't allow them to score any, so we've been officially eliminated from the post season. We have a final game left this coming Saturday, and then it's the long off season. For some of us, we turn our attention to other teams, such as the Trail Blazers, while others turn their thoughts toward other soccer leagues in the world, like the EPL and Serie A. Girl and I love West Ham, and will watch them very closely during their season, but we'll also follow some sports closer to home as well. We love our Timbers, but it's nice to be distracted by other stuff once in a while as well. Plus, in reading today's paper, the Nielsen survey is actually now rating Fox Soccer Channel this month, so they will be able to put ratings to the various games that most of us get up way early to watch. So now we'll be able to point at a true number of soccer fans that are insane for getting up early on the weekends or the enemies of soccer will have proof that TV ratings for soccer rank somewhere between public access and CSPAN. I can't find the link, but know it's out there somewhere, trust me.

EDIT - I found the link and noted it above. It's actually a very fascinating article that also mentions some potential changes in broadcasting when contracts come up soon.

What the Timbers' season showed me is that sometimes you have to put things in some perspective, and being a fan of team it's hard to remain objective in looking at the bigger picture sometimes. This team had enough talent to make the playoffs, but didn't. You could blame a lot of things for why that didn't happen, such as injuries, suspensions, bad calls, travel schedule, player performances and being outcoached, and I bet anyone could find numerous examples of these things happening and then point to those as the reasons why the Timbers are spending September close to home. Whether that's the right approach or not, well, that's something to debate actually.

Today's topic on the Bald Faced Truth was talking about the Oregon Ducks football team, and their big win in Purdue on Saturday. The team showed a lot of poise to win a game that they could have easily given away, as they fell behind 20 to 3. But they kept their heads and won, something that had befallen previous Duck teams. Last year, the Ducks were threatening the BCS championship world, then Dennis Dixon blows out his knee, the Ducks lose three games in a row and end up playing in the Sun Bowl. The excuses made for this were all pointed to one player getting injured that led to the downfall of the team. And I think the point made during the show was this - if your team is able to persevere and overcome adversity, that's a better set up than having amazing amounts of talent on a team that folds up like a lawn chair when things get tough.

The Timbers exemplified this trait all this year, folding up when things got tough and not delivering. It's certainly not because of talent, because the team was loaded, and injuries and suspensions happen to all teams, so the winners either let this bother them or they adapt to the situation and move on. The team tried to adapt to player changes, a tough travel schedule, and other things, and there were points where you didn't know which team was going to show up - the rough and tumble Timbers that won their first three games impressively OR the incredibly passive Timbers that gave away points at home with losses to Miami, Vancouver and others at a place where we've had a history of not losing. So where do you look to explain this?

Everything in the Ducks world pointed at the coaches, who were quick to blame players, officials, situations, injuries, or whatever they could to explain the losses. Simply put, Mike Belotti has never publicly taken accountability for any loss put on his team, saying that it's one thing or another. While this may be the truth, you simply can't just point a finger at a player or situation and then throw them under the bus to explain losses. Even up to the coaching level, you win as a team and lose as a team, and playing the blame game in the press is a great way to lose the focus and trust of your team. Yet, coaches play this all the time, hoping a player will hear things in the news and then gain inspiration for it. The coaches never actually say names, but simply point out plays or situations where they would hope players would do better, hoping that public embarrassment will work wonders. I'd love to see a coach stand up and take responsibility for something that did or didn't happen, but out of fear of losing a job, it's a lot easier for coaches to distance themselves from situations like this and avoid any blame they can.

If you read the Timbers' coaching comments this year, it's a laundry list of comments pointedly said to deflect blame to anywhere besides on the coaches. In my opinion, coaches accept responsibility for losses, even if it's a mistake or injury. While players are professional and should be able to accept blame for not playing well, part of a coach's job is to inspire confidence while providing feedback on performance. Nothing undermines confidence like a vague comment made in a paper about somebody not playing up to their potential or blaming the travel for a bad game.

With this important off season here for the Timbers, there's lots to pay attention to as we learn about our MLS fate, we have a friendly exhibition in October supposedly, and we have all winter to speculate about signings and players. What we also need is an organization that inspires confidence in the product on the pitch, and deals with the ups and downs during a long season. While Gavin Wilkinson is a great former Timber and had a great season coaching last year, I hope he can look at 2008 as a rebuilding year not only for the team, but for the style of play and tactics in the press. We have creative players, but we need a more creative offensive style and something that can generate goals, not play defensively for draws. Also, the tactics within the press of throwing players under the bus don't inspire players to play better, if anything, they play scared to not make mistakes and we know how well someone performs when they're scared of being benched. Seriously, we should be competing at the top of the USL table every year, and only scoring 26 goals in 29 games just isn't going to win a league, this despite seeing growing attendance the past few years.

I'm not ready to call for a coaching change just yet, but a change in perspective is very due. And if that can't be done, perhaps it's time for the newest challenger to step up to the pitch. At least it won't be a boring off season....