Because soccer isn't gay, but once in awhile it kinda is.
Portland Timbers
Portland Timbers Fans Stage Anti-Homophobia Display
05/14/13
The Timbers Army led their fellow Portland Timbers fans in an anti-homophobia display prior to the team’s 3-0 victory over Chivas USA Sunday.
Anne Peterson of the Associated Press captured the display on video and posted it to YouTube:
It’s just the first of a bunch of displays like this we’ll be seeing over the next few weeks as supporters groups across Major League Soccer mark the International Day Against Homophobia coming up this Friday, May 17. Keep an eye on the stands across the League!
Several more images of the display coming up after the jump.
Portland Timbers: Jersey Week 2013
03/05/13
PortlandTimbers.com
The Portland Timbers unveiled their newest jerseys for the upcoming 2013 and 2014 seasons, and the new designs are a love it or hate it experience.
The jerseys have unique features; for example, in the home jersey the white lining is placed in a weird way that would make the average person’s figure not flattering at all when worn. However, some of the designs are cool such as the chevrons, the Portland flag, and the rising sun in the back.
Personally, my favorite jersey out of the two is the away jersey. I say that because of its interesting features such as the rose behind the crest, the rose flower on the bottom of the jersey, the thorns throughout the sides, and “We are the Rose City” on the back. To me the red jersey looks very Ajax-like with the design itself (which is not a bad way at all) and I like that a lot.
Overall the jerseys we have for the next two years are mediocre.
Ally Week 2012: The Timbers Army
10/19/12
It’s Spirit Day, the final day of Ally Week 2012 where allies wear purple to show support of bullied LGBT youth.
We wrap up Ally Week with some thoughts from the Timbers Army, the supporters group for MLS’ Portland Timbers:
The Timbers Army is an open and accepting group to everyone no matter race, height, weight, hair color or sexual orientation. People are people and we believe in accepting people how they are with no preconditions. The diversity in the Timbers Army helped shape and form what the Timbers Army is today. We believe every person worldwide should be guaranteed the same rights as everyone else. We believe in embracing the differences in everyone. If you’re different then quite literally so the fuck what? Everyone is a valuable person and should be guaranteed equal rights as guaranteed under the Constitution. The Timbers Army does not believe that diversity is a bad thing. We accept everyone and embrace everyone.
Discrimination is not right and in 2012 it is a relic of a bygone era. Discrimination and homophobia have no place in 2012 and from here on out. We are allies of the LGBT cause because we love our friends and family who identify as LGBT. We embrace them as family because that’s what they are. We love everyone no matter what. Nothing makes us feel better than reassuring anyone in the game of supporting their club or playing for their club that their sexual orientation literally means fuck all to us. We care about the person and love the person. What we don’t accept is hatred and intolerance, or people who promote them. Zero tolerance for intolerance.
Cascadia Cup Round Two – A Draw for the Timbers
09/19/12
by jrodtimbers
in Portland Timbers
The decision to have Portland Timbers vs Seattle Sounders game on NBC was the best decision for Major League Soccer. It got viewers to see the rivalry that many have compared to as the Red Sox vs. Yankees of MLS. People without cable would be able to see a great Cascadia Cup derby. Even though the game ended in a 1-1 draw, it was fun filled and full of action.
This time around there were no fights on the field and things were for once very civil. The first to draw blood was Freddy Montero with a shot that for keeper Joe Bendik was very difficult to save. I fwas scared that Seattle was going to steal 3 points and be ahead in the Cascadia Cup. By the end of the game defender Rodney Wallace would come and save the Timbers and score the equalizing goal.
Portland Timbers Have an Up and Down Week
09/07/12
by jrodtimbers
in Portland Timbers
It has been a average week for the Portland Timbers with some good news and some bad news. They finally announced our next coach for the 2013 season and the Timbers defeated Colorado at home. However, we were right back to where we were losing on the road to the Colorado Rapids. At one point of time we were out of last place only to find ourselves back down there again. For me this is what comes to being a Timbers fan: having the highs and lows within a span of 7 days.
The first good news was defeating the Rapids at home 1-0. It was very simple playing at home and winning is nothing new, but it gave us something that we did not have in a while which was confidence. Confident that maybe, just maybe, we could have gotten a hot streak coming out of that win. We had our defense very sturdy, our team meshing in all the right positions, and we had players who were predominately on the bench all season outshine and outperform expectations on the field. Sal Zizzo and Bright Dike really were the stars of the night. Dike was the one who scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal. It was a remarkable game and lead to people to think that maybe the tide has turned.
A Bright Spot in the Timbers Organization or Just a Fluke?
08/28/12
by jrodtimbers
in Portland Timbers
These past couple of days the Portland Timbers got something that they have been waiting for a while: some results. On Saturday, the Timbers won against their rivals the Vancouver Whitecaps. This is a remarkable result because so far in the Cascadia Cup standings we have 7pts, Seattle has 4 pts, and vancouver has 2 pts. That means only one thing — if we beat Seattle coming up then we clinch the Cascadia Cup our first piece of silverware since we moved to Major League Soccer.
