Stadium Updates for June 29, Match Preview for Timbers - FC Flounders

There's been more talk of trying to revive the Memorial Coliseum as the site for the triple AAA baseball stadium here in Portland. The Oregonian did some more research into baseball sites in the Portland area, and the most popular sites were all listed with pros and cons. At least on the surface, the Portland Meadows site seems to have some advantages, having parking there and it's relatively close to transit, while Delta Park seems like the worst possible option. So you aren't going to allow park land to be taken for baseball, yet people in this town would advocate taking a popular amateur sports complex and putting a stadium there?

A guest opinion in the O talked about the situation in Baltimore with their Memorial Stadium, that soon lead to them building Camden Yards and the Ravens stadium in the area once the NFL returned. This led to some pointed comments from various sources, including Brian Libby, who has been the most vocal of the architectural preservationists. I get the significance of the Memorial Coliseum, but as I put in a response to comments that he made, I'd feel differently if there was a better site for baseball then there, I'd feel differently if the Trail Blazers had kept up on their promise to maintain the building, I'd feel differently if the MLS said the teams could share for a few years while we figured out a good site. But since none of those statements are true, and we've looked at all the reasons why PGE Park can't be shared by soccer and baseball and the cost of putting up a triple AAA ballpark is less than building a soccer stadium to MLS specifications, the course of action that is best for the city is to find a new home for baseball. But then again, logic hasn't been a big part of this stadium discussion, so why should I expect the facts to be considered otherwise.

Since I'm going to be very busy preparing for Wednesday, I thought I'd do the match preview for Timbers - FC Puke Green now.

Game Time: Timbers vs. FC Puke Green in the 3rd round of the US Open Cup, the premier American open soccer competition. It pits teams from various levels of US Soccer in a single elimination tournament. Portland beat the Kitsap Pumas and Sonoma County Sol to earn the right to face the Flounders, who are playing their first Open Cup match. The Timbers bid to host the match, and so it's here on Wednesday at PGE Park at 7 PM.

Broadcast: You can listen to the match at www.portlandtimbers.com, on the Game 95.5 (http://www.955thegame/) or watch the Timbers Senior match on Fox Sports Northwest (channel 34 in the Portland area) around the northwest.

Special Events: It's renewing a rivalry that has been around for years, but had it's final game in the USL last season when the Flounders visited the Timbers in August 2008. The Timbers and Flounders will meet again in 2011 when both teams will be part of MLS, unless they met in the Open Cup.

Overall History: The Timbers have 11 wins, 16 losses and 5 draws in their USL history against the Flounders. The Timbers are 7 - 7 - 3 at PGE Park against them, while sporting a 4 - 9 - 3 record in the Emerald City for various matches. The last meeting was August 2008, with the Flounders winning 1 to nil here, although the Timbers Army had a grand time, bringing a coffin with a whale into the park to mark the death of the USL Flounders.

Timbers Form: Still unbeaten in 12 league matches, a friendly and 2 Open Cup matches since losing their opener in Vancouver. They sit with 26 points at 7 - 1 - 5, and most recently, they beat Montreal at home 4 to nil on Sunday June 29th. The Timbers have a busy week with 4 matches this week (Wednesday, Thursday at home and Saturday in Minnesota).

Timber Player Updates: Ryan Pore, Tony McManus and Takuro Nishimura and Automann Jallow have been injured over the past few weeks, but they are all healthy and available for selection on Wednesday.

Timber Key Players: Mandjou Keita continues his hot streak, as he takes over the goal lead for the team with 6 goals, followed by Ryan Pore and Brian Farber with 3 goals, and then George Josten with 2. Josten leads the team with 4 assists, followed by David Hayes and Ryan Pore with 3 each. The forwards are now finding their shot, and putting shots on goal, which is great to see, but really the midfield is the engine for this team. Brian Farber, Johan Claesson and Keith Savage really held their form last night, and with Taka Suzuki, they have learned how to control the middle very well. The defense is doing well, with 6 goals given up, and only two real chances last night versus Montreal and the only Impact goal was waived off due to a player being offsides. We are certainly playing well right now, and after these home matches, we have our longest road stretch of the season in July before having the schedule balance out a bit.

