Thorns FC: Right in the face

Where to start? Perhaps with the final score; 2-2 in Rio Tinto, a road point in Utah, which would typically be cause for, if not celebration, at least a certain satisfaction. Why did the result feel so disappointing, instead? Perhaps because of the score progression, where the Thorns went up in the 9th minute only […]

Thorns FC: Buckwild

That was utterly nuts. The Thorns had scored a grand total of three goals in the 270 minutes preceding the home match against Orlando. Then, in the 94 minutes between the whistles last Sunday, they scored four. Or five, if you count the one Emily Menges scored for Orlando. Either way, Portland rung up something […]

Done and Dusted

The World Cup for 2019 is over. The USA won for the fourth time. We made the long trek home from Lyon without incident. Our cat thrived at the kitty hotel. Now it’s back to normal life, but with small reminders comparing “normal life” in Portland to that in France. When you last heard from […]

Episode 26: It Could Be Worse!

Richard has returned from the World Cup and we debrief him, some discussion of our shall we say less than stellar performance against the Reign and a lot of jokes about Budweiser. Available on Soundcloud or wherever you get your podcasts from.

Thorns FC: Ouch

Well, that was…unexpected. Exactly a week after gutsing out a tough road win in Houston, Thorns FC returned to the friendly confines of Providence Park and dropped a clanger against a Reign FC that has been gutted by injuries and absences. I don’t know how much insight I can give into why the Thorns managed […]

Thorns FC: It shall go hard

“Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.” ~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene 1. At halftime I was certain we were going to see another scoreless draw. The heat was oppressive, the humidity vile, the hideous fox-thing […]

Innocents Abroad: The Hamjes Reporting From France

Our foreign correspondents Richard and Jeanette Hamje are in France for the World Cup and are bringing the experience to you. Learn what the French word for “goal” is! Marvel at the heat! Shake your head at how bad Brazil is! It’s like you’re right there with them.

Episode 25: The Left Behinders (plus a special report from France!)

Join Patrick, John and Shannan in a discussion of the new renovations of Providence Park, the Left Behinders (or Leftovers), why John is Eyore and Patrick is Tigger and some talk about the FIFA World Cup. Plus, an edited version of our on the ground reporting from Richard and Jeanette Hamje in France (we will […]

Thorns FC: Wait. What?

Every time I open the NWSL website it keeps insisting that the Thorns played the Utah Royals to a scoreless draw here last Friday. And every time I dimly remember something like that. But with Dog as my witness, I can’t for the life of me remember what the hell happened. So between Monday and […]

Riveting in France: Group Stage is Complete

The group stage is over and we’re on to the knockout rounds. All the Thorns in France are still playing. The second set of group stage games were mostly dull or infuriating, as most teams played their b-teams. This was partly due to the short turnaround, partly so new players can get a few World […]