Thank you Mr. Houck! If the Lents community is going to be cudgeled into thinking a stadium will be "good for them" we should at least have another green space. That park is for kids and families. And I'm talking about fresh air and grass, not corndogs.

Matt, read the final report. You're quoting from the draft.

The final recommendation was:

"Open space land for public parks should not be diminished for use in this project. If open
space land for public parks is used in this project, the project costs will include funds to
purchase or develop and to maintain equivalent open space land for public use in the
same area of the City."

Also, the total cost is not 18 million...it's 44 million.

I believe the last estimate for tearing down MC and building a stadium was around 55.1 million.

Finally, if we're really doing a true cost benefit that includes replacement cost, if the baseball stadium is sited at MC, the cost should reflect the value of the MC land and the MC building. Parks aren't the only public property that have a value.

Thanks! The quotes were actually from Houck's letter. The 44 million figure is from where? It's fascinating how the numbers keep shifting—especially with the Oregonian having discovered a host of basic math errors in the consultant's report to the task force. The consultant said he was sick.

http://www.portlandonline.com/omf/index.CF…

Destroy an out of date stadium or a park. Hrmm...

I'm gonna sit this one out I think and let the Coliseum savers explain to the park savers why the Coliseum should remain empty while Lents Park (a well used park) should be cut in half.

Brian Libby? Architects? Buehler, Buehler?

There's an empty school and grounds called foster school which is gigantic and unused. PPS would love to sell it.

Smoke -- Mirrors -- Fog
My mind so occupied but with what?

Ho ya -- I forgot -- our Mayor is under investigation for kissing a 17 year old boy and is going to be recalled. How did I forget about that?

It's Friday and it seems that we have forgotten about cat's too.

I'm ready for you BlackedOut.

Psymonetta, since you know EVERYTHING, and we are, like, so grateful to your clearly superior knowledge, can you pull some numbers and find out if an MLS soccer pitch would fit in the Memorial Coliseum? I'm just very curious to find that out, and my tape measure isn't long enough, and besides, every time I SEE the MC I feel like a gnat.

The 44 million dollar number Matt, is from the REPORT which you failed to read. Yet again. The same number reported to City Council and to the Task Force.

The only thing changing here is your meds.

And do you have any idea what the "math errors" that the Oregonian was hyperventilating about? It's pretty funny actually. I would tell you but since the reality collides with your carefully constructed view of the world from your Pearl district condo I won't bother. You wouldn't listen.

So now that you have "saved" the coliseum you are on to "saving" Lents Park. Funny, before you move on from "saving" the coliseum maybe you should sit down with your pal Libby and come up with a plan to find the $50-$100 million needed to renovate that place into a usable facility.

Perhaps your wife can work on the financing package?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flogging_a_de…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Uncl…

Freddie Ljungberg's move to the starting lineup has meant a bit of a change in approach in the midfield. When Sounders FC midfielder Freddie Ljungberg was ready to join the team after off-season hip surgery, it didn’t just mean that one player in their successful midfield would be supplanted in the starting lineup. His addition has meant a change in the entire midfield, as his deft play with the ball at his feet has altered the Sounders midfield formation and the way opponents defend them.

Formerly, Brad Evans and Osvaldo Alonso, two defensive-minded players, manned the central midfield. With Ljungberg providing such an on-field presence, Evans has moved to the outside, where his play differs from that of the other wing options, Steve Zakuani, Sebastien Le Toux and Sanna Nyassi. While that trio plays a forward-thinking, attacking style, Evans is more balanced, pressing forward when he needs to like when he scored the Sounders’ second goal of the year in a 3-0 win over New York and falling back like he did opposite Kansas City’s midfield powers.

The difference has come in what the players do once they pass the ball.

Matt,

Maybe i would take you seriously if you even read the things you wage a campaign against or paid even the barest attention to facts.

When I point them out you cry that I am attacking you. Whatevs.

You still have failed to explain why $200 million in taxpayer dollars for Phil Knight's stadium is okay but $85 mil for two stadiums here in Portland. Until you do so, your credibility (whatever is left of it) on this issue is shot.

