I grew up playing youth soccer (AYSO) as many kids in this fair nation do, but as I got older, turned my athletic focus to "the big three" Football, Baseball, and Basketball. I was just good enough at baseball to make the local travelling team (but was the worst player on that team), so I had to give up a few things, Soccer and Piano were the ones that didn't make the cut. Looking back, that is probably my biggest sports regret as I gave up Soccer which I was pretty good at considering I never played on a club team, in favor of baseball which I was not as good at but enjoyed more.

Fast forward several years, and I was a typical American "soccer fan" meaning once every four years for three matches, four if we were lucky I would cheer on the Red, White and Blue in the World Cup. I had no understanding of the game beyond the most basic, and what little I had picked up playing as a kid (in other words, get the ball in the opponents net more than they get it in yours). Once those matches were done, I didn't care any more till the next one, four years down the line.

In 2011 when the Portland Timbers entered MLS I was happy for them, and wished them the best but had little interest in following the team beyond a local(-ish I live in Corvallis) pride that there was another professional sports team in Oregon beyond the Blazers.

Then came 2013, a friend of mine (who had been a big soccer fan most of his life) kept inviting me on down to the Corvallis Sports Park to watch a game and drink some beers, I kept finding a reason to decline. One night there was an OSU football game on then the Timbers would start near the end of the 4th quarter, so he invited me again, and I finally said sure what the heck. That game was Leg 2 of the Western Conference Semi Finals against the Seattle Sounders. The Timbers won, it was exciting, and I was hooked. I immediately began trying to learn everything I could about the league, the playoff format, the players. Listened to the RSL series on the radio still not sure which players were on our team, and which were on theirs, and after the Timbers lost I was disappointed.

But I was excited for 2014, I followed the team on Facebook, listened when I could, and watched when I could, but it wasn't until about 3/4s of the way that it became "religious" I was despondent when Will broke his leg (as I listened from my grandfathers Estate Sale in Chico, California), mad when the team missed out on the playoffs by 2 points and devastated when Valeri announced his injury.

That offseason I bought my first kit (a used 2011), when the schedule came out I put all the games in my calendar so I could watch them on TV. In 2015, I went to my first live match and watched from the North End as the Timbers drew Vancouver 0-0 but Valeri made his return to the pitch. I had found my home that day. I made two more matches that year (the 1-0 loss vs SKC, and the 4-1 win against Colorado on the final day of the season) and I have been RCTID ever since.