Upcoming Timbers Matches: The Timbers play 7/2 in a friendly against Bayern Munich II and then head to the road to play Minnesota on 7/4, and then they have a bit of a break before heading to Austin to play there on July 11th, and then a long road trip to Miami to face the Blues for 2 matches on the 17th and 19th.

Flounder Form: They beat the Colorado Rapids 3 to nil this weekend, preceded by draws against DC United and FC Energy Drink the preceding weeks, and then the Flounders get a break until July 11th when Houston comes to visit Qwirst Field.

Impact Player Updates: Backup keeper Chris Eyelander has been struggling with a knee problem, so the team signed former FC Energy Drink keeper Terry Boss. At this point, we don't know if Keller or Boss will start for

Impact Key Players: I spent a few minutes on their site to get some stats, and trying to get the smell out. Fredy Montero leads the Flounders with 8 goals, followed by former Portland Pilot Nate Jaqua with 6 goals, while Montero has 6 assists and Jaqua has 5 assists, while former USL mid guy Sebastian Le Douche has 3 assists. Kasey Keller, another former Pilot and EPL keeper, has started 15 games in the pipes, and played really well for them in stretches. The FC Flounder defense has played well at times with Tyrone Marshall, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, James Riley and Patrick Ianni really holding the fort well, as the Flounders don't give up a lot of goals. In most of their games, though, the question seems to be are they going to score enough to hold up the lead.

Key Notes: The Timbers have another long stretch of games coming up, so depth is the key, and as much as I love the chance to advance in the Open Cup, there is a key stretch of league matches coming up. However, most recently, Montreal rested some players in a competition against Toronto to prepare for a league match versus Vancouver, and they lost the competition match but got the league win anyway. There's plenty of new players on both squads that have never played in a Timbers - Flounders derby, but there are some holdovers that know what the game is like, so I would expect both sides to be charging up their troops.

Prediction: The Flounders have something to lose here, being the MLS side and the expectation is that they should win down here if they play their top players. But they are being coy about who is making the trip down, and who will be starting, so I would expect that they would have a side with many reserves and some starters sprinkled in. Portland, meanwhile, is going to use their depth and play their top side on Wednesday, knowing they have a match on Thursday that while should be a good test, has no meaning so they can play some reserves while they get ready for a tough road match on Saturday in Minnesota. The fans are keyed up, so I expect a big showing from both sides, and my hope is that there's no problems between supporters. I predict that it will be a hard fought match, and the Timbers magic at home remains with a tough, but well earned 2 to 1 victory. We always win 2 to 1!!

Bring On the Flounders, Stadium Vote Coming Soon?

Flash back to a fine August evening back in PGE Park during the 2008 season, and the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers met for the last time as rivals within the USL during the regular season. With the Sounders moving up to MLS for the 2009, this would be the last time the two teams were slated to meet each other officially, although there was an outside chance the teams could have met in the playoffs. After that, the only time they would meet again would be if there was a US Open Cup match, an agreed upon exhibition game or if the Timbers were moved up to MLS at some future point.

We now know that the Timbers will be joining FC XBox in MLS in 2011 after Portland was awarded an expansion team, so the once bitter rivals have a two year hiatus from meeting each other until that point unless the US Open Cup put the rivals in the same bracket. And sure enough, it was learned that after the bracket was announced in June of this year that the Timbers were in the same bracket, but had to win twice versus Kitsap and Sonoma County to set up this match, and a few days ago, it was announced that if Portland won in Sonoma, they would host FC Puke Green here.

