Checking In

Yeah, I know. The Ax was on the Road last Saturday in San Francisco, yet nary a blog. Mom, please except my most sincere apology, but when you only have 22 hours to work with on a trip to San Francisco, blogging ranks slightly down on the list of things to do.

One thing near the top of the list was heading to The Haight for a photo op at 710 Ashbury, once occupied by the Grateful Dead during the Summer of Love and beyond. The pad once raided by the Feds appeared more suited for yuppies than hippies and had no distinctive markings to signal the amount of groovin' that must have gone on there.

Nik Wald, the Ax Men's cut man, came along for the 'trip' and we each dropped the bulk of our per diem on used discs at Amoeba before trekking the 2.5 miles (downhill) back to the Holiday Inn.

The big news of the trip, obviously, was another Timbers' win; this time racking up three goals while posting their third straight clean sheet. Will California ever score against Portland? We'll find out when the two sides play the final two matches of the season series this weekend at PGE Park.

It's fitting that the offensive outburst took place shortly after a thread on talktimbers.com
took aim at the Boys for perceived lucky results and poor forward play. This team may not have the firepower up top of years past (years other than '06, of course), but they don't mask their weaknesses and are still finding success. In the past, the offense often covered flaws in other areas until a scoring drought exposed them. This team is more balanced defensively and in the midfield, and that is clearly an important part of the recipe for succeeding in USL-1.

Timber Jim Bobble Head Night is just two days away! Cheers-