A Week Away

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The Portland Timbers open their third Major League Soccer (MLS) campaign next Sunday in a nationally televised game. The relatively short offseason was a flurry of activity, and once again a few fans and even broadcasters are getting a little carried away with what they think the team will do in 2013.

First, a little history:

The stated goal at the beginning of the team’s 2011 inaugural MLS season was making the playoffs. Winning only two road games all year made that a difficult proposition, but Portland was really good at home, and that kept the team in the hunt until late in the season. The Timbers posted an 11-14-9 (wins-losses-ties) record, which was good for 42 points. They just missed the post season, and fans and the organization were excited about what could happen in 2012. What did in fact happen was a bit shocking to all.

It was playoffs or bust for 2012. The Timbers posted an 8-16-10 record, which was good for only 34 points. The team didn’t win a road game until late October, and they gave away goals as though they were a charity organization. Bust, indeed. The season was an epic failure, resulting in severe repercussions. Many fans were irate — a few by the perception that some players weren’t trying.

By early July, John Spencer was fired as head coach. General manager Gavin Wilkinson took over as interim coach for the remainder of the season while the organization searched for a new head man. He was found in Ohio, coaching the University of Akron men’s team. Caleb Porter had been a hot professional-level coaching prospect for a while. He was hired in late August and joined the team after the college season ended.

Porter and Wilkinson communicated a great deal by phone as the Timbers finished the 2012 campaign. Players were playing for their jobs, and the team was trying out different formations and strategies the last couple months of the season. At the end of the final home game players walked around the field with a sign thanking the fans for their support with the promise that “we will repay you.” Everyone headed into the offseason in October knowing more changes were coming.

So, here we are approaching the end of a five-week training camp with one more exhibition game this weekend. The roster limit is 30 players per team, which goes into effect soon. Twelve players have been jettisoned. About half of them had been starters on the team. Nine new players have been signed and 19 have returned, though two of the latter suffered what are likely to be season-ending knee injuries. Several more players are on trial in camp for a roster spot.

Many of these guys will not be on the roster for the season opener next weekend, but the team has made a remarkable transition thus far in personnel and tactics. Gone are the days when the primary game plan was running the ball up the wings and then sending a wild cross into the opponent’s box, hoping for a goal out of the scrum. The Timbers now play an attacking, possession-oriented game. They work the ball through the middle of the field — probing the defense for weak spots. There are a lot of one-touch passes. It’s exciting to watch.

Of course, that means that some people are going a little crazy with their optimism. One of the team’s broadcasters even said they thought the Timbers would challenge for the third spot in the Western Conference. Really? As one poster wrote on the Stumptown Footy Timbers community:

You haven’t read up on us Portland sports fans. We have one great game, and we’re going to win the league. We have a bad game, trade/cut them all because we’re going to finish dead last! Pretty funny, honestly.

There’s truth in that statement! I’m taking the realistic optimism approach. This team will be fun and exciting to watch. They will score goals, which was a real problem last year. They will win more than one game on the road. They will concede a few goals, at least at the beginning of the year, as the counterattack is something they will be susceptible to with the defensive backline playing high up the field in this system. They have a shot at making the playoffs this year, which means finishing in at least fifth place in the Western Conference.

Having played soccer a bit myself, I can say without reservation that this is very much a team sport that requires everyone being on the same page. It takes time to gel on the field, and the Timbers are basically rebuilding. Half the projected starters weren’t in the Rose City last year. While I think it’s realistic to say they won’t be world-beaters in 2013, for the first time it appears the team has a strong foundation on which to build. This season will be better than 2012, but the real rewards will come later.

That being said, one thing I can predict with great accuracy is that the Timber Joey shake is back at Burgerville this season, and it’s good stuff:

See you at JELD-WEN Field this summer!

Love – A Newport Interlude

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Love. It permeates everything at the Lightkeeper’s Inn Bed and Breakfast in the coastal town of Newport, Oregon. It’s in the design of the home, the family history that adorns the walls of the guest wing, the little touches in each guest suite, the wonderful breakfasts, and the snacks waiting in guest rooms at night. Most of all though, it’s in the warmth that goes beyond coastal friendliness of innkeepers Cheryl and Bill Lalack.

As I’ve written, Newport is a special place for me. My wife, Lisa, has been on the receiving end of much nostalgia: I lived here, the radio station was located there, our studio moved here later, that used to be a gas station, I remember when they built this hotel, that used to be a terrible restaurant, etc. She’s always been a good sport about it, but for Christmas last year she found an interesting way to change the paradigm a bit. Lisa, through some work connections, discovered the Lightkeeper’s Inn — a place that did not exist when I lived on the coast — and booked an extended weekend stay. She also made restaurant reservations at places I’d never been. This added up to a unique experience in familiar territory when we visited last weekend.

I used to love driving along the Newport Bayfront, but I didn’t get to see it much from a higher elevation when I lived in town. The Lightkeeper’s Inn changed that. The home features a panoramic view of Yaquina Bay from the outdoor decks, the entry level dining area and the two guest suites. The YouTube video from their website posted above gives a glimpse of the inn’s charm.

