Obatola and Dike Signed for 2010

Breaking News from Portland timbers.com

The Portland Timbers have signed forwards Gabriel “O.J.” Obatola and Bright Dike (DEE-kay) for the 2010 season, it was announced today pending U.S. Soccer Federation approval. Both players have been on trial with the club during preseason.

Timbers taking on Two EPL Teams?

Hot news on the Soccer City boards, posted by Keeper01:

The club expects to play four or five exhibition matches this year. There may be two matches with Premiership teams and another match with a Mexican club.

Any guesses who it will be? Burnley could be back, but it looks like they may be facing relegation.

International Timbers World Map

The 2010 roster so far contains 25 signed players, and 9 of those are from outside the US. The world map below shows all the nations that Timber players call their home country. We added Gabriel Obatola in the mix, because we expect him to be signed before the season starts. Also, we added Portlander Alex Nimo's place of birth Liberia to the list. International Portland Timbers

• Cameron Knowles - New Zealand
• Derek Gaudet - Canada
• Gabriel Obatola - Nigeria
• James Marcelin - Haiti
• Johan Claesson - Sweden
• Keita Mandjou - Guinea
• Mamadou Danso - The Gambia
• Ross Smith - Canada
• Takayuki Suzuki - Japan
• 9 players, 8 countries, 4 continents, 1 team

Check out what states Timbers reside from.
Map of the hometowns of former and current Portland Timbers by ruskerdu

Timber Bits

The Dropping Timber Fantasy Contest is on sign up now.

95.5 the Game counting down the days to the home opener. Link
John Strong interviews Ryan Pore, Pore comes on towards the end. Link

Single game tickets are on sale now. Saturday, April 17th is the 2010 season opener at PGE Park and I highly encourage everyone to attend and bring as many friends as possible. This game will be the most fun you can have on a Saturday night as the stands will be packed and the team on the field will be one of the best in recent memory. Get general admission tickets for just $10. Use the promotion code GAVIN to receive a discount through ticketmaster.

MLS Power Rankings Week 2

I will never understand why the MLS gives 6 of 16 teams a bye week in Week 2. I have decided that a team not playing will not move up or down in the rankings - even though a case could be made for LA to be number one and that DC United be dead last. All 16 are back in action next week - so there should be dramatic changes next time. MLS Power Rankings written by our East Coast Corespondent Max. And don't forget to sign up for the Dropping Timber Fantasy Contest!

Ranking	Team	Change	Result	Notes
1	Columbus Crew	-	DNP	Marshall's return and two week's recovery for the older players should make the Crew even more dangerous. Dangerous.
2	Los Angeles Galaxy	+2	W 2-0 v CHV	Buddle's brace beats the Goats in the MLS Superclassico… does this mean Bob Bradley has another option to consider up top? Rolling.
3	Real Salt Lake	-1	L 1-2 @ HOU	Olave's two mistakes proved very costly - both were fouls in the box. Morales did score again though. Inconsistent.
4	Houston Dynamo	+1	W 2-1 v RSL	Two PKs in a couple minutes was little consolation to watching Ching hobble off the pitch. Lucky?
5	Red Bull New York	+4	W 1-0 @ SEA	The Red Bulls now have more points this year from road games as they did in all of 2009 when they only managed two ties. Comeback.
6	Seattle Sounders	-3	L 0-1 v RBNY	Sounders will be disappointed with no points from 17 shots and 12 corners. Wasteful.
7	Kansas City Wizards	-	DNP	MLS did the Wizards no favors with a week two bye - would have preferred playing immediately after blowout victory. Dark Horse.
8	New England Revolution	+4	W 2-0 @ DCU	A squad of reserves and newbies goes on the road and wins. Could be an interesting squad when Joseph returns. Turnaround.
9	Chicago Fire	-1	D 0-0 @ COL	The Fire probably wanted more than a single point from their first two games despite them both being on the road. Homecoming.
10	Toronto	-	DNP	Early bye week was good timing as new players seemingly arrive daily at TFC. Newcomers.
11	Dallas	-	DNP	Maybe the other 8,000 people that should have been at home opener had the wrong date and came this week. Disappointment.
12	Colorado Rapids	-6	D 0-0 v CHI	Gave up the lead twice - inexcusable at home. Cummings has scored in both games and they added former KC DP, Lopez. Inconsistent.
13	Chivas USA	+1	L 2-0 @ LAG	The only reason they moved up is that DC is that much worse and the other two teams below them were idle. Lackluster.
14	DC United	-1	L 2-0 v NER	How many losses till the "Sack Onalfo" campaign starts? The former model franchise continues to take on water. Sinking.
15	Philidelphia Union	-	DNP	A week to practice, practice, practice - home opener versus closest rival geographically and ability wise should be fun. Emotions.
16	San Jose Earthquakes	-	DNP	Yallop must like agony having also coached the Canadian National Team. Now players are publicly grumbling. Chaos.

