1. Timbers 2013 Run
In year three, it was about time the soccer became the story. In year three, the soccer took over. The revived Portland Timbers rocketed through MLS in 2013, and took the city along for the ride. For the first time, the Timbers were relevant because of what they were doing on the field, not just the spectacle off the field.
And, my, was it a fun ride. Back to front, front to back, the 2013 Timbers were an incredibly likable team. They had a silent monster in goal, and the Great Wall of Gambia in defense. They had uncontrollably feisty leaders, a most humble star, sturdy Midwest stock, and an energizer bunny. The team loved each other, and we loved the team.
The dust just wouldn’t settle this year – the Timbers just kept coming up with huge goals in huge games, and kept on playing into a Western Conference Championship, a place in next season’s CONCACAF Champions League, and the Western Conference Finals. Along the way they vanquished demons from years past, and smoldered Seattle – who were left flattened in the Timbers’ path.
It was a magical year. One that Timbers fans will never forget – and something even better may be just around the corner.
2. Blazers' Revival
The Portland Trail Blazers are obviously a tough team to follow. They build you up to let you down. They collapse, or get hurt, or run out of gas. One way or another, post-1977, the Blazers will fall apart.
But as the best team in the NBA in 2013-14 as 2013 draws to a close, things feel a little different. Why? Because this team came from absolutely nowhere. These guys aren’t Blazers yet. They don’t have the script memorized, especially the part about the final collapse.
Portland hasn’t reeled these guys into the plot yet – Robin Lopez? Mo Williams? Huh? Even LaMarcus Aldridge, the man burdening all the missed opportunities and blown chances seems to have shouldered everything and raised his level of play to the point where he can add carrying a championship-caliber team to his load.
Now, the Blazers aren’t going to win the title. They probably won’t get to the Conference Finals. But who knows? This season is the happy surprise package Blazers fans have been waiting 36 years for.
3. Caleb Porter Show
In 2013, Oregon lost Chip Kelly and got Caleb Porter. The similarities between the two, while not immediately obvious, are there: Both coaches came from unheralded college programs a long way away from Portland – Kelly from New Hampshire, Porter from Akron.
Both Kelly and Porter spew bravado from the side of their mouth, and carry themselves with a cocky, authoritative air. These two men are students of their respective professions, and both have created systems that are as fun to watch as they are deadly. Chip Kelly and Caleb Porter are wicked smart, and they both know it.
The Timbers’ 2013 revival was Porter’s. Tactically, mentally, physically – Caleb Porter changed the culture at Jeld-Wen Field simply by walking into training on day one. He executed one of MLS’ best ever turnarounds, won coach of the year, and plaudits from across the nation. The new Chip Kelly? Maybe even better.
4. Chip Kelly Bolts
After 2012’s near-leap to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, we knew Chip Kelly was counting down the days until he would bolt Oregon for the National Football League. To put it simply, college football was too easy for Kelly. He wanted to be challenged on the absolute highest level of the game, and on an even playing field in the NFL where the best team can come from anywhere.
But it seemed like Kelly was willing to bide his time – after saying no thanks to the Cleveland Browns by standing them up for dinner (in true Chip fashion), he couldn’t come to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles, and it was announced he’d return to Oregon.
However, something was off – Kelly never issued a statement confirming his return or why he was returning, and when the Eagles swung and missed on other head coaching candidates, they met Kelly’s ultimatums, and he was off. The manner of Kelly’s departure stung – it was selfish, Machiavellian, and cruel. But that’s Chip for you.
5. November 7th, 2013
It was the biggest day of the year in Oregon sports. In Stanford Stadium, Oregon was pounded into an insurmountable early deficit as the Portland Timbers kicked off their first ever home playoff game against the Seattle Sounders.
As the Timbers poured in goals early in the game in a rout that more resembled a coronation, the Ducks started snaking back in Palo Alto. In the end, Oregon ran out of time, but the Timbers finished off a memorable night with the words “Fish Gutted” being lifted in the Timbers Army. It was a night indicative of two teams going two different directions on their biggest night of 2013.
