I love tifo.
Nothing lifts my heart on game day like walking into the North End and seeing the rigging and flags and color squares and knowing that I'm about to witness one of those huge, vivid, clever celebrations of Team-Town-Timbers Army through which the mad genies of the tifo crew turn our stadium into the world's rowdiest art gallery.
Love, love, love 'em (and I can't wait to see what we've got in store for Sunday).
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But at every single Timbers match there are three small banners that mean more to me than even my favorite-ever tifo displays.
These banners commemorate three mainstays of the Timbers Army who'll be watching Sunday's 2015 MLS Cup against Columbus Crew SC (1pm PT, ESPN) from a vantage that no one reading this can share: Gisele Currier, Howie Bless, and Duane Graf.
And when I learned that all three of them would be making the trip to Columbus, well, I'm not ashamed to tell you that I cried – heck, I'm fighting back tears as I write these words.
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During the amazing odyssey of the Timbers from scruffy minor league cult team to new kids on the MLS block to, after another 90 heroic minutes, MLS Cup holders, our community has been graced with many, many blessings.
But we've also suffered losses, and those losses, even more than all the good stuff, are the things that have made us a true family.
Some we commemorate in rituals, such as singing “You Are My Sunshine” in honor of Hannah Serrill, whose passing was one of the events that transformed the Timbers Army from a group of noisy fans who gathered on game days into a massive not-for-profit organization that works on community events throughout the year.
Some represent a single moment in our shared history, such as the death of Paula Currier, Gisele's sister, who was memorialized in a pregame ceremony during which the entire Timbers team climbed into the stands to place roses on her traditional seat at the top of section 107.
Some have left lasting marks on our city, such as Bless Field, an all-weather turf pitch in North Portland's New Columbia neighborhood that gives kids a healthy and safe place to play the game that the man for whom it's named loved so well.
Some belong to the whole world, such as Clive Charles, the player and coach whose name hangs in the rafters and who did as much as perhaps any single person to turn Portland into Soccer City USA.
Some are fun, such as the Duane Graf Memorial Homebrew Competition, dedicated to Duane, because he, like so many of his Timbers Army brothers and sisters, was a true connoisseur of the tipple.
And some look toward the future, such as the Gisele Currier Memorial Scholarship Fund, which helps disadvantaged young players gain access to training and equipment (its first recipient, Rubio Rubin of Beaverton, has already played for the US National Team at four different levels).
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Each of these people, along with others, such as Warren Mayes, has left a hole in the fabric of our community. Each loved team and town and, yes, Timbers Army, and each was present for many of the highs and lows that have marked the journey of this team and this community over the years.
Gisele and Paula were deeply involved in supporting the NASL Timbers of the 1970s, and later, in the USL days, Gisele was the designated Keeper of the Scarves long before there was even a notion of a No Pity Van; Howie moved to the Rose City in part because he so enjoyed the companionship of the Timbers fans he met back in the day; Clive played for that legendary 1970s team and coached at Reynolds High and the University of Portland and started one of the area's most successful youth organizations, FC Portland; Hannah, whose father, Timber Jim, is a stone icon, was literally born to the tribe; Duane, an ardent soccer fan (and certified ref!), found a home in the Northwest among the Timbers Army.
And though they're no longer with us in body, they are at every single home match in spirit and, in three cases, in cloth: Gisele in a hand-sewn banner in her seat atop section 107 (bought and paid for by the Timbers Army in perpetuity); Howie in cartoon form in his US Army helmet (not for nothing was he known as The General); Duane with a tiara of hops and a don't-mess-with-me stare that was nothing like his easy-going personality.
You may never have met them, you may never have heard of them, but you feel them all around you at every single match: in the embrace of that stranger whom you hug after a goal; in the voices that lift (and, often, break) your heart during “You Are My Sunshine”; in the pride and gratitude you feel when the Timbers Army does good in our community.
They were always going to be at the MLS Cup final with us – it's impossible to imagine such a big match without them. But the thought that they're going to be there in the form of their banners truly underscores how fated, how fortunate, and how blessed we all are.
So on Sunday: Cheer like crazy for the boys as they fight for the cup; holler your unholiest epithets at the refs and opposing defenders; sing from the bottom of your belly and the top of your voice; wave your scarf, dance your Tetris, and shake the gates of Hell.
But have a thought, too, for the angels looking down at us, the Timbers loyals who graced us with their lives and then moved on and who will always represent the epitome of True Supporters Forever More.
Paula, Hannah, Gisele, Clive, Howie, Duane, Warren: It's so good to have you with us for this very special day.
Shawn Levy simply cannot believe he's so eager to visit Ohio in December. Next time you see him, he will very likely be smiling.
