God Bless the free Wi-Fi at PDX...

...really marvelous, and seemingly against the tide of ammenities for travlers at airports nowadays.

We're a few minutes away from boarding here. It's kind of an odd dynamic: while I've interviewed most of these players at one time or another, we haven't really had formal introductions or anything like that. But they're all great guys so that will take care of itself.

Here's the travel roster:
GK: Wicks, Elfvin
Def: Knowles, Thompson (J and S), Griffin, Morrison
Mid: Olum, Kreamalmeyer, Lara, Poltl, T Taylor, Ready
For: Jordan, M Taylor, Bagley, Hague, Ambriz

Couple of injuries as well, as you might know. Dombrowski is out 2-4 weeks, as is, it appears, Gregor. Shaun Higgins, who's been playing great of late and won the penalty at Miami, also broke a bone in his hand in that game, and is likely to be out 10 days. Those times are backdated, meaning don't jump to conclusions about the Vancouver game. Speaking to Gavin, he says there's still plenty to play for in these last two games, as they jockey for playoff positioning. I don't think anyone really wants to have to travel to Puerto Rico for a first leg playoff game if they can avoid it. I think these guys know three points tomorrow would be huge.

Starting boarding here on our way to Dallas. I'll try to check in from there if possible, but don't hold your breath...

--John

I don't have a clever title...

...even though I sat thinking about it for five minutes.

Whenever I prepare to call a game, I'm a sucker for cool biographical information on opposing players. Stats are great, but they don't help you understand who that person is trying to beat your team and ruin your day. So, a few interesting notes on Carolina Railhawks:

First, here's a brief explanation of what the heck a railhawk actually is.... Short answer: it's made up, like a Phoenix...or a Tucson (bam!)

Second, rarely used midfielder (2 appearances this year) Jon Caldwell went to Bradley University, where two of his teammates included TimbersLuke Kreamalmeyer and Salim Bullen.

Third, check out this story about midfielder Stuart Brightwell, who went from Old Trafford to Sunday Leagues, to the USL First Division.

Fourth (getting tired of the counting yet?), Railhawks Marcio Leite, Anthony Maher (whose younger brother Matthew is also on the team), and Chad Dombrowski (yes, of those Dombrowskis) all spent the winter playing with the MISL Milwaukee Wave, along with former Timber Greg Howes, and the other Bullen, Oral.

So there's a taste, plenty more to come Saturday. As for our travel tomorrow, I was planning on posting something brief during our stopover in Dallas, but apparantly that might be difficult. If they charge for power, I shudder to think what the wi-fi situation is like.

One final thought, for those of you with time to kill during work on Friday: I don't know how this got into my head recently, but it did. It's a clip from YouTube of Alanis Morissette singing the national anthems before game 4 of this year's Stanley Cup Finals up in Ottowa. I've become a big hockey fan the last two years, after working for a team in Eugene, and I remember being blown away watching this live, and it still gives me goose bumps.

Anyway....

--John

Tonight, playing the part of Andy McNamara...

...is me.

First, a quick intro: this is my second year on the Portland TImbers Broadcast Network as producer/director/equipment minder/halftime host/sideline reporter/drink getter/fill-in analyst/whateverelseandyneedsmetodo. I'm fresh out of the University of Oregon, a lifelong Portland resident, and there are unconfirmed rumors floating around the internets that I might have, at one time, had something to do with the Timbers Army.

This weekend will be my third crack at Timbers play-by-play: I did the Montreal home game earlier this year (Dombrowski cancelled out late by Marcina), and the Vancouver away game last June (funny story about that game, but I'll save it for a later post).

Our call-time at the airport is 8 am on Friday, wheels up at 9:30, which is much better than the 6 am stuff Andy has had to deal with this year.

I'll get into more detail previewing this weekend's game against Carolina after I get my notes on them ready tonight. And if you have any questions or anything you want me to address in future postings, put it in the comments, or send an e-mail to timbersradio "at" aim.com.

--John

ATTR Goin' to Carolina

It's been a great year for the Ax Men and a weak sauce year for the ATTR blog. Why has the blog suffered so? I'm not entirely sure, other than the fact that I felt it was becoming too much of a forum for me to whine about the USL's award-winning travel arrangements. More likely it's the lack of my old trusty iBook, which allowed me the ability to easily upload photos that my POS PC laptop does not. Overall, I'm not entirely certain why the lack of posts, but I'm not convinced the blog won't make a comeback.

