Timber Jim Memories - May 11, 2001

Over the next four days, as we prepare for Timber Jim's retirement night at PGE Park at the season opener on April 17, I will recollect about four of the most memorable days for Timbers fans since Timber Jim returned from retirement to re-join the Timbers when they re-emerged in 2001 in the United Soccer Leagues. Today I will talk about the day the Timbers (and Timber Jim) came back, May 11, 2001.

It was a beautiful sunny Saturday in 2001 when the Timbers emerged from their 11 year slumber to arise anew in the United Soccer Leagues. It had been a nearly 20 years since the original Timbers had graced the pitch at Civic Stadium, and that long since “Timber Jim” Serrill had led the crowd at Timbers games. But the media blitz leading up to the opener for the new Timbers centered very much around the return of Timber Jim. Of course there was also the signing of the (then) all-time league leading scorer Mark Baena, former Oregon State star Greg Howes, and the international flavor of the new roster as the Timbers would also have players from Trinidad & Tobago, Northern Ireland, England, Canada, New Zealand, and even Kyrgyzstan.

Before the opening match, there were the normal pre-game festivities and Timbers great Clive Charles spoke to the crowd, introducing the Timbers coaching staff and front office, and then mayor Vera Katz welcomed the crowd (which ended up being over 12,000 for the opening match, which would not be exceeded by the Timbers until 2 1/2 years later) to a remodeled Civic Stadium (now called PGE Park), and also introduced several former NASL Timbers players that were on-hand.

Mayor Katz then looked anxiously towards the 18th street entrance where a ramp leads down behind the south goal and onto the pitch, and eventually a Harley Davidson motorcycle came down off the street and onto the ramp, and onto the pitch rode a man in a leather jacket and cap, sunglasses, and sporting a mostly grey beard. After 19 years the heart and soul of the Portland Timbers had returned home. Timber Jim was back.

Timber Jim parked his motorcycle near midfield and threw his hands up to the packed grandstand, who fed him back with an adoring roar, and he cupped his ear to the crowd to increase the volume, which of course they did. He grabbed his chainsaw from an assistant and fired it up and the roar echoed throughout the stadium as he walked along the sideline and the fans stood in approval.

Eventually he worked his way to the northwest corner of the pitch where a log was set up and keeping with traditions established 23 years previously, he cut off a slice of the log and when it fell to the turf, he lowered his saw and raised the log slice above his head and the crowd roared once again. The Timbers were back. Timber Jim was back. And the tradition that goes with both was alive and well at the 75-year old stadium that had once hosted Pele’s last professional game.

Timber Jim would spend most of the first half leading cheers for the crowd, but would have to return to his traditional responsibility twice, when Mark Baena would score the first Timbers home goal in the 25th minute, and then Brent Sancho would head in another goal 13 minutes later. After each goal Timber Jim would start to slice the log, then cup his ear to the crowd for encouragement to continue (which of course he would), until he would be able to parade the log slice around for the fans. He would then take the log slice behind the goal where the Timbers had scored (which in this case was the north goal), and lean the slice against the goal support where it would stay to the end of the match. To a Timbers fan like myself, it’s a reminder to the goalkeeper that the Timbers have put the ball into the twine behind him, and over the years, as many as five of them have sat behind the net for Timbers goals scored in a single half.

In the second half, Timber Jim would continue another tradition, as he would climb a 70-foot pole that had been set up at the southeast corner of the pitch. For any fans in the stadium who were not completely familiar with him, and thought that maybe this was an act for him, that he was just a simple mascot for the team, that should have been completely put to rest as he climbed the pole with ease, then stood proudly atop the pole for the remainder of the match. Timber Jim is the real deal. He is not just symbolic of the Portland Timbers, he is the embodiment of what the franchise has always been about.

His tradition is to remain atop the pole until the Timbers score, but they did not do so for the rest of the match on this night, but it would not matter as the Timbers would emerge victorious 2-0 over their traditional rival the Seattle Sounders for what would be the first league win for the new franchise.

As the fans came out onto the field to get autographs from their new Timbers heroes, Timber Jim climbed back down the pole and put his equipment away, just as he had done twenty years before. Many fans who had seen him do the same all those years ago watched from the fans and basked in the fact that on a magic night in May, 2001, the heart of the Timbers had started beating once again.