The Final Push

By: Bob Kellett | August 11th, 2008

It is all about lowering expectations. Before the 2008 Portland Timbers campaign began I thought the team had added enough quality pieces to compete for a championship. That notion quickly fell by the wayside and expectations were replaced by disappointment.

Before heading off for my two-week romp around Malaysia, I fully expected that I’d come back and to Timbers would be at the bottom of the table. They’re not. Eighth place has never looked better. Despite another pair of draws and a home loss to Seattle in my absence, and despite a run of winless play that is as long as I can remember in club history, the Timbers are still within pissing distance of the playoffs. And they’re still within pissing distance of last place. My new lowered-in-hopes-of-being-pleasantly-surprised expectation is that they will finish somewhere in between.

The Story is in the Numbers

0: The number of league games the Timbers have won at home since April 23.

7: The number of games the Timbers have been shutout at home this season.

7: The number of games the Timbers have gone without recording a victory. This follows a five-game winless streak in June. One win in 13 games. Two wins in 20 games.

18: The number of goals the Timbers have scored through 23 games this year. That is also the number of goals that both McKinley Tennyson and Fadi Afash scored individually in 2002. Tennyson did it in 24 games. Afash netted his goals in 22 games.

46: The maximum number of points the Timbers can finish with this season if the universe goes all wacky and they won their final seven games. Last year they finished with 51 points while playing two less games.

4: The number of keepers still on the Timbers roster. I bet Portland is the only team in USL-1 that has the luxury of carrying four keepers.

16: The number of hours difference between Portland and Kuala Lumpur. My internal clock is a wee bit confused today.

Malaysia Scouting Report

I’m sure you are shocked to hear that the good people of Malaysia follow the USL First Division even less than the English Premier League, their own domestic league, Formula One racing, Badminton, and competitive top spinning. I managed to go an entire two weeks without even glancing at a Timbers website or any website for that matter. That means I missed out on the MLS announcement, the additions of Cameron Dunn and Bryan Jordan, and a million other little details. I didn’t entirely escape the world of soccer, however. The EPL is hugely popular and while I was in Kuala Lumpur Chelsea stopped by to play the national team on a pitch that resembled PGE Park’s circa 2007. I also caught a few highlights from the Malaysian domestic league, which was entirely entertaining but not entirely high quality. The real athletes in the country play Sepak Takraw. Chugger Adair would have been the king of this: