Sports Illustrated's Steve Davis dropped his weekly "Five Things We Learned About MLS" column on Tuesday, and in honor of Sporting KC's shiny new $200 million digs, Davis ranked each stadium in MLS.

Portland's very own House of Pane checked in at No. 2, with the only real knock centered on the playing surface itself:

2. JELD-WEN Field, Portland: The Timbers' just-renovated grounds would probably top the chart but for the artificial turf. It may be a necessary evil due to the wet climate, but that doesn't make it right for soccer. Everything else is pretty much perfect, a downtown facility packed to the rafters with fans who are bonkers for their side.

Topping the list? The home of the Timbers opponent on Sunday, the New York Red Bulls, who play in a stadium surprisingly not disqualified despite being surrounded by the state of New Jersey.

One Timber who's played on both pitches is Portland defender Jeremy Hall, who platooned for New York last year and is eager to show his former club on Sunday what they let go for a third-round SuperDraft pick.

He called Red Bull Arena "awesome," noting the fans are "right on top of you" and the design echoes lots of sound, even if the stadium's not sold out. He said Portland's top-rated turf is "the best we've played on," but there's definitely a difference between fake grass and real grass.

"Grass is so much better to play on—better on the body," said Hall, who practices with the team the majority of the week on the grass fields at Beaverton's Tualatin Valley Recreation Center. "If you train on turf too much, you just feel a little heavy-legged.

"If we switched our stadium to grass," Hall grinned, "that'd be awesome."

That's about as likely as Portland expanding its field, which some opponents have deemed "too small."

"They keep talking about it, but it's regulation size," Hall said. "You have to go out and still play. We don't complain about fields being too big."

For the record, Seattle's Qwest Field came in at No. 7 in Davis' rankings.