Heeeeeyyyy Portland Timbers!

I took Scooter to a Portland Timbers game on Wednesday. There's only one home game after this, and I've been talking to her/wanting to take her to a game since March, when the Timbers started playing. Not necessarily because I'm a huge soccer fan. Mostly b/c I've never been to a professional soccer game, and since Scooter is interested in soccer, I thought she might like to take in a game with me. When we lived in Omaha, I took her to several minor league baseball games. They were always pretty much what you'd expect. Hot. Monotonous followed by some excitement and some snacks. I kind of expected the same from the Timbers. After all, watching soccer on TV is about as boring to me as watching baseball.

Man, was I wrong. We could hear the crowd while we were still on the train on our way to the stadium. We got our tickets (general admission which is the Timbers Army section) and headed in for ice cream and to find a seat. As we entered through the doorway into the stadium area, thousands of pieces of torn program rained down on us like confetti. Green balloons bounced off our heads as we nearly went deaf from the screaming around us. The game hadn't even started, yet. There was chanting and clapping and kind of a controlled chaos. We were general admission, so we could pick our seats. Since we got there moments before kick off, we were relegated to the northeast corner of the stadium. Behind a large concrete pillar which held (I think) an apparel store below. We could see about 66% of the field, not including the south end jumbotron or the goal. But really, the action was in the stands as far as I was concerned.

The Timbers Army sang/chanted/cheered with equally intense gusto for the whole game (well...the whole game we were there. We left shortly after the half). It was amazing and fun. Scooter's eyes were round like soccer balls and she was laughing out loud people-watching and cheering for the Timbers. I was smiling at her and studying the program to figure out who on the Timbers team had the ball. It was the most exciting live sporting even I've ever been to.

A sampling of the chants are below. Study up before the next match!

Hey Portland Timbers chant

Tetris Chant

Onward Rose City

Oh Rose City Soccer City

PTFC (Portland Timbers Football Club)