Matchday
Saturday’s featured Portland Timbers Food Cart Alliance member is Nong’s Khao Man Gai. Nong’s will be serving their signature chicken and rice dish with their famous ginger/soybean chili sauce as well as fried chicken wings smothered in Nong’s sweet chili glaze at the Soccer City Grill concession stand located in JELD-WEN Field's southeast corner above Section 93.
But beyond all the delicious food, soccer holds a special place in the heart of Nong. Originally from Thailand, she talks about her love of soccer and excitement at being a part of a Timbers match:
I grew up playing soccer. I was a foward. Soccer is very big in Thailand, not very big for women but I could not get in other kinds of sports teams. Training for soccer has changed my life and how I look at sports. It has taught me so much as a person. Portland is a great city with a variety of people. I want the Timbers fans to experience some really good food from Bangkok. We use good ingredients and strive to be the best. We all have something in common: we love soccer!
Interested in being part of the Portland Timbers Food Cart Alliance? Apply today.
With the unique Spread The Love campaign off and running, we wanted to introduce a few of the lucky folks who were able to experience their first ever Timbers match last week. And what a game to kick things off? A tremendous rendition of the national anthem, excellent tifo, loads of goals, and a thrilling comeback. What more could you ask for?
Without further ado, here's the first group of worthy recipients.
Jeff Enquist, President of PYSA & head coach of Portland City United is one of the first group of 107 Ambassadors. He’s coached in high school, college and the pros and gave his tickets to one of his employees, Sonko. Sonko grew up playing soccer in Kenya and started a club soccer program for kids aged 6-8 there. In short, soccer is Sonko's life.
“Timber Jim” Serrill--the original lumberjack who sawed logs in the North End--is also the charismatic gent who popularlized the phrase “Spread the Love” from which this whole idea originally sprang. An embodiment of Timbers passion, Timber Jim gave his tickets to young Karina. Karina battled through leukemia when she was 4--it's now in remission--and met Jim through the Leukemia Foundation. She had never been to a Timbers game before. Needless to say, she was very excited.
Rachel Harrison, another 107 Ambassador is an active community volunteer, Timbers Army supporter and committed season ticket holder. She met her friend Jessica at her church. Jessica's son plays club soccer in Portland and had never been to a match before either. Sunday's match was his first and was an instant classic.
Do you know someone whom you think is worthy? Visit www.spreadtheloveptfc.com to nominate someone you know in your community.
Stumptown Coffee prepping for Sunday
How do you get ready for a Timbers match? Debate which jersey to wear? Which scarf to bring? Warm up with a cup of coffee? Hit the pub? Create a two-stick sign? All of the above?
We want to see it.
The Timbers, along with our pals at Stumptown Coffee Roasters, have a special contest that will run throughout the 2013 season that includes a great Timbers and Stumptown prize pack. To enter, all you have to do is on the morning of the first home game of every month, you Instagram a shot of your morning pre-game ritual with the hashtag #SCRTimbers.
A random fan from each match will be selected to win what is a pretty sweet prize pack:
- One (1) Signed Timbers Jersey
- One (1) 12oz bag of Kenya Gaturiri Coffee
- Two (2) Stumptown Coffee Roaster Mugs
- One (1) Stumptown Branded Red Rooster Hand Mill Grinder
So mark your calendars and show us how you get ready.
- 3/3 vs. New York
- 4/6 vs. Houston
- 5/2 vs. New England
- 6/15 vs. FC Dallas
- 7/13 vs. LA Galaxy
- 8/3 vs. Vancouver
- 9/7 vs. Toronto FC
- 10/13 vs. Seattle
For full contest rules, click here.
Much like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Timbers’ Saturday regular season finale against the San Jose Earthquakes (3:30pm PT, NBC Sports Network, 101.1 FM KXL / La Pantera 940) will have an element of golden tickets.