Cheryl and Bill’s salubrious home, which is only a few years old, sits on a bluff on the west side of the bayfront. Cheryl’s great-grandfather was a lighthouse keeper, which inspired the name of the inn. Directly across the bay from their home is the Port of Newport, NOAA headquarters and the South Beach Marina. Fishing boats come and go at all hours. The bay at night is beautiful with all the lights, and the sound of sea lions barking in the distance is both relaxing…and comical.

The location is great and has such a tremendous view, but the food is spectacular. This is where Cheryl is truly in her element: sour cream scrambled eggs, oven-baked bacon, French toast with a maple pecan glaze or homemade berry syrup, seafood benedict, and cinnamon rolls with raspberry jelly filling. That’s just some of what we had artistically presented to us each morning. She even packed a cooler for us one day when we had to leave early to go crabbing, and she made extra food for the friend we were meeting!

Julia Child would be proud that Cheryl uses both butter and cream in her food preparation. That being said, she caters to guests that have dietary restrictions and the results are wonderful. I’m still thinking about those raspberry cinnamon rolls, though. I asked one day if there were any left. There were not, but Cheryl added a raspberry glaze to some regular cinnamon rolls she had also baked and those showed up for us one night. One evening we even had German chocolate brownies waiting in our room.

The accommodations, view and food would have sufficed for an excellent experience, but there was something I found quite moving in the way that Cheryl related and catered to us. While that’s good business, it’s also genuine and flows from a natural desire to connect with guests. Had we wanted absolute privacy, it would have been granted. We chose to engage more than we would anywhere else. We talked about the town and shared stories. Turns out her grandmother and I lived in the same Newport apartment complex. Cheryl always checked to see how our dinners and shopping trips turned out. She even offered to cook the crab from our crabbing trip. If only we had caught more than one!

Other little touches were endearing. There was a magazine left in our room featuring an article on crabbing that Cheryl had specifically laid out for us. The afternoon following our crabbing trip we returned from lunch to find the gas fireplace on, drying out our jackets and gloves. She also dug up several Newport history books that had belonged to her grandmother, which were fun to browse.

Everything Cheryl did was rooted in love, or fussing, as she put it. She was genuinely interested in us and our experience. When we left, I was sad because it felt like we were leaving a good friend’s home. Coastal folks are friendly, but this was warmth that went beyond that. Her kindness was remarkable, and we can’t recommend the Lightkeeper’s Inn strongly enough to friends and family who want an enjoyable, relaxing and special experience. Apparently, we’re not alone.

Cheryl and Bill, it was a joy getting to know you and sharing your home. Thank you. We’ll be back.

A few pictures from the inn and our travels:

Hylton Family Movie Stars

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Sixty-two years ago Harry Truman was president, the Korean War was starting, Goodnight Irene was a number one hit song, All About Eve was in theaters, and the Hylton family was making its mark in a small independent film.

This past Christmas I received an interesting gift from my parents — specifically my father. It was a DVD titled, The Basket of Blessing, by Evangel Films. I had quite the bewildered look on my face and asked what the DVD was all about. I was a bit shocked to learn that my father, uncle and grandparents were cast in a religious movie in 1950 — family trivia that never trickled down to the next generation!

Evangel Films was a professional company with a Portland area studio. My grandparents had a family friend who somehow got them connected with the film project. The Basket of Blessing was a telling of the Gospel story where Jesus fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish. The movie also had a present day crossover. My dad didn’t remember a lot about the movie’s production except that it took months to film, and he got out of school when the family worked on it. He did recall that the grass he walked on in a scene was sharp and hurt his feet.

The director finished the project just before dying in a plane crash, so it was close to never being seen. The film was distributed to churches and missions around the country, and apparently my father became a bit famous in church circles when people realized he was the little boy in the movie. The film was also one of the first of its kind that was in color.

My grandmother died in 1995, and shortly thereafter my grandfather sold the family home in Portland’s Irvington neighborhood. My parents thought they had taken a copy of the film from the house before it was sold but realized later that wasn’t the case. My dad somehow found a link on the internet in 2012 and discovered the movie was for sale on DVD. So, he purchased a few copies for family members. Since Christmas, I happened upon the movie on YouTube. It was uploaded by the son of the former owner of Evangel Films.

For me, it was an emotional viewing of the DVD. I watched my grandparents as young people — probably in their mid-30s — with the same mannerisms I remember them having years later. I saw my father, who is now 70, at eight years old and noticed the strong resemblance I have to him — 21 years before I was born! I also got to see my uncle at a very young age. Plus, the studio used lots of props from the family home. I recognized furniture, curtains, toys and beds that were still around when I was a child. Talk about a nostalgia trip! I could practically smell my grandmother’s perfume again.

So, I now present the one time our family was in a professionally produced movie. While the performances were a bit stilted, Dad said it was much worse when they were rehearsing. It took a long time for them to get as natural looking and sounding as they were on film. Enjoy a bit of Hylton family history in this 10-minute film short…

By the way, Dad is the earnest little boy at my grandfather’s knee in the present day portion of the movie and the child with the basket of food later in the film. I’m happy to say the fame never went to his head.