In the end I think this boils down to your class roots dating back to England. You look down on "yobbos" and the football fan in general. There is a whole swath of Englishmen like you who play more "gentleman sports" and like to make fun of the chavs who support football sides.

You simply transferred that snobbery to Portland and have applied it to this issue. In the end those of us working on this issue have been here long before you were and will be here long after you head off to spew your faux-populist agitation elsewhere.

You can forgive Bobby Lenarduzzi for casting an envious eye south to Seattle.

The Sounders opened their inaugural MLS campaign with three consecutive wins, but, more importantly, they've sold out every ticket for their first five home games at Qwest Field.

As Lenarduzzi and his Vancouver Whitecaps finish their final two seasons at Swangard Stadium before moving into a new refurbished B.C. Place and the MLS in 2011, the soccer club president is taking note of the success only 250 kilometres south.

"It's not just the example in Seattle we're following but the example of Toronto FC," said the Lower Mainland soccer legend. "Not only have we had our staff working with Toronto FC on the sales side, we're trying to learn what we can from Seattle FC."

It helps Lenarduzzi that an old sparring partner and longtime friend, Adrian Hanauer, managed the USL Sounders before becoming a part-owner of the Sounders FC MLS ownership group that includes actor Drew Carey, Hollywood movie executive Joe Roth and Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen.

"Adrian and I talk, and I've told him that what they're doing in Seattle is unbelievable," said Lenarduzzi. "Everything they've done has been a great decision."

The three areas Lenarduzzi is paying the closest attention to are among the most high-profile decisions the Whitecaps will have to make before taking the field in 2011.

First, on the marketing side, the Sounders have received a tremendous amount of attention because of their jersey and field sponsor: Xbox 360. The jersey incorporates the same green colour scheme as the video game logo, and the stadium, called Qwest Field for Seattle Seahawks football games, is rebranded as the Xbox 360 Pitch.

And teenagers who love playing international soccer on a video game console are flocking to see the highest level of American soccer, as evidenced by opening night March 19 in Seattle.

Could Lenarduzzi be looking at a similar partnership with a Burnaby-based video game company that is one of the leaders in its field?

"Interesting you ask about EA Sports," said Lenarduzzi. "We believe there's a natural connection between our sport and their games, and there have been initial talks, very preliminary, but that's something that both sides will have to look at."

Second, the Sounders have fielded a team that has many local players who either grew up in the region or played university soccer in the state.

Leading that charge is goaltender Kasey Keller, who distinguished himself with stints for Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham of the English Premier League, sandwiching three seasons in Germany tending goal for Borussia Monchengladbach.

Other Sounders FC players who have local connections include defenders Danny Jackson and Zach Scott and forward Roger Levesque, whom Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid made a point of substituting into the Sounders' inaugural match to pay tribute to the local content of the squad.

"Kasey would be a great goalie for them even if he wasn't local," said Lenarduzzi about the Lacey, Washington native.

A comparable - in terms of local connection - for Lenarduzzi is current Houston Dynamo goalie Pat Onstad, the oldest player in the MLS at 41 and a Vancouver native and Canadian National Team veteran.

"I can't comment on any player currently playing in the league because that would be tampering," said Lenarduzzi.

But, in general terms, Lenarduzzi said that adding local players doesn't necessarily mean only looking at established veterans.

"We have a great residency program, and we're producing players like Randy Edwini-Bonsu, Ethan Gage and goalie Simon Thomas," said Lenarduzzi. "We'll certainly try to have as many local players as we can, but we're going to place a high value on skill."

The third area Lenarduzzi is paying attention to is the marquee player rule, where teams can bring in high-priced players and only have a portion count toward the salary cap. The best example is Los Angeles bringing in English international David Beckham. Seattle wasn't far behind, bringing in Swedish international and English Premier League stalwart Freddie Ljungberg - who's also a Calvin Klein underwear model.

"Having someone like Ljungberg helps your marketing, no question," said Lenarduzzi. "But your marquee player has to make sense. Does he help his teammates? Is he a team player? When I talked to Adrian, he told me that Ljungberg has been great, and that's why he makes sense for them. We have to be careful when we address our marquee player."

