PTFZine

From J to Z

Not sure what to do with yourself now that the construction cam is out of focus and most of the action is off camera? You MUST check out the new podcast form Zarek Valentin and Jeff Attinella. From J to Z is already 3 episodes deep in only 10 days. I hope they don’t burn out. Make sure you start with episode 1 where the guys talk candidly about the their experience in the MLS Cup. This is must-listen content if you have any interest at all in player personalities and what makes them tick, or peeking behind the scenes of the MLS experience from the vantage point of the guys on the field. The real value of the podcast is that it’s not semi-scripted front office media. To be fair, the Timbers social media group has made some really compelling content recently and has significantly stepped up their game in the past year.

More Roof Struts

For the past couple of weeks, all the stadium action has been happening out of view from the security cam feed. There were 3-4 new struts being constructed, and then the snow hit. It wasn’t the massive (by Portland standards) dump we were expecting, but it still managed to fog up the housing on the stadium cam, rendering everything out of focus. Thanks to Scott Brown’s unnamed friend we have a visual update. If you’re looking for another round of slightly older ground level shots, keep clicking through.

Stadium Snow Day

Another photo courtesy of Walt Jensen. Snow in the stadium, just like that time in 1953 when they built a downhill ski jump for the Rose Festival. Rose Festival? Yes, it was artifice snow, brought in on trucks. I always thought that ski jump was a one time deal, but I’ve found photos online dated at 1953 and 1961.

Oregonian, Oof!

Maybe the photo editor for The Oregonian needs to make a case for not getting a demotion. That sure looks a lot like Jorge Villafana, and not Zarek Valentin. This image appeared online as well as in print. It reminds me of the time Yahoo Sports thought Ridgewell was Lucas Melano. I guess all handsome foreigners look alike to them. Now that there are 2 cases, I get to create a new tag for mistaken identity.

– Thanks to Jerry Simmering for the tip.

More Roof Strut Action

Are you sick of these yet? I’m not. Thanks to Bruce Harris for these photos.

New 2019 Kits!

They’re here at last! The pro-hoops crowd is not going to be entirely satisfied, but these look sharp!

2019 Primary Kit Tease

The Timbers posted a couple coy shots of the new kit on Facebook. showing those hoops that Merritt teased us about. Although, maybe they should be called stripes if they don’t follow through to the back.

Very Uplifting

Of course, 30 minutes after I got back from my trip downtown to photograph the roof struts yesterday, they actually started lifting one of them up.

UPDATE: Added another shot from a crane.

Hide and Seek With Hidden Roof Struts

I’m not going to lie. I spend way too much time refreshing the live construction cam at Providence Park, but for the past few weeks all the assembly action has been happening out of frame. The official Providence Park feed doesn’t update daily, but I did find another Twitter feed from @bobthebuilder4u that’s got some gold in it. Welding and semi trucks driving around on the pitch look so… wrong. Bob makes more updates than Providence Park. He’s a construction guy so he’s chiming in on what’s going on. After you’ve watched a few of his videos you realize he’s not on the actual crew, and he’s just a guy who belongs to the MAC club. Yes, I said “MAC Club,” But at least I didn’t say “The MLS.” On a side note, it drives me nuts that Bob holds his phone in portrait mode while he shoots those videos, so I drove downtown to try and get my own photos. I ended up slinking into Providence Sports Care Center until I was politely, asked to leave. All the photos from inside the park were taken behind the glass.