A few days ago, on Thursday March 19, 2009, me, Nate and Riley went to the very first
FC Sounders game at
Qwest Field in Seattle. So okay, I don't follow pro soccer, and when Nate's
Avanti U-15 coach got our tickets, I thought, oh nice time. IT WAS WILD!
Not only was it the season opener, but their first game ever in the
MLS league (pro soccer). So basically, we lost a basketball team but gained soccer.
Above is a pic of the opening ceremony. Can you tell we're sponsored by
XBOX?
So turns out that Drew Carey is the team's owner. BIG fan of the Drew Carey show, so very stoked. Up there as well is Commisioner Garber, Adrian Hanauer, Joe Roth, and the WA state Governor, Christine Gregoire. I felt sorry for her, whenever someone said her name or she spoke, the crowd booed.
Dude in the green, one of the Dads from the U-18 team, who had a lot of energy that Riley drew from like a battery.
Nate, myself and Riley, after I made a run to the team store. I'm wearing my wool Scottish Lochaven sweater b/c it's the warmest thing I own (good thing too, left my coat in the car in a garage on 1st and Jackson that lifted it up in the air, so no recovery) and didn't find out later that it's in the Sounders colors! Glad it wasn't red. The boys loved their gear, though at first Nate wanted an XBOX shirt.
The boys in all their glory. This was our first soccer game where they
weren't playing, let alone
MLS. We weren't
disappointed, they loved the energy in the crowd. We ate Grounders chicken and garlic fries w/Jones soda (N=cola, Me=Lemon/Lime and R=
rootbeer, the usual). The boys also had hot chocolate, though we were fortunate, it never was cold & didn't rain until driving back on I-5 south.
The
FC Sounders v the New York Red Bulls. So there they are, playing their hearts out. Our team had a quick-little-moves way about them but awesome offense, once we got the ball. NY had great large moves, fast passes, got the ball far, but couldn't land it in the net to save their lives. I was shocked between the two playing styles that we won because NY has
possession most of the game. But we pulled it off 3 - 0!
Qwest Field is beautiful at night, feeling
deja vu? Almost same view as
Safeco, just different part of the Seattle skyline. Had pretty good seats, section 124, row MM, seats 9-11. For all those watching on the telly, that's behind the crazy season
ticketers with the large flags. I'd say at least 40 people, players, and family, came from the two
Avanti teams.
The players celebrate on the field. The victory belongs to #77, who shot in 2 of the 3!
