One more week of preseason, then next Thursday, April 17th, the mighty mighty Timbers host Puerto Rico at PGE Park in the season opener for both teams. A halftime ceremony celebrates Timber Jim’s retirement and the first 1000 fans to arrive at the stadium receive a Timber Jim Farewall T-shirt from Shindaiwa. The only legitimate excuse for missing this game is your honeymoon (and that *barely* qualifies).
In other news:
The Portland Mercury – The Ballad of Timber Jim
At the front of this huge mass of fans—the Timbers Army—stands Timber Jim, their beloved mascot. Looking the part of a true axe man, he is clad in jean overalls and brown steel-toed boots. He brings a chainsaw, which he uses extensively. He does front handsprings, hangs from the rafters beating a drum, and climbs 80-foot poles to rile the crowd up. He doesn’t even get paid for it.
ESPN – Big-name signings add spice to USL dynamics
The Timbers’ Takayuki Suzuki tops the big signings but then the same writer proclaims Sounders look like the class of the USL again.
Several Timbers bloggers go apoplectic over the news:
Timbers at The Offside – Timbers Picked to Finish Second in USL-1
Remember all those nice things that I said yesterday about Anne Ramzy and her efforts to publish stories about the USL First Division on ESPN’s Soccernet? I take them all back now that I see that she has picked the Seattle Sounders to finish above the Portland Timbers in the table.
Nasty Challenge – I Respectfully Disagree Ramzy
What I’m trying to understand, however, is why in today’s article she insists on listing the Portland Timbers as finishing second this season? I don’t want to sound like a whiny fan, which I do often, but HOW DARE SHE!
And speaking of Timbers Bloggers, Bob at The Offside Timbers blog also provides some links (including to yours truly!) to help you follow the Timbers via the internets as the season commences:
I’m actually excited to go out and watch my first Portland Timbers game. I’m a huge football fan (and yeah, I went there and said it – I think it’s ridiculous that a game played with your hands holding a ball is called ‘football’ in America) and have yet to watch a Timbers game!
So sad the Gunners lost a couple of days ago… =(
My question is this: What site is the most reliable for getting up-to-the-minute game status? Not audio, but basically a play by play? I find myself too often finding the latest at the opposing squad’s website….
4/17!!!
Christian – I predict you’ll have a great time at the Timbers game; the crowd atmosphere is great and the team’s not bad either. (And on a transit-related side note, season ticket holders this year were given a Trimet all-day ticket for each game day!)
Flynn – Occasionally someone will post real-time results on the Game Day Chat thread on TalkTimbers.com. But other than that, I’m not sure . . . maybe another commenter will help us out . . .
Flynn – I agree with Dave – your best bet is the game day thread but it’s pretty spotty. However, if you can, you should try to catch the audio broadcast on http://www.portlandtimbers.com (free) or the audio/video broadcast through usl live (subscription).
Diane,
Thanks. I hadn’t considered the USL live idea. I’ll give that a look.