The Timbers took care of business last night, beating Sonoma County 3 to nil in California, as Mandjou Keita notched two goals and an assist in leading the team to the win. Keita has been on fire lately, notching a goal late in the Charleston match to draw that game level, and he gets two more last night while keeper Steve Cronin and the defense kept the Sol attack at bay. The Flounders - Timbers match will be at PGE Park on Wednesday, July 1st at 7 PM and the winner advances to the next round. So, the old USL rivals meet in the Open Cup as a tuneup for the eventually matchup that will be forthcoming in 2011. It should be an epic night, and I'd advise anyone that is remotely interested in getting tickets to get them know through the PGE Park box office, Portland Timbers ticket sales, or through Ticketmaster. After talking with my ticket rep today, the great Dan Zusman, sales have been really brisk already and the tickets aren't officially on sale to the general public yet. Also, knowing the rivalry between the supporter groups, the Timbers Army and the ECS (I call them the POD), there will be some crazy TIFO displays and some bantering on message boards between these groups. I hope there is no significant trouble between the groups, but at the same point, some good natured ribbing is anticipated. The Timbers next home match is Friday versus Minnesota at 8 PM at PGE Park, which should be a good time, and I'll have a match preview and recap for you later this week.

The Offsides has a good match preview and recap for your perusal:

http://timbers.theoffside.com/team-news/portland-timbers-face-sonoma-county-sol-in-us-open-cup.html - a great match preview, including some history of the Sonoma County Sol, and the fact that both teams came into the match on very hot win streaks.

http://timbers.theoffside.com/match-reports/us-open-cup-portland-timbers-defeat-sonoma-county-sol-advance-to-face-seattle.html - Match recap from the Offsides.

http://portlandtimbers.com/newsroom/headlines/index.html?article_id=1250 - Official Match recap, courtesy of the Portland Timbers

Stadium Updates - Apparently, the Lents URAC (the Urban Renewal Action Committee) will be holding an open house on Thursday to hear discussion of the plan to put a triple AAA baseball stadium in the north corner of Lents Park, so that the Portland Beavers could move out there to make way for PGE Park to be refurbished for MLS. The plan is to hear from both sides, give groups the chance to talk about the plan, and it is anticipated that the URAC might actually vote on the proposal that night. Two of Portland's city commissioners, Dan Saltzman and Randy Leonard, have indicated that their support for the park is conditional based on their vote, so if they approve the idea, they'll vote for the proposal.

The Oregonian has continued to be busy on the topic, providing a front page article about the residents of the area and what they are thinking about the ballpark, and they are as divided as some other groups about the idea:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/06/residents_will_get_a_say_in_le.html

Some folks see the ballpark as a benefit, and could spur other development or draw people in that wouldn't otherwise visit the area, while others have concerns about the amount of money being used for the stadium or giving up part of a somewhat popular Portland park for a professional baseball team. A few other folks have weighed in on the idea, including John Mulvey, who lives in the area, and Tracy Francis, who was part of the Goose Hollow neighborhood association when PGE Park was being refurbished:

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/06/lents_the_false_choice_between.html - Mulvey isn't convinced the stadium is such a good idea, presenting it as a false choice. And while I see some of his concerns, my issue is that it's really something that we have to make a decision on, because the future of the Timbers and Beavers does hang in the balance. If we do nothing, we risk losing the teams to other cities or in the case of the Timbers, risk having the costs go skyrocketing because of no regional rivalries.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/myoregon/2009/06/lents_park_stadium_project.html - Lematlents is concerned about a lack of public process in the whole stadium situation, and honestly, I don't know what else the city could do about getting people involved. There have been public meetings, presentations, studies done, mailings sent, and discussions in various media sites, and yet there are some that still think this is an idea that is just being thrown at us without any discourse. I love that Portland wants to have their process honored, and I think there's something to having people talk about options and not make rash decisions. The problem is that at some point, you have to make a decision and stick with it, rather than just keep talking until the decision becomes obvious or the opportunity passes you by. That trait is called leadership, and right now, I'm frustrated at some of the leadership in this process who really are struggling to make a decision and stick with it.

