.jpg)
Seattle Sounders inaugural match
The fantastic 3-0 performance of the Seattle Sounders at Qwest Field smashed open a big glass window for MLS. Did you see a weak link? I didn’t either. (We're not going to ruin everything and discuss NY.)
What was the best part?
The players? Hot new striker Fredy Montero? World class keeper Kasey Keller holding it steady out back? Speedy African Sanna Nyassi? The anticipation for underwear model/midfielder Freddie Ljungberg waiting in the wings? The packed stadium? The marching band? The deliriously happy owner Drew Carey waving his scarf and leading the parade? The stuttering hush washing over Rob Stone and Alexi Lalas?
Say you’re not jealous and look convincing.
You’re jealous, you're hopeful, you’re filled with gloom and despair. You want a green scarf and an intimate stadium packed with fanaticos. You want Clint Dempsey back, a healthy Taylor Twellman, every seat in the lower bowl filled, and the little kids with french fries to go somewhere else.
Deep in your heart you have a crawling fear of becoming New York. How close is the Revolution to New York, how close to Seattle? What would it take to bring this team to that great place you saw last night?
A small stadium packed with 32,000 people? Closing the door for the right atmosphere, damn the torpedos? Young talent, a designated player, a seductive website, a bouncing marching band, a crazy-ass owner?
Enjoy your dreams, comment below, and worry about San Jose Saturday night.
Follow L.E. Eisenmenger on twitter.
Comments
someday before I die I would love to match that atmosphere in the boston area!
I've always liked the Revs. Hope you can get that part of things turned around. (Seattle Soccer Examiner)
Great article. Thursday night at Qwest Field was a dream come true. Fantastic Fredy Montero and Alonso. Go Sounders!
Love Deuce at Fulham and Revs.
Nothing is going to change in New England until Bob Kraft changes the culture in the Revs' FO and they present themselves as a first-class organization. The location isn't terrific (a Somerville stadium would help) but big crowds manage to make their way down Route 1 for soccer events all the time- just not stand-alone Revs games. People don't seem to remember than in the 90s the Revs HAD the Seattle experience. They had 30+K for a regular season home game against Brian McBride's Crew. They squandered it with poor player selection, a bad (bad) team, and then Kraft sealed it by cutting down Revs operational staff in 2000 to just enough to staff a highway Mickey D's.
There is, as Mike Burns himself has said, "no pressure" to win. The Revs are the redheaded stepchild and come in 3rd place now after the Pats and the Man Mall. 5K for a home playoff game (the only one) and less than 10K for a home cup final are disgraceful and heads should have rolled (or at least been threatened) but nothing happened. Jonathan Kraft went on WEEI's "Dale & Holley" show ostensibly to discuss the Revs (in a rare chance for mainstream sports media exposure) and instead chose to pump up Patriots Place for most of the interview. The season begins tonight and there has been no media push (again) by the team. Yes, they have a new website. Terrific. That only caters to fans you already have, Mr. Kraft.
Its a terrible shame because the Revs have consistently been one of the elite teams in MLS for the last 5 years and the players (and fans they have) deserve better than to be treated as second-class by the ownership.
As long as the Revs are in Gillette, that atmosphere will, unfortunately, never happen. Even a large crowd of 25,000 (by MLS standards) seems small at Gillette. And most of those 25,000 are your soccer mom and family crowd. The atmosphere in the Fort on high school soccer nights are absolutely terrible, because in between the supporters are teenagers who don't care about the culture The Fort is trying to create.
And don't even get me started on how the FO treats the supporters who do show up. We have spent all off-season trying to get permission to have flags on flag poles, and they still have yet to get the green light. You would think we were asking them to give up their first born.
Build a soccer stadium in Somerville and give the supporters some leeway with what you can do, and maybe we can have what Seattle has now.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!