Going to the All Star Game, but the Baseball Buzz is Growing

It seems that more opinions about baseball and its future here are appearing, and on the day that Portland shows off the best baseball talent that the Triple AAA leagues have to offer. I'm happy that the subject is finally coming to fruition, because I think that baseball deserves a chance to stay here in Portland. For the most part, it has a rich history here, and it's been supported enough to deserve a chance to stay.

 

The Oregonian Editorial Board says the biggest issue with baseball's future is indifference. And I couldn't agree more with that statement. PGE Park's original refurbishment was originally intended to improve baseball and give the city a shot at luring MLB, and we were considered for getting the Expos, but instead they went to the nation's capital. Since then, there's been very little discussion about baseball until MLS came around and was looking to expand, and discussions centered around making PGE Park soccer specific. Instead of baseball fans joining the conversation, they kept silent while discussions centered around putting a baseball park at the Memorial Coliseum. The Trail Blazers have been indifferent about developing the Rose Quarter area until baseball threatened to come into town, and they came up with a entertainment complex idea, architects were indifferent until they realized the Memorial Coliseum had some value to them, even with the building falling into disrepair. And now, we have a big mess on our hands because everyone can look around and realize that we've ignored baseball for too long, and it's time to change that. Jim Siverson provides a piece similar to the article about the rich history of baseball, and his point echoes the long standing traditions of Portland and baseball.

 

Fine, I get there is history here for baseball and I've actually seen parts of it. Then, baseball fans, do something about it. Get your voices out there and let the City Council know that you want baseball in Portland, and it's important to find a home in the city proper. It's great to show up tonight to the Triple AAA game, but go to other games and not just the weekend tilts. Show your support at the box office, because really, that is what the Timbers Army have done. We've been worried about the long term future of our team and the league, and so we've worked tirelessly to get new people to come to Timbers games, help with banners, get involved with the community as Timbers fans, and generally get the word out about the team. I know there are baseball fans out there, and it's time to be heard rather than remain silently on the sidelines.

 

And if that's bringing baseball to the Rose Quarter, like Alan Willis suggests, so be it. I still think it's the best option of anything that has been discussed for baseball in terms of location and amenities, and it would bring more people to an area that is really dead outside of Trail Blazer games or concerts. Even other opinions are being shared, like Stephan Burklin, who is convinced the whole stadium idea is a mess because it will hurt city services. While I disagree with his opinion because it has serious flaws, I'm happy the topic is being discussed in lots of different channels. Having the Triple AAA baseball game here is a big coup for the city, and now that the MLS deal is all but done, it's time to get baseball taken care of. I'm asking the City Council to use this momentum and work towards making this happen to keep baseball in the Rose City.

 

An on-line petition has been started to save the Beavers, and I think that's a great start. The link is noted below:

The petition to help keep the Beavers in Portland: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/save-the-beavers

 

Look, I'm a soccer fan and see the benefit of MLS here, but I also feel that baseball deserves the right to remain here too, which is why the original stadium idea in the MC for baseball was such a great idea in my mind. Both sports get stadiums that work for them in areas of town that have good transit, other services around, easy to get to, and will provide destinations for people to visit. I was upset the City Council walked away from the deal, and I think this discussion is important because the idea didn't deserve to die. It's time to get this right, Portland, and bring baseball to the Rose Quarter.

 

 

Baseball's Future and Watching the Long Ball

Portland is hosting the 2009 Triple AAA All Star Game this week at PGE Park, and it's really started a lot of discussion about the current stadium issue facing the Portland Beavers. With MLS coming to town in 2011, the Beavers are looking for a new home in the Portland area, one that works better for them than the cavernous stadium that is PGE Park. And while the stadium looked good last night with a crowd of 9,200 watching the events, the crowd looked a bit sparse in the nearly 19,000 seat stadium. As I looked about to the crowd, I did see a couple of Beavers jerseys and more than a few caps, but I saw more Red Sox, Yankees, Astros, Cubs, and Mariners gear than anything else.

