Timber Tetris

For those who are still living under a rock, this blog covers a lot of hockey and practically anything else that comes to mind.  Today, the practically anything else is actually the subject of today's piece, and more specifically, the sport that the world calls football, but America calls soccer.  Since this blog has a Pacific Northwest bias, and why wouldn't it, this piece is about the Portland Timbers, and if you happen to be a fan of either Vancouver or Seattle, you're more than welcome to chime in unless your team is squaring off against the Timbers that day.

Last night was the opening night for the Timbers, complete with the crowd singing the national anthem and the full 90 being played in the rain.  The Timbers won 3-1, but there are still some defensive holes that need to be shored up, and that was most evident when the opponents the Philadelphia Union scored first.  The Timbers would score three unanswered goals to close out the game, getting goals from Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Kalif Alhassan, and Kris Boyd.  Offense should be less of a worry this year with Boyd, who is wearing the right colors for a change (he played for the Rangers in the Scottish League, and the Rangers are the biggest rival to Celtic FC, who just so happen to be my team outside the US), and players such as Jean-Baptiste and Darlington Nagbe providing some youth to go along with players such as Diego Chara and Eric Brunner.  The West goes through Los Angeles, the defending champions, but the Timbers are going to let themselves be heard.