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over twogenerations andcounting. But
one might argue the feud has burned
especially hot in the past decade—
which matches up, not coincidentally,
with the career of auniquelypolarizing
Sea le player named Roger Levesque.
LIKE MOST LEGENDS,
Roge r
Levesque has a slightly
hazy origin story. Some
trace Portland fans’
animosity toward him
back to a game in
2003, when he inten-
tionally (they believe)
kicked their goalkeeper
in the face. Others say
it stemmed from his
knack for scoring important goals in
big games against the Timbers in the
USL. But regardlessofhowit started, no
one would disagree that the Portland
faithful’s antipathy toward Levesque
skyrocketed three years ago, during
the U.S. Open Cup. Modeled a er Eng-
land’s FA Cup,
the tournament
is open to any
affiliated team,
professional
o r ama teu r ,
in any
division. Seattle
was in its first year in
the MLS, while Port-
land, still in the USL, was
eager to prove it could hang
with the newly anointed. But 48
seconds into the match, Sounders
midfielder Sanna Nyassi crossed
the ball to Levesque, who smashed
home a header to give Seattle a 1-0
lead. As Levesque ran to the sideline to
celebrate, teammate Nate Jaqua—pre-
tending he had an ax in hand—began
“chopping” him down at the ankles.
Levesque wobbled ever so slightly, and
tipped over like a felled tree. Thus, a
legend/villain was born.
The Pac-10 Player of the Year
while at Stanford, Levesque was
drafted by the San Jose Earth-
quakes in 2003 but injured his
ACL while playing for the U-23
National Team. He was sent, on
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