In an editorial piece in today's Oregonian, Ralph Nelson talks about the Beavers and their history and who is standing up for them in this whole stadium issue. He talks a lot about the old Beavers and Vaughn Stadium, and the old days when baseball was more of an event in town, and now baseball struggles with becoming irrelevant. And in today's busy sports world with more choices out there, it seems like baseball struggles to keep an audience with some of the younger fans. I remember spending a lot of days in my childhood playing baseball with neighborhood kids for hours, and it was played because it was fun. Now in the current world, it seems that youth sports is more of an outlet to filter the better talented kids into other programs so that they can follow the path to success. You see less and less chances for kids to play sports because they want to have fun, everything is more about competition and tournaments, and parents paying a lot of costs. There's a lot of lessons to be learned about changing youth sports away from being fun, but for the purposes here, what also is apparent is that Portland is a baseball town, but not a Beavers town.

I recall following this team back in the 1980s and early 1990 when they were affiliated with the Twins, and the crowds came out about the same as they do now. But I also recall seeing some players stay with the team for quite a while, like Chip Hale and Bernardo Brito, and the media coverage was pretty good as you could read about the team, see box scores, and see highlights on the sports reports. The team was run on a shoestring budget, but it was still somewhat successful until Salt Lake lured the Beavers away with promises of a new stadium. The Rockies came to town, bringing Single A ball to town, and the city ate it up, as Jack Cain really marketed the team and players well. And when the Beavers finally returned in 2001, it seemed like things might be different with a refurbished stadium and a commitment to winning. But in being affiliated with San Diego, the Beavers have seen players come and go quite a bit, and the crowds, while they still come, only show up on big event nights, like opening night, fireworks nights, and the All-Star Game. Baseball is struggling to remain relevant here, and I can say that it's tough to market baseball here.

Triple AAA baseball by virtue is fill of players that are either on the career decline and still want to play baseball and have talent, or young kids with a wish to be playing in San Diego. If you really had a choice as a baseball player, nobody is really wanting to play in Portland and make it a long term career here. We also have the Mariners and their marketing influence that have gained them a lot of fans willing to travel 3 hours to watch games. We also watch a lot of baseball, having some of the best television ratings for baseball where there isn't an MLB team. Part of that is people moving here that keep their allegiance to an MLB team they've followed in a previous location, another part is Mariner fans, but another part is people that remain convinced that Portland could support MLB and want to watch to help the cause. As has been noted here, Portland lacks the corporate support necessary to support MLB, and I think the price tag of an MLB stadium would make opponents of the MLS stadium deal completely go nuts if the city even thought of spending that much to bring baseball here. MLB came calling a while back when the Expos were looking for a home, but honestly, I'm not sure we were ever being seriously considered. It was a ploy to get Washington DC to step up and get a stadium, which they did.

I get that people want MLB baseball here badly, and it's never been proven that support from a Triple AAA team correlates to successfully support MLB, but what I'm frustrated by in terms of baseball fans is not even remotely supporting what we do have here. Instead of actually going to games or investing time in learning about players, it appears that some baseball fans would prefer to show up only when there is an event. Instead of investing in what we have, we pine for something that may or may not come. I understand that it's tough to follow a team where guys move around all the time, but the experience is very similar, the ticket prices are a bit less than MLB, and you can actually get up close and personal with these guys if you want to. And usually, the Beavers have some other entertainment or promotion if you have kids or other people that need more than baseball to just show up. I wished that baseball was enough for people to come and support this team, but it seems like it's not enough. Last night was a good crowd, and it was great to see the park full of people, but the crowds should be appearing more often.

And now baseball fans feel railroaded by the MLS efforts, as if it's a tragedy that baseball is being forced out over soccer. I wish their voices would have been part of the conversations about PGE Park, but instead, most baseball fans remained silent while a lot of MLS fans voiced their thoughts. And with PGE Park's set up with an L shape, it made more sense to complete the horseshoe and find baseball a new home. Now with the decoupling of the efforts, baseball has been left to flounder on its own while MLS moves forward. For someone like myself who loves soccer and has always been a baseball fan, it's tough for me to watch this because I feel that baseball deserves a stadium that works for the team in Portland. I know that baseball has a market here, but I wished that baseball fans stood up and let the City Council know that baseball matters here.

