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Canales Daily: The Sounders Fans Are Anything But Silent
Andrea Canales still hates artificial turf - but loves the support soccer gets in Seattle.
Aug 14, 2009 2:53:52 PM
By Andrea Canales
I may despise Seattle's artificial turf, but I'm pretty impressed by Seattle Sounders FC in general.
It didn't matter that a team newly arrived to a Major League Soccer had no track record of achievement to boast about. Seattle fans came out in droves for their squad. It didn't matter that the best coach in MLS was busy winning the league with the Columbus Crew. Seattle decided they wanted him, and they got their man. It didn't matter that the organization had been, despite the synthetic turf field, awarded the MLS Cup final - Seattle still bid for the Open Cup final as well, and then groused about missing out. It didn't matter that the city scored two of the biggest teams on tour in the USA, Chelsea and Barcelona, while other MLS locations had none entirely; fans still came out dressed mostly in that rare shade of green to show their Sounders support.
Go ahead, try telling Sounders fans that synthetic turf is terrible for the game. They'll leap to the defense of the plastic stuff, citing quotes and statistics designed to prove that their fake grass is the absolute best there is anywhere.
Mention that Freddie Ljungberg isn't the player he once was at Arsenal, and they'll shrug and launch into a description of the quality passing he is still capable of.
Say something about the empty upperdecks in Qwest Field, and they'll invite you to stand in their supporters sections and lose your hearing in a manner even Seahawks games can't manage.
Tell Seattle backers that they're bound to lose young talent Fredy Montero to a European league sooner than later and they're too busy congratulating themselves for having launched the next stage of his career to even note it as a drawback.
Basically, the whole Seattle Sounders FC experiment is perfect for MLS, the sleepy little U.S. league. It's loud and proud, audacious and bold and unapologetic in every way of their adoration for their team.
Why not, after all?
No one would get any traction or credibility in Argentina arguing to River Plate fans their club is insignificant because it doesn't play in Europe. In Brazil, no Flamengo fans would pay any attention to anyone telling them Adriano should go play in Europe. In Ecuador, LDU Quito fans don't abandon their squad as they take on Spanish giants Real Madrid. Don't bother informing people in Guatemala that the rivalry between Comunicaciones and Municipal doesn't matter because the teams will never play in the Champions League.
Sounders soccer matters in Seattle for the simple reason that people there have decided that it does and by remaining undeterred in that conviction, they have created that reality.
I've run into a lot of people who have set different standards and conditions for their support of soccer - my favorite is, "I'll support the US Men's National Team when they prove themselves worthy by winning the World Cup."
That's pretty much along the lines of deciding to tell your children you're proud of them only when they graduate summa cum laude from Harvard Medical School.
No, MLS isn't one of the big four leagues in Europe, but the point is, who cares?
Seattle certainly does care about their team, and the repercussions that could have in the future with kids there going to sleep at night dreaming of playing for the Sounders one day has yet to be realized. However, there's also an immediate impact.
I know tomorrow I'll look out over the stadium in Carson and see a group of their fans representing when the Sounders take on the Los Angeles Galaxy. They'll be doing all they can to push their players on to victory.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
Even if other MLS fans are occasionally peeved at the upstart nature of the club, Sounder fans have never given that permission. Maybe all the rain develops fortitude.
When is soccer going to make it in the US? I am often asked.
They don't really understand, but these days I tell them it'll happen when, across the country, other places are as stubborn as Seattle.
Andrea Canales is Chief Editor of Goal.com North America
Keep up on all the MLS action with Goal.com
I may despise Seattle's artificial turf, but I'm pretty impressed by Seattle Sounders FC in general.
It didn't matter that a team newly arrived to a Major League Soccer had no track record of achievement to boast about. Seattle fans came out in droves for their squad. It didn't matter that the best coach in MLS was busy winning the league with the Columbus Crew. Seattle decided they wanted him, and they got their man. It didn't matter that the organization had been, despite the synthetic turf field, awarded the MLS Cup final - Seattle still bid for the Open Cup final as well, and then groused about missing out. It didn't matter that the city scored two of the biggest teams on tour in the USA, Chelsea and Barcelona, while other MLS locations had none entirely; fans still came out dressed mostly in that rare shade of green to show their Sounders support.
Go ahead, try telling Sounders fans that synthetic turf is terrible for the game. They'll leap to the defense of the plastic stuff, citing quotes and statistics designed to prove that their fake grass is the absolute best there is anywhere.
Mention that Freddie Ljungberg isn't the player he once was at Arsenal, and they'll shrug and launch into a description of the quality passing he is still capable of.
Say something about the empty upperdecks in Qwest Field, and they'll invite you to stand in their supporters sections and lose your hearing in a manner even Seahawks games can't manage.
Tell Seattle backers that they're bound to lose young talent Fredy Montero to a European league sooner than later and they're too busy congratulating themselves for having launched the next stage of his career to even note it as a drawback.
Basically, the whole Seattle Sounders FC experiment is perfect for MLS, the sleepy little U.S. league. It's loud and proud, audacious and bold and unapologetic in every way of their adoration for their team.
Why not, after all?
No one would get any traction or credibility in Argentina arguing to River Plate fans their club is insignificant because it doesn't play in Europe. In Brazil, no Flamengo fans would pay any attention to anyone telling them Adriano should go play in Europe. In Ecuador, LDU Quito fans don't abandon their squad as they take on Spanish giants Real Madrid. Don't bother informing people in Guatemala that the rivalry between Comunicaciones and Municipal doesn't matter because the teams will never play in the Champions League.
Sounders soccer matters in Seattle for the simple reason that people there have decided that it does and by remaining undeterred in that conviction, they have created that reality.
I've run into a lot of people who have set different standards and conditions for their support of soccer - my favorite is, "I'll support the US Men's National Team when they prove themselves worthy by winning the World Cup."
That's pretty much along the lines of deciding to tell your children you're proud of them only when they graduate summa cum laude from Harvard Medical School.
No, MLS isn't one of the big four leagues in Europe, but the point is, who cares?
Seattle certainly does care about their team, and the repercussions that could have in the future with kids there going to sleep at night dreaming of playing for the Sounders one day has yet to be realized. However, there's also an immediate impact.
I know tomorrow I'll look out over the stadium in Carson and see a group of their fans representing when the Sounders take on the Los Angeles Galaxy. They'll be doing all they can to push their players on to victory.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
Even if other MLS fans are occasionally peeved at the upstart nature of the club, Sounder fans have never given that permission. Maybe all the rain develops fortitude.
When is soccer going to make it in the US? I am often asked.
They don't really understand, but these days I tell them it'll happen when, across the country, other places are as stubborn as Seattle.
Andrea Canales is Chief Editor of Goal.com North America
Keep up on all the MLS action with Goal.com
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