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Ian Hogg with Auckland City FC - Photo: OFC via Phototek
The Oceania Football Confederation--home federation for New Zealand Football--wrote a nice piece about new Timbers signing Ian Hogg recently that makes for a good read. A starter in all three matches for the Oly Whites at the London 2012 Summer Olympics, Hogg played alongside Jake Gleeson who was also a member of the team.
"I'm just looking to take any opportunities I get given," said Hogg. And with Timbers GM/interim head coach Gavin Wilkinson and assistant coach Cameron Knowles also being veterans of the All Whites New Zealand national team, Portland has a growing Kiwi contingent.
Read the article here.
The article refers to Hogg's first goal in his senior national team debut during a friendly against El Salvador earlier this spring in Houston. It's a pretty quick run down the left flank that leads to a confident strike. See it here (Fast foward to the 29:41 mark, commentary in Spanish).
Then watch Hogg's first training with the team from last week.
Last week, famed English Premiere League club Manchester City announced a special program that would release loads upon loads of statistical information from the team’s 2011-2012 EPL season. They did this in a unique way to crowdsource ideas and analysis of players' performances. Gavin Fleig, Man City's head of performance analysis, told The Guardian, "The whole reason for putting this data out there is to open the doors. The data has value, previously it has been kept in-house and behind guarded doors, but there is a recognition now that clubs need to help this space develop."
Both Michael Lewis' Moneyball and Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski’s Soccernomics tell the story of the importance of statistical analysis in sports--Lewis' with baseball and Kuper and Szymanski's then building off of that to get into soccer. With Man City, their document is incredibly thorough and open to all after registering at their website. Broken out by player, there’s every match and every stat you could think of: Right Footed Shots off Target, Goals from Corners, Total Unsuccessful Passes Excluding Crosses, Corners and much much more. It’s a deep document.
But that kind of statistical analysis and, more importantly, access to it, is something that MLS has been similarly doing on a league-wide scale since last season as they rolled out their toolbox of features with Opta. Every Matchcenter page on MLSsoccer.com has up to the minute stats in game and the Chalkboard feature is filled to the brim with heat maps, pass stats, positioning information and more.
And with adidas’ new Smart Soccer platform having debuted at the 2012 MLS All-Star Game with an eye towards even more use in 2013, the importance of statistics and their meaning on the game becomes even deeper. See their latest ad running with quite a few cameos from Timbers players.
How do you see the focus on statistics changing the game? Got a thought? Let us know in the comments below or send us a note at thebackcut(at)portlandtimbers.com.
Timbers teammates Lovel Palmer and Steve Purdy are in the interesting situation this week of coming face-to-face with each other on the pitch far from JELD-WEN Field. Both players were called up to their respective national teams--Palmer for Jamaica and Purdy for El Salvador--to take part in an international friendly on Wednesday, August 15 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. at 5pm PT.
As both players are quite active on Twitter, the chatter began after Purdy's La Selecta beat Guatemala 1-0 in a friendly Saturday night at The Home Depot Center. Palmer noticed the win and tweeted a question about having a friendly wager for this week's match.
@spurdy25 congrats on the win against guatemala. Tweeps what you think the bet should be wednesday night when JA play El salvador.— Lovel Palmer (@palmerboy30) August 13, 2012
After some good-natured jibes back and forth the best idea was presented by a fan: The loser must make the winner dinner.
"
@shebainpdx:@palmerboy30@spurdy25 home cooked meal by the loser, for the winner. ;)"sounds good purdymix what you think.” its on— Steven Purdy (@spurdy25) August 13, 2012
Now with both teams training in D.C., the two have run into each other as part of the preparations.
Rivals for 90 minutes friends for life
@spurdy25#elSalvador vs#Jamaica#timbers. twitter.com/palmerboy30/st…— Lovel Palmer (@palmerboy30) August 14, 2012
Look who I ran into!
@palmerboy30 twitter.com/spurdy25/statu…— Steven Purdy (@spurdy25) August 14, 2012
While the game does not count in any CONCACAF standings anywhere, it should present a great tune-up ahead of September's World Cup qualifiers. And for one of two Timbers teammates, it means a hearty meal and bragging rights.
While we often post here in The Backcut about news and interesting soccer tidbits, cool events with team partners, and other assorted ephemera, this Saturday, August 11 presents a particularly easy way to mix your love of Timbers with beer and helping out a great cause.
Join defender David Horst and goalkeeper Jake Gleeson--Gleeson freshly returned from London 2012--along with Timbery Joey at Widmer Brothers Brewing at 929 N Russell Street this Saturday from 5-8pm for a special "Brother's Day" event. There will be live music, prizes - including a pair of 2013 season tickets, plus for $20, you get two Timbers Reserve League tickets for the match against the San Jose Earthquake Reserves on Aug. 26, two drink tokens to Brother's Day, and a Timbers scarf and keychain.
All proceeds from the 21 and over event's beer sales and special ticket packages benefits Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest--one of the Timbers Stand Together Pillar Partners.
Sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday evening.
Remember how not that long ago, KeyBank was giving you free pizza and/or cookie dough at Papa Murphy's?
And remember how you could't lose as it was FREE?
Well, they're at it again this Thursday buying free Burgerville cheeseburgers for all. All you need to do is visit the Convention Center Burgerville (1135 NE MLK Blvd., Portland, OR 97232) between 4-5pm and you get free eats. KeyBank clients, show your KeyBank debit card and you’ll be upgraded to a basket at no charge!