What is interesting is with the stadium talks, some different ideas are being bantered around while one idea that was on the table but pulled off is getting some attention back. Steve Duin is stating today that the Memorial Coliseum is the right place to put a baseball stadium, and of the ideas that have been thrown out there, this one has always made the most sense. The Trail Blazers and some architectural folks cried foul about the MC being pulled down, and soon after, we watched the Lents Park fiasco play out in the media. If the building is going to lie there and not be refurbished or the limitations addressed of the MC, it makes sense to explore other uses. And the last thing this city needs is an entertainment complex near the RG that may or may not draw people there with shops and restaurants that are available at a lot of other places around town. Now that the talk is looking that it might cost a whole lot of money to get the MC upgraded to stay relevant or even more money to build a mall complex there, it makes sense to explore the idea of putting the baseball park there. It just makes sense, and what I'm often remembering about this place is that sometimes the more things change, the things stay the same and ideas have a way of reappearing when you least expect it.

And it also seems like some of the more vocal opponents of the stadium deal are being shown for the flaws in their argument. One of the more vocal opponents, Jack Bog, has been found to have some faulty parts to his arguments against the MLS deal. Bog has also been talking about crowd sizes in the USL (which can be scary), weather issues in Portland affecting baseball (What? You just moved here), and why MLB will work, yet MLS won't. Being someone that has watched the facts from the beginning, it's nice to see a lot of the facts of the case being fleshed out, and shown to the public. Granted, if you aren't a sports fan, I don't think there's anything that could be said to convince you that investing in MLS would work for the city except for one. Sports are one of the things that help make a larger city more livable by providing entertainment options, and as long as cities own facilities, they will be asked to help invest in those buildings. And if I'm going to have a big project to refurbish stadiums, I'm going to pull in as many experts as I can to help the cause, especially if they have experience in a project like this. And while I can find fault in the arguments presented, a unexpected consequence of this is causing more talk about baseball, and making sure it has a future here. It's a welcome discussion, and one that I hope provides fruitful results to keep baseball in the Rose City. And nice work, Chad Huffman, not only did you represent Portland well, but it was good to see you win the home run derby in your own home park.

Post script - the Room is getting more attention. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Movie Weekend with Row N!

So this past weekend, the Row N folks within the Timbers Army held our latest gathering of the troops, the Row N Movie weekend. Girl and I hosted the festivities at our house, which meant us spending a lot of times cleaning, organizing, cleaning, moving stuff about, cleaning, and getting the room of cats ready to go for them to spend the weekend away from the guests. We love our cats greatly, but some of them don't deal well with strangers, so putting them in a room helps them out as much as it helps a few of our friends that are allergic to felines. We wanted this weekend to follow the trend of events for Row N, which started with gatherings at Edgefield, the Row N Wedding, Row N Camping at Cape Lookout, and our last trip, the Row N Road Trip to Bend. I'll provide some highlights from the weekend by day:

 

Friday - The festivities started up at 7 pm, or so, as folks began to gather around at our place. We had locked up the cats early that morning, and they had been screaming to get out, until they started hearing voices they didn't recognize. We had the bar stocked, the snack foods ready, and we had also prepared rooms around the house for people to stay if they wanted. By the time everyone had gathered, we had about 15 folks ready for the first movie of the weekend, the Room. Girl and I had heard about the Room, and how it had inspired viewings around the Los Angeles area, and how some of the viewings were as spirited as old Rocky Horror Picture Show, and then finally got to see parts of the movie on Adult Swim on April 1st this year while also seeing the director on Tim and Eric, Awesome Show. After seeing this, we had to see what the fuss was about, and so this was the first choice of the weekend.

