Thanks to a couple Portland readers for sending this link my way from OregonLive.com. It seems like damage control in Portland has gone into full gear after Wednesday's comments from Merritt Paulson who said there would be no MLS in Portland without a new baseball stadium.

Well now it appears the Paulson is once again a "100% committed" to Portland's MLS efforts.

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From Field of Schemes:

"If I don't get a baseball deal done, I'm not going to finalize the deal with Portland," Paulson told the Beaverton city council Tuesday night. "So MLS will not come to Portland unless I do a deal for a new baseball park."

This is some great goodwill Paulson is building up in Portland. Click to continue reading...

Courtesy of OregonLive through WVHooligan comes an update on the Portland MLS efforts: Timbers owner Merritt Paulson is talking tough about a potential stadium deal with the city of Beaverton for his...

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I guess Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson is just playing some hardball with the city of Portland now. According to Oregonlive.com, Paulson told Beaverton officials that the future of Major League Soccer in Portland hinges entirely on whether he can find a new home for his minor league baseball team.

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I've been a little busy today so the links will be fairly light tonight. I guess that's what you can expect when it is the week of your wedding and you have loads of things to do other than write on a blog. But I will have more on that in a couple days.

Tonight I want to really get into a couple things here.

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According to this report from Willamette Week it real is a done deal now...

Here is an excerpt:

The $31 million revamp of PGE Park, which will allow Major League Soccer to begin play there in 2011 and force the Portland Beavers to find a new baseball home, was approved Thursday by the City Council.

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It appears that the Timbers Army's drawn-out nightmare may be over. Merritt Paulson, at the same time the most beloved and despised man in the Rose City, has negotiated a tentative agreement with...

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Timbers Army has new reason to cheer. The long sometimes frustrating and difficult road to PGE Park renovations to accommodate MLS has finally come to an end. With a great outcome.
Courtesy of the The Oregonian:
Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson, Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner Randy Leonard emerged from their final negotiating session just before 2 p. Click to continue reading...

It seems like this is a report we've posted time and time again here. Hopefully this will be the last.

Portland city council has approved a plan to allow both MLS and minor league baseball in the city. PGE Park will get renovated as planned and the baseball team will get their new stadium.

The Portland City Council on Wednesday passed a resolution to support starting negotiations with Merritt Paulson over a financing plan to renovate PGE Park to accommodate a Major League Soccer team.

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Courtesy of the Portland Business Journal:

The Portland City Council on Wednesday passed a resolution to support starting negotiations with Merritt Paulson over a financing plan to renovate PGE Park to accommodate a Major League Soccer team.

The move effectively decouples the $37 million PGE Park project from a proposed new $48 million baseball park for Paulson's minor-league Portland Beavers.

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Courtesy of the Oregonian:

The news is another in a series of quick developments in the fast-moving saga to renovate PGE Park for the Portland Timbers' 2011 Major League Soccer debut and move the Beavers to a new ballpark. The city and Paulson, who owns both teams, have worked for months on a public-private deal to do both projects.

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This comes to us courtesy of the Portland Business Journal:

City Commissioner Randy Leonard threatened Friday to withdraw his support for bringing Major League Soccer to Portland unless Merritt Paulson recants a decision to withdraw plans for a baseball stadium in Lents.
Earlier Friday, Paulson said a $48 million plan to put his Portland Beavers AAA baseball club in the Southeast Portland neighborhood lacked community support.

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Merritt Paulson's bid to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to the city of Portland has taken another odd turn. The entire project is now in danger of being voted down, according to reports out of the Pacific Northwest this afternoon that say one of the city commissioners who originally voted in favor of the deal is now going to change his vote after a broken promise by Paulson. Click to continue reading...

Ain't no drama like PDX stadium drama. Hot on the heels of Merritt Paulson's withdrawl of one baseball relocation proposal one of the Portland City Councilmen who voted for the ordinance to bring Major League Soccer to Portland has now said that he's going to vote against it if it means losing the city's baseball team. Click to continue reading...

Much has been talked about Seattle's marketing success. Well today we get a closer look inside the "Give Us Your Full 90" ad campaign as well as an early look at Portland's "Soccer City USA" ad campaign.
An insider leaked to us today the inhouse details of the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders FC marketing plans. Click to continue reading...

Timbers Army may just want to hold on to their hats and/or don baseball caps.
It looks like Portland now has to go through a "60-90 day" process to decide on where to place the minor league baseball team, Portland Beavers and come to some agreement with owner Merritt Paulson before a September vote which could either promise promotion of Portland Timbers FC to MLS or spell doom to their major league dreams. Click to continue reading...

