I was fortunate again this weekend, this time being offered a spot on the pre-season stadium tour by my soccer mate Greg, who was gracious enough to bring my buddy Nik and I along for the festivities. I'd tried before to peer in at the new construction a month or so back, but with all the construction tarps up it was difficult to see much of anything. Now given the chance to see the view of the new east side stand from the inside, I was expectedly giddy with excitement as we exercised a common pre-game ritual of stopping in at the Bull Pen for a quick bite and drink to ready ourselves.
Now, once inside, the event turned out to be less of a tour and more of a 'come in, sit down, and check out the nice view from here', which wasn't all that bad, but still left it up to the imagination what the yet unfinished east and south stands looked like up close. Albeit unable to get a full walking tour, the view was nonetheless impressive. Ever since that US Men's National Team versus Costa Rica World Cup Qualifier the stadium hosted back in 1997 (temporary stands were brought in to increase capacity), I've dreamed for years of PGE Park having seating on all sides for soccer, and seeing it come to fruition will bring joy to all Timbers fans.
The tour and Q&A session was emceed by Greg Halloran, who manages the project for Turner Construction. He gave a nice background of the stadium's history (built in 1926 and retrofitted in 2000), and he answered the crowd's questions with alacrity and aplomb. I won't go too deep into the technical side of the construction, as most of that information is available at the Timbers website, but there were a few revelations that piqued the interest and will come as a surprise to most returning Timbers fans.
First, the newly re-aligned pitch will remain the same length and width dimensions it has maintained over the last decade, 110 yards long by 70 yards wide. Most attending shared the impression that the stadium re-design would allow for a widening and lengthening of the pitch, and the decision to stay with the previous pitch size was, to be quite honest, a bit surprising. International field regulations allow for some variance of field size, with length ranging from a maximum of 120 yards to a minimum of 110 yards, and width from a maximum of 80 yards to a minimum of 70 yards.
The rationale given was that GM/Technical Director Gavin Wilkinson determined that the shorter, narrower pitch size played to the Timbers strengths, although the fact this news was delivered secondhand by the construction management left something to be desired as to why a smaller pitch was really favorable for sporting purposes. We'll have to wait and see how this plays out, literally.
Another notable fact was that the away supporters section will remain in 223, as far as possible from the Timbers Army, and with their own separate entrance. A wise decision by Timbers management to continue this practice, although those more casual Timbers fans that may be seated next to those section should be prepared for a more boisterous environment, particularly when Seattle and Vancouver come to visit, with both of those clubs alloted 500 seats.
Continuing another important practice, the Timbers will use a water-based paint system that allows the lines for soccer and for American football to be washed off between matches so fans of each sport won't be encumbered by the annoyance of trying to discern whether a ball was out of play due to the confusion of multiple sport lines. Not only is this detrimental to spectators in attendance, but it detracts from the TV viewing audience's pleasure as it's really an eyesore. Good on the Timbers for adopting a method that accommodates multi-sport use of the stadium without sacrificing match play integrity.
The last comment I'll make that will certainly have others talking is the move of the Widmer sideline beer garden from the SW corner to the South End, now dubbed 'The Far Prost' and sits on a 'party deck' behind a small section of bleachers behind the goal. The move itself makes sense, but it was explained that this would now be a ticketed section, primarily for group sales use. Disappointing news to this Timbers fan (and I'm sure many others) as the Widmer section will no longer be the domain of the common man, but rather that of the elite. Not a very Timberlandia style move by the management (and quite the antithesis of beer garden culture here in Beervana), but we'll see whether access will be allowed to more than just the lucky few.
The move isn't entirely unprecedented, but typically only a portion of the beer garden was 'reserved' for private parties. I for one hope the Timbers re-think their position on this, and it makes me wonder how many other new rules may be imposed that will limit fans ability to roam about during the game. One of my favorite activities at Timbers games (besides singing with the Army and seeing the Timbers score), is going on a walkabout to say hi to friends in other sections, take in a few minutes of the match from their respective seats, then moseying on down to the beer garden to enjoy a pint a touch closer to the pitch. And of course, this also would eliminate the great pastime of heckling the opposing goalkeeper during both halves of the match as access will apparently be denied.
Besides these questionable decisions by management, we'll have to reserve judgement to see what effect they may have on match play and atmosphere. Despite those objections, all in all the stadium expansion and renovation gets top marks, it will truly be a world class facility. It's a realization of years of dreaming for Timbers fans, and seeing the view from close to where I'll be sitting, er, standing during matches will only make me salivate more over the next month as I await with eager anticipation the home opener on April 14th against Chicago.
Pints up Portland!
Brenaldo
No comments:
Post a Comment