Conifers &amp; Citrus (Jeff Bull Maroon Jackson 5)

Courtesy of the #LAGalaxy draw at #LAFC, the Timbers made up one point with last night’s win (see posts inside for notes). Portland’s now just 4 points below the play-in and, yeah, that ain’t the road to riches, but making any kind of post-season ends 2026 better than it started. Right? #rctid

Conifers & Citrus (Jeff Bull Maroon Jackson 5)@snackyd.bsky.social

“BASSEETTTT!!” Just rewatched the highlights of the Timbers’ 3-2 win over Charlotte last night. Mark Rogondino barfed out that call on Portland’s late winner. Alexander Aravena actually got the last touch, but the moment and all three points to Portland called for a little ejecta... #rctid (1/11)

Think I’m finally getting close to getting going on a long-stalled music history project. Have a working title, but I can’t nail it down until I decide on the tone and, honestly, format. So it’ll continue as a subterranean project until that’s settled by writing about a dozen posts.

Fwiw, I was looking at the old blog (Conifers & Citrus) and the even older blog (MAME). They had nearly 1,500 posts between them, aka, a *lotta* content. No wonder the 2010s were a blur…

11h

Here I was about to post something about how most of the spots in the Western Conference have effectively been spoken for… …effectively. #MLS #rctid

15h

What. Trump screwed someone over. No way.

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m.youtube.comChet Baker - TenderlyYouTube video by Coui0112358

15h

Chet Baker was dead sexy… #Musicsky m.youtube.com/watch?v=H6mf...

18h

(I did research!) There will be just the two conferences for the Sprint Season, featuring only intra-conference play, 7 home games, 7!away games for each team with 8 teams making the playoffs. Wweeeeeee!! #MLS #rctid

Conifers & Citrus (Jeff Bull Maroon Jackson 5)@snackyd.bsky.social

They’re keeping the same two conference alignment for the sprint season, right? Kinda perfect, if so, Chara walking away at the death of L’Ancien Regime. #rctid

18h

Oh, so he’s *spinning out* spinning out…

Yashar Ali 🐘@yasharali.bsky.social

The latest Truth Social post from the president of the United States.

19h

Ooh. Tricky little bit of misdirection. I like it! Like a tackle you don’t see coming, clean one, too. One more (sprint) season of timely, *immaculate* tackles and unfair yellow cards. Woo! As proven this season, Chara’s still good for spot starts. This’ll be fun! #rctid

Jeremy Peterman𓅪@jeremypeterman.bsky.social

BREAKING: Diego Chara says that he will retire after the sprint season. #RCTID

19h

They’re keeping the same two conference alignment for the sprint season, right? Kinda perfect, if so, Chara walking away at the death of L’Ancien Regime. #rctid

m.youtube.comHockey - Put The Game DownYouTube video by Alcobendos

I was studying abroad with a group of students, one of whom had it in for me because he hated how my shirts and how I wore them. When my suitcase went missing on the first day, I suspected sabotage and started chasing the culprit. Good morning. #Musicsky m.youtube.com/watch?v=gtQr...

m.youtube.comHinds - Fat Calmed Kiddos (Live on KEXP)YouTube video by KEXP

I forgot all the thoughts for a sign off post, so, fuck it, gonna struggle through a Nathaniel Hawthorne short story because bran. Good night. #Musicsky m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoAM...

Conifers & Citrus (Jeff Bull Maroon Jackson 5)@snackyd.bsky.social

en.wikipedia.orgMajor League Soccer records and statistics - Wikipedia

Fwiw, the inevitable slowing of St. Louis’ roll has arrived (1 pt. of 9 from past 3 games), #HoldItDown hasn’t won in (now) 7 (lotta draws, tho), and Austin only beat #SportingKC because they’re about to plant their flag as one of the worst all-time #MLS teams. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_L...

All that’s to say, yes, I’m telling you there’s a chance, but also in the spirit of the famous meme. Every team Portland has coming up shows some revealed indication that they’re slowing down. Charlotte did too. It’s an opening, nothing more. It’s up to the Timbers to crawl through. #rctid

Conifers & Citrus (Jeff Bull Maroon Jackson 5)@snackyd.bsky.social

#Sounders are probably too far out of reach (6 pts. ahead), and I’m not sure I can see #SanDiegoFC catching the Timbers seeing that they’re nine games winless. Scrapping out another draw versus Seattle (this is their 3rd straight) continues their meandering south of anything worthwhile. Disregard?

