SPORTS
Saturday, December 8, 2018
East Oregonian
B3
Atlanta goes for a rare sports title in MLS Cup fi nal
By PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press
ATLANTA — A city that
has known plenty of sporting
heartbreak is one win from a
championship.
It sure has been a while.
Atlanta hasn’t won a
major professional title since
the Braves captured the 1995
World Series. A 2-year-old
soccer team has a chance to
end the drought when Atlanta
United hosts the Portland
Timbers in the MLS Cup
fi nal Saturday night before
an expected crowd of 73,000
at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“I was texting the mayor
the other evening,” United
owner Arthur Blank said.
“She’s already planned on a
parade, so she’s ahead of me.
We haven’t (had) a parade
in Atlanta, a sports-related
parade, since 1995. God
willing and play willing,
we’ll be in position to do that
again next week.”
The Braves are recog-
nized by many as Atlanta’s
only true sports champions
— and even their accom-
AP Photo/Brett Davis, File
Atlanta United midfi elder Miguel Almiron has a shot defended by Portland Timbers
defender Larrys Mabiala in the second half of an MLS soccer match in Atlanta.
plishment came with a giant
caveat. The team won an
unprecedented 14 straight
division titles, but became
known mostly for its post-
season failures, losing four
times in the World Series
and every other year but one
in the earlier playoff rounds.
Blank was on hand for
perhaps the city’s biggest
disappointment. He also
owns the NFL Falcons, who
reached the Super Bowl for
just the second time in fran-
chise history in 2016, only to
squander a 25-point lead late
in the third quarter. The New
England Patriots rallied for a
34-28 victory in overtime.
“I’m as excited about
this as I was about the Super
Bowl,” Blank insisted,
before quickly adding, “I
don’t want to end up with the
same feeling we had several
years ago.”
Since big-league sports
arrived in Atlanta more than
fi ve decades ago, the only
other team that can claim a
major title is, in an interest-
ing twist, a soccer club.
The
Atlanta
Chiefs
won the championship in
the North American Soc-
cer League’s very fi rst sea-
son in 1968, but that event
is remembered by only the
most devoted fans. The
Chiefs lasted a total of 10
seasons over two incarna-
tions, but both times went
out of business for lack of
support. The entire league
expired after the 1984
season.
Enter United, which has
quickly built a fan base in
Major League Soccer that
would fi t right in with the
Premier League or La Liga.
MLS FINAL
Portland
Timbers
Atlanta
United FC
Saturday, 5 p.m.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
TV: FOX
Atlanta has broken essen-
tially every MLS attendance
record during its short exis-
tence, averaging more than
53,000 per game this sea-
son. Seattle posted the next-
best attendance fi gure at just
under 41,000; no other team
in the 23-team league aver-
aged as much as 27,000.
“We’ve set a new bar
for performance in Major
League Soccer, both on the
pitch and off the pitch,”
Blank said. “You are what
you dream about. You have
to be able to visualize it to
be able to execute it. We’ve
been able to do that to the
highest possible level.”
NFL: Big game for where both Minnesota and Seattle sit in the NFC standings
Continued from Page 1B
It’s far from a foregone
conclusion Seattle is headed
to the postseason after miss-
ing the playoffs last year.
But a win over the Vikings
would be a huge step in lock-
ing up a postseason berth.
“Keeping your head
down and grinding is really
what it’s all about at this
point,” Seattle coach Pete
Carroll said. “We’re upbeat
and we’re positive. We
know that we can win every
game and we’re going out to
get that done.”
If the Vikings want a
chance at catching Chicago
in the NFC North race, a win
in Seattle is almost a must.
Far easier said than done,
especially when it comes to
night games. Seattle is 15-2 at
home in Thursday, Sunday or
Monday night games dating
to Carroll’s arrival in 2010.
Minnesota is currently in
the No. 6 spot in the NFC
and its tie earlier this sea-
son against Green Bay could
end up being a hindrance —
or a benefi t. The Vikings are
a half-game ahead of Phil-
adelphia, Washington and
Carolina entering the week.
“It’s big. It’s very big.
It’s a road game. We want
to go out there and put a full
game together as a whole
team on the road,” Vikings
RB Dalvin Cook said. “This
is another game to go out
there and do that to show
that we’re still in this thing.
We’re still fi ghting. We’ve
got to just put it together.”
Here’s what else to watch
as the teams face for the fi rst
time since the 2015 NFC
wild-card game:
Russell’s role
Is anyone going to be
able to slow down the effi -
ciency of Seattle quarter-
back Russell Wilson?
Through 12 games, Wil-
son has 29 touchdowns
and just fi ve interceptions.
He’s thrown at least two
TD passes in eight straight
games and 11 of 12 this sea-
son. Last week against San
Francisco, Wilson had three
touchdowns passes on four
completions in the fi rst half.
And it’s not just under-
neath throws or short passes
that are turning into touch-
downs. Wilson has six TD
tosses of 30 or more yards.
“He is moving around
a little bit. The guys take
off. They are second in the
league in red-zone touch-
down percentage,” Zimmer
said. “A lot of that has been
obviously they run the ball
well. He moves in the pocket
and guys get open. They’ve
had some guys where they
had been pretty open, too.”
Looking for the
Playing catch
Minnesota’s
Adam
Thielen and Stefon Diggs
are the only receiver duo
in the NFC each with more
than 80 catches. Thielen has
98 receptions and Diggs has
84. They’ll be facing a pass
defense that has been strug-
gling of late, allowing 315
yards per game passing over
the past three weeks.
Revenge game
Revenge might be a
strong word, but Minne-
sota defensive tackles Shel-
don Richardson and Tom
Johnson might have a little
bit more incentive for the
game. Richardson played
for the Seahawks last season
before signing with Minne-
sota in free agency. Seattle
couldn’t match the money
offered by the Vikings, so
Richardson found a new
home in Minnesota.
Johnson’s situation is a
bit stranger. He signed as
a free agent with Seattle
during the offseason with
the intent of being part of the
defensive line rotation. He
started Week 1 with Seat-
tle, then was released before
the Week 2 game at Chicago
because of Seattle’s need for
a roster spot. The Seahawks
believed they would be able
to re-sign him the following
week, but Johnson chose
to return to Minnesota and
rejoin the Vikings, the team
he had spent the previous
four seasons with.
Johnson has played in
nine games with the Vikings
and has 3 ½ sacks.
Winning record
Carroll already owns the
team record for most vic-
tories, regular season and
playoffs combined. He can
claim the franchise record
for most regular-season
wins with his next victory.
Carroll is currently tied
with Mike Holmgren for
the top spot with 86 regu-
lar-season wins.
Asked if he had a regular
season win that stuck out,
Carroll immediately went
to a 2012 overtime victory
at Chicago. It was the start
of a fi ve-game win streak to
close the regular season that
got Seattle into the playoffs.
“We haven’t been the
same since,” Carroll said.
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