my top 10 “best” moments from SSFC inaugural season

over the next few weeks, i will be posting a few top ten lists. surely i will miss something obvious here and there. please feel free to add to the list, debate my selections and correct me in the posts.

10.  watching away games at the pub. I have loved the community of people that you get to know at the pub for the away games. during these matches, we aren’t ManU, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barca, Inter, AC, Juve, Munich, Celtic, Lyon, Marseilles, Ajax, Porto or Scunthorpe United fans…. we are SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC FANS. as a sounder fan, I almost like that one crazy ManU lady that just gets on my nerves every time I see her…. almost. not quite.

9. the extra time win against Houston in the USOC. I couldn’t go to the game, and it was being played over the interweb, so I did play by play for those that couldn’t watch… of course it went into AET but it was a fantastically exciting game. you can relive it via my post here http://gosounders.com/2009/07/21/usoc-houston-at-seattle-you-should-be-watching-now/

8. getting the golden scarf. you can read back on my posts if you like, but I am sure you will trust me when I say I have not been a fan of the scarf… it isn’t the idea or the scarf that i am not a fan of, honoring the soccer community for valid reasons is way cool. i just don’t/didn’t like the hoopla and presentation of it. it is over the top and kind of cheese. honoring people for the right reason is a great idea, and the scarf is cool, but we need to find a better way to present it.

anyway, you can imagine my torn feelings when I was told I would be receiving the golden scarf on the last regular season home game. I was honored… but how do I reconcile my dislike of the “ceremony”?  well you know what… the ceremony, when it was for me, was just fine   standing in front of you lot and holding up that scarf… not going to lie, it was pretty emotional and I really enjoyed it. yeah, this is me changing my tune…I guess it is kind of like thinking the prettiest girl in school is a biatch, until she gives you a wink one day…..

7. being the first to be voted onto the sounders council. for those out there that have tried, you know how hard it is to get 25 account holders to actually go to their computer and vote for you. my strategy was early and often. as soon as I heard it was available I made an excel spreadsheet (yes, I am a geek and I love excel… I would type my will in excel if I could) of all the people I knew with tickets. I then bugged the crap out of them for the next 4 weeks until I got my 25^thvote. the fact that there are only 10 of us shows how hard it is to get on, but also shows the passion that we seattle fans have.

6. the Barca and Chelsea friendlies. I have no love for either team, but there is no denying that both teams are super star filled. other than Real Madrid, I don’t think there are any other teams with as many individual super stars in the world. having them come to Seattle, play in front of 67,000 and be thoroughly impressed? well that just shows how special this town is and that soccer is a very important part of our culture. will that experience have raised a few eyebrows of what US Soccer Fans are about? absolutely! will help us sign bigger names down the road? well that is to be seen, but it sure didn’t hurt.

5. beating KC Wiz away to secure our first playoff berth in our first year. we had many ups and downs this season, periods where we would only draw and times where we couldn’t find the back of the net at home to save our life. most new teams would have folded. but we are not like most. our team held together, stayed mentally strong, went to Columbus and won, and then the next week went to KC and won with a convincing performance. we, SSFC, are a first year team and we are in the playoffs. no matter what happened  after that, it solidified  the fact that the first year was a 100% success

4. the signing of Kasey Keller and Freddie Ljungberg. Kasey Keller is the best keeper to ever pull on the USMNT jersey, has played in the top flight of England, Germany and Spain, and is now a sounder. Freddie Ljungberg was the captain of Sweden, voted 8^thbest Arsenal player EVER by the fans (and this is after he left for west ham). yes, both of them have peaked, but bothof them are still very very very good. the fact that both could still have played in many top flight teams throughout Europe, but decided to play for the sounders was and still is huge. I loved at FL10’s first meeting of the fans he was asked but an unknowing Calabro what he thought about Keller. Freddie said something to the effect of “well, he played for Tottenham so I am not supposed to like him”.

3. traveling down and then winning in Portland. this was my first taste of the Portland rivalry in their home pitch and it tasted so sweet. the quick goal, the flares, the singing, the timbers fans coming in and taunting us, that one guy biting and getting hauled off, Portland making a game of it but the ultimate win!!!! can’t wait for 2011

2. winning the USO cup. nope, it isn’t the most prestigious thing going, but it is silverware that every team we played and beat wanted to win as well, and you know what… ha ha ha ha. you didn’t. this team of players who have never played together before this year won it, and they did it away to DC United at that…. they win trophies you know…. www.butyoudidntwinthisone.com

oh, and waiting for 4 hours in the cold and rain for the team to fly into boeing was a lot of fun too.

1. opening day. I knew it would be fun, I know it would be special, but nothing prepared me for how I felt that day. we all know the MLS isn’t a premier league in this world, and I was ready to support my local, but damnit did I just fall in love with an MLS Team? after talking to many ex pats from europe, they were just as shocked as I was…. I have another team. I have another team.

what’d i miss?