Pretend this is dated Aug 24th, very early in the morning

Like a great concert, sometimes writing about a soccer game takes all the magic out of it. I don't feel I could really do it justice by writing either a paragraph or a dissertation. But in any case, I should at least mention on here that the last home game of the season for the Portland Timbers was incredible.

Last Thursday I rushed back up to Portland from Corvallis with hopes of making it home with enough time to eat, change and possibly shower before the match. Rush hour traffic shortened that routine to "park car, put on t-shirt, grab scarf", and as I rounded the corner near Belmont, I saw my bus zoom past. Then, after waiting another twenty minutes the next bus's driver waved at me and went right past the stop. I looked at the telephone pole at the corner and sure enough, about fifteen feet in the air was a "bus stop closed" sign. Grr.

Finally, I was about ten blocks from the park in downtown, but the traffic was unusually thick. Too far west for construction, too late in the evening for rush hour I thought, "surely, this has nothing to do with the game. There aren't THAT many soccer fans in Portland." But the bus was moving so slowly that I finally got off and walked the remaining blocks. Indeed, it was the game that was causing all the traffic havoc. Five minutes before kickoff and there were at least 3,000 people outside, still waiting in line for tickets. PGE Park staff set up an emergency cash-only table to speed things along and I sneaked to the front of the line and got in rather quickly. Even though it was "Thirsty Thursday" and therefore the beer was only $2 ($3.25 for the good stuff), I skipped it in fear that I would miss the majority of the first half, so long were the lines for concessions. Imagine, me skipping beer!!!

I found my friends who had gotten themselves a decent spot and crammed into a row that held at least 1/3 more people than it was meant to. The stadium looked more full than it had for the A.C. Milan youth friendly earlier this year, which had been our season high for attendance, and people were still streaming in. In fact, park staff had to tear off the tarps covering the seats way the hell up in the top corners and thirty-five minutes into the first half there were still people arriving. There were at least four sections in the North End standing and even pockets of people in the expensive seats were on their feet.

The chants were a bit disconnected due to the unusually large size of the loud end, and the presence of a lot of newer fans that didn't know the words added to the confusion in the first half. But as the game wore on and the Timbers had more and more scoring opportunities, things started to click. At one point on a corner kick the chanting was so loud that even though I was screaming as loud as I could, I still couldn't hear myself. Usually at Timbers games, there are 2 1/2 to 3 sections of standing, singing supporters and the rest of the stadium is sparsely populated by quiet families. Thursday night, that imaginary line was blurred.

When we finally scored in the 78th minute, after the last 2-3 home games ending in 0-0 draws, the place went predictably nuts. The giantass flag was passed up and while it was overhead someone I might know dropped a smoke bomb; there was pogoing, hugging, and crowd surfing; the new owner (who thought he was buying a baseball team) went racing up and down the stairs, screaming, and helping the flag along. I had to wrap my scarf around my face to filter the smoke, all the while still screaming and jumping (and coughing). It just occurred to me that the reason I didn't get hit with a cup of beer like I normally do is because, due to the lines, no one else got any beer either. (Oddly, I did get splashed with beer at the pub afterwards. Figures.) The goal itself was beautiful - a one-touch left footer from a defender after it had bounced out of the area. Centerback Justin Thompson's first goal of the season! After the game when he collected his slice of log, he looked so happy he could cry.

Anyway, attendance was announced at 15,833. That nearly 16,000 people came out on a weeknight to watch USL Division soccer (2nd tier, under MLS) is just amazing. Although I won't be there, I can only hope all those people come back for the playoffs and cheer us into the championship (which I WILL be back for!). And who wouldn't come back after that? I already can't wait for next year.