6. Ducks Falter At The End Of 2013
Oregon’s psyche was nailed at the end of 2013. Make no mistake: The Stanford loss messed up the collective mind of Oregon football, and the resulting late-season slide was a result. At the beginning of the year, Oregon regaled in their “We Want ‘Bama” bravado – the machine looked so well oiled, it almost didn’t need a conductor. Oregon was flying.
But when adversity hit, the Ducks folded. Leaders went missing, and motivation shrunk. It was a pitiful end to a season that should have ended much more gloriously than being wallpaper at Mack Brown’s going out party. The loss to Arizona was sickening because it was the exact kind of loss that Chip Kelly’s “Win The Day” Ducks wouldn’t have allowed. Oregon shellacked in the desert, and just because they didn’t show up to play. We thought the Ducks couldn’t be upset? Helfrich’s team was upset into a pulp. Mentally, Oregon has a lot of offseason healing and introspection to do.
7. Evolution Of LaMarcus Aldridge
Patience was running out. Both internally and externally, the Blazers were wondering whether LaMarcus Aldridge could be part of a championship team. He wasn’t being actively shopped, but Portland’s ears weren’t exactly closed either. This was a make or break year for Aldridge. Damian Lillard became the face of the Blazers last year, and in an increasingly guard-oriented league, the Blazers were fine with that.
But Aldridge – now by far the longest-tenured Blazer, came to life in 2013. He’s been one of the best players in the league, and become a leader in the locker room. Aldridge has stayed true to himself – he hasn’t turned into a paint player, but he has increased his rebounding output, and has become an MVP candidate.
8. Gut The Fish
What any great rivalry needs is two great teams. This was the first year since MLS came to Cascadia that both the Sounders and Timbers have been in the playoffs in the same league. Oh – and the teams played each other in the post-season. The Cascadia Derby hadn’t been a competitive rivalry since the middle of the 2000’s, and never has it been as big as it is now.
The two sides played five games in 2013 – the regular season series was an incredible close 1-1-1, while the Timbers dominated the playoffs. But all five games were classics to remember, especially the last four. There was all that good stuff – red cards, melees, upsets, elbows, late goals, routs, and general animosity and pandemonium. We got the Gut The Fish series, which ended joyously with “Fish Gutted” as the Timbers ended the Sounders’ season, and we also got “Welcome To Your Nightmare”, backfiring spectacularly. This derby has never been better.
9. Helfrich Hired
The hiring of Mark Helfrich to replace Chip Kelly as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks was seamless and simple. Helfrich was simply in line to be promoted, and at Oregon, that’s how they do it – from Brooks, to Bellotti, to Kelly, and on. Perhaps that’s why the gravity of the hiring was hard to feel – the young offensive coordinator was being handed the keys to one of the most glamorous cars in college football.
Helfrich is a likable guy, but his first season in charge was not stellar off the field. He’s been unable to command the media or create a persona for himself in the same way Kelly was, and part of the reason why is that Helfrich has been unwilling to deviate too far from how Kelly ran the program before him. Helfrich will learn from 2013 – he needs time to adjust and find his feet – but the jury is still very much out.
10. Portland Thorns Championship
Portland isn’t accustomed to having big-market sports franchises – the teams with the most money and media coverage and fan support. But with backing from Merritt Paulson and the Portland Timbers, the NWSL Portland Thorns are that team. They have Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair; they have four other US and Canada internationals, an attendance average that doubles the next best team, and a championship.
Portland won the inaugural title in Rochester, New York, even with a sputtering season guided by an overmatched coach (the new departed Cindy Parlow Cone), and a comeback playoff run. The team expects to be even better next season. The Thorns are the class of North American women’s soccer.
11. Ducks Hoops Sweet 16
There’s no reason Oregon shouldn’t be a college basketball power. They have everything available – incredible facilities, great name recognition, a power conference, and the ability to recruit from around the country. Dana Altman can coach, and in 2013, there were results.
