Stadium Expansion Renders Released

Today the Portland Timbers released renders of the proposed new stadium expansion that would add 4,000 seats to our current capacity. It’s safe to say the entire fanbase is excited about adding more seats, but reactions to the renders are somewhat mixed. Personally, I don’t think it fits very well with the style of the existing stadium. I had a feeling this was going to be difficult to achieve, and I’m sure many people felt like the current Key Club section didn’t fit in very well when it was new. To it’s credit though, the roof style did have a connection to old park. This new one, not so much. In the release they compare the new stadium addition to the “iconic” La Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires, that quite frankly looks garish and tacky in the picture they chose. More like a stacked strip mall than anything I’d want to brag about. I showed the interior shot to my 9 year old thinking he’d be excited, and his first reaction was “It’s ugly.” Hey, it could be a lot worse. It could be Soldier Field.

However…. it’s already grown on me since the first time I looked at it earlier in the day. I’m excited about it, top-heavy or not. The biggest surprise is that this huge addition only adds 4,000 seats because it looks like so much more. The best news is that the whole thing is going to be privately funded! An extra 4,000 seats and the new $10 a beer price tag ought to help out some. Projections say the work can take place  during the off-seasons with a completion date as early as 2019. Let’s hope the NIMBY’s can be kept in check. I imagine the neighborhood will want to talk about parking.

The sooner we get started, the sooner we can work on that South end too! Merritt, on the off chance you’re reading this, don’t forget to add hooks for tifo rigging, and thanks for picking up the tab in Columbus!

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Futty Interview

A few years back Mamadou “Futty” Danso was my 6 year old son’s favorite player. I suspect it mostly had to do with his name. He would sit in the kitchen doing his homework and you could often hear him muttering “Futty” repeatedly under his breath. I hated to break it to him when I found out he had been traded, because I feared he would take it hard. He did, in fact, start crying after I told him. In the past few years he often still chooses the Montreal Impact when playing Fifa, even though he knows he has moved on from that team too.

Futty recently responded to some fan questions on Reddit, mostly Timbers-centric. If there can be any doubt why he was was a bit of a fan favorite, read his responses here. I would have taken Futty over anyone named Taylor in 2016…

[Photo: Google image search via OPB.org, however the image doesn’t show up on the page.]

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New patches added to gallery

I’ve added over 100 new patches to the patch gallery since the last time I posted abut it. This gallery will be mirrored on the forthcoming official new web site for PTFC Patch Patrol, to be unveiled in the near future. Lot’s of other things have happened since the last post, but this is the quickest/easiest update to make. I’ll get back in the swing of it soon.

3 Points in L.A.!

It wasn’t pretty (except for that first 8 minutes) but we have 3 points on the road for the first time since 2015(!) and start off the season with 2 wins for the first time since… USL? The downside is that Ridgewell is still out, Vytas is still questionable, and we may have lost Guzman for the next match. and meanwhile Ridgewell. Silver lining? Farfan seems up to the task, and the LA Galaxy social media team gave us a video that was supposed to be snarky, but has the unintended effect of making Timbers fans smile like Chara… MLS is not very happy about it, although you’d think they’d spend more time worrying about consistency of the refs. We’re lucky we didn’t get a man sent off ourself.

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Opening Day Tifo

I had chance to help pull up the tifo for the first time. Glorious! How, you ask? In the chaos before the opening day kickoff, I was walking back to my section and I overheard someone say they are short handed. What luck! This year I also got back in the swing of volunteering at the tifo painting sessions. Somehow I went the entire 2016 season without helping, and I missed it. If you’ve got an extra hour or two to help out, I highly recommend it.

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It’s time!

2016 hangover is officially over. What happened in the off season? Not so surprisingly, we learned that Nat Borchers and Lucas Melano would not be returning, while Rodney Wallace’s return to MLS did not go as many hoped. We raided Saprissa for David Guzman and Roy Miller. An all too familiar preseason, season-ending injury to Gbenga Arokoyo sealed the fate of Jack McInerney.   We managed to keep Darlington Nagbe off the Celtic roster, and saw him return to the USMNT after Klinsman got fired. We added a former teammate of Diego Valeri in Sebastián Blanco, a player who in preseason already looks like he’s been with the team for a year. Meanwhile, completely unexpected Superdraft acquisition Jeremy Ebobisse has been quietly tearing it up in the CONCACAF U-20 Championships. Developing talent or developed talent? It’s an odd numbered year, so we’re already in a good spot, but things sure are looking rosy! Bring it on!