 

The best way to describe the Room is simply that this is a movie to watch to learn about what not to do when making a movie. The script is nonsense, the acting is terrible, the camera work is horrible, the music trite, and the pacing is all over the place, but it's so terrible that it's hysterical to watch. As the movie went out, the quotes of bad lines kept popping up, and by the end of this train wreck, well, we can say we've seen what some people are calling the newest cult classic. Apparently, the interviews and deleted scenes are even more hysterical, and so we'll have to sit down and watch them at some point.

 

For the second movie, we watched Delicatessen, a French movie set in an apocalyptic world where people eat other people. It's an extremely quirky, dark, black comedy, but it's visually stunning and extremely interesting to watch. Even the smallest details on screen translate into other things later, and it wraps up into a rather satisfying ending. I wasn't sure what to expect from a movie like this, but I rather enjoyed it in a quirky way, and even with some of the more gruesome subjects of the film, it was done in an interesting and fun way. I have to say I enjoyed having my mind opened a bit. After this, everyone was fairly tired, so we closed up the theatre for the night, ready to resume things in the morning.

 

Saturday - We woke up and had breakfast of eggs and bacon, and some rather tasty bacon supplied by S3K. The first movie on Saturday was Beerfest, which isn't the most challenging movie to watch, but it had some rather funny moments and was a lot better that I would have expected. The whole concept of the film is beer drinking competition, so it brought back some memories of bad drinking games from my college days. And since I'd had a bit to drink the previous night, the first beers of the day on Saturday were bringing back flashbacks of college days. And yes, Cloris Leachman is really hysterical in the movie.

 

We also watched the documentary, Once in a Lifetime, about the old New York Cosmos. Being a youngster during many of the days of the North American Soccer League and not living in the area, it was great to see pictures of the old Civic Stadium and the huge crowds that were present during the old days of the Timbers. The documentary really showed the true love one guy had for soccer in America, Steve Ross, and the lengths he went to in order to turn New York into a soccer hotbed. The Cosmos were huge, and they were outdrawing other more established teams in the area through the 1970s, and it was fascinating to see the excesses that it took to keep them on top. Ross spent money hand over foot to bring talent in, much like another team owner in the area of a certain baseball team, and the crowds followed. But, the NASL collapsed around the same time the Warner Brothers communication giant was struggling, and so the Cosmos are now nothing more than history.

 

The Timbers played in Austin that night, so we were able to set up a viewing on the big screen. We needed to follow our team, and this fit to within our schedule. Nelson Field is a football stadium, and the fact that gridball lines were all over basically showed that while it might be a nice stadium, you know what rules down there. The telecast of the game was rather odd, considering the camera angle chosen for the telecast was very, very, high over the stadium and so there were some vertigo inducing moments. The sound was pretty crappy, and there were dead spots where the camera couldn't follow the ball because of angles, but hey, it's a free broadcast, and at least when it was on screen, it looked impressive in HD.

 

As far as the game itself, the Timbers looked good early, getting a goal by Mandjou Keita in the first half to take the lead, and then they went into defensive mode in the second half while Austin began attacking and getting some chances. Perhaps it was the heat, but I think it was more of the strategy that the Timbers have been following all year, get ahead early and then hold them off. Sometimes it works if you get up big early, but in other times like the past game in Minnesota, it bites you in the butt when you can't get the big lead and you are only up a goal and the other team gets a late equalizer. And sure enough, even after playing well in stretches and dealing with the heat and humidity, the Timbers gave up a late goal to allow the Aztex to pull the game level in stoppage time. However, tonight would be different, as Tony McManus made an aggressive play for the ball in midfield, hit Johan Claesson with a nicely threaded pass, and Claesson buried the ball in the net past current Aztex and former Timbers goalkeeper Sam Reynolds, giving the Timbers a 2 to 1 lead, which is how the game ended.