In recognition of Fan Appreciation Day, the first 7,000 fans into the stadium will receive the specially designed poster seen above. At 24”x36”, it’s big.
Golden Ticket! Note: Ticket will not actually be golden
Thirty of said posters will have the aforementioned special golden tickets that will be granting a plethora of special Timbers items including autographed jerseys, game-worn boots of Timbers players, gift certificates, signed soccer balls and more.
Moreover, the adidas Timbers Team Store will be having a huge End of Season Fan Appreciation Sale with steep discounts on merchandise, hats, jerseys and more.
The Sale applies to over half of our store’s inventory and offers fans four discounted price tiers of $5, $10, $20 & $40 with discounts ranging from 25-85% off standard retail prices. Moreover, Timbers Season Ticket Holders will be able to use their benefit card to add their discount onto any clearance merchandise.
But the sale is limited. Things get rolling tomorrow at the team store at JELD-WEN Field (open on non-match days Mon-Sat 11a-5p), online at shop.portlandtimbers.com, and run through Halloween.
So between the poster, golden tickets, and screaming deals, there’s a little something for everyone.
The Portland Timbers are wrapping up the season this Saturday against San Jose Earthquakes (3:30pm PT, NBC Sports Network, 101.1 FM KXL / La Pantera 940) and with a bit of The Local Grind.
The Local Grind will serve their Hawaiian-style plates out of the Soccer City Grill concession stand on the east side of the stadium for $6.50. Up for grabs will be a choice of grilled teriyaki chicken, garlic honey chicken or “The Shred” – teriyaki chicken with ginger and garlic. Each dish will be served over white or brown rice, and sides of Asian-style vegetables and macaroni salad will be available for $1 each.
Abell started The Local Grind in 2007 after many years in the food service industry and an interest in Hawaiian cuisine. He designed his cart and friends helped him build it in his garage. In the winter, The Local Grind is set up at Ira Keller Fountain in the summer, and relocates to SW Park and Montgomery Streets in the winter.
“I love working with the public, being outside, taking the cart to different festivals, serving the people a good quality product,” said Abell. “I could eat my bento every day and I know many of my customers could, too.”
The Local Grind is the last of six food carts chosen by fans to serve at JELD-WEN Field via Facebook vote through the Portland Timbers Food Cart Alliance (PTFCA).
“JELD-WEN Field is such a great facility, plus it’ll be cool to see my regular customers in a different setting, as well as introduce so many other Timbers fans to The Local Grind,” said Abell. “A lot of people have said, ‘I will see you there.’ Generally, my customers are just excited to see The Local Grind grow!”
PTFCA is looking for members for the 2013 season. Applications will be accepted throughout the off-season.
With October upon us, MLS is once again launching their Soccer Kicks Cancer campaign to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer awareness and treatment.
What this means is the return of the pink balls, special pink MLS W.O.R.K.S. ribbon patch on every player kit, pink shoelaces, pink sweatbands, and more--potentially even pink goalkeeping gloves. All 19 clubs are participating and there will be limited edition Breast Cancer Awareness gear available as well.
Additionally, there will be an auction of the pink match balls and game-worn gear on MLSSoccer.com/works starting on October 15.
Learn more about the whole event here.
Photo: GoZips.com
Yo-ho, yo-ho, it’s A Cajun Life for the Portland Timbers and fans on Saturday’s match against DC United (7:30pm PT, ROOT Sports, 750 AM The Game / La Pantera 940).
A Cajun Life will be serving…you guessed it - Cajun food out of the Soccer City Grill concession stand on the east side of the stadium. On the menu is: Authentic Cajun Gumbo - a gumbo including chicken, sausage and tasso; Bayou Boogie – chicken, sausage and tasso gravy served over rice; and Crawfish Étouffée – crawfish tails and sauce served over rice.
Chris Fontenot, owner of A Cajun Life, moved to Oregon with his wife two years ago, and began entertaining new friends with their Cajun food. At the urging of their friends, the Fontenots opened their food cart (affectionately known as Roux) in July. A Cajun Life can be found in Old Dean’s parking lot in Damascus.
