BEAVERTON, Ore. – Steve Clark reacted like a man who knew his award was coming, even though, as he recalled this week, “I was just told after the game.”
That’s how the tradition works. The player who Portland Timbers fans choose annually as the club’s Supporters’ Player of the Year gets notified immediately after the last home game’s final whistle. He’s then invited to ascend the capo stand in Providence Park’s North End, where he’s given his award: a boxing- or wrestling-inspired belt that anoints him as the fans’ champion for the season.
“I was honored, to say the least,” Clark remembers.