 

After the match, it was time to cook barbeque and set up the dance party. The food was great, and the desserts were tasty, although it took a bit to get folks to eat some foods. I mean, Ok, it was a creepy dead clown cake, but it was very tasty and lacked gluten but had plenty of goodness. The dance party got off to a bit of a slow start, until it was gradually turned into karaoke and video time for a bit. I felt a bit bad, because girl really wanted to boogie down, but it appeared the energy level was a bit waning after the match and massive foods. We did put in some short films later inspired by H.P. Lovecraft later on, which I found interesting. I don't know much about Lovecraft and his work, but apparently, he's quite revered in some circles with some unusual takes on life and death, and is considered a horror mastermind. I'm looking forward to seeing more of his work at some point. We did finally get to bed later, and it was time to move to day 3.

 

Sunday - As I woke up, Hornman and dublinx had already started cooking french toast and bacon for the folks staying, which was appreciated, and we did watch a bit of the Soup and some infotainment for a bit. The crackens, er the cats, were released about 11 AM, and they got a chance to meet the guests that were remaining. Some of them were happy to see the fuss, while some of our more scaredy cats decided it was better to hide until the house was clear.

 

We did throw in Robin Hood - Men in Tights as sort of a wind-down, and it's one of Mel Brooks' really good films from his late period. Like Space Balls, it maintains some fun and corny jokes while not taking itself too seriously, and it's easily watchable. It's fun to watch a movie that the actors are enjoying themselves in, and so it capped off the weekend quite well. By 2 PM, the house was clear, and the movie fest was complete.

 

Overall, it was great to see everyone, and I think overall, it was a great success. There are some things that I think I'd do differently for the next time we gather for movies, but at the same point, it was a good time and I'm glad that those attending seemed to have fun. And we'll always remember the epicness of Friday night, watching four guys throw a football around. You are tearing us apart!!!!!!

 

Other random thoughts -

 

There is a task group that is reexamining the uses for the Memorial Coliseum and see what can be done to revitalize the area. Since the Rose Quarter was built, not much has happened while restaurants have come and gone until the idea of putting baseball there was brought up. Although Sam Adams has said the idea of bringing baseball is dead there, some people are still wanting to consider putting a ballpark there. It should be an interesting discussion over the next few months as this process continues.

 

My newest hero in sports is Dustin Pedroia, who is taking off the All Star Break to be with his pregnant wife. She is dealing with a potentially complicated pregnancy, and so Pedroia is making the choice to be with her during this time, instead of playing in the midseason classic. I understand these guys are professionals and it's an honor to be chosen to play, but a player's family is the foundation of getting these guys to the next level, and I admire someone who chooses to support his family when he can. I know some guys can't understand why he would make this choice, but at the same time, it's important to be there for your wife which can't always be the case in a job like a professional athlete with all the travel and obligations. The Red Sox are a team that I enjoy watching, and now I have another good reason to support these guys.

 

Finally, girl and I will be taking in the Triple AAA All-Star Game from PGE Park over the next few days. We'll be going to the home run contest tonight, and the game itself on Wednesday night. I'm actually looking forward to seeing some of the best baseball talent around up close. While I'm extremely supportive of the MLS effort, I understand why some people might view this game as a reason why baseball should stay in PGE Park. Yes, it will be a big crowd, and yes, it will be good to see Portland in the spotlight, and I'm happy to see folks support Merritt Paulson in this, but the best long term thing that can be done to help baseball in Portland is get it a stadium that works for now and the future. That means a 10 to 12 thousand seat stadium with seats along both baselines, and a more intimate feel with closer seats to the action. PGE Park is a decent ballpark, but baseball here deserves better.

Long Week of Randomness

I love my wife a lot, and don't mean to drive her nuts, but it seems like when I'm trying my best not to bug her, I do my best job of driving her insane. It seems to happen a lot right before big events or vacations, as both of us are trying to scramble and get last minute things done, I often get a little scatterbrained trying to remember all of the details and ever changing priorities. And while I do drive her nuts, I've never loved anyone quite as much as I love her. She'll probably gag reading that, but at the same point, it's now on the Interwebs for permanence.

