Rose City Forecast Two: Galaxy vs. Timbers

Please (PLEASE) be sure to look at the prediction format I have added at the end of this post!

As this year we are no longer hiding in FanPosts, that means a lot more predictions for me to go through each week. To help keep me sane, I’d appreciate it if you follow that format so that it’s easy for me to add up points each week. Thanks!

Also, Crafty_PDX pointed out that the sister Minnesota United site had a clever name for their prediction thread. Feeling a bit jealous, I decided to be a little more creative myself, and thus welcome to the Forecast!

What a fun way to open the season last weekend! On the off chance you need reminding, the Timbers jumped to a 2-0 lead in the minutes after half time, only to have that cut in half in the 79th minute. But instead of bunkering, the Timbers responded with three more goals, leading to a final score of 5-1. We saw double braces, courtesy of Adi and Valeri, plus the surprise of the night: Olum got the opening goal. And Chara had both the first foul and the first yellow card of the game and the new MLS season, because of course he did. STYLES34, TigardTimber, and Withdrawn Striker all had the best picks with a total of 12 points each. Lots of folks earned points on a Nagbe to Adi combo and a Valeri PK/free kick combo. And, in a first in prediction threads (I think), we have a week where everyone earned points.

Lastly, UNOprivateer takes home the bonus two points for the most recommended prediction of the week for poking fun at Dempsey’s little meltdown in the USOC a couple years ago.

As always, if I messed up your points, let me know!

In the second match of the season, the Timbers travel down to face the LA Galaxy, who are adjusting to a new coach for the first time since the Timbers have been in MLS. Last week, LA lost to Dallas at home. Can the Timbers repeat that feat, and get two wins in March?

Over/under: 3.5 total cards

The Scoring Format:

• Correct score: 5 points
• Correct result (draw/win/loss): 3 points
• Each clean sheet: 2 points
• Each goal-scorer: 1 point
• Each assist/lack of assist: 1 point
• Goal/assist bonus: 1 point
• Player with the first yellow card of the match: 1 point
• Player with a red card: 1 point (Cannot earn points for predicting 0 red cards)
• Over/under on total cards: 1 point
• Most recommended/most outrageously accurate prediction: 2 points

Some ground rules and explanations/clarifications:

You may amend your prediction at any point up to kick off to account for game day 18 announcements. Though I recommend at least getting an initial prediction sooner, just in case you forget to come back in that hour or two before the game.

Keep your scoreline predictions realistic. Basically, if you’re predicting lots of goals all the time to just earn points on goals and assists and ignoring the score, I feel that goes against the spirit of this thread. This hasn’t been at all a problem in the last two years, so let’s keep it that way!

The goal/assist bonus is an additional point if you correctly get the correct scorer and assistant on the same goal. (e.g., if Nagbe scores, assisted by Valeri, and you predicted that exact combination you get a total of three points - 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 bonus. However, if you predicted Nagbe scores assisted by Adi and Adi scores assisted by Valeri, you would get two points from the Nagbe/Valeri prediction - 1 goal, 1 assist)

Even though a player can be awarded a secondary assist, I will award a maximum of one assist point per goal. But that point can come from either the primary or secondary assist.

For the over/under on cards, a second yellow leading to a red counts as two cards, not three.

Most weeks, I will reward the most recommended prediction with the 2 points. However, if someone predicts that Caleb will bring a towel to dry off Seattle’s field, and he does, they’ll probably get those two points, regardless of whether they got the recs. We’ll also be testing this out, because I want to be careful that this doesn’t end up favoring the first few people to post their prediction. As I see it, the goal here is to add even more fun without going too over-the-top ridiculous.

If you’re looking for where I set the over/under on total cards, check the end of the preview paragraph.

Format:

In the comment title, post your predicted score with the winners, eg: 4-2 Timbers

In the body of your comment, start with the goals and assists, like so:

Nagbe (Valeri)

Valeri (Free kick)

Adi (PK)

Blanco (Unassisted)

Beckham (Free kick)

Donovan (Beckham)

Next, choose your first yellow card, and that means picking only one person.

First yellow to Nigel De Jong

Then reds, if any. (NOTE: no points awarded for correctly calling a red-card-free match, so take a guess.)

Nigel De Jong gets a red card for stomping Blanco.

Clearly note whether you’re predicting over or under on total cards. Don’t leave me to try and figure it out!

And lastly, make your fun prediction.

Nigel de Jong tries to stomp Nagbe’s ankle again, but this time, Nagbe avoids the tackle. Being angry Nagbe for the first time in three years, he kicks the ball straight into NDJ’s groin. Camera pans to a trademark Chara smile.

As always, any questions about anything?