Feature
Photo: Ethan Erickson
Jacob Klinger of Soccer 365.com has an excellent profile of the Timbers' Brent Richards as part of their series on MLS Homegrown players. It takes a look at how the Camas, WA native came to be Portland's first-ever Homegrown player and charts his career from youth to college to Timbers U-23s to the professional ranks.
With interviews from coaches and teammates, it's a great examination growth that Homegrown players can have on teams in the MLS.
As Timbers general manager Gavin Wilkinson says in the piece,
"When you live in that same neighborhood you feel a little bit more desire. I think you’re willing to run through a brick wall," Wilkinson said. " ... I just feel it’s great for all concerned and all involved to have a local player on the field."
Head over to Soccer 365 and give the whole piece a read.
Got a story, tip, soccer tidbit to share? Send it in to thebackcut (at) portlandtimbers.com.
So all submissions are in and tomorrow we'll know the winner. Last month, over 150 different pizza combinations were submitted for the Papa Murphy's Lumberjack Pizza Contest. At stake was not only having the winning recipe as a featured special pizza in Papa Murphy stores beginning on June 24th, but the winner also receives 1 free Papa Murphy's pizza a month for a year, a team autographed replica jersey, AND have their very own pizza party at JELD-WEN Field with one of the Timbers players stopping by.
Moreover, Papa Murphy's will donate $1 of every Lumberjack Pizza sold (up to $2,500) to be shared by the Portland Timbers Community Fund and the Children's Cancer Association.
The key will be just what flavor tickles the judges' palates. The esteemed panel? Midfielder Eric Alexander, Timber Joey, Erik Keating (107ist and Timbers Army member) and Jerry Kenney (Papa Murphy’s Portland Co-op President)--all of whom will be at the Papa Murphy's on 2609 SE 122nd Avenue at 3:00 p.m. on Friday June 8 to make their final decision.
So come out to Papa Murphy's, meet Eric, Timber Joey, get some autographs, and grab a slice. Free samples of the winning pizza will be available to try out!
With today's acquisition of Danny Mwanga from the Philadelphia Union in exchange for Jorge Perlaza, much has been made of Mwanga's Rose City roots. Originally born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mwanga and his family fled the Congolese civil war in 2006 to settle in Northeast Portland whereupon he starred for Jefferson High School (53 goals in nine games) and later for Oregon State University (Pac-10 Player and Freshman of the Year in 2009).
Photo: Oregon State University
Stephen Alexander of the Portland Tribune did a nice profile of Mwanga and the story of his journey to the United States when the then-Union forward came to take on the Timbers last season:
Mwanga was born into the bloodshed and sorrow of the Second Congo War. The war claimed the life of his father and forced his mother to flee the country, leaving Mwanga and his three older sisters behind. As a boy, Mwanga played soccer in the streets after school to forget some of the pain. A daring escape in June 2006 reunited Mwanga and his sisters with their mother in Northeast Portland.
It's a good read. Check it out here.
Searching through our own PortlandTimbers.com archives, last season Terry Horstman spoke with Mwanga's former Oregon State Beavers coach Steve Simmons as well as John Bain--president of Mwanga's youth team and adidas Timbers Alliance club, Westside Timbers. Bain is also a current Timbers alumni ambassador.
“He’s really humble, he really appreciates everybody, and he’s a really genuine and nice person.” Westside [Timbers] President and Timbers Ring of Honor inductee John Bain said. “I don’t think we’ve seen the surface of how good he’s going to be.”
At that same match in Portland last season, 400 of Mwanga's family and friends from the Westside team were in attendance. It's another great read.
The influence that Westside had on Mwanga is unmistakeable. In an article MLSsoccer.com did on Mwanga's homecoming, they talked about the role youth coach Monty Hawkins had on the young forward:
From teaching him how to drive to helping him find out where to go to school, Hawkins filled a very large void in the teenager’s life. “He helped me a lot and is a big part of my family,” Mwanga said.
Check out the full article here.
Timbers fans in Oregon, do you remember Mwanga's youth in Portland? Share your stories and memories in the comments below.
Uruwa Red Diamonds of Asia, Wydad of Africa, Galatasaray of Europe, Boca Juniors of South America.
These are some of the best supported clubs in the world with incredible fans, tifo, and atmosphere. Jimmy Conrad of KickTV took a look at each continent--sorry Australia and Antarctica--to pick one club that has the best of the best.
His selection for the best supporters of North America? The Timbers Army.
Saying, "Nothing compares to Portland on the day of a game," Conrad goes on to explain why Portland is one of the best on the planet.
Got a story, tip, soccer tidbit to share? Send it in to thebackcut (at) portlandtimbers.com.
Throughout the 2012 season, the Vancouver Whitecaps have been examining the supporters and culture in the various cities their team travels away to. This past weekend, our Cascadia rivals were here in Portland and the learned Peter Schaad--voice of the 'Caps--did a great piece on our very own Timbers Army. "If you've always dreamed of experiencing the beautiful game's supporters culture at its finest, you could go to Europe or South America," Schaad intones. "Or, you could travel down the I-5 and catch a game at Portland's JELD-WEN Field."
For Timbers supporters, new and longtime, it's a quick look into what makes the Timbers Army so unique.
