Undefeated at Home

Chad, meet Portland. Portland, meet Chad.

After a stint at OSU, Chad decides he wants a tryout with the closest pro team. So he calls coach Agnello, emails him ... nothing. "I get at least 20 calls and e-mails a day," says Agnello. So Bartolomé does what every ambitious, driven professional does. Shows up at the front door and demands that he be hired.

And four hours after officially being signed to the Portland Timbers, Chad Bartolomé decides that the prudent course of action would be to score a goal for his new club, and Byron Alvaraz provides him the opening, placing a pacey shot to the keeper's lower right. The resulting deflection bounces right to an oncoming Bartolomé, who touches it into the goal, and only has to step over the sponsor banners to receive the eardrum-splitting accolades from section 107, and say "hello, Portland."

Although the weekend began on that strong note, it wasn't all smiles for the rose city. A defensive misstep allowed Vancouver's Tony Donatelli to strike a laser-guided shot past Josh Saunders and tie the game (where it would stay for the remainder), and the Minnesota Thunder would only be defeated 2-1 by a scrappy game-winner from Troy Ready.

But here's the crazy takeaway from this weekend's games: Hugo can disappear from a game for long stretches and the team doesn't suffer. Last year, if Hugo took his game down a notch (or was triple-marked out of the game), sea floor level pressure was placed on the Timbers' back line, and the forwards were left to wither, like desert nomads searching for an oasis.

This year, we got options. Guti looks dangerous in the middle, bringing that much-needed South American flair to these northern realms, and Luke carries the ball with the confidence of someone completely unaffiliated with a certain Utah-based MLS team. Combine that with the veteran Byron up top showing newcomers McAthy and Bartolomé how to strike, and the Timbers look very, very promising.

I said to Josh at halftime on Saturday, buzzing from overpriced Widmer and season-opener adrenaline, "I don't think I care if this team is middling all season. They're already tons more fun to watch in these first two games than all of last season." Sure, Jacobi had some slips, and we let both teams back into the game after getting a first half lead, but last year, you could almost taste the desperation and yearning, the frustration of a stilted system, questionable substitutions, and no creativity in the midfield.

I feel something new with this team. Oh, I know what it is, it's the absense of feeling that I could personally strap on my boots and play better than the guys wearing the Timbers jerseys. Ever since Agnello was hired, it's been a breath of fresh air (and not without controversy, of course, I'm not going to pretend Agnello's a savior who does no wrong), and this team feels rejuvenated. They might not be screaming out of the gate, but there's a fertile scent on the wind. The days ahead are full of promise, and undefeated at home is not a bad way to start.