Game 1 v. Houston

After a day of contemplation, hand wringing and gnashing of teeth I think I can put a few thoughts down on paper (?).

After a few people came up to me today and gave it the "too bad" or "another game when we didn't score" or "0-0 eh? sounds boring". I found myself replying that I had a great time at the game and enjoyed the match. I didn't have as much pre-game anxiety as I thought I would but that quickly ratcheted up once I walked into Qwest Field. With the crowd was in full voice and the kickoff delayed for the TV start, I found myself getting geeked up past all expectations. "Maybe we can win this! Maybe we are more than an expansion team!"

Well, we are an expansion team and I can't expect everything in the first season, right?

The Sounders played an aggressive game and were obviously the ones taking the initiative. Ianni had two fantastic headers in the first half - one cleared off the line by a defender and the other hitting the crossbar (Marshall who?) and was my vote for Man of the Match. He was aggressive on defense, winning almost everything that came his way. He had poise on the ball and distributed it well. His presence on corner kicks showed that Houston isn't the only team that poses a threat on set pieces.

Houston looked for the counter attack for most of the first half and had a few chances that were close. I suspect that the one drawback to Ianni in the back line was missed communications and assumptions that were made. A couple of times it seemed that the "I got it, no you got it" rule was in effect which led to a couple of blown assignments or missed passes. Luckily Houston couldn't finish their chances.

The second half opened with Houston taking possession of the first 15 minutes and not letting Seattle out of their own end. Only after subbing out Montero for Levesque in the 65th minute did the Sounders find a little *snap* to their game and started to take the game back. The Sounders made a number of chances for themselves but couldn't quite get over the hump.

So no, a 0-0 match wasn't a boring game. I thought it was a good game. Quite entertaining in fact. Enough to make me think we could steal one in Houston.

The tidbits:

Unfortunate officiating. It seems that Salazar was reluctant to get in the way of the game which in turn allowed himself to get in the way of the game. Instead of taking control early he let plays run on that shouldn't have and let fouls go unpunished. (Stat: 18 fouls for Houston, 6 for Seattle). Sometime in the second half Salazar began 'controlling' the game, whistling calls that were not called in the first half. Or just making it up. This frustrated the fans as much as the Sounders. It is somewhat surprising that Ljungberg didn't get his customary yellow for yapping at the ref.

Of all the Houston players, Brad Davis makes me the most nervous. Very nervous.

Of all the Houston players, Luis Angel Landin is the fattest. Why is he their DP? Coming off the bench no less. Has he been hurt? If so I would get him on a treadmill for a few weeks before putting him out on the pitch. Man, what a tub.

Will Brad Evans ever regain his early season form? After a stint with the MNT it seems that Bradley and Co. unlearned everything out of him. This game made me think that he was finally regaining his touch.

Did anyone read Steve Kelley's piece on the game (here)? Christ. Trained monkeys could do better. Am I the only one who finds his stuff tiresome? Like a 'Mad-Lib', just plug in the team name and a hackneyed metaphor or three and voila! Just send to the editor.

Did I mention Ianni as Man of the Match? If he had scored I might have had to bear his child.

I know X-Box paid to advertise everything under the sun but c'mon, open the Hawks Nest!

Will the nick-name "Baby Giraffe" really stick to Nate Jaqua?

So now we wait for nine days for Game 2 v. Houston. I suspect that it will be a little more tense and a more wide-open style of play. We are the expansion team with a great road record with nothing to lose and something to prove.

I am getting geeked up already.

Someone likes us (or something)

Certainly it can't be held too much against me that I want to revel in the fact that someone actually listened to the podcast and chose to add a link to it over on Goal Seattle.com. Someone thinks the job Troy and I have done so far doesn't stink. Well, rock on us!

That said, Troy and I have agreed to try to produce pre-game shows earlier in order to be able to post them well before the match. For the 2010 season, we will also be recording the post-game shows immediately after the match, on the way home from the game (when we travel together -- which is most, but not all, of the time).

