I was sitting up in the top deck of Centurylink Field in October with a couple of other bloggers when the starting eleven for the Timbers hit Twitter.

Now, I didn’t know these guys very well at the time. We’d met once or twice in passing and I’d read the blog they both write for regularly. I don’t think any of the three of us were prepared for the collective rage and fury we expressed when Rod Wallace’s name was there in the eleven.

Rage and fury. And swearing. Lots of swearing.

RodWal seemed to find himself in the middle of stupid most of last season and he was on the list of players I was ready to offload as soon as our last match was done. But some sort of sacrificial offering was made and he wound up with an extended contract.

I’ve never been so happy to be wrong about someone as I am to have been wrong about Rodney Wallace. Let this serve as my personal apology to him.

He’s done the work, he’s picked up the pace and he’s remade himself into what he should have been in the beginning: a warrior.

In the bar where I was watching the match yesterday, my sentiment was shared by those around me. There was a delighted sense of disbelief. Is this the same guy? Where did this come from?

We’ve been seeing it build for a bit, this transformation. New coach, new attitude, new guys around him who know what it’s like to win and won’t settle for anything less. Someone last night said Wallace deserved a goal and, minutes later, he got it. And I couldn’t be happier for him.

I like this new Rod Wallace. Let’s keep him.