PORTLAND — Caleb Porter admits that even after Sunday’s win at Columbus his “warped” coach’s mind was thinking about the next training session, that the reality of completing a season as the Major League Soccer champion will take time to sink in.
The greeting that Porter and his triumphant Portland Timbers received upon their arrival at Portland International Airport on Monday certainly helped to drive home that delightful reality for Porter and the players who brought the region its first professional sports championship since the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers won the NBA title.
“We made history. I’m really, really proud to bring this trophy back to Portland,” Porter said. “And I’m so happy that people in this community feel what they feel. Because life is about feelings, it’s about emotion. The fact that we can have people like this feel what they’re feeling today is incredible.”
Hundreds of fans showed their feelings by crowding onto the upper roadway outside the Alaska Airlines ticket counter, which was closed to traffic to accommodate the team’s arrival. The fact that the Timbers flight was delayed a couple of hours didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of fans who passed the time singing and chanting Timbers Army favorites.
When the team exited the terminal, captains Liam Ridgewell and Will Johnson carried the Cup trophy to the adoring fans. Over the next 15 minutes, players and Porter took turns hoisting the trophy as the fans appreciatively chanted their name.
Players also took time to greet fans and sign autographs. Not surprisingly, the last to join his teammates on the waiting chartered busses was Nat Borchers.
Porter, who took a few minutes to speak with assembled media, said it was the passion of Portland’s fans that motivated him to bring home a championship.
“This is unbelievable. We have the best fans in Major League Soccer,” the coach said. “I am so proud to be a part of this community, to raise my kids here. I hope I stay here forever and continue to raise more trophies.”
Porter said he will spend this week enjoying the accomplishment with the fans, then will take a few weeks away from soccer before the college draft in mid-January followed quickly by the start of the 2016 training camp.
“I got into coaching hoping to accomplish things like this,” said Porter, who won a college national champion as Akron’s coach before taking the Timbers job three seasons ago. “But, honestly, if I won a championship in any other city it wouldn’t be like this. This is bigger in Portland than it would be anyplace else. And that’s why I took this job.”