Looking to the first play-off match tomorrow, as Keller is broken and Montero is sick, Houston will easily walk out of The T with a 5-0 devastating humiliation of the Sounders. You read it here first.

Playoff Schedule

2009 MLS Cup Playoffs Schedule

All times Eastern; schedule subject to change

Conference Semifinals - Game #1
Eastern Conference
(1) Columbus Crew at (4) Real Salt Lake, Saturday, Oct. 31 - 6 p.m. ET (Regional TV, Direct Kick, MLSnet.com)
(2) Chicago Fire at (3) New England Revolution, Saturday, Oct. 31 - 4 p.m. ET (FSC, FSE)

Western Conference
(1) Los Angeles Galaxy at (4) Chivas USA, Sunday, Nov. 1 - 5 p.m. ET (ESPN2, Deportes)
(2) Houston Dynamo at (3) Seattle Sounders FC, Thursday, Oct. 29 - 10 p.m. ET (ESPN2, Deportes)

Conference Semifinals - Game #2
Eastern Conference
(4) Real Salt Lake at (1) Columbus Crew, Thursday, Nov. 5 - 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2, Deportes)
(3) New England Revolution at (2) Chicago Fire, Saturday, Nov. 7 - 8:30 p.m. ET (FSC, FSE)

Western Conference
(3) Seattle Sounders FC at (2) Houston Dynamo, Sunday, Nov. 8 - 3 p.m. ET (TeleFutura, Regional TV)
(4) Chivas USA at (1) Los Angeles Galaxy, Sunday, Nov. 8 - 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2, Deportes)

Conference Championships (times TBD based on match-ups)
Thursday, Nov. 12 (ESPN2, Deportes)
Saturday, Nov. 14 (FSC, FSE)

Meet you at The T

When the Seahawks moved to their new stadium I was approached with the idea of getting season tickets. The team was awful at the time and a ticket could be had for $100. I passed on the opportunity because I didn't want to travel to Seattle that often and eat up my weekends. Years later I changed my mind about a time-eating relationship with I-5, so I am now one of the many season ticket holders for the Sounders. More, I am one of the many, yet fewer, who have my name on the account. Those same names are now affixed permanently to the shared stadium.


If I had been one of those who purchased Seahawk season tickets I might be a bit put-off by the pandering provided to the upstarts. Hell, I'd be both jealous and pissed. The 'Hawks have drawn double the Sounders and have done so for thirty years. But neiner neiner to them. MY name is on the stadium so I'm re-naming it The T. You can call it whatever you like. Qwest, Kingdome, or something after your name. Call it what you will, I'll know what you mean.


Playing in their new stadium the Sounders looked pretty good the other night. Not only did they knock Dallas out of the playoffs but they put an end to the home scoreless jinx. The pandering continued after the game with the crowd being given the Men of The Match. Had I a vote it would have gone to Nate Jaqua instead. Not only did he score the first goal in Seattle since July, but he was in on the play for the winner and he looked terrific playing in the midfield. I know he has his detractors, but I think he's working surprisingly well on the right wing. He's obviously not the fastest guy in the world but his work rate has been phenomenal. Not quite at Sebastian Le Toux's pace, but whose is?


Next up is Houston in the first leg of a home-and-home aggregate goal Western Conference semi-final. Seattle has faced Houston three times this season, once at home, once in Houston and once at Starfire in the U.S. Open Cup. That was the game where Jaqua had his head split open, probably suffered a concussion, kept playing and won over the hearts of a few Tribe members. After that same match Houston's coach, Dominic Kinnear, questioned the validity of Starfire as a match site. Sour grapes.


Having played this opponent three times this season season with two wins and a draw on the road, it begs the question, are they our "bitch" or are they due? Houston is a very good team with players like Pat Onstead, Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis, Brian Ching and Stuart Holden - my pipe dream of an off-season acquisition. They also have Craig Waibel. He's a former Sounder from the A-League days, but you should remember him from his head bonking antics with Freddie Ljungberg in our last meetings. I don't know if he'll get on the pitch for such an important game, but if so remember to boo him avidly.

