Timber Jim Memories - The pole comes down, and Timber Jim retires

This week, 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 pole came down, and Timber Jim's retirement.

The pole that Timber Jim had climbed for the seven years that the USL Timbers had been in existence, standing at the southeast corner of PGE Park since 2001, would have to come down.

It had been rotting badly in the past few years, and the top third of the pole had been cut down a few years before. But it was time for the rest of the pole to come down. It had also been announced that Timbers season ticket holders would get a slice of the log for their very own, so it was also a chance to own a piece of history for Timbers fans, and season ticket sales were brisk after the announcement was made, in a time of the year when Timbers ticket sales are usually almost non-existent.

This was October, 2007, only about a month since the Timbers had been bounced out of the playoffs by Atlanta, and before they had even played their last 2007 exhibition game against MLS’s Toronto FC, but the phones were ringing off the hook for Timbers tickets. Part of that interest was because of the successful 2007 Timbers season of course, but a larger part of that was the chance to grab a piece of Timbers history. A slice of the Timbers log is a rare piece of Timbers memorabilia that few have the chance to own, so Timbers ticket manager Dan Zusman and the rest of the PGE Park ticket staff were kept very busy just keeping up with demand, six months before the start of the season, and two months before the schedule was even announced.

On October 21, 2007, the day came for the pole to be cut down. It was a cool but clear morning when Timber Jim and his crew gathered on the ramp into PGE Park that comes down off 18th Street and past the pole, and quickly two Cherry Pickers were raised to the top of the pole, with Timber Jim sawing, and one of his assistants holding and lowering the pieces. But almost immediately, there was a problem. The pieces were falling apart as he cut. But quickly a solution was found: wrapping the log in tape before cutting it, and before long, the pieces were coming down at the rate of about one every two minutes.

By mid-morning, a group of Timbers fans had gathered just outside the fence at the top of the ramp, watching as the pole got shorter and shorter. During a break, Timber Jim went up to talk to them, and presented to them the tattered Timbers flag that had been atop the pole for many years. And a group of the fans returned the favor by striking a perfect “Iwo Jima” pose with the flag. By the end of the day, the pole was only about 10 feet high, with the pieces at the bottom of the pole having been very large, over three feet in diameter. The pieces would be signed by Timbers players over the next few months before being presented to them at an open house the following March.

On January 24, 2008, Timber Jim finally made it official, that he would finally retire for good after the Timbers season opener, which would be on April 17 at PGE Park. At the age of 53, the time had finally come to lay down the chainsaw. Though it was expected by many, it was still a sad day for Timbers fans, but at least they knew they would have a proper send off for him.

As the date approached, Timbers fans are dealing with mixed emotions as there is great anticipation for a great season, but a sense of loss at Timber Jim’s last match. Timbers players also talk of how much they will miss Jim during their pre-season interviews, as many of them who are local players grew up seeing him in his NASL days, or hearing stories of him if they were too young to have been there.

His presence at the Timbers matches over many of the past 30 years has been so constant, that’s it’s hard to imagine a Timbers match without him sawing off a log slice each time the Timbers score, or dangling upside down from the press box with his chainsaw revved up, or climbing the pole at the beginning of the second half.

Sure, teams around the country have mascots, but how many of them are the true embodiment of a team the way that Timber Jim is? Sure, you can call yourself the Tigers and have someone run around in a tiger suit and call them the mascot, but that’s not what Timber Jim is. He’s not a mascot, though I myself have used the term several times because there is no simple way to describe what Jim means to the Timbers. In the simplest terms, Timber Jim Serrill and the Portland Timbers football club are inseparable. So though the Timbers may find someone who can cut the log after a Timbers goal, or dangle from the rafters, or lead the spelling of the word T-I-M-B-E-R-S in front of the supporters section (holding the “R” until it sounds like a chainsaw, course), but they may also have to accept the fact that these are traditions that cannot be carried out without Jim Serrill there, and will have to come up with new traditions instead.

Except, it must be said, I think the cutting of the log slice after each goal may have to continue, because that is a tradition that transcends even Jim Serrill. The day that a freshly cut log slice isn’t tipped against supports behind the opponent’s goal each time the Timbers score is the day that they might as well just drop the Timbers name and become Portland FC. It just won’t be the same.

by Allison Andrews. We'll miss you Jim.