Sounders to Face Off Against Hated Rival Timbers for First Time Ever Saturday
Come on, you have to admit that we're not all that different, right? (AP Photo)
While the teams (well, at least in name) have faced off numerous times in their earlier incarnations as members of the North American Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League, and USL First Division, Saturday marks the first meeting of the MLS versions of the Sounders and the expansion Timbers. Portland has gotten off to a relatively hot start in its inaugural campaign, which is somewhat reminiscent of the Sounders' expansion season that featured a playoff berth and U.S. Open Cup championship. The Timbers come into Saturday's contest with a 4-3-1 record and their 13 points tie them with Seattle (3-3-4) for fifth place in the Western Conference. However, they have yet to win away from the friendly confines of Portland's Jen-Weld Field, so there's a better-than-decent chance that the Sounders can take this key conference match.
But, well, we're having a bit of trouble getting all hot and bothered about this "rivalry" with the just-founded Timbers. Of course, those long-standing Seattle soccer fans from the NASL/USL days probably have some legit beef with our neighbors down south--the two cities have been playing each other off and on for over 30 years, which is sure to lead to good solid base of dislike. But those teams, and the vast majority of the players on said teams, are long gone. And the chunk of the current Sounders (and Timbers) supporters that were fans of the older teams is incredibly small. The USL Sounders' average home attendances hovered around 3,000 during its last half-decade of existence, and there sure as hell was no similarly-sized media blitz--regional and national TV coverage, front page articles in The Seattle Times, Microsoft promotions up the wazzu, etc.--to bring in the fans who didn't actually attend the games. So maybe 10% of the hundreds of thousands of Sounders fans who will watch Saturday's game either in person or on TV have ever seen a Sounders-Timbers match before.
And yet all this week there have been references to the "hated" and "insufferable" Timbers, as well as prominent pieces in national publications that feature shit-talking between fans from the two cities. That's a bit much considering that these two particular teams have played each other as many times as the Seahawks have played the Yankees.
Apparently, then, this is a case of some Seattleites just really hating the city of Portland. To each their own, we suppose, but that attitude seems a bit extreme and very un-Cascadia. Some of us actually really like Portland and have maybe even come around to rooting for the Brandon Roy-starring, Mr. Sonic-coached, and Paul Allen-owned Trail Blazers (when we can stomach watching the NBA, that is). It seems kinda odd to have such virulent feelings toward Portland when the two cities are so damn much alike.
Now, blindly hating Eugene on the other hand...
