Should Portland Follow FC Seattle’s Example?

The FC Seattle Sounders made a splash last year in their inaugural year in the MLS. The celebrity ownership of Drew Carey, sponsorship from X-Box, signings of Freddie Ljungberg and Kasey Keller, and, finally, playing in new Qwest Field all made for a massive, and impressive, unveiling of the Seattle soccer team. Both on the field and in the stands, Seattle provided an example of just how big an MLS team's launch can be, constantly exhibiting massive crowds and an impressive team showing. It even found a star-in-the-making in Fredy Montero. When Portland joins the MLS in 2011, it will hope to match the success of its upstate neighbors. But don't expect a repeat of the Seattle strategy. Yes, the Timbers secured $30 million dollars to renovate PGE Park. It will now be strictly a soccer stadium (the AAA Portland Beavers baseball club is rumored to be moving to Beaverton. I sincerely hope they will rename the team the "Beaverton Beavers".) No word exactly on what the renovations will entail, but it's already confirmed that they'll be installing stands along the east-end. Some of the stands will be covered and some will not. There will also be a restaurant strictly for east-end ticket holders. For everyone's sake, ...

Ryan Pore Is a Poor Man’s Steven Gerrard

On a rain drenched turf at PGE Park in Portland, Oregon, it's a 0-0 game between the Portland Timbers and Carolina Railhawks. Although dominating for most of the game, the Timbers have yet to break-through. Then, in the fifty-eighth minute, an opening presents itself. Ryan Pore sprints down the left side of the pitch to a patch of open space fifteen yards in front of the Railhawk's goal. Bright Dike, a Timber's forward, slips through a pass to the sprinting Pore. He has the ball and a clear shot at goal. At a time when many players, given that amount of space and time, will choke and pull the ball up and shoot right at the keeper, Pore calmly takes aim and rocks a bullet into the left side of the goal. Ryan Pore is never the fastest guy on the pitch. Nor is he the quickest. Other players possess a more deft touch. What Ryan Pore possesses is the inexplicable ability to consistently be in the right place at the right time. As well as a bit of ice water in his veins. It's a combination of innate instincts and good-old fashioned hard work that brings success to Pore's way. Remind you of a certain mid-fielder that currently ...

Portland Timbers Dominate Hapless FC Seattle Sounders

The FC Seattle Sounders—the darlings of MLS last season—were thoroughly and completely dominated by the Portland Timbers tonight at Qwest Field in Seattle. Ian Joy and Mamadou Dansu anchored a Timber defense that continually shut down the Seattle offense throughout the night.  Steve Cronin played brilliantly in goal for the Timbers. The Timbers' goal was made on an excellent pass from Ryan Pore to Gabriel Obatol, just out of the outstretched hands of Kasey Keller. Pore had stolen the ball from bumbling Seattle defender Tyrone Marshall, who gave away the ball just outside the Seattle 18-yard box. The loss was especially embarrassing for the Sounders, considering they play in the MLS, a league—on paper anyway—that is thought to be superior to the United Soccer League (USL) where the Timbers play. The Sounders, already reeling from a tumultuous offseason that saw their star player, Freddie Ljungberg, pining for a way out of town, didn't look like a top tier MLS team. In fact, if the Sounders played the way they did tonight during the regular season, they'll be lucky to win a game. No heart, no chemistry, and no teamwork seem to be the Sounders' motto these days. I have to wonder if they were simply ...