 

I'm a somewhat recovering fantasy geek, which is difficult to say when I'm still participating in two baseball leagues and a soccer league while waiting for football, English soccer and basketball to show up. I first played in a football league back in 1992 ran by my good friend Obi, and although I broke every drafting rule in the book by drafting players from my hometown teams, I won the league in my first year. This led to me being rather cocky when I joined a basketball league that he also ran in 1993, which followed an auction style draft and a salary cap. And needless to say, it was a train wreck. Whatever strategy I had in place fell apart early, and I made some rather dumb mistakes, and ended up with a team that probably couldn't have won a high school game. Although I've stayed with football over the years, I'm less apt to follow my old strategy of watching hours and hours of games non stop and turn my Sunday into a 100 percent non productive day.

 

I think the reason for my recovery is that simply I'm getting to the point of informational overload and I'm trying to remember why playing fantasy sports was fun. We've all had the discussions of seeing our favorite team sign this guy or that other guy and watching it implode, all the while saying we could do better. Fantasy sports gave people a window into that world, being able to create a team of whomever you wanted for competition, and you could put your strategy to use. However, fantasy sports are nothing like the real world, because in fantasy sports, you only have to be concerned with injuries and bad play. You don't have to worry so much about locker room chemistry, agents and a player's posse, salary issues, and other distractions that real GMs have to deal with. Plus, when I first started playing, you had a limited amount of magazines and sites for information, but now, well, you have information explosion with numerous sites and magazines that talk about fantasy sports. You can even sign up for fantasy golf and NASCAR.

 

If people want to know about fantasy sports, I will tell them that it's enjoyable, and if you have a good league with great people, that really helps as well. But at the same point, it's important to keep the game in perspective, because you can be obsessed with stats and information, and it can be consuming. I can honestly say that last football season, I watched parts of maybe 6 regular season games all year, and the Super Bowl was the only game I watched from kickoff to the final gun. Sure, I check the sites and make sure that my guys aren't broken or mired in the land of terribleness, but at the same point, it's a game and my passions are moving towards more reality. However, it's still nice to dream sometimes, and so it will always remain something I'm interested in. Who doesn't dream about having millions of dollars to do with what they want? For me, it's simple, I'd buy the Trail Blazers, West Ham United and the Timbers, and create dominant teams in footy and basketball. Well, and that traveling thing.

 

In the land of MLS updates, the City Council heard the new framework for the MLS piece of renovating PGE Park, and got some different numbers and a rather different plan. Per the Oregonian, KGW News Channel Ocho, and the Portland Mercury, a 31 million dollar upgrade plan has been tentatively approved. The plan has the following financing options in place: 

 

• $31mil total financing plan (down from $38mil):
• $19.1mil from Merritt Paulson:
• $11.1 mil for prepaid rent for the years 2008 thru 2025
• $8mil upfront cash
• $11.9mil from CoP
• $11.2mil from SFF
• $0.7mil soft contributions
• Merritt covers all cost overruns over the first $1 million
• Merritt covers SFF bond repayment should MLS underperform attendance or money wise

It's creative, it's using some of the existing revenue streams, and it's not tapping any urban renewal funds, which was a sore spot for some. Granted, fixing up a ballpark can be a trigger for urban development, but that's an argument that doesn't have to be dealt with here.  The taxpayer risk is negligible, as the Spectator Fund, which already has $6 million in reserves and is continually growing as events come to town, backs the bonds and is one of the more stable funds Portland has.  You have a private investor, who is giving you an amazing deal to bring soccer to town, the city is making the right choice here.  The official vote is in two weeks after a few of the commissioners review the final details, but it appears that the final vote is a foregone conclusion.

 

I feel very good for the fans of soccer, who have worked really hard to bring their sport to town, and provided a lot of support to the initiative through emails, attending meetings, letter writing, canvassing, and other public rallies.  MLS is excited to come to town, and I think after seeing the Timbers – Flounders match last week, I know why.  Soccer will be a success here.  And I appreciate the city council, for negotiating a deal that everyone could live with, putting most of the risk of the project on the people using the facility.  It's not easy to please everyone, but this is a project that I think most people can live with.  Sure, there are naysayers abound that hate any public expenditure like this, but at the same time, they would hate almost anything you would put in front of them that spends city money for anything they would conceive as frivolous.