This week's one-game roadie to Tobacco Country will be handled by capable Timbers Broadcast Network producer/director John Strong. Not only will he be calling the action for the webcast, he will also be posting on this blog! So keep your browsers pointed this direction this weekend.

In case you haven't heard, the Timbers first-round home playoff game will be Sunday, Sept. 16 at 5 p.m.

Not So Friendly Skies

Here's a brief recap of what's happened thus far on this travel day...

2:30 a.m. - Wakeup!
3:00 a.m. - Leave for PDX
5:00 a.m. - Arrive at PDX, check in for 6:20 a.m. flight to Minneapolis on Frontier Airlines
5:45 a.m. - Flight delayed until 7 a.m.
5:50 a.m. - Flight delayed until 11 a.m. and no longer going all the way to Minny (stopping in Denver, but not going on as originally scheduled)
6:00 a.m. - Began process of attempting to rebook through gate, desk and Timbers travel agent for flights on other airlines.
8:00 a.m. - Sprint to United counter to catch a 8:19 flight. Denied boarding as we were too late.
8:30 a.m. - Half the team hustles to the Northwest Counter for a 8:50 flight direct to Minny. Denied boarding - too late once again.
9:30 a.m. - Forced to wait until at least 11:30 to fly on Frontier to Denver (with no guarantee that will happen). Best case scenario has us arriving in the Twin Cities at 7:05 p.m., 5 1/2 hours late.

So much for the team's scheduled training session at 5 p.m. today. Evidently Frontier Airlines has one airplane and when it breaks, everyone booked to travel on that given day is screwed. They don't partner with any other airlines, thus giving them zero pull when it comes to booking passengers on other flights in order to make connections. This one guy in line at 5:45 a.m. was told that they could put him on a series of flights to get him from Portland to Indianapolis arriving at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday - 26 hours and 45 minutes later! If he starts driving his car now, he'll be there sooner than that.

I'd heard horror stories about Frontier prior to this trip, and having never flown the airline, shook them off. Now I know. So much for the baseball tickets I secured for tonight's Twins/Indians game at the Metrodome, featuring Cy Young winner Johan Santana and C.C. Sabathia. Curses!

As if the trip to Seattle on Wednesday wasn't bad enough! The Boys need to take care of the Thunder and capture three points (assuming we arrive by game time) or this trip has the potential of rivaling the Seattle/Vancouver bus debacle of a couple years back.

2:15 AM 118 Miles to Go

The Timbers' bus continues to roll along at nearly half past 2 a.m., turning onto I-26 for the final 120 miles to Charleston. The coach is about half and half, in terms of people awake and asleep. I attempted sleep for about 15 minutes, but it was utterly and completely useless. Looks like I'm up for the duration and will powersnooze the second my head hits the pillow at our awaiting Sheraton.

This winning business has become quite routine, wouldn't you say? Seven straight Ws and 10 in a row without a loss is remarkable. The USL engraver can begin etching Gavin's name onto the Coach of the Year plaque now if he/she hasn't already. Worst to first, all but guaranteed a spot in the playoffs and and threating to achieve the best record in team history (USL). Good gravy.

A win later today against the Battery and I'm mortgaging my house for a pallet of lottery tickets.

We're on our third movie so far in the bus. I think the first one was called The Protector II or something like that, followd by Old School and Wedding Crashers. Van Wilder can't be far off.

The stretch between Atlanta and Charleston has to have more Waffle Houses and Hooters than any other stretch of blacktop in the country. They love their greasy spoons and, ummmmm, hot wings (?) here in Dixie.

That's all for now. Hopefully, I won't sleep the entire day away and have a chance to roam the city before the match.

Cheers!

Tonight's Starting Lineup

It's about 45 minutes from kickoff and here's tonight's starting 11 for the Ax Men. No surprises-

Wicks
S. Thompson
Knowles
J. Thompson
Griffin
Olum
Poltl
Lara
Higgins
Jordan
Bagley

The drawing is what Atlanta hopes the stadium eventually looks like. As you might suspect, it looks nothing like that yet - very Spartan to say the least. But the pitch is nice, seating views are great and you can see the potential.

Best get ready for the broadcast...

