Could MLS to Portland help WPS to Portland

mattywizz wrote:[quote="UPSoccerFanatic"I don't know that I'll go to any games or really support, this league, but I would like to see it do well. Heck, maybe I will go up to Boston if that team with Christine (don't they have a few former Pilots, I don't even remember which team and I am too lazy to look it up) pays a visit.

The team is FC Gold Pride, the Bay Area team that will play at Santa Clara's newly re-created Buck Shaw Stadium. In addition to Christine who recently signed her contract, the other Pilot under consideration and looking likely to be on the roster is some player named Tiffeny Milbrett. In their first pre-season game against Cal, where the coaching staff was looking at which players trying out they want to keep, Tiff had three assists and a goal in a 6-1 victory.

Seeing the Chicago vs. Bay Area matchup will be fun...

I've been going to games at Civic Stadium since I was a kid, when it was Multnomah Stadium, as in before soccer existed in Portland and baseball Beavers ruled. You know, when Lou Pinella was slender. Which is great for nostalgia and not so great when it comes to a modern facility for any sport. All the current luxury boxes are baseball-specific behind home plate. Even a moderate crowd causes traffic jams around the concourse where the concessions lines block passage. No facelift can fix the main design features/flaws there. I love the place even so, but it has more in common with the Roman arena in Arles, France (built +-2,000 years ago) than with Merlo Field or Carson. Calif's purpose-built pitch.

Wait.... Lou Pinella was slender?? WHAT??

I share your concerns as to the ability for an intimate soccer enviro that you get in places like Merlo, HD Center, or even Qwest to be translated into Mult/Civic/PGE/whatever new sponsor Merritt comes up with. Clearly the "left field" seats will be the best as far as being built for a purpose, but yeah those luxury boxes aren't the best for viewing soccer... I guess I would just like to see more specifics on the stadium, that and I tend to ebb on the side of a cynic...

Yeah, the concourses leave something to be desired... But, I was more concerned with my wait to get into the beer garden... Somehow I just don't see a line snaking through rows of seats flying in any Major League... Let alone selling beers for $3...

purple haze wrote:I've been going to games at Civic Stadium since I was a kid, when it was Multnomah Stadium, as in before soccer existed in Portland and baseball Beavers ruled. You know, when Lou Pinella was slender. Which is great for nostalgia and not so great when it comes to a modern facility for any sport. All the current luxury boxes are baseball-specific behind home plate. Even a moderate crowd causes traffic jams around the concourse where the concessions lines block passage. No facelift can fix the main design features/flaws there. I love the place even so, but it has more in common with the Roman arena in Arles, France (built +-2,000 years ago) than with Merlo Field or Carson. Calif's purpose-built pitch.

All excellent points. They may have expanded the concourse some, but the park still can't handle a crowd of more than about 9000. I would say take out the beer garden, put a pub in the deck in CF by the scoreboard, and extend the seats all the way down to the field. Face it--are most people in Widmer on a Thursday night more interested in the scoring on the field, or the scoring of phone numbers in the stands?

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:more interested in the scoring on the field, or the scoring of phone numbers in the stands?

Wait they play actual games on Thursdays??

Haha I don't see THAT tradition continuing with the MLS... But I will miss making snide comments as the stilletto heeled crowd tries to navigate the stadium steps double fisting piss water beers....

(My grandpa from Ireland may have been on to something with his comments about women in red shoes...)

I'm going to stop...

Ha..ha....Thirsty Thursdays in the MLS.

Yeah, Thursdays are a big night in the MLS. There are a lot of games on ESPN2 on Thursday nights. I caught some good ones last season.

I actually saw the Women's World Cup semifinals at Civic several years ago...the year that Germany embarrassed us. Eventhough I was saddened by the result, I thought that Civic was a pretty fine venue for soccer. I definitely think that they can do the rennovations and make it work. I mean when you look at some of the pitches that teams are playing on now...like the Red Bulls' stadium (shared with the New York Giants) where there are still hash marks for football on the field during the games (that ticks me off...), Civic will actually be a pretty fine venue.

By the way, tune in to ESPN2 next Thursday night to see a team playing at Quest, another fine venue. LOL.

That might be the best football played in Qwest since the Seahawks' Super Bowl run.

HEY-OOO!



(Sorry)