What’s the buzz from the world of sports? Here are some items that will have people talking:
1
The Portland Timbers will don their new third jersey on Saturday when they host Real Salt Lake at Jeld-Wen Field.
They are bucking trends, in that the third look is nothing fancy. It is white with green trim, a look that harkens back to the 1970s and ’80s North American Soccer League (although the shorts aren’t as short as they were in those days).
At a time when uniform designers seem to prefer over-the-top attention grabbers, we applaud the Timbers for avoiding garish garb (remember the Sounders highlighter yellow third kit?).
2
Speaking of threads, word is the Seahawks will be introducing a third jersey as part of the NFL’s new partnership with Nike. The color: Gray.
Because this isn’t a fashion column, we shall refrain from critiquing that choice, at least until we get a look at them.
But we do think it’s a fitting color for a franchise from the Pacific Northwest (hey, look outside and bask in that springtime gray!). Gray also suits a team that hasn’t made a splash in quite some time.
3
More kudos to the Timbers. Their fake grass is better than most fake grass. At least that’s the opinion of the field experts from FIFA. Soccer’s governing body has, for the second year in a row, anointed Jeld-Wen Field’s FieldTurf with its highest rating for synthetic turf. That means the surface is good enough to host FIFA “final round” competitions.
Would genuine grass be better? Of course. But given the climate around here, keeping a grass surface in top shape would require significant money and manpower.
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