When I root, I root for the Timbers!

by Matt Dela Peña

Everyone, minus Devan :[

The world gives us a ton of crap for being the only country in the world that doesn't embrace soccer. However, it's pretty likely that these, for the lack of a better word, arrogant European soccer fans haven't been to Portland, Oregon. Well, Portland is home to the MLS team Portland Timbers, whose fan base, the so-called Timbers Army, can rival that of any team in the Champions League.

Last Saturday marked my first MLS game ever and therefore my first ever experience with the TA. Twelve of us in the gang went in total, including Gus' sister Monica who was visiting from San Francisco. Since it was my first game, I didn't really know what to expect other than the fact that Portlanders are die-hard sports fans.

Jeld-Wen Field, formerly known as PGE Park, the home stadium, fared fairly well from the renovations done to it in 2011. We all sat in the TA section with the bleachers which, despite not being at par with FIFA standards, had a crystal clear view of the entire pitch. I mention this because if you ever think about going to a Timbers game, just get the Timbers Army ticket. They're (1) the cheapest ones, (2) you can sit anywhere you want, and (3) it's the most exciting place to be, not to mention (4) the cool Portland flags they provide for you to wave.

The stadium atmosphere escalated into a roar of enthusiasm come kick-off time when the entire TA started to chant in unison all of these cheers that we had to look up because they were too complex. However, after halftime, we eventually got the hang of them.

My favorite one was:

To the tune of “You are my Sunshine”:
We are the Portland – The Portland Timbers
We are mental – And we are green
We are the greatest – Football supporters
That the world has ever seen.

The game ended up being 2-1 in favor of Montreal to the utter disappointment of all us fans. Most of the people I ran into while exiting the stadium overwhelmingly agreed that we need a better keeper. I think it's because our opponent's keeper played for Portland last season.

Regardless of the score, the experience was one those things that makes me extremely proud to be from Portland. It was fun, exciting, crazy at times, and worthwhile. Needless to say I will definitely be going back for more soccer games in the future. In fact, the national team will be playing a Gold Cup match here in July, although I honestly would rather watch Mexico play in Seattle. We'll see!

Game Highlights c/o MLS: