There has always been a lot of misinformation regarding my feelings about soccer in Portland. And while I don’t really worry too much about the way I’m perceived, I’m going to try to set the record straight one more time.

I’ve never enjoyed watching the sport — and trust me, I’ve watched a lot of soccer. From the time the original Timbers come to Portland in the North American Soccer League. People have a way of thinking soccer is new in this country, but I can tell you I’m ancient but played the game in physical education classes all the way through grade school. I enjoyed playing it, but it’s never been my cup of tea as a spectator sport. I can’t explain why — perhaps just not enough scoring to hold my attention span.

But hey, that’s personal choice. You probably don’t like the sports I watch, either.

That said, I hope the Timbers succeed in Portland. I always have. Just because I’m not a fan doesn’t mean I don’t wish them well. Right now, those people up there running the soccer franchise, Merritt Paulson and Mike Golub, are great guys. This city is blessed to have them. They deserve to have success.

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A lot of people gathered Saturday in Director’s Park, the new venue recently created across the street from the Fox Tower in downtown Portland. It was a World Cup viewing party and at halftime of the U.S.-England game, the Portland Timbers were to announce their new logo.

Which they did, to a very loud chorus from the Timbers’ Army of “You f–d up! You f–d up!” To no one’s surprise, they didn’t like the logo.

In front of all those families, television cameras and the rest of the world, of course. Typical. And this is what the team’s front office faces continually in its battle to gain a foothold in this town. There’s a passionate fan base there — the Army has been behind the team for a long time and for the most part, I’m positive it’s a great bunch of dedicated fans.

But there’s also an element of the Army that’s probably more interested in setting off smoke bombs, orchestrating obscene chants, provoking other spectators and causing trouble — sort-of wannabe soccer hooligans — than anything else. And all the while, the team would like to be marketing its franchise as a family-friendly entertainment option.

What went down Saturday in Director’s Park was not family friendly and trust me, I hear complaints all the time from people who don’t think Timbers games are, either.

There is some belief that when MLS arrives next season, there will be enough general fan support that the franchise will have no trouble selling out the venue and the Army won’t need to be catered to as it is now — as a necessary support base. We shall see.

But in the interim I don’t think I’d want to be trying to placate that hooligan element while at the same time trying to lure families into games. It’s a real tightrope walk.

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He was the mostly absent guy who owned the Portland Beavers and Timbers for a while prior to selling them to Merritt Paulson. My understanding is that he made a lot of money when he flipped the franchise to Paulson.

But it didn’t seem to do him much good. His financial problems have put a LOT of people out of work at TGI Friday’s restaurants all over Oregon and Southwest Washington.  (Thanks to Clueless Vince for the tip!)

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I don’t think so. Not from the metro area, at least. Yes, soccer and baseball have been disconnected in the latest effort to ensure a conversion of PGE Park to a soccer/football only stadium.

Either the Beavers will end up in Lents Park or somewhere in the suburbs, is my guess. Merritt Paulson isn’t going to let go of the one sure thing in his portfolio. People in Portland refuse to come to grips with the fact that minor-league baseball is successful, financially, just about everywhere and is here, too. Paulson’s made more money off the Beavers than he’s ever made off soccer.

His move to bring the MLS to Portland is a big financial crapshoot, too. It SHOULD be successful, but who knows? Meanwhile, the Beavers will continue to throw off a tidy profit every season, whether they’re in Hillsboro, Vancouver or Troutdale. And a new ballpark, nicely done in a pastoral setting, will be a bigger draw around here than people realize.

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The buzz is that there will be a news conference Friday morning here, announcing that the MLS has officially granted an expansion franchise to Portland.

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I’ve been told all along by someone on the inside of this thing that the league wants Vancouver and Portland in as the expansion teams. The only thing that was holding it up was the stadium deal. If it’s done, I believe Portland is in, unless something’s changed.

More important, I’m going to say something here that is not going to ingratiate me with a lot of my fellow Portlanders, but it’s something I believe in:

If you think sports enhance the quality of life in your city (and they obviously do), why are you not willing to contribute to their acquisition and housing? Why are citizens of Portland so reluctant to throw a few bucks into the pot? Why are you so disgraced to consider the possibility of your taxes going to pay for a stadium or an arena?