Illsutration courtesy of www.atlantasilverbacks.com

ATTR in the A-T-L

Greetings from Hotlanta. Surprisingly, the weather is rather nice in the southeastern U.S. for this time of year, making Warmlanta a more appropriate handle today.

The Timbers are in great spirits, coming off Thursday's landmark victory against NW nemesis Vancouver (first 'W' since 2004). Tonight's opponent should be a tough test for an undermanned PTFC squad, but the confidence level of this group is at a season-high. Hopefully, that will carry them through to a point or better despite playing without Gregor (yellow card points) and only three field players in reserve.

If you're looking to figure out who those players may be, the travel squad is as follows for this trip: Wicks, S. Thompson, Knowles, J. Thompson, Griffin, Olum, Poltl, Gregor, Higgins, Jordan, Bagley, Elfvin, Hague, Lara, Dombrowski and Morrison.

Following the match tonight, we'll board a charter bus around 10:30 p.m. and begin the 320-mile trek to Charleston, S.C. Should be another daybreak arrival ala Montreal to Rochester earlier this season. That resulted in one of the Ax Men's two defeats this season, so tonight does hold a tad bit of importance. Regardless, the Timbers will return to Portland in first place on Monday any way you slice it.

Cheers!

And Away We Go

Three matches, four days, 3,000 miles, planes, buses and automobiles. This is a test of the Timbers Competitive System. This is only a test...

Well, yes and no. A home match against unbeatable Vancouver (at least for Portland since 2004) tonight, followed by road games in Atlanta and Charleston on Saturday and Sunday will feel more like a four-day SAT. Looking on the bright side, the Timbers have put themselves in a situation - first place in USL-1 on 30 points through 14 matches - where this long weekend is more hell-like and uncomfortable than critical. Remember, this team was dead last in 2006. Anything better than a playoff berth in '07 is gravy.

Don't get me wrong, the team isn't looking at things that way. But that's reality, right?

Make sure to set your DVRs as tonight's match will be carried on FOX Sports Net. They were even plugging it on the Mariners' broadcast last night!

Cheers-

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-

Timbers Seek Victory Times Three

Quite a finish the other night at PGE Park with the late game-winning goal and all. I'm really glad that I made a point of including "on paper" when referring to Miami as mediocre in the post just prior to kickoff. They are vertically challenged to be sure, but far from mediocre based on what we saw Saturday.

The Timbers and California Victory can thank USL1 dropout Virginia Beach for the wretched triumvirate they are about to embark on. Three straight matches between two sides that don't really like one another a whole lot to begin with is a recipe for mayhem come the second half of the third and final tilt. To make the last matchup even more fun is the fact that the same referee who whistled the U.S. Open Cup match between Portland and Seattle will be charged with keeping the peace.

We're off to NorCal Saturday morning at the crack of dawn and the ATTR hopes to take a stroll to The Haight for lunch and a trip to Amoeba Music. I'll look to avoid anything with mushrooms in order to make sure the broadcast is somewhat coherent. You can tune in at www.portlandtimbers.com and make sure to click the listen button even if the graphic shows the next game up there instead of the one taking place that night (glitch in the coding).

Until the coffee flows at PDX, cheers.

Miami Hits PDX

We're just about 10 minutes away from air time (portlandtimbers.com) as the Timbers will be going after their first-ever result against Miami FC. The team was in great spirits yesterday morning on the flight back from San Francisco and they could do themselves a huge favor by capturing three points against what appears to be (on paper) a rather mediocre Miami squad.

FC will be starting a newcomer in goal who will be making the first USL-1 start of his career. Portland will try to put him under early pressure, starting with a 4-4-3 formation that is essentially the same 11 players who were on the pitch at the end of Thursday's win.

Join us on the IM tonight, screen name is timbersradio

Until then...

Another Early Day

So far, so good on our brief 24-hour trip to the Bay Area. Last night's match result might pay big dividends later in the season as the Timbers snatched an extra two points on David Hague's goal in the 89th minute to snap a 0-0 tie.

This is the first-ever ATTR post from an exclusive United Red Carpet Club. Let's just say I have connections... Actually, this trip puts me over 100,000 miles flown on United. So far no bells or whistles have gone off in the airport. I guarantee I'm the only one in this club at the moment that drove to the airport packed in a minivan with six other people and all of their baggage.