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/06/what_goose_hollow_would_advise.html - Tracy's post, which talks from the voice of experience, and as being a resident of the area when PGE Park was being built, I would agree with her that PGE Park has been a very good tenant to the area, and they've done a lot to help the area. However, I do take some offense to her assessment of Steve Janik's comments (the MLS commissioner has said the teams can't share PGE Park, so that's all you need to know) and the only part of the process that has been like a runaway train is the seemingly non stop opinions that are relying on limited information to try and prove a point against this idea.

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/06/bridges_vs_the_stadiums_a_port.html - Steve Novick weighs in and talks about the difference of the Columbia Bridge process versus the stadiums, and why they are being treated differently. It's actually an intelligent question, even if I don't agree with his conclusion. Building a newer bridge between Washington and Oregon makes sense, and I wouldn't mind it being artistically pleasing, but for my money, I'm a sports fan and to me, building a stadium for the Beavers is a good investment in my mind. I'm troubled that some people that call themselves progressives are still struggling with that concept.

Finally, in an unrelated topic about baseball, we found out today that Sammy Sosa cheated. Wow, what a big surprise that the two main guys in the home run derby were both juiced up on some form of drugs, and that the results might have been chemically enhanced. I'm not surprised at all, and honestly, I find myself caring less and less about baseball because of it. Instead of being honest about the issues of drugs, baseball has played a game of deceit and deception about how rampant drugs are in their sport. I agree that baseball shouldn't be on an island in that respect, but it's hard not to point blame at them when even some of the big stars of baseball's current generation have been caught with drugs.

I get that most of the drugs weren't actually against the rules at that point, but at this point, it's just become boring and tiresome, and this discussion only gets amplified when we start talking about Hall of Fame players and statistics comparisons, things that happen in baseball all the time. Until the baseball world can come to a conclusion about how to deal with the situation, this problem just won't go away. My solution to the problem is simply this, if you broke the rules of the game to either influence the outcome of the games, be it gambling, drugs or whatever, you shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame and I can't seriously consider that person as a true great baseball player. But I'm just one opinion, and right now, I would just like baseball to step up and make a decision rather than this stupidly slow piece meal process of dealing with things as they come along.

Weekend Wrap-Up

The Row N crew took in a road trip this weekend to Bend, Oregon, and spent most of our weekend hanging out at the Old St. Francis Hotel near downtown. We've had a history of gathering on occasion outside of Timbers matches to mostly eat, drink and just hang out, which sometimes we don't get to do a lot during the busy summers. The tradition started actually with my 40th birthday out at Edgefield in January 2 years ago, and has continued with our regular Thanksgiving weekend meet up at Edgefield combined with a spring/summer gathering that has ranged from camping on the coast to our road trip this past weekend.

I love the Row N folks, as they are some of the best folks you could even meet, and it was great to hang out with them and take in the sights from the road. Oregon has some great sights to see, and I'd only been to Bend once a few years ago participating in the Pole, Pedal, Paddle competition, so it was great to get back there. The guest list was comprised of Hornman, Fish Eye, Bubbles/girl, Regina, S3K, Dublinx and myself, not a huge list, but a hearty group.

Highlights of the weekend by night:

Friday - We checked in about 3 pm to the hotel, as Dublinx rode with me and girl. Our room was a king size bed with two bathtubs, two showers, and a bathroom stall. The bath area was as big as the room, which was nice. The drive over was pretty good, taking about 3 hours, and the only drive highlight was being tailgated the whole way by a white sedan with California license plates. An old friend, armybrewer, had taken over the brewing at the pub, so we were able to get a quick brew tour from him. Since Regina was coming in later and S3K had arrived, it was time to eat and drink. Hornman and Fish Eye were staying at another hotel in the area, but were scared by the absolute scary side of the Dunes Hotel, so they joined us later and there was an extra room to stay on site. We played pool, drank, and when Regina came, we wandered to Deschutes Pub for food and gluten free beer, which rocked. Dessert was back at St. Francis, which was good, and we all retired to our rooms very late.

