The Tao of Rob (And an Announcement)
In the post-match press conference following the Thorns 2-1 win at home against the Washington Spirit on May 4, after players Christine Sinclair and Isabella Obaze left the dais, someone from the organization removed one chair in preparation for Thorns interim head coach Rob Gale. It made sense. A second, empty chair next to the coach during his part of the press conference would be superfluous, if not appear clunky to those watching via video.
But when Gale—who’d just coached the team to its fourth consecutive win in as many games since taking over in the interim role—entered, two more chairs were added, ”For [his] friends,” as he put it, walking in with assistant coaches Sarah Lowdon and Vytautas Adnriuskevicius.
What followed exemplified the pathos of this team, of this project, of our soccer community.
The triad took turns answering questions and, more important, showing that this Thorns team shares the credit and responsibility with everyone in the organization. It’s the exemplification of how culture is built through leadership. It was Lowdon answering the first question from the room. “All credit to the players,” said Lowdon, who is the youngest female to ever hold a US Soccer Pro coaching license. “They’re doing what we’re asking every day. They're buying in. They get the job done. It’s been so fun. I’m just so proud to be part of the organization.”
Lithuanian International Vytautas Adnriuskevicius, who himself made 35 appearances for the MLS Portland Timbers, agreed, “[The players] are having fun, and sticking for each other and putting bodies on the line. That is outstanding…it’s a pleasure to watch them play.”
This is who we have as current caretakers of the Thorns badge: quality people invested most in lifting up the individuals around them.
It’s what and who Christine Sinclair—the world’s leading international goal scorer—had just moments earlier credited with helping her “re-find [her] love of the game.”
In “The Tao of Rob” we’ll look at the magic in the May 4 Thorns win, the big differences we can make with little actions, and how there are infinite stories out there that give shape to what it means to say Soccer City, USA—and thankfully, as we’ll announce at the end, Green Is the Color just got a little help with finding and sharing as many of these stories—OUR stories—as possible as Portland’s original soccer store—Tursi Soccer—has agreed to become the official sponsor of Green Is the Color.
Sometimes, stats can tell part of the story.
For example, in each of the first 4 matches of the 2024 season, where the Thorns managed to take just 1 point from a possible 12, they gave up the first goal, with 3 of those 4 instances leading to the team facing multi-goal deficits in the first half.
However, in the 4 consecutive wins since, the Thorns have found the net first each time—all in the first 10 minutes: Respectively, Sinclair (6’), Smith (10’), Linnehan (2’), and, in this last match, Coffey (4’). Score first, score early. End of story, right?
But stories are about people, and people are not numbers. Moments impress more than stats.
It was Coffey’s goal that I thought I’d remember most from this match, not so much for the strike off the Hina Sugita assist but more for what Christine Sinclair did. I love watching Sinclair play. In part, it’s because she’s one of my 3 favorite Canadians (see Podcast Episode 9: Brian Gant and Podcast Episode 23: Rob Baarts). She didn’t touch the ball on this play, but, while the ball rolled across the Providence Park turf from Sugita to Coffey, Sinclair dipped her shoulder at it briefly before letting it pass by her, taking the attention of the Spirit defense for just a split second, enough to disrupt their adjustment to the pass, opening up a better opportunity for Coffey. These are the small games within the game that a world-class player like Sinclair does so well. It was beautiful to witness.
And then the Canadaphile in all of us was further rewarded 18 minutes later when Sinclair scored herself. “I’ve always been able to put the ball in the back of the net if you give me a chance,” Sinclair said after the match, and her 22nd-minute goal was as pure-goalscorer as they come. Thorns center back, 21-year-old Danish International Isabella Obaze headed a Sam Coffey free kick toward goal where Sinclair beat the keeper to it and soled home her 64th career Thorns goal, her second in the last 4 matches.
It’s maybe a bit of a stretch to connect this pairing back to October 20, 2002, a day that, in Kodling, Denmark, Isabella Obaze was born while over 7,500 miles away in Vancouver, British Columbia a 19-year-old Christine Sinclair netted 4 (of what would become part of her international career record 190) goals for the Canadian National Team in a CONCACAF Gold Cup match against Haiti.
