Comments on: Timber Jim Hangs up His Chainsaw

By: Christian

Christian — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:48:39 +0000

I spent a summer in Portland and seeing Timbers matches was one of the highlights. Timber Jim, his chainsaw, and his heart will be missed.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:13:47 +0000

The thing that connects Timber Jim to the Timbers fanbase is that he’s a man — a man with a job and a passion — and not something that somebody in an office or at a sports marketing conference dreamt up. He is who he is: a lumberjack, a poet, a warrior, a man with a job, a dad and grandad, a man with fervor and love and a vision of how to make his community better by working for his team. I know scores of folks in the Timbers Army who would literally walk through fire for Jim Serrill.

Jim and the Timbers Army have been through a lot together — most obviously the death of his daughter in a traffic accident and the Timbers Army’s adoption of his grandaughter as a financial and emotional cause. But many good times and hearty laughs, too. Thing is, you can point to highlights or lowlights, but the sheer human decency of the fellow comes through even without such dramas. The man’s a man, and he loves and laughs and commiserates and celebrates with his fellow fans as a simple human soul. In this era of sport-as-commodity, he is unique in all the world, let alone minor league American soccer.

And, by the way, in gratitude for this post and putting all notions of feud aside, I can’t help but say that one of the funniest euphemisms I’ve ever read is the phrase “Seattle USL support can lean towards the lukewarm” — to my Timbers-ish ear this is like saying the Pope can lean towards Catholicism or a bear can lean toward using the woods as a toilet….

By: Lucas

Lucas — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:55:57 +0000

Timber Jim will be missed, and he’ll be impossible to replace. Anyone in or near Oregon has one more chance to see Jim in action: Come to the home opener vs Puerto Rico April 17.

There have been one or two Timber Jim replacements over the years, when Jim has been on hiatus for one reason or another; it’s never the same seeing “Timber Drew” on the dugout trying to lead a cheer. Most of us Timbers fans agree, the log slicing has to stay; but beyond that I don’t want anyone to try to duplicate Jim’s persona (rappelling from the rafters, standing atop the 50′ sparpole, doing cartwheels, banging his drum all over the stadium, etc.).

Check out the thread at Talk Timbers message board for some nice pics and tributes.

We did have one guest log cutter once (someone Laurie might recognize from Galaxy games): after finishing a hat trick to beat Milwaukie in overtime, Alan Gordon cut his own slice.

http://2004.timbersfanpage.com/052904vsMilwaukie/images/046.jpg
http://2004.timbersfanpage.com/052904vsMilwaukie/images/047.jpg
http://2004.timbersfanpage.com/052904vsMilwaukie/images/048.jpg

By: Ian

Ian — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:32:32 +0000

They have to keep it going, as a tribute to the guy. Seeing Timber Jim cutting wood with a chainsaw after every goal is one of the weirdest things in sport, and as an Oregonian, I want it to stay, even if it’s another Jim doing the cutting.