Let the Madness begin: Timbers vs Vancouver

By: Bob Kellett | March 20th, 2008

Pity the poor NCAA basketball tournament. It has the misfortune of starting on the same day of another greatly hyped event that surely has money changing hands in offices all over the country. I’m talking about the Timbers scrimmage against the Vancouver Whitecaps in Tukwila, WA today. I know, you are probably sick of the intense coverage this has received in the media and from all those press releases from the teams that mention it prominently, but still this is worth talking about (or it is at least worthy of a post since we haven’t signed any Cubans yet).

The kickoff to the 2008 campaign is lacking the fanfare of the prestigious 2007 Portland Parks and Recreation Cup clash between the two clubs at the storied Alder Creek Middle School in Milwaukie. That epic encounter ended in a scoreless draw and saw the Timbers lift the trophy (yes, we have a trophy damnit) after penalties.

Somehow I doubt there will be any hardware at stake in Tukwila, but a scrimmage against the Caps is a positive thing even if we are likely to hear few details about it. After nearly two weeks of practicing against each other, the Timbers players are probably eager to get kicked in the shins by someone other than a teammate. A game like this is never about the result, but rather about gaining match fitness, winning starting spots and seeing whether or not trialists straight out of college and from lower divisions have what it takes to hack it in the USL First Division.

I was thinking about heading up to Tukwila today, but decided against it. Not only was I unable to figure out what time the scrimmage kicks off, but I also realized that this is just the start of the proverbial marathon that will be the 2008 season. With five preseason games, 30 regular season games, a few US Open Cup games (I hope), three or so friendlies (I hope) and a few playoff games (I hope), we’re looking at 40-plus games this season. That is 3,600 minutes of my life that will be spent this year standing around watching a bunch of grown men in shorts kick a ball. That is two and half days this year just watching the Timbers play. I don’t want to even begin to calculate the amount of time I will spend thinking about them playing.

So, I’m taking a pass on this one, but will be eager to digest any and all reports that come from it and will dutifully pass them on if you are inclined – timbers [at] theoffside [dot] com.

In the meantime, here’s a video interview with new defender Tim Karalexis (he’s going to wear Lee Morrison’s number 4) and a piece on Chris Bagley’s health.

Photo: Allison Andrews/Soccer City USA