Controlling the Controllable

In an effort to protect the youthful eyes that view this blog, I'll refrain from actually typing the words that immediately come to mind following tonight's season-ending defeat to the dreaded Seattle Sounders. In case you're curious most of them contain four letters and one long one starts with M.

The day began pleasantly enough, with a brisk bus trip up I-5 led by our longtime coach captain on these jaunts northward, Vern. Now, on the ride home, Vern's night vision is causing us to drive by brail (riding the turtle bumps), making it virtually impossible to type. But back to the day...

As has been the case on many a trip in the First Division over the years, our hotel was much more mo than ho, but as we were only using it as a pregame napping pad, it's hard to complain too much.

Lunch turned into breakfast at Shari's with Timber Shonna and Timber Diane - Pancakes all around. Sports on T.V. and lounging followed, leading up to the eventual match. A pleasant enough Sunday - until five minutes into the game. That's when Garrett Marcum was whistled for a phantom foul after a Seattle player tripped over his own boot The result: A free kick that produced a Sounders' goal. A horrendous second yellow card on Aaran Lines after his clean tackle put Portland down a man for good, 27 minutes in, and the season was history.

Gavin was quoted in Sunday's Oregonian as saying, "We can control the controllable." A strange, but ultimately wise statement considering the referee's impact on the flow of the game.

Will this blog now be history? I hope not. It's been a fun exercise that has helped pass the time on the road. The offseason should provide ample to to retool and improve Ax to the Road for '06.

Booth Return on the Horizon

There aren't many things more annoying or irritating than a stale web page, so while I'm not physically on the road with the Timbers, I'm with them in spirit and can only imagine how many precious blogging opportunities a week in Virginia Beach would have produced.

With the seriousness of hurricane Katrina, it's probably best that I didn't waste energy on a humorous attempt at a blog originating from the Southeast. Especially now that we know there have been people stranded in flood waters for four days, deaths due to lack of medical supplies, horrific violence, etc. Is it really 2005 in the United States of America? Can our federal and state governments really not be sophisticated enough to execute rescue efforts in a major US city for four days? Planes crash into buildings filled with corporate Americans and action (as it most certainly should have) takes place immediately. A hurricane destroys an entire city and ravages people in three states, and it takes four days for the National Guard to arrive? Maybe those people we all think are nuts for building bomb shelters and bunkers in their back yards are the smart ones after all.

Not much of a Timbers' related post here, I know. Just had to vent...

On a happier note, my self-imposed exodus from the broadcast booth will end next Thursday at PGE Park. It's been rough having to miss this last stretch of games and I can't wait to get back on the mic as the Lads march toward a postseason berth.