The Space Needle is ready for MLS Cup 2009 on Sunday at Seattle's Qwest Field. (AP photo by Elaine Thompson.)
Three articles have been published today that add to the growing list of stories about Seattle's love for the sport of soccer and its Sounders.
You'd expect a favorable opinion from SoundersFC.com of course, and Matt Gaschk gives one in his entry entitled "Seattle - Soccer City USA." “Franchises like Seattle obviously are great for the league. If we continue to have franchises like this, fans like Seattle has, you know, you look at Real Salt Lake with the stadium we have now. I think it’s going great,” said goalkeeper Nick Rimando, whose Real Salt Lake club will take on the LA Galaxy in the MLS Cup final Sunday at 5:30 at Qwest Field. “When I came into the league, it started out slow. We didn’t know exactly where the league was going to go. Now it’s blossomed. Hopefully it’s going to continue to grow.”
Seattle achieved great success on the field, winning the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and becoming the first expansion franchise to reach the playoffs since 1998. But the Galaxy and Real Salt Lake players couldn’t help but gush about the support the team receives.
“They’re not only an excitable crowd, they’re a knowledgeable crowd. They know and understand what’s going on. This is, in my opinion, a perfect place to have a game like this,” said Galaxy forward and MLS MVP Landon Donovan. “For us, it’s so exciting today going out in training. You can already picture what the atmosphere is going to be like when we go out. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Meanwhile at CNN, Thomas Cooper writes: Qwest Field set a league record with an average attendance of 30,897. This rivals that of baseball's Seattle Mariners, who in 2008 averaged 28,761 at the 47,116-capacity SAFECO Field and since 2004 have been watched by just over 30,000.
While factors such as number of games must be considered, the Sounders' final playoff attendance of 35,807 indicates growing interest.
Yet it has been the nature of the city's response that suggests this support is more than just a fad.
"The atmosphere has been tremendous," explains Sounders coach Sigi Schmid. "Every time we walked on the field the atmosphere was great. The fans were behind us and they've got their chants for individual players. In that sense it's very European, very international."
With their banners, flags and shirts, supporters have combined to create an atmosphere rare within professional American sports, and wholly typical of soccer.
"A major problem with the atmosphere at typical American sports is the number of stoppages, there are too many times when tension is lost," explains Robby Branom, part of the ECS.
"In addition there are no sections in any baseball or American football stadium where active fans can group together, making it impossible for any organized support."
Steven Goff, Washington Post: But for all the unprecedented glamour the English superstar has brought to the league's 14th grand finale, Beckham, for one of the few times in his starry career, has been eclipsed -- by a city.
It's as if MLS relocated its annual shindig to a European capital: A downtown stadium accessible by rail and surrounded by soccer-friendly pubs. Logos and soccer-ball patches garnishing the city's iconic structure, the Space Needle. Banners hang from street lamps. A pregame supporters' march, a tradition during the Seattle Sounders' inaugural season this year.
And when game time arrives, the clubs will be greeted by a sophisticated audience that smashed league attendance records and created an ambiance unmatched in American pro soccer.
"You are going to have true soccer fans, people who know the game," said Clint Mathis, Real's veteran midfielder who played overseas and starred in a World Cup. "It's not like going -- with no disrespect -- to a Kansas City game. With these people, it's like playing in Europe. This is what football is all about in the rest of the world."
SounderAtHeart Dave Clark raises his scarf during MLS Cup week in Seattle. (AP photo by Elaine Thompson)
Comments
Your title is correct, sir!
Scum south is getting served BIG TIME this season. LOL.
It's been a great year! Soccer on the map, on the brain..on the SPace Needle! :)
I swear I'm gonna leave the ATL and move to Seattle some day!
um.... you do realize that soccer city USA is clearly Portland, Oregon.. right? I was just making sure you are all fully educated on the fact that if you look up the term "Soccer City USA" you have to pass by all the Portland entries before you get to anything suggesting Seattle as a contender. . .
k, just making sure. didn't want you guys to get the wrong idea about reality. thanks.
-m-
(p.s. and don't bother responding, b/c I won't be wasting any more time on this thread... consider my educating work here: done.)
(but, to keep things positive) well written article. and I hope you can make your way down to Portland to see a much more die-hard fan base than the current one in Seattle.
I will pass no judgement on you when you realize that you were reporting on the wrong story.
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