Meet Darrell.

Darrell is in his sixties and a season ticket holder for the Timbers. He's been coming to games for three decades.

At the Sounder's game on Saturday, Darrell wanted to stand. He wanted to cheer. He wanted to support his team.

I wanted to stand as well, as did most of the people in our section.

Only we weren't allowed to.

Because two elderly people, who aren't even season ticket holders, decided they wanted to sit, everyone in the section had to sit.

It took four security guards to get Darrell to finally sit after ten minutes of very emotional confrontation.

Such is the Portland Timber's idiotic standing or sitting policy.

"I can't believe it. In Seattle, people yell at you if you try to sit down."

- Anonymous Seattle Sounders supporter sitting directly behind me.

Yeah, that stings. It stings because it's true. I've been to games in Seattle and everyone in the stadium stands during the entire game. You can't sit. I'm not talking about just their Army section, but the entire stadium In Portland, apparently, we have 'standing and sitting sections' whereby, apparently, a vote was taken by all the season ticket holders if they would prefer to stand or sit.

Funny, I don't remember getting an invitation to vote.

I even emailed Merritt Paulson with the idea that it's appropriate to stand the first and last five minutes of every game and during Sounders or playoff games during the entire game. Seems like a fair compromise.

Never heard back.

The real tragedy is that, as bad as this team has played this year, and with the all the turmoil, the Timber's front office should be glad anyone wants to stand at all.

Rather than stifling the most passionate fans, they should be embracing them. Because, quite honestly, if the team is this bad next year, a lot of us are going to find better things to do with our time and money than support a crappy soccer team with fascist policies.

I love that Darrell, a guy in his sixties, wanted to stand during the entire game. I loved it that he got into it with the security and I supported him. I loved it that he he was screaming that he was a Timber's supporter for over thirty years and he had a right to stand.

I just wish someone in the front office would listen to him.