Cheers to Portland Fans For Guarding Timbers Tradition

It turns out my giving credit to the Portland Timbers for respecting the tradition of their club in their new colours and logo was premature and a gross miscalculation on my part. To my surprise, Timbers Army faithful have clearly expressed their anger with what they see as a lack of respect for their club’s traditions. There is a hilarious video taken at the release of the new Timbers logo, which was done in a very slick manner, only to be greeted with boos and obscene chanting:

http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2010/06/14/portland-timbers-new-logo-cut-down-by-passionate-supporters/

Contrast this with Vancouver Whitecaps fans simply rolling over and playing dead when our team threw our club’s traditions in the garbage can with the awful new uniform. Vancouver’s Southsiders, those who should be guarding the club’s traditions, have apparently been successfully co-opted by the club to the point where a few free pints and some swag is enough to bring them to heel. The Southsiders used to be a hotbed of debate and dissent on club matters, (much of it admittedly unfair and unbalanced), but no longer.

The contrast between the fan reactions of the club could not be more different and it is hard to understand why. I wonder what would have happened if the Timbers adopted an entirely new logo and new colours as the Whitecaps have. Perhaps wholesale change is more desirable than slight tweaks.

The question which strikes me is, why do Portland Timbers fans care more about their club traditions than Vancouver Whitecaps fans? Is it because we have forgotten the Soccer Bowl Heroes of 1979, or our most recent heroes of 2006 and 2008? We won those championships in a uniform which is now consigned to the dustbin by the Whitecaps, and there is very little anger that I can register.

I can only congratulate Portland Timbers fans in defending their traditions. Very few up here in Vancouver seem to care about ours.

What a shame.

13 Comments »

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Holy shit, give it a rest. I mean seriously. I don’t love the new logo, but it’s not the end of the world. I want to find out what you think about the Whitecaps’ chance to make it in the MLS as a competitive club, and what it will take to establish the Whitecaps as a big deal in Vancouver, and by extension in Canada. What I don’t care about is your opinion on a fucking kit. Get over it!

Comment by Gareth— June 16, 2010 #

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- Perhaps, Gareth, it’s because the fans have zero input into how the team will fare in the MLS but in theory could have had input into what the new logo and uniform would look like. So we can pontificate all we want on how we’ll do against Denver, and how Teitur will play Landon Donovan and what the increase in income might mean for transfers, but in the end that will all just be armchair managing, as fun as it is. Enough public displeasure over the kit, and perhaps the club will think twice the next time they “consult” the fans.
  
  That said, I can’t be too bothered, but it’s a fair complaint.
  
  Comment by Brenton— June 16, 2010 #
  
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  - Oh my! If you let the fans decide, they’ll choose something shitty for sure. (How do you think we ended up with the USL style logo we have for this season?)
    
    The bottom line is that some guys brought a lot of money to the table so that the Whitecaps can go big. Not just BC-big, but to be one of the best clubs in the world. They believe that a minimalist design, in an outline no other soccer team on the planet appears to be using, with sharper contrasting colours is the way to go. So let’s do it. If they are wrong, we can always go back, but when they sink this kind of money into branding a team that they have resolved to become one of the best IN THE WORLD, and have made many decisions that seem to support that (academy, women’s team, etc.) I will trust them.
    
    Again, we can always go back to the old logo in 5 years. Almost every team in the world has done it including Manchester United, Arsenal, and Inter Milan. If they can make that kind of “mistake” and go on well enough, we can too. It’s about the product on the field, and the professionalism and dedication of the FO. I prefer the blue bar too, but I am behind our FO and we’ll see how it plays out. (The fact that 70-80% of the response outside Vancouver is unabashedly positive says a lot as to how our team is being perceived continentally. That’s a great start!)
    
    Comment by Jeremy— June 16, 2010 #
  - Oh, and one more thing. They won’t change the kit/badge in the next couple years because there isn’t “[e]nough public displeasure” as you say their needs to be. A (admittedly small( majority of fans already like the new look; it gives them please, therefore they have no displeasure to express to the FO. You say let the people decide, but the majority of people do like it, and you seem unable or unwilling to acknowledge that.
    
    Comment by Jeremy— June 16, 2010 #
Jeremy, in case you can’t read, I didn’t post the original. I don’t think I’ve ever said or even hinted that I don’t believe the majority of people like the logo. I have no idea how people are reacting, other than what I’ve read here and one poll I saw on the MLS site that didn’t say how many people had responded. I don’t actually say “let the people decide” at all; what I wrote was that if enough people do make their feelings known, perhaps the club will notice. I’m not advocating for anything, merely asking and commenting. Personally I find the logo and uniform a little lifeless, but other than that I can’t be bothered. As I wrote above.

