Knowles on TOTW
The votes have been tallied, the results are in, and Cameron Knowles has won a gift certificate good for a medium order of french fries at Bob’s Big Boy as his reward for making the USL First Division Team of the Week. Cleveland keeper Hunter Gilstrap gets top honors for all the bumps and bruises he received while shutting out the Timbers on Saturday. Former Timbers Brent Sancho and Dan Antoniuk are also on the team.

Can I see your ID, please?
According to the release about Saturday’s U23s match, “Midfielder Steven Evans, who entered the match as a second-half sub, is a junior at Central Catholic High School.” Awesome. If you check out his bio you’ll see that he was born in 1981. Yeah, right. Next thing you are going to tell me is that we have a player named Sterling Flunder.

Eh gads
The Timbers are 1-8-2 all time against Rochester and 1-3-1 against the Rhinos at PGE Park.

Checking in with our Second Division guys

• Forward Chris Bagley has one goal in three games for the Wilmington Hammerheads.
• Defender Tim Karalexis also scored a goal in his one appearance for Wilmington
• Forward Jamie Watson (remember him? he was in camp last season) has 4 goals in three games for Wilmington.
• Keeper Chase Harrison has given up three goals in three games for the Harrisburg City Islanders
• Midfielder Tom “Soccer Welfare” Taylor has a goal in three games for Real Maryland Monarchs
• Matthew Delicate, who never played for the Timbers but scored against us for Rochester last season has a pair of goals for the Richmond Kickers. I have to think that the Timbers could probably find a spot for a guy like him on their current roster.

There’s only one
It will nice to see Brent Sancho back in Portland. I always enjoyed his crazy runs forward when he was here but the thing I enjoyed even more was that he was happy to crack open a beer in the parking lot with fans after a game.

Blog Central Coverage
I am unable to attend Thursday night’s game and it is unlikely that I will be able to watch a replay of it in a timely fashion. I’ll probably just link to other match reports. I am able to attend Friday’s U23s game, but Saturday’s game is a no-go. There is too much soccer this year. That is a wonderful thing.

Upon reflection
Thinking back to the Cleveland game on Saturday and I don’t think the Timbers should have done anything different in terms of tactics. It was clear from the get-go that they were playing for three points. The outside backs were pushed way forward, the midfield was swarming around the box, and the manager made some second half moves with the intention of getting a goal. It was a disappointing result, but I’m not sure they could have done anything differently (other than chopping off the Cleveland keeper’s arms at halftime.)

Looking ahead
Rochester comes to town on Thursday (note the 8pm kickoff) having won three straight. You’ll recall that the Rhinos blew up their roster before the beginning of last season. They began the 2008 season struggling to score and struggling to win. This year is a different story. They brought back their core players and have gotten off to a strong start. What makes this even more impressive is that they have already picked up three road wins and a road draw. Their schedule is crazy. They start the season with 8 road matches. That means they’ll be playing a ton of games at home late in the season. They have put themselves in a good position thus far.

Familiar Faces
There’s only one Sancho. One time Timbers defender Brent Sancho is starting in the Rhinos’ backline. Andrew F*ckin Gregor has featured in four of Rochester’s five games. He mainly is getting minutes off the bench. Former Portland Pilots forward Chris Sanders is on Rochester’s roster but has not played a minute yet. Rochester also has a ton of guys who have been in the USL First Division for a number of years: Johnny Menyongar (always kills the Timbers), John Ball (thug), Ze Roberto (still ambulatory!), Scott Vallow (Swallows), Tiger Fitzpatrick, and Kenny Bertz (Agnello drafted him).

Your annual Steve Reese update
After spending a couple of seasons picking up a paycheck as the third-string keeper for the Timbers, Steve Reese has returned to the much despised Cascade Surge. Judas.

US Open Cup time
One of the great disappointments of 2008 was Gavin Wilkinson’s decision to take the U.S. Open Cup less than seriously. Two words: Scott Bolkan. Hopefully Amos Magee will take a different approach with the U23s this year. The Bonzai have a pair of contests this week that will count as part of the qualifying process for PDL sides. In total, four matches in the early regular season will double as Open Cup qualifying matches with the top two sides in the Northwest division moving on in the tournament. Here’s the current standings and schedule.

The Oregonian’s lack of Sounders coverage
Terrible or a reason to have a renewed faith in the future of print journalism?

The week that was
Your weekly USL First Division review.

