When Jorge Perlaza first joined the Portland Timbers, he was very much alone. Being the only member of the team who did not have a basic understanding of English, it was an intimidating experience. If you take language out of the equation, he says, you can adapt to just about anything anywhere. But not being able to understand what people are saying makes every aspect of life more difficult.

Philadelphia Union

John Hackworth explains what the Union is looking for going into the 2012 season. "When you're retooling, you have to make sure you're managing the roster and the salary cap. We're not necessarily trying to get younger; we're trying to get better. And we're going to look at every avenue do that.

Portland's debut MLS season may have come to a halt but the misty-eyed memories and goosebump-inducing flashbacks live on in Portland Timbers, We Adore You. A no-narration documentary chronicling JELD-WEN Field's inaugural MLS match, the seven-minute film drips with both tasteful camerawork and nostalgia for the recent past.

Seattle Companies Export Humor, While Portland Buts A Bird On It

Remember that pretty funny advert with John Spencer in it? He was advertising for a Seattle based company - Alaska Airlines. Guess what?

A Seattle ad-firm came up with it.

Well the USMNT made it. They're officially going to the Quarterfinals of the Gold Cup despite, what I thought, was a pretty lackluster performance against Guadeloupe. While Jozy Altidore's golazo was amazing and worthy of recognition in its own right, the rest of the game's blunders will continue to be the talking points heading into the next game against Jamaica, a game that I'm not confident the current US squad can win.

Tonight the U.S. Mens National Team will take on Guadeloupe in the last game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Unfortunately, it's not one I'm sure the Nats can win given their craptacular performance against Panama this past weekend. But I'd like to be proven wrong...

Here's the morning news.

Timbers specific news

Spencer's Referee Reforms
Think Spencer was done with the referees?

Alaska Airlines, jersey sponsor of the Portland Timbers, have done a series of commercials promoting the MLS team. I thought this particular spot was well done and funny. Could head coach John Spencer have an acting career in his future?

Another busy soccer weekend here in the States, with MLS, WPS and Gold Cup action. Before we take a look at attendance, there are a couple of other stories worth noting. We'll start in Portland, where the Timbers have cut a great pair of commercials with their presenting sponsor Alaska Airlines.

It's the Friday before the weekend's slew of games and you know what that means: PREVIEWS! As you can expect, there are an assortment of previews from around the league, including some others concerning the Portland Timbers vs. Columbus Crew match up.

Aside from that we have some interesting pieces regarding the Timbers training from yesterday, an Alaska Airlines "chant" sheet from a commercial they were recently shooting, and an article surrounding the connection between left and right back defenders Rodney Wallace and Jeremy Hall.

Almost a week ago, Alaska Airlines debuted the final product of their "Paint the Plane" contest to fans. The MLS themed plane celebrates the city's very own Portland Timbers and was a combination of designs submitted by Paul Wright of Portland, Oregon and John Bode of San Mateo, California.
As the official airline and shirt sponsor for the club, Alaska Airlines has extended another benefit to Timbers' fans who will be flying out of the Portland International Airport during the current MLS season.

photo by alaskaair.com

Fans of the Portland Timbers can now fly in style.

Alaska Airlines introduced its Portland "Timbers Jet" to a crowd of fans on Friday morning. The aircraft features the Timbers' name and logo and is covered in the team's green and yellow colors.

PORTLAND, Ore. The Portland Timbers and Alaska Airlines invite soccer fans to create artwork to adorn a Boeing 737-700 in a "Paint the Plane" contest. The Timbers-branded plane will be revealed this spring during the club's 2011 debut Major League Soccer season. Fans can download the plane's design template at www.

The clock is ticking down to the to the Portland Timbers' franchise opener on March 19, 2010 in Colorado. The team has been making great strides towards that day, so we thought we would provide a status update on those efforts. We'll start with tickets, where the team has announced that it has sold 10,000 season tickets for its inaugural campaign.