“We hope it’ll [JELD-WEN Field] be packed with fans coming to try something they can’t really get in the city,” said Fontenot. “We serve true authentic Cajun food all the way down to getting our specialty meats flown in from Louisiana.”
“We are excited at this amazing opportunity. Having only been open for a few months and being selected to attend is a true honor,” continued Fontenot. “This gives us a chance to serve customers from all over the area and to show them that just because we are in Damascus, that we can hold our own against the great food options the city offers.”
A Cajun Life is the fifth food cart chosen by fans via Facebook to serve at JELD-WEN Field as part of the Portland Timbers Food Cart Alliance (PTFCA). The Local Grind will serve at the stadium for the Timbers last home match against San Jose on October 27.
PTFCA is looking for new members. Applications for PTFCA will be accepted for the remainder of the season.
You may have noticed Jimmy Conrad was in Portland recently with KICKTV. He spoke with Merritt Paulson. He received chainsaw lessons with Timber Joey.
However.
Perhaps the biggest moment of all was Conrad actually attending the Cascadia Cup showdown between the Timbers and Seattle Sounders at JELD-WEN Field on Saturday. There were bagpipes, there was facepaint, there was yelling and as part of his indoctrination to the experience, Conrad became a full fledged member of the Timbers Army, No Pity scarf and all.
Saturday is a big day for the Portland Timbers: big rivalry, big sandwiches . . . Big-Ass Sandwiches, to be exact.
Big Ass-Sandwiches will be serving up the “best sandwich in the Northwest,” according to The Travel Channel’s Adam Richman during Saturday’s match against Seattle (12:30pm PT, NBC, 750 AM The Game / La Pantera 940).
Taking over the Soccer City Grill concession stand on the east side of the stadium, Big-Ass Sandwiches will have their four original sandwiches available: a choice of roast beef, turkey or ham piled up with hand-cut fries, slathered in homemade bechamel cheddar fondue all in a Fleur De Lis ciabatta roll.
Big-Ass Sandwiches got its start after owners Brian and Lisa Wood went through a few layoffs in 2009. Instead of opening a restaurant, they tried their hand at popularizing their fries-on-sandwich technique, and the big-ass sandwich was born.
Brian and Lisa are also huge Timbers fans. “We have been going to games since the pre-MLS days. We have the ‘No Pity in the Rose City’ scarf hanging in the back of the cart and made shirts three or four years ago that said ‘Timber Joey is My Homeboy’ with part of the proceeds going to a local charity,” said Lisa. “We're vocal about our love for the game and team and offer 107ist and Axe Society discounts, so we've seen a lot of the Timbers fans become regulars at the cart.”
Big-Ass Sandwiches is the fourth food cart chosen by fans via Facebook to serve at the stadium through the Portland Timbers Food Cart Alliance (PTFCA).
“We're excited for the experience and love that we get to bring our crew along for the ride and feed a ton of people,” said Lisa. “We love the team and the fans and if it goes well, maybe we can do it again!”
PTFCA is looking for new members. Applications for PTFCA will be accepted for the remainder of the season. Another fan vote for the remaining two home matches will run this week.
Rain or shine, hot or cold, JELD-WEN Field is always packed and ready to rumble on matchday.
With all the yelling, chanting, flagwaving, pogo-ing and Tetris-ing to be had, it comes as no surprise that one may work up quite a thirst.
But did you know fans are allowed to bring their own empty water bottles into the stadium? And there's drinking fountains on both the west and east concourses as well as sinks in every restroom in the facility?
A quick look through other MLS stadiums as well as other major sporting facilities across the US puts JELD-WEN Field near the top of most accepting of outside water coming in. Moreover, JELD-WEN Field allows small amounts of food for babies and children.
It’s a big match out there. Be sure to stay hydrated!