To the playoffs

If we give up the match tomorrow because we fail to find the back of the net and then Dallas gets into the playoffs while us loyal fans endure a rainy October evening cheer enthusiastically, I shall weep into my beer afterward.

I don't like Dallas. There I wrote it. They scare me. Cunningham scares me. What scares me even more than our inability to score at Qwest is there is no pressure for us to score to make the playoffs. Dallas is going to come at us for 90+ minutes and there is no pressing need for us to even get a draw. I am scared and a full week before Halloween even.

If you haven't been following the Tribe 131 podcast (and according to the stats for the show, you probably aren't), we won't be able to post until after the match tomorrow, so you'll get a pre-game and a post-game at roughly the same time.

Prove me wrong, I dare you.

Charlie Davies out for a while (maybe career)

I was really liking this guy playing up top with Jose and hoping they could work some magic in South Africa.  Now I just hope he can get back to walking.

http://www.prostamerika.com/soundersfc/2009/10/13/charlie-davies-out-of-surgery-but-breaks-tibia-and-femur-latest/

Supernatural Forces are at Work

This past summer some friends (Kevin and Katy) travelled to Pittsburgh for a wedding. They also spent some time traveling around Ohio. At the time I needed electronic advice so naturally I called Kevin. He called me back from Columbus and told me they were passing by Crew Stadium. I told him to spit in the general direction and he obliged. Thus the road was paved for the Sounders' miraculous victory.

With the win, Seattle slapped us nay-sayers upside the head as a reminder to keep the faith. Tough love, but appreciated. According to multiple sources (websites) they now have a 97.5% chance of making the playoffs. Nothing is assured, and I fully expect them to be embarrassed (again) by Kansas City in their next match. This post, however, will NOT be construed as a jinx. If the team chokes blame the chicken bone on an email the team sent us season-ticket holders. I'm glad they are giving us first crack at our seats and I quickly cracked/paid-up. I mention this whole thing to point out another miracle: Jon and I don't have to work on either of the possible home playoff dates. Trust me, that is a miracle.

Some, myself not included, might construe this as divine intervention. I will hold my judgement until such faith is warranted. But I have to believe there was some voodoo juju in Kevin's saliva. How else can you explain such an upset? You can't. I don't know anyone in the KC area to hock a loogie at the Wizards, so we'll have to do the next best thing. Get out your Kevin Harman doll and start poking it with pins. He deserves it, if for no other reason than his hair. If you don't have one, and I can understand if you don't since they sold out so quickly after the first meeting, you can easily make one. Just grab an old doll and bleach its hair badly, call it Fat Boy and you're done.

Zero points for the bozos

In case you were wondering, or haven't yet subscribed to the podcast, the post-game show for the Columbus match (October 3, 2009) is now available.

You can download all our shows via iTunes or directly from libsyn here.

Questions, comments, venomous disagreements, leave a comment here and we'll be sure to point and laugh.

Holy freakin' miracles Tribe!

Apparently not only must I taunt the Sounders to get them to win, but Troy must as well AND we need to speak these things aloud, record them and post them on the interwebs. If you need proof, check out our pre-game show for last night's match, right here.

We will be recording a post-game celebratory love-fest later and I will undoubtedly let you know through here.

One thing I need to put in print, GBS, WTF? You cost me 2 points!

Last week's postgame

Yeah, we know we took a while to produce a post-game for the New England match, but really, can you blame us?

Anyhow, here it be: all of the shows so far.

And we've already recorded the pre-game for the Columbus match AND introduced a fun new game to play, so all you Tribe who are looking to prove how amazing your foresight is had best send in your predictions if you want to be considered worthy.

Predictions need to include, final score, goal scorers for each side (and if a player is to net more than one, that must also be included). Results will be made on the post-game show.

Good luck.

Seattle bid for the World Cup

If you want the World cup to have a chance at coming to Seattle, fill out the petition

http://www.gousabid.com/city/local/SEATTLE-WA