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Sometimes, supporters groups' tifo displays are designed to look really cool, to recognize a player's career-long contributions to the club or even to intimidate that day's opponent with a massive pregame display that covers the entire end of a 70,000-seat stadium.

And other times, the displays transcend the sport of soccer altogether, making a statement about life in general.

On the same day a match in Italy – one that happened to involve United States national team midfielder Michael Bradley's club team, AS Roma – had to be momentarily halted because of racist chants aimed at opposing AC Milan players, the Timbers Army chose to spend their Sunday afternoon taking a stand against another sensitive social issue in the sports world: homophobia. The 5,000-person section used roughly 4,500 colored cards to create the display, according to Timbers Army 107 Independent Supporters Trust board member Abram Goldman-Armstrong in an e-mail exchange with MLSsoccer.com on Monday.

READ: Robbie Rogers' revelation opens doors, but also leaves questions

The display spanned six sections at JELD-WEN Field and featured a banner in the center reading simply "Pride, Not Prejudice." The Timbers went on to put three goals past the Chivas USA defense, picking up yet another impressive home victory to extend their unbeaten run to nine games.

The anti-homophobia tifo from @timbersarmy was brilliant. Any video capturing it from yesterday? twitpic.com/cqbztb

— Eric Beard (@BeardEric) May 13, 2013

It just so happens you can check out video of the Timbers Army tifo here and here. This is what the organization itself had to say:

"The Timbers Army has had a 'zero-tolerance for intolerance' policy since its inception in 2001,'" Goldman-Armstrong told MLSsoccer.com. "Our display in honor of the International Day Against Homophobia demonstrates our commitment to making certain all people are welcome at the beautiful game, on the pitch and off of it.

READ: Gordon will use aftermath of homophobic slur incident "for the good"

"As the language San Jose's Alan Gordon used to attack captain Will Johnson shows, homophobia is still a real issue in North American sports. As supporters, we must do our best to show that there is no room for such bigotry in our sport. Sunday's display is an indication of that sentiment."

The Timbers Army will be the first of many independent supporters groups across MLS to lend their support to the "Pride, Not Prejudice" cause this week, as many groups have agreed to unveil their own unique stands against homophobia prior to their club's home game that falls closest to the 2013 International Day Against Homophobia on May 17.

Round 1 of the 2013 MLS Fantasy Soccer: Manager season is officially in the books. Some of your favorite soccer personalities are battling it out in the ExtraTime Experts League, so here’s the run down on how they started.

TheCrew.com's Ashleigh Ignelzi (Iggy FC) was the top scorer this week in her 99-70 victory over Soccer By Ives' Ives Galarcep (SBI United). She did it with goals from Robbie Keane (captain), Álvaro Saborío, Federico Higuaín and Graham Zusi. She also managed to rack up four clean sheets from three defenders and her keeper. Ashleigh’s 99 points currently ranks her 18th among all players in FS:M.

"My first week of MLS fantasy wasn't too bad.  I expected a bit more from my midfield but I also didn't expect Seattle to lose at home or for Chicago to lose so poorly on the road. All my strikers had a great opening weekend so hopefully they keep it up and I don't make any rookie mistakes!" 

ESPN's Taylor Twellman (ThinkTaylor) and MLSsoccer.com's Jason Saghini (Newborn FC) each put up a respectable 80 points and currently sit in a tie for third place after cruising to victory lane rather easily.

The closest match of the week was between Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl (Danny Szetela’s Afro) and FoxSoccer.com's Kyle McCarthy (Undisclosed Terms), with Wahl squeaking out a 58-56 win over the New England Revolution writer.

• MLS ExtraTime Experts League – Complete Standings

Former league champions TV announcer Jonathan Yardley (Fort Nonsense SC) and ESPN's Max Bretos (COLOTERORITA) both lost, as did MLSsoccer.com's Greg Lalas (Tesla’s Revenge) and Simon Borg (Borgussia Borgmund), although Borg did put up a respectable 71 points in his 75-71 loss to ESPN's Alexi Lalas (SlurpeeRatt). Lalas had some friendly words for his fellow competitor:

"For many, taking down the Borg would be cause for celebration. I, however, see it as no more than the natural course of events and completely expected. I didn't even use Saborio and I still won. Unlike most things in Simon's life, there can be no debate over this outcome — I owned him."