Preseason Ends With Loss to Pumas

The Timbers lost their only game of the preseason with a 3-2 loss to the Kitsap Pumas last night in Bremerton, WA. A back-and-forth match, the Timbers would take a 1-0 lead into the half on Ryan Pore's first goal of the year. Fortune's would change in the 2nd half however, as the Pumas would answer with an early equalizer and the Timbers would soon find themselves a man down after mid-fielder Raul Lopez was penalized with his second caution of the match. Apparently, Lopez was penalized for arguing with the ref and then ejected around the 60th minute after a hard sliding tackle. Kitsap would take advantage, with newcomer Robby Christner scoring two more goals, including the eventual game-winner. The Eugene born, 24-year old Christner is an Oregon State University graduate, who recorded 7 goals and 3 assists his senior year in Corvallis. Christner was also a college teammate of MLS #1 draft pick Danny Mwanga. Always good to see the local have some success...even if it's slightly at our expense.

It should also be noted that despite being down a man, the Timbers managed to score a goal in the 2nd half on a shot by James Marcelin. Quite an accomplishment and all things considering, a good indication that our offense is clicking well.

Still, on a cold night, in front an estimated 175 fans, the Kitsap Pumas earned some measure of revenge after the Timbers ousted them from the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup last season in a 3-0 beating. For the upstart Pumas, a second year soccer franchise playing in the lowly USL Premiere Developmental League and located in lonesome Kitsap Country, a small region in northern Washington, whose largest city is Bremerton, a gray, bitter, graveyard of town, who's number one claim to fame is a historic naval shipyard, this exhibition victory could in fact, be considered one the biggest wins in the franchise's short history. Seriously. That's how big-time the Timbers are.

All-in-all a good effort by the Timbers even though they'll have some kinks to work out heading back to training camp on Monday. The regular season kicks off on April 17th against the Rochester Rhinos, Saturday evening at PGE Park. Be there.




There were almost as many Timber fans as Puma fans at Bremerton Memorial Stadium - Smoke Bomb after Pore's Goal!







Don't Forget to sign up for the Dropping Timber Fantasy Contest. Sign Up Now!

Dropping Timber Fantasy Contest

Dropping Timber is holding a fantasy contest. The prize details are still being worked out, but it will most likely be a jersey of your choice (within limits) from an online soccer retailer.

It's super easy to sign up. You pick 3 Timbers players (forward, midfielder and defender) and make a few predictions, and we will keep track of the score. We'll set up a standings page so you can see how your fantasy team ranks. At the end of the season, the highest scoring team will win a super awesome prize and prizes for 2nd and 3rd. There will also a be a mid-season prize for whoever leads mid-season. for the Everybody else fights for bragging rights. This is supposed to be for fun and it isn't like a normal fantasy team, so you won't have to make any trades or really do much of anything after you sign up.

Sign up now! It's free and you could win a jersey.


Rules

1. Only one entry per person.
2. Entries due by noon on April 17th.
3. To receive your prize, we will email you at the end of the season to get your contact information, so provide a valid email address. We won't use it for anything else.
4. If someone from the Dropping Timber "staff" wins, we'll give the prize to the next ranking person. We're just playing for bragging rights.