Yes, these are all words that describe Portland Timbers players like Darlington Nagbe or Diego Valeri.
But they also refer to the impressive Timbers Army tifo display before Portland's 1-1 draw with Philadelphia last Saturday night. Unveiled in stages, the final product included a background with each of the Timbers crests throughout its near 40-year history as well as a massive painting of the iconic statue of Portlandia.
The large copper Portlandia statue--not the popular IFC television show--was sculpted by artist Raymond Kaskey and floated up the Willamette River to be installed at the Michael Graves-designed Portland Builiding in 1985. Situated above the building's entrance on SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland, it is the second largest copper repoussé sculpture in the United States behind the Statue of Liberty.
The plaque nearby includes a poem by Ronald Talney, excerpts of which were used by the TImbers Army ahead of the match to tease a bit about the tifo to come.
The final line of the poem--"This is how the world knows where we are"--then bracketed the tifo display giving place and meaning to the team, the Timbers Army, and the city. The video above, created by Timbers Army member sama093 on YouTube, shows a fantastic time-lapse of the creation and eventual display of yet another classic Timbers Army tifo.