Also, Timbers players David Horst, Hanyer Mosquera and Sal Zizzo will be on site as well.*
So again, how can you lose?
(You can't. It's free.)
Be sure to check out more of KeyBank's Summer of Rewards as they've planned a whole slew of goodies to keep an eye out for.
*Player appearances subject to change.
Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer
As the US Women's National Team continues their run at London 2012 for Olympic gold, they'll have to go through Canada to do it. Unbeaten in the group stage and dispatching New Zealand in the quarterfinals, the USWNT now face a spirited Canada later this morning following the France-Japan semifinal (11:30am, NBC Sports Network).
The two teams know each other well. It was just about a year ago when JELD-WEN Field hosted a friendly between the USA and Canada in a match that had three University of Portland alums in it--Megan Rapinoe and Stephanie Lopez for the US and Sophie Schmidt for Canada. While Lopez is not on this Olympic squad this time around, Rapinoe and Schmidt look to feature heavily today in London. Moreover, Christine Sinclair, who did not play in last year's friendly in Portland, is another University of Portland player who directs much of the Canadians' attack.
Back at JELD-WEN Field last September, Wambach had two goals while Rapinoe was snakebit but with all the Cascadian connections on the field, it made for a decidedly special night in the Rose City. Take a look at the postgame video from last year then be sure to watch the Olympic semifinal later this morning.
Long is the list of numerous and creative Timbers Army chants that are used to thunderous effect on matchdays.
But the TA is also well known for their commitment to their town through a robust and developed community outreach programs. Whether it be helping through Operation Pitch Invasion and their efforts to repair and improve soccer fields throughout Portland or their work at fundraising for the unique Harper's Playground project, the TA volunteer efforts run deep.
Tomorrow, the Timbers Army are helping put on a unique show that combines their famous chants with distinctive art. Partnering with Portland design collective Factory North and a host of other talented designers and artists, the Timbers Army are putting on Art Takeover: Operation Harper's Playground aims to raise money for the still under construction Harper's Playground in North Portland. The Harper's Playground project is an initiative aiming to build a fully accessible playground for children and adults of all abilities can come together to play.
Perhaps the coolest part of all this? Each poster created is built and designed around a unique phrase pulled from the litany of famous Timbers Army chants. And at only $30 a print, each item is a steal of a deal. The list of artists is impressive including OMFGCo, Jolby and Justin "Scrappers" Morrison. Visit their website for a full list of designers and get a sneak peek of some of the posters to be on display. There's a total of 30 artists with editions of 50 made for each handpulled artist signed and numbered print.
So what are you waiting for? Head to Coava Coffee on 1300 SE Grand Avenue tomorrow anytime between 8am-6pm (or a special 21+ 7-10pm reception the same night) and get your poster then come Sunday to cheer on the Timbers as they take on FC Dallas at JELD-WEN Field.
Watch the great video for a complete rundown of the whole shebang:
Begun in 2009 in New York City—the center for all things independent film-related—the Kicking + Screening Film Festival set out to merge the art of the beautiful game with the art of cinema. Branching out to satellite editions in Washington, DC, Houston, North Adams, Mass., London, Amsterdam and, most recently, Liverpool, K+S presents films that examine the culture of soccer both on and off the field.
And now, they bring their cinematic and pitch artistry to Portland.
Arriving September 13-14, K+S Portland, presented by KickTV and presented in partnership with the Portland Timbers, takes on the theme of “rivalry” all in the build-up to Saturday’s Sept. 15 Cascadia Cup clash between Portland and Seattle (NBC, 12:30pm PT).
Along with the two headlining films, Argentina Fútbol Club—about the battles between Boca Juniors & River Plate—as well as Gringos At The Gate—a look into the U.S.A-Mexico soccer border clash—K+S Portland will also feature panels, gatherings, and all kinds of other engaging events.
There will be more info to follow but visit the K+S Portland website to see the full lineup, learn more get tickets (Thursday, Friday).
A few weeks ago during the Timbers' exciting friendly with Aston Villa at JELD-WEN Field, you may have noticed a spontaneous round of applause beginning at the stroke of the 19th minute. It was a show of solidarity and respect for Villa team captain and number 19 Stiliyan Petrov during his battle with leukemia. Petrov, who was diagnosed late in the 2011-12 EPL season, was undergoing treatments and did not accompany the team to Portland.
Aston Villa was happy to announce today that Petrov's leukemia appears to be in remission:
Hungry? Like pizza? I'll go out on a limb here and say that even if you aren't hungry, you probably like pizza. Who doesn't like pizza?
Want to know something even better than pizza?
FREE PIZZA!
Tomorrow, August 1st, all day, our friends at KeyBank are providing a free large one-topping pizza for pick-up for any KeyBank client who shows their debit card at the Papa Murphy's Hawthorne location (4115 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, OR 97214).
Not a KeyBank client but still like free stuff and/or are hungry?
Go to that same Papa Murphy's on Hawthorne in your Timbers gear and they'll give you free cookie dough! No purchase neccessary.
How can you lose?
(You can't. It's free.)
Be sure to check out more of KeyBank's Summer of Rewards as they've planned a whole slew of goodies to keep an eye out for.