Put all that together and you get something like yesterday’s headline: all the Timbers can do is keep winning games and hope for stumbles, big or small. #LAGalaxy and #Rapids96 are the targets, #RSL the obstacle, and #Sounders the dream. It's not impossible. Honest! #rctid

Conifers & Citrus (Jeff Bull Maroon Jackson 5)@snackyd.bsky.social

#Rapids96 (5 pts. ahead) posted better numbers that the 1-0 win over #VWFC indicates (also, crap winning goal), but 3 = 3, right? Colorado has dropped *dumb* points at home lately (and on a 10-3-3 home record), which make this 3 feel a little bigger. The Rapids can afford the stall they may get.

Don’t look now, but #RSL has pulled out of their summer free-fall, winning 3 of their past 6 games. Running over (an admittedly winded) #AllForCITY team stands as their best late-season accomplishment. And a fresh two-point barrier against Portland’s post-season ambitions. One more damn thing...

Conifers & Citrus (Jeff Bull Maroon Jackson 5)@snackyd.bsky.social

Closing out on #LAGalaxy: Paintsil beat everyone to everything to score his brace, and #LAFC …probably should have won it, but they still took two garbage goals to smuggle the draw. The Galaxy’s mid, but beating Portland three match days ago gave them that 4 point gap over Portland, so next… #MLS

I say this as a proud 1/4 Norwegian, fuck this clown and all the clapping halfwits behind him.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Trump is straight up saying during speeches that he wants white people coming to the country but not black. I don’t know what else people need to see.

Any big Dire Straits fans on the line? #Musicsky

A quick review of Musk: Gibney leads you by the nose too much here and there and he sometimes presents numbers in a way I don’t trust (i.e., w/o context) and your ass will hurt by the end, but I do think the doc had to be that long to capture his argument in full. Musk needs reigning in yesterday.

Conifers & Citrus (Jeff Bull Maroon Jackson 5)@snackyd.bsky.social

Going to see Musk in the theater, so as to encourage theaters to continue to run it and documentaries like it, especially in the ‘burbs. Will report back next week, right after the credits run.

mlssoccer.comPORvsCLT 10-24-2026 Lineups | MLSsoccer.comOfficial lineups for PORvsCLT 10-24-2026

Some of the pressure comes off if the Galaxy loses at LAFC this evening – and I’ll circle back to that tonight – but I wanted to end this with a question: Is this Portland’s best current starting XI for you, random, awesome Timbers fan? #rctid (11/11) www.mlssoccer.com/competitions...

P.S. I don’t know why I keep adding the (#/#) on the posts now that Bluesky’s doing it for me. Old habits, etc. In re the roster: I’m still partial to Ortiz (Caicedo still looks overwhelmed at times), but don’t know my best pick-two among Kamal, Waterman and Surman. Thoughts? Prayers? (12/11)

Watching those moments prompted the recurring thought that Portland needs to take more chances in the attack, gamble a little more to up the pressure on the opposition defense even if it means leaving things a little thin behind. I mean, if the defense is gonna fuck up anyway… #rctid (9/11)

That’s glib, to some extent, but, going back to the theme of auditions, I hope to see the entire Timbers roster/structure/desired style of play get stress-tested over the next three games. They have to win out, so why note see who and what holds up best under the strain before 2027? #rctid (10/11)

I have questions about his overall pace, but Izoita has a strong combination of brains and balls for a youth (they said 19, didn’t believe ‘em), so I'm content to see him hold the starting spot… …on one level, Portland invested more in him than they invested in Bassett, right? (7/11)

mlssoccer.comAriel Lassiter | MLSsoccer.comOfficial rosters for each MLS club - including player stats, roster status and category

I’ve been on the Lassiter train for most of 2026, so his twilight career season is a nice touch. I liked what I saw from Portland’s right. Izoita and Lassiter combining with Hernandez looks promising. And I like Hernandez at right back. Sold there. (8/11) www.mlssoccer.com/players/arie...

Like most games down this so-far lonely stretch-run, Portland had to score enough to keep ahead of defensive errors. They did, so 🫡 The one-game-at-a-time cliché is one of those pieces of dumb genius - i.e., obvious to the point of stupidity, but always, unfailingly true. #rctid (5/11)

mlssoccer.comGoal: A. Lassiter vs. CLT, 40' | MLSSoccer.comOfficial MLS highlights, classic matches, video series and features.