A quick chat with MLS Commish Don Garber, longer chat with Merritt Paulson. Music by The Long Winters and by Neutral Milk Hotel. Click to continue reading...

In the coming hours, the largest ever transfer of money from labour to capital will become a Hyperreality.
Capitalism is dead.
Long live capitalism.
George Soros: "Paulson cannot be given a blank cheque."
Naomi Klein: "... nobody should believe the overblown claims that the market crisis signals the death of 'free market' ideology. Click to continue reading...

I'm home and still catching up, so this will be brief.  We're undergoing an audit by the State of NH at work starting tomorrow and running through the end of the week.  (As Princess Sparkle Pony would say ... "Yay!"). On the actual, honest-to-goodness YAY front, I see that the Phillies won (again) over the Braves, [. Click to continue reading...

Two of the men leading MLS expansion charges get the ink from their local papers today. Québécois dairy tycoon andMontréal Impact owner Joey Saputo has an enjoyable Q&A in the Montréal Gazette, while Portland Timbers impresario Merritt Paulson reveals loads of revenue and attendance related dirt on the Rose City club. Click to continue reading...

Resurrected. Thoughts after Portland's 4-0 drubbing of Miami FC Blues. Ideas about MLS to Portland. Interviews with Gavin Wilkinson, Tom Poltl, Chris Brown, Merritt Paulson and a bunch of 10 year old girls. Music by XTC and The Police. Click to continue reading...

Resurrected. Thoughts after Portland's 4-0 drubbing of Miami FC Blues. Ideas about MLS to Portland. Interviews with Gavin Wilkinson, Tom Poltl, Chris Brown, Merritt Paulson and a bunch of 10 year old girls. Music by XTC and The Police. Click to continue reading...

Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson held a press conference this morning formally announcing his MLS intentions and I for one am solidly behind him. Not that my opinion carries any weight in the real world but there you go. Also, I enjoy pandering to the Timbers Army constituency (hey, Seattle loves Ives so I'm not too concerned about upsetting Jet City). Click to continue reading...

Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson is making an aggressive push for the city's inclusion in the next round of Major League Soccer expansion. On Wednesday, he launched a public campaign to build support for the idea, which he said could bring "tremendous positive national spotlight to the city of Portland. Click to continue reading...

There has been a lot of news about MLS expansion floating around and I havent' written much on it because I've been sort of saving some of my thoughts for my PE column. I'm planning on writing next Tuesday's piece on expansion and kind of break down where things stand and what cities should get an expansion team. Click to continue reading...

Not long after the MLS commish said bids for new franchises have to be in by October, Portland Timbers owner and president Merritt Paulson said he's going for it.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Major League Soccer in Portland would both add a tremendous amount to the league and have a phenomenally positive impact on our community and state," Paulson said.

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We were cent the following Press Release early this morning:

Portlanders Launch Grassroots Effort to Bring Major League Soccer to the Rose City
New website features essay contest with $111 cash prize
PORTLAND, July 24th 2008 – On the eve of the 2008 Major League Soccer Allstar Game, a loosely assembled group of Portland residents, writers and sports fans today launched MLStoPDX.

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I would like to remain anonymous on the following if you choose to publish it.
This comes to us via email from an source wishing anonymity.

I was able to glean the following while sitting at a table behind to Merritt Paulson and some ‘other guy' at the Starbucks across from PGE Park earlier this week.

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Two expansion stories this week have come to the fore. As one city's hopes for MLS expansion in the immediate future, fade, another city's grows into sharper focus.
First the good news. Portland. We've been big proponents of Portland joining the league, especially since Seattle will start playing next year. Click to continue reading...

Thoughts after PTFC's 1-0 vistory over Puerto Rico Islanders. Interviews with Gavin Wilkinson, Merritt Paulson, Tom Poltl and Chris Brown. Music by FC All-Stars and Tartan Specials. Special guest host Branacle Brian. Rated PG-13. Click to continue reading...

MLS Commissioner Don Garber and league president Mark Abbott will be in Portland today to revisit PGE Park. They will see PGE in "soccer mode" for the game tonight between the US Women and Mexico. Garber first looked at PGE Park in March but at the time, it was not setup for a soccer experience. There [...] Click to continue reading...

Quick words from Byron Alvarez, Josh Wicks, Justin Thompson, Merritt Paulson and Gavin Wilkinson. Music by They Might Be Giants. Click to continue reading...

Post match comments from Lawrence Olum, Josh Wicks and Gavin Wilkinson. Also a few minutes with Merritt Paulson, Timbers President and owner. Music by Elvis Costello. Click to continue reading...