Miami lost at Seattle last night, meaning they should be rather desperate. The Boys appear ready to get the job done as they remain relatively healthy. Some home cooking certainly won't hurt either.

Boarding time. Until tomorrow - Cheers.

Nearing Match Time

We're about 30 minutes out from tonight's kickoff between the Timbers and California at historic Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. Just a word of warning to our normal listening audience that the pregame and halftime segments will not be anywhere near our normal standard as uberproducer John Strong has NBA Draft duty tonight and I'm without a certain cable necessary for running prerecorded audio. If there is such thing as an "Old School" webcast, it will happen here in the Bay tonight.

Tonight's starters for PDX...
Wicks, S. Thompson, J. Thompson, Knowles, Griffin, Poltl, Kreamalmeyer, Higgins, Gregor, Jordan and Bagley.

On The Road Again

Who doesn't love a 3:35 a.m. wakeup call?! Yes, the Ax is heading out on the road again; this time to San Francisco for a battle with the California Victory.

It's been a whirlwind week for yours truly as I traveled to New Mexico for a wedding, returned home for a day-plus, jaunted off to Seattle for the Open Cup showdown with the Sounders (who may or may not have advanced had it not been for a very curious red card call late in the first half), took in a Red Sox game at Safeco Field, got four hours of sleep at the in-laws before heading off to PDX for a day-of game 6 a.m. flight.

This is going to be quite a test for the Timbers. I'm not confidant that we will be able to check in to the hotel until the afternoon, which means weary soccer players in need of rest will be wandering along the docks of the Bay when they should be catching up on some lost Z's.

I've got to say that this is an extremely tolerable bunch as I haven't heard all that much groaning about the travel conditions for today's match. That attitude could change if the unfortunately named Victory blitz them about 13 hours from now, but I don't see that happening.

Time to board. More from SFO later on.

Good morning!

Benvenuto Milano

What appears to be the most anticipated of the Portland Timbers' three "friendlies" this year is upon us with the nearing arrival of AC Milan Primavera at PGE Park. As always with these sorts of affairs, let's hope for an entertaining event without injury.

Exhibition matches against clubs from other leagues are always challenging from a prediction standpoint. Will it be even, fairly even, lopsided, etc. Tonight's matchup is particularly difficult to peg. With AC Milan attached to this junior side's moniker, they are given instant credibility. But a squad of teenagers playing thousands of miles from home on the bizarre NeXturf surface at PGE Park may as well be playing on the moon.

On the other hand, many of these Italian lads are the future best and brightest (albeit youthful) from one of the most storied clubs in the world. They are all a phone call away from joining the current Champions League victor. Could they be so technically superior that the average USL-1 reserve squad starting 11 gets embarrassed in front of their home crowd? Or will the final result appear as if the Timbers played Alyssa Milano instead?

Word to the wise: Don't google Alyssa Milano in a public place and hit the images tab.

What will be Portland's starting lineup tonight? With a league match on Thursday, you can bet we won't see the regulars playing 90 minutes. But I'd guess most of them see some action in order to knock the rust off from another 10-day stretch away from meaningful competition.

Speaking of Thursday's match - it will be called by my uberproducer John Strong as I head to New Mexico for a family wedding. John entered the real world a few days back and will get to see a really good side in Montreal. The Timbers will look for a win at home, but I'd gladly take a point and call the season series good at 1-0-1.

In second round U.S. Open Cup news, the ATTR will be making the trip up to Starfire for next Tuesday's showdown with Seattle. Unlike round one, the match will be carried live (audio only) at portlandtimbers.com.

Well, I'd better get my game face on. Ciao-

Image courtesy MLB.com

On our way home

Chalk up the first real road trip of the season as a solid performance by the Boys in Green. Three points out of Montreal and Rochester is more than respectable.

We left our luxury digs this morning 5:30 and are currently laying over in Chicago. It's really ashame that this O'Hare place can't drum up any air business. What a zoo. The gates seem to be designed to seat less than half of the actual number of scheduled passengers on a full flight, so we moved across the concourse to the gate for a flight to Shanghai, and now most of those passengers have to trespass at a different gate.

Several lads are attempting to catch up on sleep - I doubt anyone got more than five or six hours in a row during this entire trip. I feel bad for the rest of the crew as they will have less than a day at home and leave for Southern California at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. Can't say I'm heartbroken not to be heading out on that trip to face Bakersfield in the U.S. Open Cup.