 

But I urge the council to now turn your attention on finding a home for baseball.  Granted, the fans of this sport haven't been as organized or vocal, but Portland is a great baseball city, and it's important that the history and legacy of the Beavers is kept here in the Portland area.  I don't believe PGE Park is a great baseball park, and the Beavers would do so much better in a park that is smaller, more intimate, and more designed for baseball specifically.  And I don't want the Beavers to be pushed out of the city, because I feel the market for this is here, and it's not the generic baseball fan that only goes to events like Fourth of July or cheap beer night.  There are baseball fans that are as passionate about their sports as Timbers fans are, but they are more concerned about the sport and not necessarily the team, as visions of MLB jump in their head.  The sooner those visions go away, the more quickly I think you can see the realism in what Portland has for baseball fans, and you can tailor the park to best fit their needs.  And it's going to be a tough selling job, as the Mariners cast a huge shadow over baseball here.  It's important to reach out to them to sell this as your local team, and something to support over the long term.

 

Finally, I know what I want for Christmas.  May the force be with you, lightly browned on both sides.

 

Random Thoughts for a Monday

There's plenty of stuff going on to talk about from the past weekend, after celebrating our country's birthday by blowing up small portions of it.

 

Hedo Turkoglu was slated to join the Portland Trail Blazers late on Friday afternoon, and then suddenly as the deal was rumored to be a done deal, it was done and now he's heading to Toronto. Even his agent said that he would understand if the Trail Blazers would feel a bit upset about being left out in the cold, and it seemed like this was a handshake deal that went south rather quickly. And columnists are jumping on the fact that Portland might not be the prime free agent destination, not because of the talent here but the town and what we have to offer here. John Hollinger from ESPN tried to talk a bit about not involving Hedo's wife in the discussions, which I think was a mistake from the getgo, while John Canzano did bring up the fact about whether Portland is too white or too uncomfortable for those people that are in the public eye.

 

What I think after reading all about this and understand what is going on was simply that Turkoglu meshed well with Nate McMillan and he got sold on the Trail Blazers after talking with him, but after walking around the city, Turkoglu looked at the comfort that Toronto would be offering and took the deal. Granted, Toronto has a Turkish neighborhood, it has international areas to it, and very diverse, but it's not cosmopolitan enough for some guys. If you want to have a more low key way of life or have a good area for raising families, Portland would be an amazing place for anyone. But if you are looking for a buzzing night life every night of the week, or needing to find the big party all the time, well, you are probably looking for another place to be. It's important to sell free agents on what we are as a NBA team, a very talented, young team with great amount of talent, and the town itself is a very good place to be but it's unique in some respects.

 

We let our famous people be for the most part, we rather see them in public and treat them with kid gloves in the respect that we let them do their own thing. Famous people can really blend into the environment, and for the most part, we let them do their own thing. But if this really was a top free agent wine and dine party, I would have invited Turkoglu's wife and brought in the top current players of the Trail Blazers and put on the show for him to sell it. The fact that they didn't do either thing really tells me that they thought the money and talent was enough, and for some players, that might be the case, just not in this situation.

 

Meanwhile, the Oregonian published an article about the MLS and it's marketing challenges. In the early days of the MLS, the league was marketed to kids and families as a fun event to take the kids who grew up playing soccer. And while the marketing worked for some, the fact that the attendance for most teams struggled emphasizes the problem with marketing to families. Most families have a limited amount of entertainment dollars, and will tend to pick whatever events are the flavor of the moment, and both soccer and baseball have seen problems with attracting young fans that used to play each sport to become season ticket holders of soccer or baseball. The fact that kids play the sports hasn't translated to true success at the gates.

