Let’s just get this out of the way: if you think Kris Boyd’s response to Cubbie from The Oregonian is because he’s thin-skinned, you’re delusional. Boyd’s been in the game a long time and, for the love of Pete, he was a Ranger. In Glasgow. A Glasgow frickin’ Ranger. That alone should make you think twice before assuming he’s a shrinking violet.

For those of you not following along with the Twit-stupidity today, here’s a brief rundown:

The Timbers beat writer for the local paper, a man many consider a pot-stirrer of epic proportions, tweeted something I would consider, at best, stupid. He has every right to his opinions but his timing was off and his target chose, in his own way, to shoot back.

So, what did Cubbie tweet?

A thought: Ironic that the guy hyped as the savior – Kris Boyd – hastened John Spencer’s demise by blowing PK against Cal FC. ‪#RCTID‬

Someone somewhere pointed out the tweet to Boyd who, as far as anyone knows, is not on Twitter, and he took exception to it, refusing to speak to the media after today’s training session until Cubbie was excluded.

Meh.

If someone blames me for my boss getting fired and my boss is a guy I respect, a guy I moved to the other side of the world to work for, I might get a little pissy, too. Add to that the fact that I’m Kris Effing Boyd, all-time leading goal-scorer of the Scottish Premier League? Yeah, screw Cubbie.

When I caught wind of this whole thing this afternoon, I was on my break at work, sitting in the lunchroom by myself. It was in this exact place that I listened to Merritt’s statement yesterday.

What a difference a day makes.

Yesterday was doom and gloom and I felt like the world was caving in. Well, maybe not the entire world, but a least a portion of my Timbers world. Everything felt heavy and listening to Merritt’s voice break as he spoke brought tears to my eyes.

Today, I read through the tweets regarding Boyd and Cubbie and Cubbie’s friend-who-used-to-hate-soccer-before-he-liked-soccer-before-someone-hurt-Cubbie’s-feelings-and-he-threatened-to-hate-soccer-again. Tears again, but this time it was from holding in the laughter.

I didn’t stop smiling all afternoon.

Is it because of my big fan-crush on Boyd? Maybe. I love this man unreservedly. Is he the savior that Cubbie says he was supposed to be? Not yet. But he could be. Regardless, he’s turned the story from being dark storms on the horizon and the end of the world as we know it, to “Let’s all laugh at Cubbie.”

What I believe here is this: as Kris Boyd goes, so go the Timbers.

When he plays well, the team plays well. When he’s pissed, the team is pissed. He’s become the de-facto captain.

With all outward indications pointing toward the conclusion that the Timbers franchise has all but given up on this season, today’s exchange between Boyd and Cubbie tells me this: Boyd still cares.

When he did speak to the media today, we got some stock statements about moving forward, being a professional, doing the job he was brought here to do. They were statements any other player in a similar situation might have made but they don’t tell the story.

The story will begin with what happens Saturday.

And I’m hoping the first chapter is written by Kris Boyd.