Portland Timbers hands down best crowd on MLS

You've never watched hockey in Boston! LOL not actually singing the Canadian national anthem but still really cool in response to the Canadiens fans booing the US anthem.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TxpxFqAV4I"]YouTube - Boston's response to Montreal booing the US National Anthem 4/15/04[/ame]

 

And Lutherans. Less sacraments, all of the guilt.

 

Great atmosphere, great small stadium.

For me the camera placement and angles will make Portland a better place to watch games than Seattle.

Great uniforms, always liked the white sleeves look.

Great showing by the fan club. MLS needs some variety and local flavor. Every city doing the same chants and songs with everyone in the same home jerseys doing the same synchronized hand clapping looks kinda rehearsed and forced to me. I like our developing (with new clubs joining the ESC) club culture here in New York, gritty and individual. Can't tell folks in the New York metro area that they all have to do the same things all the time, doesn't work here.

Was trying to remember what the atmosphere was like in Portland on TV from the NASL days. Too long ago but that league certainly revolved around the Pacific Northwest along with the NY metro area and believe it or not Florida. Good to see Ray Hudson looking fit. Would trade him for Harkes in a second. (Edit - sorry different DVRed game Toronto I think)

DVRed the game and fast forwarded through the anthem, not much of an anthem guy.

Agree with others that the chainsaw business could get dangerous as well as old fast. Do they really intend to do that at every game?

 

I agree creating your own songs is important.

 

I thought they were hideous. I don't like their color scheme either. (Although they are better than the Sounder's)

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

 

Timbers game gets the Matchday 360 treatment:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YglToAeDV7s"]YouTube - MatchDay 360: Timbers Home Opener[/ame]


More video:
Talking Tifo with the Timbers Army

 

They have done it through three leagues since 1978.

Timber Jim used to climb a 100' spar pole with the saw and hang in the rafters with a big bass drum.

Getting a log disk for each score is a big deal for the players. Several of the NASL players still have theirs.

 

So you all know, Timber Joey is officially licensed to operate a chainsaw and does so very safely. Also, there are two chainsaws used during the match. He walks around the stadium with one without the chain so he can rev it up and doesn't have to worry about any disasters if anyone gets too close and he doesn't see them. When the Timbers score a goal, he goes over to the log at the North End, puts down the chainsaw he usually uses and picks up the one left under the goal log. This one has the chain on it and is only used for cutting the slab off. Safety is the key. But yeah, maybe safety glasses while cutting the log might be needed. I don't want a blind mascot!

 

As I was watching the game the other night I had flashbacks to a USMN game about 8 years ago(?) when we played Costa Rica at PGE for a berth in the WC. And I thought THEN that that was the best crowd I had ever heard.

 

Its nowhere near as dangerous as dressing up as a purple dinosaur. Barney mascots get beat up on a regular basis. I don't think anybody will try to beat up a guy with a logging tool who knows how to use it.

At least Joey wears a hard hat. Jim wore a bandana. They should both wear hearing protection. Jim was a safety instructor for his logging company at the end of his mascot career. He gave a "don't try this at home" speech in an interview once. Can't lead cheers with chain mail and logging chaps on, he said.

They do that stuff for real 100' in the air and might have a four ton section of log whizzing by their heads.

 

Let's keep on celebrating the Timber industry. Will be the most ironic mascot outside of the Washington Redskins once forests are history.

 

(he says --typing from his wooden desk in his wooden house after reading the hard copy newspaper)

 

I kinda figured he had a stunt chainsaw and the real one hidden away from the public. That being said he was trying to do like a little dance in the pouring rain while cutting a tree disk. That seems crazy to me.


As for the guy who brought up the Irony and Washington Redskins I hope you live without any wood products in your house and live like a hippie or else you are a silly hypocrite.

 

Wow saw multiple games (Cosmos and national broadcasts) on TV during the NASL days and don't remember ever seeing it. Is it the same guy 30 years later?!?!

 

More than ironic isn't it? Ethnically cleanse them then turn them into sport team mascots. The Nazis if victorious would've had a field day with that one.

 

Jim did it from 1978 to 2008.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n13HRheydI&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]YouTube - Timber Jim Mascot Hall of Fame Video[/ame]

 

I'm ELCA. You must be Missouri Synod.

 

Doesn't make it any less of a problem.

 

I don't understand what you mean. The timber industry has been a part of Oregon (and the PNW) since whites started settling here. The fact that the area remains heavily forested should tell you something about how the forests have been managed. The federal government especially does a good job of balancing the needs of the timber industry against the needs of other forest users, managed properly timber is a renewable resource and timber harvesting isn't a problem for anyone.

There's nothing the least bit ironic about celebrating an industry that's been a part of the cultural fabric of Oregon for generations. Would you rather we made everything out of plastic (which requires petroleum products)? How's that for irony?

 

If you want an interesting read, here is Timber Joey's blog about how/where they got the victory log from for this season: http://timberjoey.com/the-great-timber-harvest-2011-pregame

 

Nah. Any bozo can work for the power companies clearing 22,000 volt power lines a hundred feet in the air with a five foot bar and a razor sharp chain.

 

Just for the guy that posted NASL stats. Here's some more recent memory stats

2008 USL attendance season average (THE YEAR BEFORE MLS SOUNDERS)

Portland:8,568
Seattle: 3,386

2007 USL attendance season average

Portland: 6828
Seattle: 3325

2007 Playoff average was 10k vs. 3k or something

2006 USL attendence

Portland: 5,575
Seattle: 3,826

All our fans didn't just jump on board with MLS.

 

no NASL stats? (http://www.kenn.com/the_blog/?page_id=496)

interesting. I will tell you what happened after NASL:

Timbers: played at 1 stadium downtown and had a consistent brand that never changed
Sounders: played at 4 separate stadiums 2 of which are in suburbs with a brand that changed 2 times.

that makes a difference.

in either case the majority of fans present today are "bandwagon fans" in either market going by your numbers alone. And to that i say duh.

And finally, if i were a timber, i would be very shy about the past as there is little glory in it. I would rather look to the future of your club, as we have done and are doing in Seattle. Not trolling here, just tired of you looking to the past when the future is so promising.