Photo: Allison Andrews/Soccer City USA

While Underwood undoubtedly has a pretty fair understanding of how Wilkinson manages and he likely has learned a Maori curse word or two from his former boss, the one thing he doesn’t really know is this year’s Portland Timbers team. As you know, the composition of this year’s squad is much, much different than the clubs that Underwood coached. It is almost like he will be facing an expansion team himself.

Three for the TOTW
Brian Farber, Ryan Pore, and Chris Seitz all made the USL First Division team of the week. They each will receive a gift certificate to GI Joe’s and a souvenir Calgary FC hat courtesy of the league’s front office.

Checking in with our MLS guys

• Bryan Jordan has appeared in all 6 of the LA Galaxy’s games thus far, but has largely been used as a super sub. He has one goal on the season.
• Flash Gordon also has a goal in four games played for the Gals.
• Leo Griffin has played as many minutes for the LA Galaxy this season and you and I have.
• Josh Saunders is 0-1-1 in his two starts for, you guessed it, the LA Galaxy
• Josh Wicks has started two games for DC United and has let in three goals in a pair of draws.
• Ray Burse is starting for FC Dallas. He is 1-4-1, giving up close to two goals per game
• Keeper Brad Knighton is 1-1-2 for the New England Revolution.

Playing with the other, other LA team
Remember Mike Randolph? Nifty little defender who was one of the few bright spots for the Timbers during the Agnello year. He was released by the LA Galaxy this offseason and is now playing for the LA Legends in PDL. Curious. You’d think at least one team in the USL First Division would want his services.

Speaking of PDL…
Mutanda Kwesele is going to have his work cut out for him if he is the only one on the roster for the Timbers U23 game against Victoria on Saturday in Tualatin.

Groundhopping at PGE Park

The Timbers fans reminded me of the German St. Pauli fans, an odd blend of alternatives with a big passion for football. Although there were still quite a lot of girls and women around, the vast majority of members of the Timbers Army are guys between 15 and 35, the usual suspects in European football stadiums.

More from a modern day de Touqeville

* Steve Cronin was paid $75,000 by the LA Galaxy last season. There is no way that he’ll make anything near that with Portland this season. It will be interesting to read the details when his signing is announced. Could it be a loan where the clubs split his salary or will it be structured some other way? Either way the Timbers will likely end up paying more for the keepers this season then they did last year when MLS clubs picked up the paychecks for two of the four keepers.

* A Byron Alvarez sighting in the NISL (La Raza). Apparently he brought Steve Reese south of the border to carry his bags or play keeper or whatever it is Steve Reese does to always show up on a roster somewhere (Wikipedia).

* Mike Randolph was waived by the Galaxy. Remember how good he looked in a Timbers’ kit during that dismal Agnello year? Let’s fit him with a 2009 version ASAP (Soccer Insider).

* Heard some rumors that a former USL-1 Defender of the Year may be headed this way.

* Lotsa juicy stuff from the recent Timbers Army/Timbers front office pow wow. I have to say that I am especially excited about having a PDL squad. Last year we had a PDL team but they unfortunately played in USL-1. (Soccer City USA).

* Merritt Paulson working the halls in Salem (Oregonlive)

The Miami FC Blues have won once in their past six games and twice in their past nine games. The Portland Timbers have won once in their past eight games. Both teams have won just six times this season. Both sides have won just two times away from home. When Portland and Miami played to a nil-nil draw way back on May 18 not many people would have predicted that their seasons would be so similar in terms of suckiness (why is this not a Microsoft Word approved word?). Portland was undefeated at the time. Miami already had five losses.

The turning point for Portland was a couple weeks later when the Timbers hosted Vancouver and Miami over Memorial Day Weekend. Portland lost both games and with it the team’s year-plus invincibility at PGE Park. The Timbers went into a deep slide. Miami strung together a few results in June before falling back upon mediocrity.

Now, two months later, the two clubs are level in the table and fighting for the final spot in the playoffs. If the Timbers don’t get a result on Thursday and if they fail to make the playoffs, they can point to their lack of success against a very average Miami side as a big reason why.

Some things are timeless
Timbers Offside City Hall Correspondent Eric pointed me to the above rendering of what PGE Park would look like if the roof and stands were extended to the east side. This isn’t from the yet to be released Paulson MLS Plan but rather from the Central City Plan (monstrously big PDF for those inclined) back in 1988. What do you think? Would you want to enclose the east stands?

Media hacks take notice

WHAT: Merritt Paulson , owner and president of the Portland Beavers and Portland Timbers, Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard and Torre Chisholm, Portland State University athletic director, are holding a news conference to discuss plans to bring Major League Soccer to Portland .

WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 3 – 9 a.m.

WHERE: PGE Park , 1844 SW Morrison (Fred Meyer Family Deck)
Media should enter through the gates at 18th and Morrison and proceed to the Fred Meyer Family Deck.

I have no idea what will be said at this (I suspect will get some details but not the full plan), but I like the fact that Portland State is involved. The more players putting pressure on the City Council the better.

Shoulda stayed in Portland
It took 22 games before Josh Wicks made his debut for the LA Galaxy. Wicks came on for injured keeper Steve Cronin in the 46th minute in the Galaxy’s 2-2 draw against New England on Saturday. The former Timbers keeper made three saves and gave up a goal in the contest. It’s worth noting that Brad Knighton did not suit up for New England. I’m still not sure whether or not he will be back in Portland for Thursday’s clash against Miami.

Welfare Winger
After leaving the Timbers in the offseason for a trial with Puerto Rico only to be brought back to Portland before the start of the season before leaving again midseason, midfielder Tom Taylor has found a new home. Taylor has signed with Wrexham FC in Blue Square Premiership in England. That should make Gavin Wilkinson’s agent, who happens to be Taylor’s poppa, happy.

The Trib jumps on the Portland Timbers are a diverse team bandwagon today, but also notes that even with an increased number of players born outside the United States the Timbers aren’t quite as international as either Montreal or Rochester. As if that really matters. The online newspaper also mentions that the exhibition in Boise on July 6 is by no means set in stone. Unless the promoter can dig up a bundle of money to bring the Timbers there I don’t see why the club would want to add a truly meaningless friendly to an already jam packed schedule. It isn’t like Boise is a market the Timbers are trying to conquer.

The Revolving Lineup
I think my eyes are blurry from trying to figure this out (PDF Page 11), but am I correct in saying that the Portland Timbers have started nine different lineups in their first nine games? This unbalanced roster with an excess of midfield players hasn’t really helped in terms of consistency.

A message from our friends from the Solomon Islands

We are not there physically but our hearts and minds are with everyone there in Portland especially the friends,families and fans of Portland Timbers whom we are also part of it..GO PORTLAND TIMBERS GO..GO PORTLAND TIMBERS GO..

Once again, from every Solomon Islands fans of Portland timbers here in Fiji..and from the South Pacific…we want to wish Portland Timbers and our countryman Benjamin Totori the best of the best…

We’ll keep in touch and will follow up on every game…

Costigan, Superstar
Former Timbers defender Keith Costigan talks about his life after football.

Viewing parties
Tonight’s game is on Fox Soccer Channel at 5pm. This means it will not be shown on USL Live. If you have gotten used to heading to Slabtown to watch with the other faithful, you should know that they don’t have Fox Soccer Channel there. The westside party has been moved to the Bullpen (1730 SW Taylor) and the eastside party is still at Beulahland (118 NE 28th).

Photo

Paging Dr. Bolkan
The revamped Trib is assuaging my fears about its future coverage of the Timbers by pumping out articles like this one about Scott Bolkan. I don’t know about you, but I sure am getting tired of reading about athletes who are defenders by morning and research assistants in a behavioral neuroscience labs by afternoon. Yawn. They are a dime a dozen. Actually this is the type of story I love. There have always been some fascinating characters with interests beyond soccer playing for the Timbers. Bolkan joins the list.

UPDATE: The Trib cranks out two more articles, here and here.

And the rivalry resumes
Goal Seattle has reached the 2000s in its build up to Saturday’s game between Seattle and Portland. For me this is the decade when the rivalry is the present, not history. When I close my eyes and think of the best Sounders and Timbers games I have watched the past 8 years all I see are elbows and cards and Suzuki’s amazing goal.

Being Gavin Wilkinson
Using my telepathic powers, I am reading Gavin Wilkinson’s mind and I see him starting this unit against Rochester:

Burse
S. Thompson Knowles J. Thompson Griffin
Guante Gregor Dombrowski Little
Suzuki Brown

In his mind he is saving Poltl and Higgins for Seattle. He also knows that Rochester is still working its way into shape so he is going to throw fresh bodies in during the second half to wear the Rhinos down. Like Olum up front, Oka out wide, and maybe even Lara in the middle.

Did you know….?
The flour used to make graham crackers was first developed by Rochesterian Sylvester Graham in the 19th century and commercial marshmallows were first mass produced there in 1895 by Joseph B. Demerath. In nearby LeRoy, New York, Pearl B. Wait created the food phenomenon known as Jell-O in 1897. And the first production of prepared mustard, by the R.T. French Company, took place in Rochester in 1904.