You’re worried about $80 million? They’re going to throw zillions at trolleys around here in the next decade and that’s considered well and good by most of the citizenry, even though they’re just a fancy toy to lure the suckers back into the condo market. You paid for a convention center you barely use and light rail cars that have done nothing to alleviate congestion.

You’re worried about renovating PGE Park just a few years after a previous renovation, yet you didn’t stomp your foot or pound your fist on the desk when our entire downtown area was turned into a war zone over the last two years for yet another redo of the Transit Mall.

Everyone reading this knows I’m not a soccer fan — but I don’t begrudge those who are. It’s about time we spent a few bucks (and trust me, compared to what we spend on a lot of other stuff around here, it is just a few bucks) on sports in Portland. Other cities spend hundreds of millions on stadiums and arenas and consider it a good investment in the city’s quality of life.

In Portland, we sit around waiting for someone else to pay for our enjoyment. And while just about every other city IN THE WORLD believes in the value of stadiums and arenas, we sit back and pooh-pooh the whole concept of public funding for sports arenas.

People say the owners should build these things themselves but I’ve always thought that was naive. You think the Rose Garden exists only for Paul Allen? No. It belongs to the city of Portland, which should be forever grateful because he built it. Even if you’re not a sports fan, the Rose Garden has served you very well over the years.

But I remember when the Rose Quarter was built how upset a lot of people were that the city needed to fork over a few million to pay for street changes and other minor things in the area. My goodness, they were so offended. If I could find those idiots now I’d slap them silly.

Fair is fair and if the city wants gleaming new facilities — for sports or otherwise — it should be willing to pay its share. Come on, in this case they’re now worried about a $15 million gap in funding this thing. For a city this size you’re worried about $15 million? That’s chump change in a big-city budget.

We probably spend more than that on rubber mats on the floors of our trolleys.

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First off, if you want to get the attention of the city fathers, don’t do it in front of City Hall on a Saturday. Uh, people – they aren’t there on Saturdays. Nobody is — that part of the city is pretty deserted on weekends. You’re merely blocking traffic for no good reason.

And most important, try to get a few more people there — you know, to try to make it look like there is a big share of Portland on your side in whatever it is you’re demonstrating for.

In this case, these were Major League Soccer supporters and according to their own website, they had about 200 people demonstrating on behalf of chasing an MLS franchise. Uh, folks, that really doesn’t do the cause any good. It may even hurt because people are going to make fun of you.

Two hundred people? I can gather more than that to demonstrate on behalf of running a new aerial tram directly from the Rose Garden to The Agency, so I can have an easier commute after Blazer home games.

Get your act together, Timber supporters! Honestly, I’m not messing with you here, I’m trying to help. If you really want this thing to happen you have got to do better. This is seriously your big chance and, so far, you’re blowing it.

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I will say this one more time: I do not have anything against Major League Soccer coming to Portland. But what I do not care for are misrepresentations about what we’d be getting.

This story in The Oregonian bothered me right from the headline on through to the end. The headline characterizing the MLS as “big-time soccer” was laughable. I mean, seriously — MLS is probably the seventh- or eighth-best league in the world, right? It’s not big time in any real sense of the word, from TV ratings to attendance.

You aren’t big time when you average fewer than 17,000 fans per game and get television ratings of 0.2. That’s zero point two??? This story said MLS ratings are “roughly on a par with the WNBA.” Yikes! And that’s big time? Come on, folks — that’s flat-out awful. WNBA franchises cost $10 million, if you can find someone to buy them. For the most part, it’s a league being run as a loss leader by the NBA for no apparent reason. And the MLS wants $40 million for a franchise that gets the same 0.2 TV rating as the WNBA?

Ultimately, big-time leagues in this country support themselves through television revenue. This league is miles away from doing that so it will never be able to pay the huge salaries needed to bring enough great players into the league to make it competitive with other leagues around the world.

The Oregonian also breathlessly reports, “MLS is also reaping new revenue by selling ad space on the front of team jerseys.” Wow, now there’s something that gives the league a touch of class. Selling ads on the uniforms — like your local Little League. Soccer teams have been doing this for years, by the way, usually finding beer companies — totally appropriate when it comes to soccer and its fans — to purchase space somewhere on the uniforms.

Again, bring MLS to Portland. I think it would be great. But please, let’s not confuse it with bringing real major-league sports to the area.

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