Jack Jewsbury provides a link. As does Lawrence Olum. But when two teams have only shared the same competitive space for eight years, the ties players like Michael Harrington, Chance Myers and other former Sporting Kansas City players provide can only go so far. A relationship between the Portland Timbers and Sporting certainly exists, but even the magical powers of USL legend Ryan Pore can only make up for so much.
Undeniably, though, there is history between the teams, from one of the best strikes Major League Soccer has seen to, perhaps, the most exciting Knockout Round match ever offered.