Dodgers Keep the Mets at Bay

Watched my first Major League Baseball game live in almost 10 years when I ventured to Dodger Stadium to see the hosts, Los Angeles Dodgers take on the New York Mets in a rather warm Los Angeles night.
The hosts got off to a flying start by piling on the runs leaving the Mets in a bit of a spin which best reflected the kind of season that the New Yorker's have been having. The Mets were slowly clawing it back throughout the game to almost snatch victory. Only for the Dodgers to seal the win in the 8th innings with a 10-6 final scoreline.
I had a hot-dog and coke which was 10 dollars so 5 dollars each. Similar to Perth stadium prices but of course through conversion was of course higher. Dodgers stadium was a little tricky to get to for public transport but there is a Dodgers Shuttle which runs from LA Union Station. All in all was a good night to watch some baseball, but a shame that the Mets collapsed at the final hurdle. Looks like this will be a rather lean year for the Metropolitans and any chance of a wild-card spot is all but extinguished by now...

Timbers Grab Dallas By The Horns

Another match at Providence Park and it was rather chilly for a June day. However I was assured by the locals that the weather really doesn't become 'summery' until July-August. Never-mind, I am here to watch some football and my adopted local team take on FC Dallas 96. Thankfully they are not called Dallas Burn still.
Once again the first half was a series of disjointed passages of play from the home side. The visitors from Texas were like sharks though, sniffing around trying to latch onto any mistake which came a few times in the middle of the first half. A brilliant goal line clearance from the scrambling Timbers defence just cleared the ball only a mere couple of millimetres from crossing the line.
The home side managed to get on the scoreboard and open their account in the 31st minute. While I was told by the locals sitting around me, that the side had been hit hard by injuries and national team duties, was no excuse as squads should be able to cover these issues.

Portland played much better in the second half, much like the first game I went to. However, I have drawn the conclusion that artificial turf is just not suitable for playing football on. The ball just kept bouncing and bobbling. The players continuously kept playing the ball high in the air and heading the ball up like a group of seals playing tricks. While I can understand with the cold weather conditions of the Pacific North-West being very cold with snow etc, for top flight football this just isn't suitable.
Through the dominance of the home side, the Timbers doubled the lead with a few series of errors from the Dallas defence which resulted in an easy tap in. The game ended in a 2-0 win to Portland.

The food, well I had pizza as I didn't have time to go to Hot Lips outside of the stadium. Which is a shame as they were delicious last time. The stadium pizza was nice but of course it is expensive. If I were to be living in Portland I would eat at Hot Lips or at a bar before coming. I doubled up as I didn't want to leave my seat during the game so 4 slices of pizza was 24 dollars and 2 bottles of cherry coke was 8 dollars. The only flavours of pizza were cheese or pepperoni, so limited for choice. The pizzas were actually not too bad, but the price was hurting. While excessive, I didn't want to make multiple trips and miss the game or be held up by long lines. The game was well attended, id say the figure would be almost 20 thousand.

There concludes my second Major League Soccer game in Portland. I had a great time as the Timbers army this time were in full voice and certainly built the atmosphere. Hopefully I can try to watch a US Open Cup game in Seattle next week. But, my travel plans may get in the way of that.

Timbers Cut Earthquakes Down

Went to my first Major League Soccer game in Portland to watch the Timbers host the San Jose Earthquakes at Providence Park. It was a very overcast day but wasn't too hot and was rather pleasant weather to watch some football. Portland have been in some pretty decent form lately and were wanting to continue this good start, unlike their poor performance of last years defense.
San Jose were looking to build on some good form and an away win would put them in the hunt for play off slots which are starting to be much sought after now the mid season mark is approaching fast.
There was hardly an empty seat in the house with the Timbers and 'Quakes supporter bays were in full song throughout the entire game which was excellent to see and hear.
Game was a rather scrappy affair with the home side not able to string passes together to mount serious challenges on the 'quakes defensive lines. Passes were either hit too hard or they were just over running weak passes when trying to mount an attack. I blame this on the artificial turf that Providence Park has, as it just looked as if the ball was behaving much different to what it should on a more conventional grass pitch.
Timbers had through besides the scrappy passages of attacking play managed to shut down the visitors ensuring that they went into the half with no corners or no shots on goal.

It took a while but late in the first half the hosts hit the lead and just never looked like blowing this despite some promising passages from the 'quakes. Late in the second half the Timbers had doubled their lead with a second from Argentine Diego Valeri, who in my opinion didn't have a great game.

The referee was utterly confusing as there were brutal 2 footed lunges that were not given yet simple pushing and shoving that was carded and even a San Jose player was sent off for a bump that makes even the worst A-League referee look like a perfect official. The consistency was just all over the place and confused a seasoned football follower like me. I feel sorry for American football fans as this to them is normal, which now I see why the national team performs so poorly against other nations and struggle in the World Cup.

As for food and beverages, beers were 9 dollars and the usual Bud and Coors. There were more craft beers which Portland is more known for so if you want a big brand beer here, forget it really as the rest of the city doesn't really stock them either. Food was also similarly priced so I didn't have any in the ground as I had sliced pizza and a craft beer at the pizza shop across the road and plaza which was delicious and recommended. That cost me for 2 slices and a beer 12 dollars. The slices were rather big and the beer went down nicely as it was an IPA which is quite the thing for the Portland region.
I did however buy a coke and a water which was 3.50 for the water and 4.25 for the coke making it 7.75 all up which isn't too bad but I guess not ideal for stadium beverages not alcoholic.

I will be heading down to Providence Park next week to watch another game so lets hope I can write up another positive experience in the rather unique city of Portland.