The place was packed with people decked in the Timbers colors of green and white, and it took a good while to get to the bar and snag a couple of $3 Red Stripes. There were also a fair number of Sunderland fans in their red and white uniforms, but there wasn't any sort of animosity between the two groups of fans. In fact, I'm willing to bet that alcohol helped smooth relations between the Brits and the Americans.
The two main entrances to PGE Park were cluttered with people waiting to get tickets. Apparently, there were more than 15,000 people who attended the match; a record for the Timbers. There was a mariachi band playing outside one of the main entrances. Outside the other entrance was a rocking drum band composed of girls that had to be around 10 years old.
We found some seats in section 106 (or was it 105?) pretty much behind the goal. Brandon pointed out an adorable little girl who was hanging around on the steps next to her parents' seats who had to be around four-years-old, and had a green t-shirt on that said something like "Go Timbers" on the front and "Kick their balls!" on the back. Awesome.
Prior to the kick off, some Timbers players kicked autographed balls into the crowd. One of them headed in our general direction, but I could tell it was going to land a couple rows down from where we stood. I expected someone fan to catch it, but it managed to hit a couple of seats erratically and bounced into my waiting arms.
I raised the Nike ball in celebratory triumph and felt like a lucky bastard. Then I noticed all these kids around me who would probably be even more happy to have the ball so I walked down a couple of steps and gave the ball to the little girl with the "Kick their balls!" shirt. Her mother looked surprised and thanked me, and the people around my seat gave me a couple of high fives. Sure I was just being altruistic, but I couldn't help beaming with pride for a few moments.
We stood for most of the game, and joined in with a few of the usually Timbers Army chants like, "You're going home in a Portland ambulance!" and screaming, "You suck, asshole!" when the Sunderland's goalkeeper made a goal kick. I'm definitely going to have to get the Timber Army to chant, "You're shit and you know you are!" to the tune of the Pet Shop Boys "Go West," on the suggestion of Olly.
Anyway, the game ended up being a 0-0 tie. The teams were pretty evenly matched, but I think the Timbers had an advantage on the artificial turf, which lets the ball roll faster than on grass. I think it took Sunderland at least one half to get used to it.
We headed back to the Bullpen for a couple more beers, which was probably a mistake. It took a good 15 minutes to get our Red Stripes, and we accidentally ended up with three bottles instead of two. There were so many pitchers ordered by everyone, that the whole shelf of them was empty after a few minutes.
We stood around and chatted, and watched as some gents from the Tualatin Valley fire squad paraded around with a bass drum, snare and bag pipes. Someone also had a stuffed black cat (the Sunderland mascot) hanging limply from a US flag. I'm sure it was all in good fun.
It was like we were celebrating a championship win instead of a scoreless tie. Ah yes, this is definitely a fine town for soccer.
That night marks the first time I've been nearly crushed to death while trying to order a beer.
I can almost see the headline now: Man crushed to death for $5 Budweiser.