Comment by Brenton— June 16, 2010 #

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- who cares about the logo……we are the WHITECAPS and that maters the most
  Success in MLS is all we wnat. Teh logo is just a logo and there someday a retro jersey will be available, so the old logo will never disappear…….I just want a winning club with lots of sponsorship to bring in the quality players we deserve to watch and support.
  
  Comment by Eric— June 16, 2010 #
  
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I’m afraid the process by which the new ‘brand’ was arrived at is indicative of the ‘realities’ of MLS. This a top-down, tightly regimented league that seeks to win over Joe and Jane six-pack in the US with sizzle rather than steak. It’s apparently about marketing rather than football, and the re-branding illustrates this. Let’s face it, the actual product on the field is only marginally better than that of the USF/USL, but what is better is the marketing. The Sounders success suggests this. I’m told that the ‘Caps process of re-branding and re-designing took in excess of one year. I would not be surprised if the ‘Caps spent in excess of $1,000,000 to achieve their lacklustre results. MLS membership seems to demand a clean break from past traditions, and I think we lose out as a result.

As for the Southsiders response, it isn’t very surprising. They are in the process of becoming the sanctioned supporters group, and in order to do that, they must be along for the ride. As to why they want to be the sanctioned group, I’m not sure. Perhaps there is the delusion out there that sanctioned supporters groups have sway with clubs as Ultras do elsewhere. This is of course not the case in the MLS where a small group of businessmen control all aspects of all club’s on and off the field management.

Comment by Larry Manetti— June 16, 2010 #

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- Well put, Mr Manetti! I’m not sure the Whitecaps will be able to pass gas without making sure it is OK with MLS. If you take a look at the other uniforms, our colours appear to be much the same as the Philadelphia Union, LA Galaxy, NY Red Bulls, Chivas, and NE Revolution. Why is everyone in love with this drab ultramarine blue?
  
  Comment by whitecapsfan— June 16, 2010 #
  
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okay yes the old jerseys from 79′ are better, but the new ones are not that bad. personally I’ve only been a whitecaps fan for a couple of years but I grew up in vancouver so I have a lot of pride. I think the new logo is actually pretty cool, simple, not cheesy at all(unlike the timbers) and clean. It would have been nice to have kits closer to the old look but I think they did it on purpose, to set themselves apart from the second division caps. They are a new, “first division” club and that really matters for the people who are gonna come to the games and become fans. Many people that could care less about the caps now will care when they are in mls, and the front office probably thought it was important to set the two apart. Also, you are forgetting the most important thing, the old designs left no space for a CORPORATE SPONSOR on the uniform.
seriously the timbers new logo is WAAAYYY worse than ours!

Comment by Emlyn— June 16, 2010 #

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- Thanks for your thoughts, Emlyn. I agree that the Caps are going to have a whole new bunch of people who could care less about the 1979 Whitecaps, indeed, many of the new fans will not have been born then. I think there was plenty of room to get creative with the old look and colours, but the creativity was not there at the club, who decided, rather than being creative to chuck it all away and go for a generic bland look. Football is a traditional game and I think we should respect our traditions, which could have been interpreted in a modern way. They should have kept the Chest band around the middle, which for me is as key to the Whitecaps uniform as Boca Juniors Yellow chest band.
  
  Comment by whitecapsfan— June 17, 2010 #
  
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p.s. I just really hope thay sell the “retro” jerseys at the team store like they do in the NHL that would be AWESOME (and probably make them a lot of money)

Comment by Emlyn— June 16, 2010 #

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Timbers fan here, sorry for the intrusion. Just wanted to say we feel for you on your logo situation. Here’s to hoping our clubs put out lots of retro merch. Oh and good luck to you in this coming year. I feel both our clubs will be a little gobsmacked in this pond.

Your team has always been my favorite rival (as opposed to the hated Sh!ttle) and as long as your team isn’t playing Portland, I’ll be rooting for ya!

Comment by BS— June 17, 2010 #

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- Thanks BS. I have long held the Portland Timbers fans in high regard because you are true football fans. Not like those Sounders folks who only discovered football yesterday!
  
  As for being gobsmacked, I believe both of our teams will come good right out of the box.
  
  Keep looking after your traditions! I am afraid the merchandisers will get at us any way they can. They will sell the new uniform and flog the old one to people who don’t like it! I think I will just start wearing a plain white t-shirt to our games.
  
  See you in the MLS!!!
  
  Comment by whitecapsfan— June 17, 2010 #
  
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