The connection this game was more present, on the field and, after the game, in the press conference, where Sinclair and Obaze were the two players available to the media. Sinclair credited the back line for seeing the game out, and Obaze, in her first season with the Thorns, lauded veteran teammate Becky Sauerbrunn. “Becky’s always been a role model for me,” she said of her center-back partner. “So getting to play with her is just crazy to me… . She teaches me stuff in every game. She has my back.”
This is what I like about walking into Providence Park: There are always things that connect us with each other, in the moment, in the bigger picture. Through soccer, through people.
On one hand, again, stats and figures can provide some of that connection. The Portland Thorns were, after all, born on the same day as my son in 2012. But the bigger thing in all of this is love. Even for someone like Sinclair, who has had many moments of goal scoring brilliance (See: Charlo The True (or, The Three Provides) [Pt. 2]) yet comes to the game with the same enthusiasm as us all.
When asked about her recent form of play, she credited her coach. “[Rob] helped me re-find my love of the game, and it’s been an absolute blast and privilege to play these last few games.” She continued, “He just has told me to go out and play, be free, and just read the game…. It's been a lot of fun. I’m not going to lie.”
It’s been a lot of fun for us, too.
So what is it about Gale that's had this effect on the three-time NWSL Champions?
Gale—who, like Timbers Ring of Honor member Jimmy Conway (See: Podcast Episode 11: Noeleen Conway) once played for Fulham FC, is also a veteran of the Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League, and coached in the Canadian National team system for nearly a decade—seems to have a simple formula behind his success: work hard, elevate those around him, have fun.
“We’re in a privileged position.” That’s what he said in the post-match press conference after the 2-1 home victory over the Spirit.
A privileged position, Gale continued, “to represent such a great organization in an unbelievable soccer city. Soccer City, USA. It’s such a privilege that we owe it to everybody out here, the fans who show up every week, to turn up with a smile on our face, enjoy what we’re doing.”
There’s the answer: he’s enjoying what he’s doing. And so is Lowdon and so is Adnriuskevicius. As are Sinclair and Obaze. “It’s hard work,” Gale noted of the turnaround and having success in the league. “But if [the players] put the work in and come together and play like they have been for each other, the rewards are great. It’s so enjoyable to see them play.”
Belief, hard work, fun. Make those around you better by letting them do what they do best. This is Rob Gale. This is the Portland Thorns. This is us at our best.
Time will tell what the 2024 season has in store for the Thorns.
And thanks to Tursi Soccer, Green Is the Color will be there for it. We’ll also be looking back, as we do, at the last 11 years of the franchise, and the years before that. (Remember the Portland Rain?) And the years before that.
Because Green Is the Color is dedicated to collecting and telling the stories of soccer in Portland since 1975, this partnership allows us to to continue doing what we’ve been doing and to expand our coverage to include more storytelling around the Portland Thorns in addition to the Timbers, parts of the same ecosystem formed over the last half century.
So, we’re pleased to share that Tursi Soccer has offered to be the official sponsor of Green Is the Color. Teaming up with Tursi Soccer makes sense because, as we’re collecting and sharing the stories from Soccer City, USA, a natural partner to help us is Portland’s Original Soccer Store. Since 1986, they’ve been promoting the growth and development of our soccer community. (See: Podcast Episode 15: Jim Tursi)
To share this partnership with you, you can get a 15% discount on your retail purchase at Tursi Soccer. To do that, visit Tursi Soccer and enter the code CLUB15 at checkout. Or, visit the Eastside, Downtown Portland, or West Portland locations of Tursi Soccer and mention Green Is the Color at checkout to receive 15% off your retail purchase.
There’s also a link to more information about Tursi Soccer on the Our Sponsor tab on the navigation bar of our webpage.
Soccer didn’t manifest itself in Portland on January 23, 1975 any more than women’s professional soccer did on November 20, 2012. Those are just dates that, like stats, can help us put some tangible context to what happened to happen here—in an individual game or over time.
But what did start in 1975 was something specific and special that brought people here who brought others, who brought us all—together through the game and a shared history that’s become, over the last half century, a culture.
In a sense, we’re all interims. We’re just caretakers, regardless our role. While we’re here, I’m excited to have Tursi Soccer support the collecting and sharing of our soccer stories. “We’re in a privileged position,” as Gale said, “to represent such a great organization in an unbelievable soccer city: Soccer City, USA.”
When we add chairs, when we “come together…for each other, the rewards are great.”
#RCTID / #BAONPDX