GAME DAY DNA - The Log Slice
A chainsaw. A giant log. A cloud of sawdust. One of the most distinctive goal celebrations in world football.
TEAM: Portland Timbers
STADIUM: Providence Park, Portland, Oregon
RITUAL: The Log Slice
WHEN: Every Portland Timbers home goal
Every time the Portland Timbers score at home, Timber Joey fires up a chainsaw and cuts a wooden slab from the club's Victory Log behind the north goal.
As the players celebrate, the chainsaw roars, sawdust flies and another slice of timber becomes part of the club's history.
After the match, the goalscorer receives their slice as a physical memento of the moment. Goalkeepers also receive slices for clean sheets.
It All Started With a Chainsaw
One of American soccer's most famous traditions began with a supporter, a phone call and a slightly ridiculous idea.
In 1978, Jim Serrill, a professional logger and firefighter, approached the Portland Timbers with an unusual suggestion.
He wanted to bring a chainsaw into the stadium. He even offered to remove the chain.
The club wasn't particularly enthusiastic, but general manager Keith Williams had another idea. Why not have him cut a slice from a giant log whenever Portland scored?
And so Timber Jim was born.
What began as a simple goal celebration grew into something much bigger. Serrill became a local legend, climbing poles, rappelling from stadium rafters and even hanging upside down with a running chainsaw.
He wasn't a conventional mascot. He was a real lumberman, doing real lumberjack things.
A Tradition That Outlived the Team
The original Portland Timbers disappeared in 1982. But the chainsaw would eventually return.
When professional football returned to Portland in 2001, so did Timber Jim, reconnecting a new generation of supporters with the club's history.
In 2008, Jim retired and passed the chainsaw to Joey Webber, a fellow outdoorsman who had fallen in love with the tradition after attending his first Timbers match in 2004.
The two developed a close friendship, with Jim becoming a mentor to his successor.
When Portland joined Major League Soccer in 2011, Timber Joey carried the ritual onto a bigger stage.
From the Forest to the Football Pitch
Even the giant log behind the goal has its own story.
Oregon's forests and timber industry are central to the region's history, and the Victory Log brings that heritage directly into the matchday experience.
Timber Jim, Timber Joey and representatives from Hampton Lumber have travelled into Oregon's forests to select the trees that become the club's Victory Logs.
Before arriving at the stadium, the timber has even received a ceremonial blessing, connecting the ritual to the local forestry community.
Each home goal takes another piece from the log, eventually sending little pieces of Oregon home with the players.
The Scarf That Started Something
Sometimes the best sporting traditions happen entirely by accident.
In 2008, a supporter placed a Timbers Army No Pity scarf around Timber Joey's neck.
Finding it awkward to carry around the stadium, Joey placed it on the Victory Log.
Other supporters began offering their own scarves, and before long, the log was covered in them.
Over time, the collection grew to around 100 scarves, many carrying their own memories and significance. Young supporters, known as Junior Joeys, even began helping arrange them before matches.
What started with one supporter became another cherished part of the ritual.
You Are My Sunshine
Behind the roar of the chainsaw is one of the most touching stories in Portland Timbers history.
In 2004, Timber Jim's 17-year-old daughter Hannah was tragically killed in a car accident. Her young daughter survived.
Hannah had loved the song You Are My Sunshine.
When Jim returned to Providence Park, he began singing his daughter's favourite song, and the supporters joined him.
That personal moment became one of the club's most cherished traditions.
To this day, the Timbers Army sings You Are My Sunshine in the 80th minute of every home match.
The same man gave Portland two traditions with very different emotions: one a loud, visceral celebration of goals, the other a deeply personal song of remembrance.
The Game Day DNA
The best stadium traditions aren't simply entertainment added to the game. They become part of a club's identity.
The log slice captures Portland's timber heritage, its people and its supporters. What started with one man's unusual idea has become a tradition passed between generations, collecting stories and memories along the way.
Portland could play a generic goal song, launch some pyro and put GOAL on the screens.
Instead, a man in a hard hat starts a chainsaw and cuts through a giant log.
And you instantly know where you are.
