Timbers Fun

Erik and I went on a DATE last night for my birthday. Dave and Lynne were awesomely awesome and bought us tickets to the Timbers game. We had been before, but not since they went MLS. Wow! It was so much fun.

I'll start at the very beginning of the evening. Our babysitter, the fabulous Karalie, arrived at 5:30 and we rapidly exited the premises. We headed toward Jake's Grill for appetizers, sparkling water and something rich for dessert. Have I mentioned the weather was stunning? It was. Perfectly perfect.

We dined on crab cake, purple artichoke accompanied by a truffle sauce, and kobe beef gyoza with plum sauce. Simply divine in all respects. We finished with the warm chocolate cake with molten center. Yum.

With the proper dessert indulgence complete, we decided to skip riding the MAX and walk the six blocks to the stadium instead. With a warm breeze blowing and the number of fans increasing by the block, I reveled in the entire experience of attending a professional sporting event.

I realized as we entered Jeld Wen Field that for me, attending any professional sporting event brings back incredibly fond memories from my childhood. My dad loved to take me to Mariners baseball games (in the 80's when they absolutely stunk and played in the Kingdome) and Seattle Supersonics games (may they rest in peace). These events were not about who won and who lost. They were not about having really good seats. We never did, although often my father's dubious morality would find us occupying seats closer to the action at halftime or the 7th inning stretch. Oh dear. Ethics aside, these times were about sharing a passion with my dad...sports. Neither one of us were particularly stellar athletes, but we really enjoyed watching. It was what we did together. It was fun.

My dad lives far away now and spends his time caring for my ailing step-mom. They can't travel and I don't see him. And don't get me wrong, there are good things about that which I won't elucidate here. (Remember the dubious morality issue? It extended beyond seats at athletic events) But each and every time I find myself in a professional sporting arena of some sort, I become light-hearted, almost giddy. I don't care who wins. I'm there for the show.

Okay. Enough waxing eloquent. Here are the pics and a video I made of Timber Joey cutting the log after the Timber's only goal.

No need for dubious morals! We were five rows from the pitch. Amazing seats.

The best part...we were just one section away from the Timber Army. We stood the entire game, cheered, chanted, and sang with the best of them.

Happy Girl! This was easily a half hour before kick off. The place was absolutely packed when the match started.

And now for the grand finale...a short video of Timber Joey doing his thing and the Timber Army doing theirs.