Cascadia Cup

This weekend is the first clash between the Timbers and the Sounders of the season. While I consider myself a Timber these days, the derby always provokes such conflicted feelings for me. Honestly, I feel like I'm one of the few people around who can legitimately call themselves a Cascadian.

Before the Rave Green

In 1982, the Seattle Sounders of the NASL made a dream run to the championships, though they eventually lost to the Cosmos. Somewhere during this time, my parents got tickets to what I believe was one of the playoff games. This was the first and, unfortunately, the only soccer game I attended during my childhood as the NASL would fold a few short years later. At the time, the Sounders won though!  The city was crazy and I remember people honking horns and yelling "Go Sounders!" on the drive out of Seattle (we were too poor to afford a hotel room in Seattle, so we drove back to Yakima after the game.)  My take from this game: a Seattle Sounders t-shirt.  I don't remember who we played, but I remember this shirt fondly and wore it a lot.

Before Timber Joey was Timber Jim!

Fast forward about 20 years. The MLS has been around for a good 10 years at this point, but pointedly ignores the pacific northwest. I had moved down to Portland for grad school and was getting back into soccer. That's when I heard about the Timbers Army. These crazy fans that came out, sang songs, beat drums, and cheered all for a mediocre USL team. It was so very Portland! You could just show up at the gates, get a ticket for $10, and be part of this European atmosphere where Timber Jim would fire up a chainsaw for the fans. It was great. While I never considered myself part of the Timbers army, I loved going to games and sitting in the GA section. For me, it really re-awakened a love for being a fan of the game and I truly considered myself a Timber

Drew Carey leading a March to the Match

Time moves on though, and H and I ended up moving back to the Puget Sound area where the Sounders were. The rivalry was fierce between Sounder and Timber even in the USL days, though, and I didn't have much interest in becoming a Sounder fan. Something cool happened, though. The Sounders moved up to MLS! Since the Timbers were USL and would only meet Seattle once in a blue moon in the US Open Cup, I could be fans of both! That first Sounders year was a great year, too. The Sounders had recruited local hero and one of my idols Kasey Keller! They had the March to the Match before games, often led by Drew Carey, where supporters marched blocks to the game with a parade band, singing songs and ending at Qwest Field where a carnival atmosphere was going on. H was really won over by the Sounders during this time and frankly, still considers herself a Sounder. Meanwhile, I also followed the Timbers online, my only conflicted moment being the clash in the US Open Cup that elevated Roger Levesque to infamy.

Things didn't work out for us up north, and H and I moved back down to Portland. Then, for me, one of the worst things happened:  Portland landed a promotion to MLS. The Rivalry was back on and now in full effect and I could no longer have my cake and eat it too. In situations like this, people don't respond well to you calling yourself a neutral and goad you into taking a side. In some ways I understand it. Attempting to "rise above the fray" smacks of pretentiousness. On the other hand, I do feel like I'm one of the few people out there who has a legitimate claim to both teams.

This time of year, I sigh, and I put on the Timber colors for the game, since if forced to choose, I go with the local team.  I'll cheer for the Timbers, but what I'm really cheering for is a tie.