Portland Timbers stadium renovation; you’ll need to use your imagination a bit

The Portland Oregonian cooked up a delicious little stew of off-season soccer news with details of the renovation to PGE Park. The Timbers will merge into MLS in 201. They are already looking for a manager to oversee the transition from USL into domestic soccer's top tier.

Meanwhile, they'll have to get the grounds ready. As I've said before, Portland is going to be just like Seattle in terms of causing a regional stir and moving MLS forward in presentation, image and national regard.

The good on PGE Park is its location, right downtown, which will drive the development of an urban core audience, the sort that actually cares about wins and losses and not just about something to occupy a Saturday night. That in itself is a massive benefit to MLS.

As for the grounds, well, we're going to have to wait a bit to see how the renovation shapes the experience. The renderings are a little cold, to be honest. They don't demonstrate the passion, color and pageantry that willconsume the Portland core on match nights. We'll just have to have some faith that it develops, as expected.

One thing you won't like about the plans: artificial turf. Timbers officials say that's just the reality of the situation.