Lenarduzzi is adamant that the final two seasons at Swangard as a USL squad are not only to develop players for the MLS squad.

"We want to win and we want to play an entertaining brand of soccer for our fans," he said. "That's what people who come out to Swangard are paying to see."

The Whitecaps host the Portland Timbers on April 25 starting at 7 p.m.

The Portland Timbers kick off their ninth USL First Division season on Saturday when they take on the defending-champion Vancouver Whitecaps on the road at Swangard Stadium at 7 p.m.

A live broadcast of Portland’s 2009 season opener will be available on 95.5 The Game and online at www.portlandtimbers.com. A live video webcast of Saturday’s match is also available through USL Live – now a free service at www.usllive.com.

Saturday’s contest between the Northwest rivals marks only the third time the Timbers have opened a season on the road since joining the league in 2001. It will also be the first time Portland has begun a campaign away from PGE Park under third-year head coach Gavin Wilkinson.

The Timbers have won four of their last five season-opening matches, including wins over the Puerto Rico Islanders the last two seasons. The last time the Timbers faced the Whitecaps in their first game of the season was back in 2006 in Vancouver. Overall, the Timbers are 4-4-0 in USL First Division season openers.

Saturday’s match is the first of three games against the Whitecaps this season for the Timbers, and the team’s only regular-season trip to Vancouver. Since 2001, the Timbers are 7-17-8 in regular-season matches against the Whitecaps.

Vancouver (0-1-2, 2pts) enters its fourth game of the season on Saturday, and will play its second game in five days when it faces the Timbers. The Whitecaps played the expansion Austin Aztex to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.

Following their season opener, the Timbers make their PGE Park debut on Thursday, April 30, when they play host to the Carolina RailHawks at 7 p.m., on Opening Night presented by PGE. The first 2,000 fans receive a Timbers 2009 magnet schedule and a Tursi’s fan scroll. Tickets start at $11 and are available through the PGE Park box office, area Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000.

The more talented half of the Davis couple hasn’t been around much over the last few weeks, because she’s been working frantically behind the scenes of the University of Oregon’s stadium project, trying to get the permits approved so the Ducks can have a new arena. Yesterday, the appeals period closed and the City of Eugene finally granted approval. So it’s official. Not only can she secure green cards, and put up with a husband who frequently causes more trouble than he’s worth, she can also move mountains. Well, stadiums. She can move stadiums:

More at the Oregonian. And congratulations, Sue! Trying to get the city of Eugene to do anything, I would imagine, must be rather difficult. So I’m seriously proud.

It’s been almost a year since I first tried writing a novel. Bloody disastrous. Since then I’ve thrown away three, each one almost more laughably bad than the last, so I thought I’d go to Powell’s and spend $17 on Your First Novel by Ann Rittenberg and Laura Whitcomb. Whitcomb thanks “The Lake Oswego public library for research assistance” in the pre-index pages, so I’m guessing we’re very similarly situated people, generally.

I’m having trouble with the “state of mind” chapter. I rejected another Write Your Way To Billions book on the shelf because it had a chapter entitled “don’t write a novel if you can answer yes to any two of the following statements.” And then it was things like:

You don’t want others to succeed.

You want others to fail so that you don’t feel like you’re wasting your life.

Your name is Matt Davis.

And so on.

Well, Laura Whitcomb’s State of Mind chapter has advice such as “don’t take things the wrong way,” “don’t judge others too harshly,” “don’t judge yourself too harshly,” and “don’t worry.”

Since the opposite of those four statements is essentially my personality, I’m beginning to wonder whether Laura Whitcomb and I are ever going to get along. I even read those headings out to my wife (leaving out “Love your story with an open heart,” because I couldn’t actually utter the words,) and she was like, “but that’s you in reverse,” and laughed.

I’m such a tragic genius. Owwwwww.

Matt

Never mind about my lame comment above. I just realized that building facilities for a public school is not at all like building two stadiums to profit a single individuals' private company.

I guess that's why my argument didn't convince anyone. In the future I will attempt to not make such bogus comparisons... I know, good luck with that, right?