Big misses from Brad Davis (captain) and Will Bruin helped MLSsoccer.com's Andrew Wiebe (Meara’s French Licks) edge out a win over me, 67-63. Although, watching Diego Valeri score one of the nicest goals of the weekend early on against the New York Red Bulls did give me a little glimmer of hope.

For all the latest news and advice regarding MLS Fantasy Soccer: Manager follow @MLSFantasy.

Key Matchups in Round 2

• SlurpeeRatt (1-0-0) vs Danny Szetela's Afro (1-0-0)
• Preki in Pink (1-0-0 vs Bad Idea Jeans (1-0-0)

Upset Alert in Round 2

• OptaJoy (0-1-0)  vs  Iggy FC (1-0-0)

It's the morning of the opening day of the 2013 MLS season. I'm sitting at a funky cafe called Local 61 in Brooklyn (it's exactly what you imagine it would be), killing time before the Philadelphia Union and Sporting KC kick off to get things going.

Until that first kick, much of the soccer world's mindshare will be occupied with the Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Despite my MLS myopia at times, my own focus this trained on the Bernabeu this morning. If you love soccer, you better be watching.

It all got me thinking: Who from the many stars on the two squads would I most like to see in MLS?

The obvious choice is Barcelona's Lionel Messi. After all, he's the reigning World Footballer of the Year, three times over, and the most creative, devastating weapon of his generation.

But many others would say Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, who is like a growling NASCAR car compared to Messi's Formula 1 machine. 

Still others would go for Xavi, the diminutive maestro who conducts the Barca midfield like Leonard Bernstein putting an orchestra through Copland's Appalachain Spring.

There's also Andres Iniesta, who quietly goes about the business of scoring and setting up goals for the Blaugrana, and with nary a peep; Kaka, the experienced, still-graceful artist who can turn a game for Madrid when given the opportunity; and Karim Benzema, who just gets better with each year up front at the Bernabeu. Not to mention Pedro and Mesut Ozil and... well, you get the drift: There are a lot of big stars on the field today.

For me, it's Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain. He's done nothing but score goals his entire career. His effectiveness is not tied to speed or overwhelming skill. He's just one of those guys, like Carlos Ruiz or Chris Wondolowski, who know how to be in the right place at the right time to stab home a goal. I'd definitely pay money every week to watch him play in MLS.

And no, I wouldn't want him playing alongside his brother in Columbus.

WHO WOULD YOU WANT TO SEE? LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. 

Landon Donovan has a history of insightful, personal interviews. He just hasn't given very many of them lately.

That seems to have changed on Wednesday night, as the US national team and LA Galaxy legend answered questions in public for the first time since helping lead his team to the 2012 MLS Cup. Donovan appeared at a Q&A session titled "The Competitive Edge" on the campus of the University of Southern California.

One promising young scribe proceded to live tweet the event. We can't vouch for the veracity of his transcription, during which Donovan talks about everything from his relationship with his dad to that time he almost quit soccer in 2006 (which, from memory, was right before kickoff vs. Ghana), but I guarantee you we'll all be talking about this out-of-the-blue appearance by LD for the next 48 hours:

Donovan: "2006 was rly my first big failure. There was 2 weeks when I went into depression..I started wondering if soccer is for me again"

— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013

Donovan regarding when Beckham came: "I learned a lot of important things...like what to say and what not to say"

— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013

On marriage sit in 2009: "For some reason, there was smth inside me that was pulling me to get out of it...I became not a great (pause) man"

— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013

"I hit a point last year, and it's really been a lot...I don't feel an obligation to play soccer, I play it cuz I like it, not bc I need it"

— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013

"I was so exhausted from the weight of the past 15 years...really the past 28 years"

— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013

"There have been time in the past where I thought about quitting because I no longer enjoyed it" he's referring to his time at Bayer Leverku

— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013

Here's the best part, if you're a US fan:

What everyone wanted to hear: "Yes, I do have an interest in playing for the USMNT again, if given the opportunity, I would"

— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013

And here's the part that's Landon being Landon to, like, the Nth degree:

He says he asked to speak at USC when he heard of our class, and agent approved it. Example of giving more than just on the field.

— Jesse Xiao (@Xman818) February 21, 2013