After a slow start to the season, the Ducks caught fire and couldn’t lose. The ran the table in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament, and smoked their first two opponents – decent teams too – Oklahoma State and St. Louis in the NCAA Tournament, and ran into Louisville in the Sweet 16. Had Oregon been given something resembling a fair seed (the Pac-12 champion seeded 12th????), and met a more manageable opponent in 16, who knows how far the Ducks could have run?
In the calendar year 2013, Oregon only lost seven games. Big things could be on the horizon.
12. Moda Center
Portland has always been a unique city – and when that uniqueness is stripped away, it hurts. With the exit of Larry Miller, Sarah Mensah, and other key figures from the Trail Blazers’ front office in 2012, Portland hired much more competent figures – like new COO Chris McGowen to run Blazers Business.
From a business sense, giving away the naming rights to the Rose Garden was a no-brainer: Portland, already a small-market and low-profit team, was one of the only organizations in the NBA without a sponsor on the arena. But renaming the Garden the Moda Center upped the commerciality of the Blazers experience even further, and moved the team even further away from the simplicity and community harmony that rocked the Memorial Colisium and made Portland famous for Blazers Mania.
13. Oregon fan Behavior
Two scathing letters from former players turned spectators at Autzen Stadium through the Oregonian’s John Canzano unleashed a storm over fan conduct at Oregon games, and the DNA of Ducks football fans on the whole.
The two former players were disgusted at the level of hostility and unruliness at Autzen, and ripped the fan-base as “spoiled”. Certainly, there are good and bad Ducks fans, but overall, it was a debate that was in the back of many minds for a long time. Many, many Oregon football fans have become spoiled and insufferable. This kind of behavior has created a huge home-field advantage for the Ducks, but is it worth it?
14. Timbers & Thorns Support Gay Marriage Initiative
In October, the Portland Timbers and Thorns became the first major professional sports teams to publically support a gay marriage proposal – one that will be on the ballet in Oregon in May.
It was proud moment for the Rose City – a moment representative not only of the RCTID ideals, but how those ideals connect to the city of Portland and state of Oregon as whole.
15. Winterhawks Championship
The Portland Winterhawks dominated the Western Hockey League on their path to the 2012-2013 title. Even with their coach and general manager suspended, the Winterhawks went to their first Memorial Cup in decades. One WHL GM called Portland “the model for minor league hockey in this country”. Splitting time between the Memorial Coliseum and Rose Garden, the Winterhawks also experienced their best attendance for many years. The club is pumping players into the NHL, and looks poised to make another title run in 2013-14.
16. Terry Stotts
Coach of the year Terry Stotts? Where did this come from? Turns out, Stotts can coach. He’s made the Blazers a contender and fashioned some of the most stylish basketball in the NBA – Portland is unselfish, they shoot threes, play fast, and get just enough defense to be successful.
In fact, these Blazers are reminiscent of the 2011 Mavericks who won the championship with Stotts as an assistant coach. Stotts designed and ran the offense on that team and they too relied on the three, and a player in Dirk Nowitzki that LaMarcus Aldridge is beginning to resemble. He wasn’t a flashy hire, but Stotts is clearly the right man in Portland.
17. Blazers Attendance
It’s suffering. The sell-out streak saga that came to define the Larry Miller administration is long gone, but the Blazers’ attendance has continued to plummet. Opening night against San Antonio wasn’t a sellout, and the arena has been half empty at tip most of the current season. Even as its becoming clear the Blazers are a force to be reckoned with this year, many have commented the arena doesn’t possess the same pop it did during the Brandon Roy era.
Maybe that pop will come back. But the current trend is worrying. Perhaps it’s down to a Blazers malaise, and the lack of enthusiasm that greeted the new season. The success of the Timbers has certainly dented the Blazers, but you can’t say how much. Attendance across the NBA hasn’t been stellar, and the price is enough to keep many away. Whatever the reason, this isn’t the Rip City of old.