The troops are mobilizing, so we must be approaching boarding time. That will do it for the ATTR on this trip. Thanks for tuning in!

Rochester Prematch

The ATTR checks in from Paetec Park in downtown Rochester. Blue skies above, temps in the low 70s and the Rhinettes (just a guess) dance team is getting a talk from their coach as they struggle to perfect routines.

It appears as though we have arrived before many of the home team players. They had a 3 a.m. wakeup call in Carolina this morning after playing in stifling heat, so they may still be dragging some. According to their radio man, they may be a bit nicked up as well from last night's draw.

Look for a similar starting 11 tonight with the possibility of Tom Taylor breaking into it. Portland's reserves did a tremendous job in the late stages of the second half last night and have really set up the team well to take on this grueling task of two matches in less than 24 hours.

For the second straight night I'm outside of the press box, but the weather should cooperate (touch wood). This is quite a little soccer only grounds and will be even more so once they receive the state funding they have been promised to complete the first phase of construction.

I'm sure John Strong is getting a bit nervous so I'll end her and dial him up to get ready for the broadcast.

Stay classy Timbers fans.

Welcome to Rochester

At 6:30 this morning, 90 minutes after first sunlight, our Montreal motor coach driver Lucy finally steered the metal beast into the parking lot of the RIT Inn, a dank 1.5 star lodging facility well outside the Rochester city limits. This was at least 30 minutes later than it should have been thanks to a wrong turn off the exit. Evidently, the RIT address didn't exist on Lucy's GPS unit, so Chris Bagley pulled a MacGyver and reprogrammed the unit using his New England smahhhts to get us to the motel.

I'm thinking of using my PR skills to rewrite the RIT brochure.

Escape the hustle and bustle of the city at our outdated, musty brick estate. Nestled along a highway to nowhere, next to vacant buildings and auto glass repair shops, you'll be able to relax and unwind in virtual isolation. Upon your arrival, you'll be guided to the reception area by overflowing trash cans. Once inside, gently step over the passed out Major League Lacrosse players in the lobby and breath in the acrid scent of two-hour old vomit...

After the keys to the room didn't work, my roomie Nik went back to the front desk to get new ones. Shocker - those didn't work either, so it was my turn to go up to the desk. This time we were given the "master" key. When that didn't work, Gavin went up for us and had them switch us to a different room. That room had only one bed, so it was back to reception for a fourth time. Finally, around 7:30 a.m., I slid into bed. By this point, it could have been a bed of worms and I probably would have been able to sleep.

So here we are at last - awake and 90 minutes away from leaving for the grounds. Remarkably, everyone appears in good spirits. Last night's win certainly took some pressure off, but Gavin will work to have everyone as focused and prepared as possible. Rochester will be in nearly the same boat from a travel standpoint. After drawing Carolina last night in N.C., the Rhinos had a 4:30 a.m. flight back home this morning.

Cheers for now and Go Timbers!

Are You Kidding Me?

Oh, what a night. And now at 3:22 a.m., what a morning. The Timbers picked up a HUGE victory tonight, slaying the last unbeaten team in the first division and now go into today's match with Rochester with one win already in the bag. It wasn't textbook: Being out-shot 15-4 and all, but a win is a win is a win.

And at this moment, we're experiencing the other side of USL-1 soccer: Middle of the night bus travel across borders! Wow, would this be a miserable trek had the match outcome gone the other way. We just made it through the Canadian/US border and have a tidy three-plus hours remaining. Ah ,the eastern Sunrise from a stripped down Greyhound bus! I figured if I was going to blog prior to Saturday's kickoff, it would have to be now as I'll be sleeping from the time we arrive at the hotel until we leave for the stadium.

But back to the match. For those who read the earlier post, you've probably figured out the riddle (Lara on the left, Gregor under Bagley, Dombrowski and Poltl in the midfield). How fitting that lightning struck right as Gregor buried the PK?

We just passed our first car in two hours on some deserted highway in upstate New York. This one will go down in Timbers road trip history. The only other time we arrived on the end of a bus ride after sunrise was a hell-ride from Kelowna, B.C. to Portland after a merciless beatdown by the Vancouver Whitecaps. So yes, this one isn't as bad but no less cruel and unusual.

Laptop...battery...dying...must...disconnect............