Predict the attendance
Still an early season Thursday evening game so that will keep it from being a huge crowd, but the weather is decent, there was some pub in today’s paper, and the team in winning. I think we’re looking at 5,324 give or take a dozen.

Now back to the anxious waiting we shall go….

Photo

Anyway you look at it…
…the Timbers are on top.

Player of the Month
The club’s official website is asking for your vote for the Timbers player on the month for April. Looking back at the three games, I would say my top three choices are: 1. Chris Brown 2. Takayuki Suzuki 3. Miguel Guante. Brown and Suzuki for obvious reasons. Guante because he snapped the team out of its doldrums against Minnesota and he had a fine second half against Seattle. Your choices?

Lonely in Japan
A reader from Japan writes:

There is a problem about Live broadcasting. Company “PLAYON” delivers 　USLLIVE.com　 on　Internet. One Japanese Suzuki’s 　fan asked “PLAYON” can we register USLLIVE.com from JAPAN. “PLAYON” 　answered that “you can not”. We can watch when Suzuki 　plays soccer , on youtube , highlight of Timbers　official　web site only. We can listen AudioLive only. 　We are lonely.

What a missed opportunity for USL Live. If you look at the number of people watching Suzuki’s clips on YouTube and the number of Japanese visitors coming to this little ol’ blog, the interest level is very, very high in Japan. USL Live could make a little bank if it opened up its broadcasts to people overseas. Heck, the Timbers would be smart to secure a Japanese play-by-play guy for their home games and stream it over the Web. I bet for some games they’d have more people listening in Japan than in the U.S.

Ride the bus
There is one thing we know for sure. There are at least two busloads of Portland Timbers fans heading to Seattle for the game on Saturday, May 10. Can we fill a third bus? If your butt is looking for a seat and your voice is looking for a game outside of Portland to cheer for the boys in green and white and you are willing to pay $30 (great deal considering the current gas prices!) for a ride but no ticket, you’ll want to contact – finnegantimber@gmail.com. You can also scrawl through this monster thread on Talk Timbers for more details.

Alvarez, superstar, how many championship have you won so far?
Former Timbers forward Byron Alvarez scored a pair of goals in the MISL championship game on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to lift his Monterrey team to victory over Baltimore. Alvarez was the top point earner in the postseason with 22 points. Do you think he’ll show up on a USL team’s roster this summer? He did finsh 18 points in 22 games for Charleston last season. The Battery’s offense has been rather anemic through their first three games so I guess he could return there, but I haven’t seen any scuttlebutt about that happening.

A Jake Sagare sighting
Former Portland Timbers midfielder Jake Sagare must love to play soccer. He has signed on to play with the PDL’s Yakima Reds, his hometown club. Now all he needs to do is talk fellow Yakamite Aaron Heinzen out of retirement. The way the US Open Cup is set up this year we could get a chance to see Sagare play against his former team. Yakima would need to qualify out of the PDL’s Northwest Division and then be paired with Portland to make that happen. You need an advanced degree to figure out how the US Open Cup works. My understanding is that the PDL teams will qualify based on their early season results.

A Jaime Ambriz sighting
It is Former Timbers Day here at Blog Central. Jaime Ambriz is playing for the PDL’s Ventura County Fushion, another possible US Open Cup opponent. I talked with Jaime at the start of the Timbers training camp and he was eager to return to Portland, but the numbers were stacked against him with Brown, Suzuki and Benjamin Totori joining the club at forward.

I have experienced Armageddon and it ain’t pretty
I showed up for work yesterday and started to go through my usual routine of checking out nine thousand Timbers and soccer-related websites only to receive a message saying that my organization was restricting access to these sites (Oddly, this blog was still accessible. I guess this is a serious education site.) My heart skipped a beat, but I figured this could be a good thing. I have a lot of work to do and shouldn’t be spending time watching things like the Champions League and checking my alerts to see if Chris Agnello finally surfaces anywhere (drop me a line or leave a comment if you know his whereabouts). And then it dawned on me that I could no longer do my hourly check of Talk Timbers. I was ready to quit on the spot. I made it through most of the morning, hands shaking from withdrawl. It was lunchtime but I wasn’t hungry. My stomach was too upset. I was missing the usual Shittle hating threads and the endless here’s a new chant threads and even the legend of hecklewood. Life had no meaning. Finally, late in the afternoon when I was just about to curl up in a ball under my desk and cry the switch was turned back on and life was once again whole. As silly as it sounds, the Timbers and all you absurd people are an important part of my daily routine. I love you and despise you for that.