18. Arena Football – Portland Thunder
Portland got its third professional sports team when the Arena Football League announced they were coming to Portland for the 2014 season. While the AFL is mostly a sideshow more representing a carnival than a football game, the move was a statement of intent from the Blazers.
After years of inactivity and hesitation on the front of expanding the Rose Garden portfolio, the new Blazers’ administration – headed by Chris McGowen – has taken aggressive steps to utilize the full potential of the building. Could the NHL be next?
19. NHL To Portland?
In May, around the start of the NHL Playoffs, it was reported that Paul Allen and the Blazers had tabled a bid to buy the struggling Phoenix Coyotes, and move them to Portland.
Almost 20 years on from a glorious chance to move the Pittsburgh Penguins here, Allen was ready to act. But Phoenix salvaged their situation in Arizona with an arena deal, and Portland – along with Quebec, Seattle, and others – was left to wait and wonder.
The Moda Center would be ready for a Portland NHL team tomorrow. With Allen, the arena, and sure-fire fan interest, everything is in place. The question is, will there be a team? The NHL is looking at expanding into the Pacific Northwest and getting the same kind of bounce MLS did. Work would have to be done to convince the league a team would thrive in Portland, but there is mutual interest. Allen and the Blazers were a lot closer to bringing the National Hockey League to Portland than most people realized in 2013.
20. Hillsboro Hops
Baseball returned to Portland with the Hillsboro Hops in 2013 – a team that was the product of backdoor deals and haggling in Portland city hall that fumbled away the Beavers. After a scramble by different suburbs (Beaverton, Milwaukie), to land a team, the Hops went to Hillsboro.
Playing short-season summer ball, Hillsboro held up well in the 2013 season, and the baseball scene in the Portland-Metro area is set for the near future.
21. 2014 MLS All-Star Game
Portland has been selected by MLS to host the 2014 MLS All-Star game next August. The Timbers’ Jeld-Wen Field will be the venue for MLS’ midsummer classic, a game that will pit the best from the league against European Champions Bayern Munich.
Caleb Porter will be the All-Stars’ coach, and the Timbers will surely be well represented. Portland season ticket holders will have the first shot at tickets for the game, and other events across All-Star week, as the Rose City hosts its first ever Major League All-Star game.
22. OSU Goes Back To The College World Series
Oregon State has become a college baseball power – and with Pat Casey in for the long-haul, it should stay that way. As long as both schools retain their current managers, the baseball rivalry between Oregon and the Beavers should remain strong.
And how about Jacoby Ellsbury signing with the Yankees!?
23. USMNT In Portland
On July 9th, 2013, the United States’ Men’s National Team returned to Portland for the first time since a crucial World Cup qualifier in 1997. The group stage Gold Cup game was quite a show – headlined by Timbers Army tifo described as “Awesome!!!” by Jurgen Klinsmann, and hat-trick by Chris Wondolowski in the 6-1 USA victory.
The huge support over the summer in Portland and Seattle for the national team means that they could be back soon – Cascadia provides one of the purest and most passionate home-field advantages for the US in the country. Almost a month later, the US won the tournament at Soldier Field.
24. Brandin Cooks Balitnikoff
It’s not every year that a major college football award winner comes out of Oregon, but Oregon State’s Brandin Cooks was the winner of the Balinikoff Award given to college football’s top receiver.
Without Cooks, the Beavers would not have been bowl eligible this season. He was huge, and in big spots too – game-winning or clinching catches were routine. Cooks has a bright future ahead – and he was only of the only bright spots in the Beavers’ 2013 campaign.
25. Caleb Porter – Bruce Arena Celebration
Porter’s celebration after Andrew Jean-Baptiste’s stoppage time winner against LA in July is alone is worth a place in the top 25. In one of the great tragedies of the year in Oregon sports, there no longer appears to be video online.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