Saturday - We went to Alpenglow Cafe for breakfast early, ate a nice breakfast, then wandered back to the hotel. Fish eye, Hornman and girl stayed at the hotel while a group of us took the Deschutes Brewery tour, which was fascinating. After the tour, a few hearty souls took a hike at the park while some of us returned to eat and drink. The Timbers match was at 4:30, so we all huddled into girl and I's room with the laptop, and watched a thrilling 1 - all draw. Ok, the match was boring at points, but getting a point was good, and the USL Live feed didn't suck. The rains came after the match, so we stayed close to the hotel, ate and drank until late. S3K's cousin came to visit later and hang out.

Sunday - We ate a hearty breakfast, and then wandered back home. S3K, dublinx and I had a TAFC match later in the day that we made it to in time to play. We played the full 90, and the result wasn't very good for us, but we held our own at points.

Observations:

Old St. Francis is a beautiful old Catholic school that the McMenamin's brothers turned into a hotel, pub and theatre. They are famous for refurbishing properties, and they did a great job with this place. It was quiet, the rooms were great, and the staff absolutely took care of us, even asking us about the game result after they figured out we were soccer fans and there was a match viewing on Saturday. Can't say enough great things about them, although the only complaint is that your tortilla chips have some wheat in them, so please don't tell us they are wheat free.

Deschutes Pub was a blast, and we got great service, and drank gluten free beer. The pub, for being packed, served us promptly, and our server even took a group photo. Even the breakfast on Saturday and Sunday were good, leading me to think that Bend has great restaurants. The atmosphere was great, and we even got some comments about our Timbers gear, and a few folks saying "Go Timbers"

There are a lot of inside jokes and comments I could publish, but it wouldn't be nearly as funny as it was in the moment, but overall, thanks to the Row N folks that could attend, as it was fun, and thank you to Bend for putting on your good side for us to see this weekend. And for those of you that missed out, well, better luck on our next big trip coming soon. And for those of you going, some pictures for viewing.

Timbers thoughts - After the tough match on Tuesday in Kitsap, the Timbers traveled to the Carolinas for a Thursday tilt in Cary versus the RailHawks and then off to Charleston to face the Battery. The team was facing a tough stretch of games, but the depth and talent should make things competitive.

Thursday Vs. RailHawks - We watched at the Cheerful BullPen, and the game was indeed at a practice field, but the pitch seemed OK. Steve Cronin faced a few shots, and Suzuki had a few moments of goodness, but overall, the Timbers had a momentum advantage until a RailHawk was sent off for a tough challenge, and then the Timbers really struggled being a man up. No real good chances in the second half, but getting a scoreless draw meant no loss and one point for the trouble. Not a bad result.

Saturday Vs. Battery - The Timbers had never played well here, but they got off to a great start generating chances all over the pitch and causing the Battery defense some concerns. The first half was a back and forth affair, as after Portland's strong start, each side traded runs and good shot chances. The first half ended scoreless, and it was that way until Charleston took advantage of a defensive lapse and went up 1 to nil. Portland substituted some players, and leveled the score when Keita headed up a Hayes corner kick. The Timbers got more late chances, but in the end, the defenses held, and Portland earned another point with a 1 all draw.

Thoughts - I can't complain about no losses on the trip and points from each game, although it would have been nice to get at least one win. But our points streak from wins and draws pushes to 10 matches without a loss, and my hope is to keep it going. Defense and Cronin are very strong, as Cronin made some great late saves vs. Charleston. Midfield is still playing well, and Suzuki has played very well there the past few matches, as he is helping to create chances. Keita keeps up the hot scoring streak, and the team rolls on.

Other Notes:

The St. Johns Pub had standing room only for Sunday's match, and a few special Timbers guests. Wish we could have been there, but Bend took care of us. Nice to see the fans showing up for viewings, and watch your email for more information about upcoming road matches.

Next Timbers match is Tuesday in Sonoma County in the next round of the Open Cup. If the Timbers win, they host FC Puke Green on June 30th in PGE Park in the next round. Next league game is Friday night versus Minnesota at PGE with a special late kickoff of 8 PM, as the match is on Fox Soccer Channel.