One of these guys doesn’t own the Timbers

That’s Timbers’ owner Merritt Paulson hanging with his pop (blue button down shirts being the required dress code for all Paulson family outings) and Lou Piniella before the Cubs game in DC last Friday. That might explain why we didn’t see Merritt wielding a chainsaw in Portland this past weekend. Hopefully Merritt was busy rubbing elbows with folks in DC who might help out with his efforts to deliver an MLS team to Portland. Photo

Scariness rankings
The Timbers are on top of the table, they are leading the league in attendance, and now they are ahead in the USL First Division scariness race, whatever that means. We’ll take it.

Only one of these people is an angel

I can’t decide if this is delightful or creepy. Let’s call it delightfully creepy.Spotted here

Ever wondered what a Eunuch sounds like?
Listen to Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer as well as some likable people at The 107 Report.

There’s only one Sancho
I missed this last week. Former Timbers defender Brent Sancho has been picked up by Scottish Division Two side Ross County who are interested in signing him to a permanent deal. Scottish Division Two football might seem beneath a former World Cup player, but Sancho has already seen the very bottom — the bottom of a shite can of Canadian beer in the parking lot in Calgary after playing in a game in front of 300 people in a stadium with no toilets. Let the record show that the Mutha of All Road Trips was the last time I pissed my pants at a soccer match. By the way, do any of you think Sancho would start on this current Timbers squad? I don’t see him beating out Scot with one T at right back or Leo at left back. And I say that coming from the perspective of wanting to name my first child Brent Sancho.

Lead photo: Allison Andrews/Soccer City USA

Now you see them, now you don’t
One Monday the names of Steve Reese and Tom Taylor appeared on the roster list without much fanfare. Today they have disappeared from the roster without much fanfare. Odd situation, that one.

You’re a good man, Chris Brown

Chris Brown was the only Portland Timbers player to make the USL First Division team of the week. A well deserved honor (term used loosely, these teams are nothing but a PR ploy) for Brownie. But will his blast from outside the box be named the week’s top goal? The Timbers have had four player with the goal of the week over the past three years: Edwin Miranda in 2005, Hugo Alcarez-Cuellar in 2006, and Justin Thompson and Leonard Griffin in 2007.

Spreading the Timbers love in South Korea

You can add South Korea to the growing list of Rose City Til I die. From a Timbers Army fan’s journal:

As I learned more about the team, the similarities between Gimhae FC and my Portland Timbers were striking. Gimhae FC was established just this year, and 2008 is their very first season. There are a half-dozen or so core supporters who are working hard to drum up interest and enthusiasm in the new local club. The Timbers Army experienced a similar birth from a small & dedicated group when they re-joined the United Soccer League in 2001. The supporters at Gimhae Stadium were mighty passionate and I know that their numbers will grow quickly! They can certainly count this Portlander among their first foreign fans.

Bayard on the Beach
Former Timbers Bayard Elfvin, Yuri Morales, and Ronnie Silva (I couldn’t pick him out of a police lineup. The Agnello era is a black hole in my brain) were members of the US beach soccer team that failed to qualify for the World Cup last week. The U.S. beat Costa Rica in its first match, but then lost to the two teams that advanced from CONCACAF, El Salvador and Mexico.

A Raging new blog

Back in 2006 when The Offside was merely a thought in my beer-soaked brain, I never imagined it would end up having a USL section with blogs about the Portland Timbers, Montreal Impact and now the Rochester Rhinos. It doesn’t surprise me, however, that there is also a Seattle Sounders blog that doesn’t even mention the current USL team. Typical.

From the AccuWeather Storm Team

The forecast for kickoff Thursday evening: In Portland it will be 53 degrees with showers. In Minneapolis it will be 68 degrees and partly cloudy. Gah, even freakin’ Minneapolis is having better weather than us.

Who starts on Thursday?

Put on your coaching cap and pretend you are Gavin Wilkinson. In your best Kiwi accent, start barking out the starting XI for Thursday. Do you make any changes from the team that beat Puerto Rico or do you stick with the same guys? The temptation is to think that he’ll make some changes in the midfield. Maybe Little in for Higgins, perhaps Dombrowski will get to play against his brother, might even see Kiki Lara get a run. This could happen but I see him rolling out the same lineup and bringing fresh legs off the bench early in the second half. I say:

Burse
S. Thompson Knowles J. Thompson Griffin
Higgins Poltl Gregor Olum
Suzuki Brown

Your guess?