 

And now you have two teams, Toronto and Seattle, that have changed their marketing to attract more of the younger, urban fans who have more disposable income to have them come out to soccer, using things like cheaper beer, chanting and singing, and generally having a crazy time. Seattle has even used their website to help fans pick the section they want for season tickets by asking about what type of fan experience they want, whether they want singing and chanting about, standing in seats, and other things. For young types who have seen how Europeans support soccer, it has translated into a big jump in attendance, but it is a rather tough line to walk, as noted in the article. What group do you market to - families, who want wholesome entertainment but have lots of choices and limited income, or young people, who want something a bit more edgy and have more disposable income, but may not understand what this soccer thing is all about.

 

Really, what the whole thing has shown is that marketing is all about speaking to different audiences, and it's important for teams to cater to different groups to help them see what the benefit is to coming to watch their sport. For some fans of the Timbers, they love the atmosphere of the Timbers Army with the chanting, swearing and TIFO, for others, it's cheap beer, for others, it's being able to watch top level soccer for a lower price, and for others, it's family time and good entertainment. And the Timbers need to market it that way, but do more to help fans understand what the experience is for them, and what part of the park works for them. You have to market the Timbers Army, but help fans understand that the section might not be for them, while it's also important to have a family section that people feel they can bring their kids to and feel like there's not going to be an issue. And finally, you have to have an away supporters section that is away from the home fans. In England, away supporters are kept away from the home side, and it keeps a lot of trouble from happening, and soccer fans travel a bit, so it's important that you have a place where away fans feel comfortable in coming to visit, yet not cause issues.

 

Girl and I went to see Duran Duran in Redmond last night, and for a bunch of guys nearing or over 50, they can still bring it. Ok, I'm not the biggest fan of their music, but two very important women in my life love them greatly, my wife and my sister, and I must say I enjoyed the show a lot more that I thought. Granted, I've heard their music enough so I knew most of the songs they played, and I can appreciate them as talented people, even if I wouldn't run out and buy one of their albums for myself. But being able to see them play for a few hours and sound very much like listening to an album with great sound and energy, it was a good time, and a great way to end our long holiday weekend.

 

Finally, the city council has another discussion relating to MLS on Thursday afternoon. From an email that I got today:

 

Important Final Hurdle for MLS to PDX

What:  Portland City Council Vote for MLS
When: 2:00 p.m.
         Thursday July 9 2009
Where: Portland City Hall
           Council Chambers

What a week for soccer in PDX!

If there was any doubt that MLS would be a runaway hit in Portland, those doubts were laid to rest with 17,000 people selling out PGE Park on Wednesday night that showed the world why we are called Soccer City USA.  

But we are not done yet.  We have a final hurdle to clear.  

As you are probably aware we took an important step several weeks ago when the City Council voted to decouple baseball and soccer and move forward on finalizing the deal to bring MLS to PDX.

This coming Thursday City Council is slated to take up three important final votes that are key hurdles in finalizing the deal between Merritt Paulson and the City:

1) Bidding Exemption
2) Pre-Development Agreement
3) Financing Package

The bidding exemption and pre-development agreement are important legal requirements that allow Paulson to start retaining contractors and turning dirt over at PGE.  They will also likely be voting on the financing package that will pay for the PGE park remodel.  At this time we have not seen the final package but it is our understanding that it retains all of the protections for taxpayers, the general fund and essential services that the earlier proposed agreement had while still providing the funding necessary to bring MLS to PDX.

 

So we have more work to do this week, so please make sure and email your commissioners about this. What they will be discussing is the companies that will be doing the work to PGE Park for MLS, getting the agreement determined with the firms that will do the work (and more than likely already have been working with Paulson about construction plans) and how we are going to pay for it all. It's vital that you make your voices heard, and make sure that the powers that be understand how important it is to bring MLS to Portland. Get this done, and then we can do work to ensure that baseball remains in Portland, because that is important as well to keep our entertainment options available and keep other sports in town. You all know how I feel about the MLS, I want it badly, and I will be doing my part to email to tell my elected officials what I would like them to know. If you email, remember to keep the points simple, but show passion in your argument and keep it positive. You cannot stop us, we are the Rose City.