October 10, 2005

It was announced today that Portland Timbers general manager Jim Taylor has resigned and that head coach Bobby Howe has been "relieved of his coaching duties." Or, in other words, fired.

After that bombshell, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, as Timbers fans did their best impersonations of deer caught in the headlights. Eyes wide, mouths agape, frozen in disbelief. What did they just say?!?

Considering that fans have long been begging for a new coach, you'd think they'd be happy that they'll finally get their wish, but rather than do a joyous jig, people are instead mumbling about "careful what you wish for."

Bobby Howe needed to go, but the last thing anyone wanted was for Jim Taylor to leave. JT loved the Timbers, was a great GM, and a big supporter of the Timbers Army. He didn't always agree with TA antics, and he took some heat for allowing the Timbers Army to be so ruckus, but that's what made JT great. He understood the passion, knew how much it contributed to the team, and he embraced it. He posted to the message board, emailed with fans, listened to our feedback. He was as much a fan as he was a GM and it worked so well. The last thing we wanted was to lose JT.

Now fans are confused and upset. It doesn't make sense that JT resigned. He loved his job and recently was talking about getting together with the fans to make plans for next season. He wasn't acting like someone who intended to leave, so there's speculation that he was asked to resign. But we don't know for sure if that's the case, no explanation was given for the changes. There was a brief news release saying JT had resigned, Howe had been let go, and a vague comment about "restructuring." That's it.

How much more asinine can this get? The Timbers are owned by a freakin' baseball league, but the baseball league doesnt give a shit about the team. They had to buy the Timbers because they were a package deal with the Beavers (baseball), and yet when a wealthy, soccer loving businessman offered to buy the Timbers, the bleepin' baseball league said, "hmm, we'll get back to you on that" and, seven months later, the baseball league still hasn't agreed to sell the Timbers, a team they don't care about that plays a sport they have no interest in. But obviously the baseball wankers are capable of making some decisions, seeing as our general manager and head coach are now gone.

Oi! For the love of Pele, do the right thing and sell the freaking team! Give them a nice, rich owner who loves and respects the sport they play and who will feed them and water them and let them play footy everyday. The team deserves that. Free them from your snuff chewing, crotch scratching, steroid disavowing clutches. Don't own and restructure a team you don't care about, much less understand. That'll piss fans off and, by god, then you'll really be in for it. Hell hath no fury like soccer hooligans spurned.

As someone on the message board put it, "no owner, no general manager, no head coach... should be interesting next season." Yes, indeed. We're in for a wonky soccer season next year. Which is why I hate baseball. Ahem.

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