Now onto the match itself. It looked like the Timbers were playing fairly decent in the beginning of the first half but things turned around once Darlington Nagbe scored another goal. I will say he is on a hot streak as of lately which is silencing his critics who have been criticizing him all season long. Then we marched forth and attacked the Vancouver Defense. The sad thing was that Vancouver came right back in extra time to tie it up. Once the second half came about the good thing was the remarkable defense the one guy who also was criticized a lot was Steven Smith. He helped saved the Timbers from dropping 2 points! Another person that definitely helped the team a lot was Frank Songo’o. He scored the game winning goal in the second half which sealed Vancouver’s fate. I have to say they improved from what their performances were in the past. They moved up to 3rd to last in terms of league ranking and this is the first win of Gavin Wilkinson’s coaching career in MLS.
New York Red Bulls Fiasco Putting Timbers in an Abyss
08/20/12
The 3-2 Portland Timbers loss against the New York Red Bulls was heartbreaking but it also does contain some controversy with the referees. Some might say that the second goal should have never happened because the referee blew the whistle early and people did not go after the ball. That is up to debate but regardless of that controversial result the Timbers still lost the game.
What is shocking is how Kris Boyd was never used in the game for the first time this season. That is a complete shocker seeing that Gavin have always put him in the game throughout the entire match. The three people Gavin used were Fucito, Wallace, and Palmer as subs (some might say they are sub par players or better yet not great with the fans I guess) to take out Kimura, Dike, and Songo’o. People lost confidence in the game once people realized the kinds of subs Gavin was putting in. The sad thing is of all people Kenny Coopers sub was a game changer in this game and helped lead some confidence in a NYRB team that were up against a wall after the two goals.
Downward Spiral in the Timbers Organization
08/17/12
The last 5 Portland Timbers games were against teams that were in the bottom half of the Western Conference (Chivas USA, FC Dallas) and the worst team in Major League Soccer, Toronto FC. I was hoping to get some form of results from all of these games because it could be plausible that we can get right back into the mix of things, but I was dead wrong.
The first Chivas game we lost 1-0 on a sunny afternoon down in LA, the following game we got shellacked against FC Dallas 5-0, then we lost again to Chivas USA 1-0, tied FC Dallas 1-1, and then tied 2-2. So out of this 5 game stint we only managed to get 2 points against some of the worst teams in MLS out of a possible 15 points.
I do not place blame on everybody but it seems to me that our defense is still lacking and that there is nothing Gavin is doing at this time to shore up the defense. I do not feel bad for him because he has made the team worse and is in the running to be the worst team in MLS which is something we should not be proud of. I would love to see a shoring up of strong defenders and midfielders but I also need to keep in mind this isn’t just Gavin’s decision since he has to listen to Merritt and the candidates for the coaching position as well (since they narrowed the coaching candidates during this time). Since they have a huge influence as to what kind of players they want to see on the field and which ones needs to be traded.
Chivas USA: Get it Together Goats!
07/24/12
Wednesday’s home win against the Portland Timbers ended a poor run of form for Chivas USA and brought promise to the team heading into Saturday’s Superclasico matchup against the LA Galaxy. However, an extremely poor first half set the stage for the 4-1 loss to the cross town rivals.
The Goats came out on Wednesday with a bit of a different lineup – Ryan Smith was inserted for Blair Gavin, with Alejandro Moreno as the lone striker. John Valencia also started in the defense for Raushawn McKenzie, though this seemed to be more of a rest thing with the Superclasico coming up. The team got off to a promising start, scoring an early goal in the 15th minute. Ryan Smith charged forward and passed the ball along the front of goal to Miller Bolaños who tapped it in. Of course I picked that moment to go to the bathroom at the Home Depot Center and missed it happen live. Nothing else really happened to speak of, and the match ended 1-0. I felt that it was a promising performance leading up to Saturday’s game as they showed some offensive sparks that had previously been missing.
End of the Road for Spencer: A Turning Point in Timbers Season?
07/10/12
John Spencer who was the first Major League Soccer coach of the Portland Timbers has been sacked by the Owner Merritt Paulson late yesterday.
In his press conference, Merritt was very emotional throughout because of his good friendship with Sepncer, said that the reasons for the sacking was because of “philosophical differences” between the two men. He stressed that the record of the team was not to blame for this decision. Merritt went on to say that Gavin Wilkinson, current General Manager and former Timbers player and coach, will be the interim coach of the Timbers for the remainder of the season.
They went on to talk about how starting today they are formally searching for a permanent head coach and have 10 names that they are zoning in on. They will announce the decision of a new coach by the end of the 2012 calendar year. During the interview Merritt did say that this decision to sack John Spencer was not “waiving the white flag on the 2012 season” and that they will be able to turn it around and make the playoffs by season’s end. He said in the conference that his goals was to make the playoffs this year and next year be in contention of the MLS Cup. The timing of Spencer being sacked happened to be Sunday night and was finalized at 8am today. read more…