Lassiter bagged a brace (woo!) with Izoita assisting on both. They complemented one another well last night – i.e., Izoita’s assist made the first goal, Lassiter’s shot made the most of Izoita’s second assist. And I lllovvved Lassiter’s shot on the 2nd. 🤠(6/11) www.mlssoccer.com/video/goal-a...

Despite the defensive slips - which only Basravena’s last-gasp goal kept from being bleeding out - that’s a great night for a defense. Sadly, the slips are part of the Timbers’ defense by now. Like dents on a car until you fix ‘em. Anyone know a guy with savvy/a plunger? Does Cifuentes? (3/11)

mlssoccer.comGoal: P. Biel vs. POR, 3' | MLSSoccer.comOfficial MLS highlights, classic matches, video series and features.

I didn’t catch Waterman’s fit after Charlotte's first goal till watching the highlights. Think he’s barking at Caicedo and I get the frustration, but…gotta be careful with those fits. After all, you could be the guy misreading a cross 66 minutes later... (4/11) www.mlssoccer.com/video/goal-p...

mlssoccer.comPORvsCLT 10-24-2026 | MLSsoccer.comAll the latest on Leagues Cup, Campeones Cup, Concacaf Champions League, U.S. Open Cup, Canadian Championship, and more

I figured Portland played well enough, but didn’t appreciate how well until the final stats went up at the end of the broadcast. It’s not Portland’s 27 shots (11 on goal) that has me feeling good, it’s the 6 total shots they allowed Charlotte. (2/11) www.mlssoccer.com/competitions...

I just want to feel good about tonight and the future, whether by game-plan or player performance. The analyst hat is in the back pocket. For now… Still think it’s doable. Just gotta do it. “It”’ means win. A draw ain’t shit. Game time. And that’s seflie approximate. #PORvCLT #rctid

Or maybe our (or my) faith is simply being tested by gods with a sociopathy kink. What Bassett nodded to a near-post run into the goal or Aravena’s wide-open path, went into the goal. Timbers win! Timbers win! 3-2 to Timbers, hope keeps the fog on that respirator. #PORvCLT #rctid

This was a good performance rewarded with a win, aka, a building block. Good finishing, decent paths to goal, and no actually inexcusable fuck ups. All that can be expected right now. Bravo, lads. More tomorrow morning. 🫡 #rctid

Would like to see the Timbers openly playing to win the game, instead of managing it. We have arrived at double or nothing, if just to reveal the players who can handle it. Again, don’t let this end in a draw... #PORvCLT #rctid

Fuck it. 2026 is cursed. How does that not go in? (Whether offside or no.) #PORvCLT

I rarely say this, but…are you sure about those subs, Marti? #PORvCLT

And there it goes. Bye bye, subtle eroticism. De La Torre lofts a cross into the gap behind Waterman (who I was writing such nice things about), leaving Toklomati a sitter to tap in. 2-2 game, love buzz fading. #PORvCLT

AT THE HALF: To no one’s surprise, Portland started like shit, but they came back thriving with some great play on the side opposite Velde. That’s a call for balance, btw. Some good performances by new regulars and that’s what I’d hoped to see since late September. 🥳 #PORvCLT #rctid

Appreciating the subtle eroticism of global competence. Don’t make me lose this… #PORvCLT #rctid

Toklomati can just scootch off the pitch. It’s inches away and his back clearly isn’t broken. #PORvCLT

Holy sneaky shit, that was incredible. Lassiter found Izoita in a spot I’ve seen Charlotte leave open a half dozen times in the last week, Lassiter ran off that pass, Izoita saw it, and Ari slipped his shot under a defender. Like picking a pocket. 2-1 Timbers. Hot damn. #PORvCLT #rctid

Amends made. Loved Izoita’s run inside - Portland needs to get better at calculated risk - so I like seeing that end up with a wide-open look for Lassiter. Timbers equalize after…another slow start. Game on!! #PORvCLT #rctid

People talk about crossing the ball first time, from the depths of the corner is easy. It’s not! We have ample evidence against! #PORvSD

Great start. One picked pocket and a collective failure to manage Charlotte’s best player. #PORvCLT

A decent blend of wishes snd expectations. Roll those tumbling di-yice. #rctid

Luke m@portalithics.bsky.social

Worked for the Thorns last night, who won despite not playing very well over all, so: just please win this one, I'm begging you #RCTID