Got a story, tip, soccer tidbit to share? Send it in to thebackcut (at) portlandtimbers.com.
Two second-half goals, first by Timbers forward Kris Boyd and then from Whitecaps striker Darren Mattocks, led to a 1-1 draw between the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps on an evening that had it all: intense rain, hail and lightning, not to mention an action-packed final 45 minutes.
The image is made up of 570 individual images taken throughout the first half and stitched together to form one large image. The final high resolution picture is 118,188 X 49,694 pixels or 5.8 gigapixels.
Find and tag yourself through Facebook by dragging the red marker over your picture to share with your friends and family.
Waiting in line. It can bond people together. Timbers fans have been known to wait in line for hours, sometimes even days, to get their preferred seat before a game. It's a situation that people run across at Disneyworld, music festivals, and the like.
But here at JELD-WEN Field, that line waiting sometimes comes with some benefits. Forbes.com writes in a recent article about the re-imagning of the line waiting experience and how the Timbers are doing it a bit differently:
Major League Soccer executives are upping their game when it comes to line management. The league’s Portland Timbers club, for instance, handed out free Stumptown coffee and pizza, and a few of the team’s players joined fans waiting in line to sign autographs. The Timbers club’s owner Merritt Paulson even personally delivered coffee and doughnuts to line waiters during one cold morning.
So who knows? Next time in line, you never who you may run into.
Got a story, tip, soccer tidbit to share? Send it in to thebackcut (at) portlandtimbers.com.
It’s always great to stay healthy throughout your life. Whether that’s through eating healthy to committing time to go out and enjoy some quality time kicking a soccer ball around with your close friends.
Today the Portland Timbers U-23s will welcome in over 7,000 local area school kids to JELD-WEN Field for the first of two Health and Fitness School Day, presented by Providence Sports Care Center.
The day will feature events and games from over 16 educational tables ranging from yoga for kids to careers in health care. Along with learning about health and fitness, attendees will have a chance to feel the excitement of the Timbers U-23s battling their Premier Development League Northwest Divison rivals Kitsap Pumas at 11 a.m.
With all the push to keep kids fit and healthy, this type of event is one step forward to open the eyes of over 7,000 kids on just how you can achieve a healthy mind and body.
Tickets are available too should you want to take a long lunch and come out to support the U-23s. Pick some up at the JELD-WEN Field box office. If you miss today's match, the next Health and Fitness School Day is June 1 here at JELD-WEN Field when the U-23s take on the Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23s.
With yesterday's announcement that the Timbers would be hosting either Cal FC or Wilmington Hammerheads in a third round match of the U.S. Open Cup on May 30, it's a good time to read up on just what is and why the U.S. Open Cup matters. We'll be having more in the lead-up to next week's match--we've got Valencia tomorrow in a friendly and a Cascadia Cup clash with Vancouver on Saturday--but Steven Goff of the Washington Post wrote a great love letter on Monday to just why he likes this unique soccer event:
I have a confession. I like the U.S. Open Cup. There, I said it.
[The] Open Cup offers the small clubs a long-shot dream of bumping off high-caliber opponents and advancing to international competition (the CONCACAF Champions League).
Best of all, the Open Cup creates David vs. Goliath matchups unseen in American sports outside the NCAA basketball tournament. One particularly dreamy pairing is close to coming to fruition. On Tuesday night, the Aegean Hawks, an amateur outfit from the D.C. area, will play the third-division Richmond Kickers at Maryland SoccerPlex in Montgomery County.
Take a few moments and read the whole thing--the U.S. Open Cup has a tremendously rich history. While the Timbers lean more towards the Goliath in their upcoming match next week, it certainly doesn't discount the interesting clash of teams across American soccer. This year's tournament is the 99th edition of the competition. Who says there's no soccer history in the U.S.?
Starting at $10, tickets go on sale to the general public Wednesday at 10 a.m. through the JELD-WEN Field box office, area Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phoning (800) 745-3000.
The Portland Timbers are involved in numerous philanthropic initiatives, some through the team’s community outreach program Stand Together while others are personal passion projects of the players.
Gavin, 9 and his older brother Sebastiian, 12
Finding a cure for Cystic-Fibrosis--a disease that clogs the lungs and hampers the ability of its victims to absorb nutrition--is a cause near and dear to Timbers goalkeeper Joe Bendik’s heart.
In order to help his young nephew Gavin, known affectionately to his family as Gav-A-Goo, Bendik has spent his free time and resources setting up a donation bank through the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s “Great Strides” program.
To date Bendik has raised $18,657 to help fund crucial research that has helped raise the life expectancy for those born with CF, including his nephew Gavin, from preschool ages to 38 years and older.
And Bendik isn’t done yet, targeting this weekend as another opportunity to raise money by holding a Great Strides walk at Oaks Amusement Park at 9am on Saturday, May 19.
For those who would like to aid Joe in his efforts to fund CF research more information is available at his Great Strides website. Watch the video there and learn more about Gavin, his older brother Sebastian, and the challenges their family faces with CF.
Anyone who would like to take part in Saturday’s walk at Oaks Amusement Park can sign up with TEAM GAVIN and contact Joe on Twitter @jtbendik to make the trek sporting this year's TEAM GAVIN t-shirts!
