The average attendance for Sounders league
matches at Qwest Field (as of July 25) is 30,204. People. In one place.
For comparison’s sake: a rock show at the Paramount (2,807), a concert
at KeyArena (16,641), a festival at the Gorge (25,000). Picture
Sasquatch! Now add SIFF opening night at the Paramount. Now go ahead
and add David Byrne at the Paramount also. Now put them all downtown
and let them fight for parking or try to find a bike rack. That’s what
happens at nearly every single match of a sport that people have always
said could never catch on in America.
The Sounders’ average attendance is nearly double the estimated
Major Soccer League average of 15,599. Attendance greater than 30,000
has been announced at the last several recent Sounders home matches,
against teams like San Jose (average attendance: 10,657), D.C.
(14,003), Houston (15,632), and Chicago (12,838). These crowd figures
place Seattle at number one in Major League Soccer—which the
Sounders only joined this year—comfortably ahead of the other 14
teams. Number two is Toronto at 20,277. Dallas is last with 9,464.
The average Sounders attendance is less than half the number of
people who go see the average Seahawks game (67,995 last year) in the
same stadium. But it’s just about equal to the number of people who go
see the Mariners (28,761 last year, 32,992 in 2007). And lest it be
forgotten that there used to be a professional men’s basketball team in
this town, Sounders attendance is greater than the combined averages of
the last two years of Sonics supporters—though the comparison
might not be fair, since everyone knew the Sonics were leaving town and
many decided to cut their losses (ambiguity intentional). The Storm,
despite being the best sports ticket in town before the Sounders’
emergence, drew an average of only 8,265 last year.
Why should Seattle, of all places, have so raging a boner for so
anti-American a pastime?
Well, the easy answer is in the question. But to go slightly deeper,
let us consider the anti-soccer faction. It’s easy to find middlebrows
and neocons grinding axes about the sport on blog after loudmouth blog.
Franklin Foer’s otherwise somewhat-impenetrable book How Soccer
Explains the World offers a dedicated list of prominent footie
opponents, including USA Today‘s Tom Weir, who once wrote that
“hating soccer is more American than apple pie, driving a pickup, or
spending Saturday afternoons channel surfing.” The late senator and
1996 vice-presidential candidate (and retired pro “real” football
player) Jack Kemp derided soccer as “socialist” on the floor of the
U.S. Congress. Radio sports loudmouth Jim Rome has long made his
antipathy for soccer a point of pride (“I will hand [my son] ice skates
and a shimmering sequined blouse before I hand him a soccer ball.
Soccer is not a sport, does not need to be on TV…”). Fractionally
less-hysterical language comes from Allen Barra of the Wall Street
Journal: “Yes, okay, soccer is the most ‘popular’ sport in the
world… So what? Maybe other countries can’t afford football,
basketball, and baseball leagues; maybe if they could afford these
other sports, they’d enjoy them even more.” I did say fractionally.
You may detect a recurring tone in these objections. Soccer is not
simply unenjoyable, it’s a threat to our way of life (however bovine
that way of life may be), our government, our economy, our manhood.
You’d think they were talking about electric cars. But no less a
liberal pinup than Keith Olbermann is a notorious mocker of the sport
and its worldwide appeal; his dismissive asides began when he was an
ESPN anchor and continue on his MSNBC broadcasts. And in a hilarious
report occasioned by Team USA’s upset victory over Spain, Stephen
Colbert declared soccer “the sport for fourth graders that foreign
people take seriously.” Fair enough.
The truth is, complaints against soccer may not be fundamentally
aesthetic, but psychological. It issues from the unalterable human
tendency to interpret other people’s preference for things other than
your favorites as a judgment against you—you like soccer, so you
must be saying that football is for assholes. In which case,
soccer is for assholes, asshole. The details are just filler.
Why else would anyone care? People make fun of the sport the way people
make fun of Canada—it’s the easiest target imaginable. Until you
go to Canada, that is.
British author Nick Hornby’s memoir
Fever Pitch is a book-length struggle to define the psychology
of loving soccer. “When there is some kind of triumph,” he writes, “the
pleasure does not radiate from the players outwards until it reaches
the likes of us at the back of the terraces in a pale and diminished
form; our fun is not a watery version of the team’s fun… The joy we
feel on occasions like this is not a celebration of others’ good
fortune, but a celebration of our own; and when there is a disastrous
defeat, the sorrow that engulfs us is, in effect, self-pity… I am
part of the club, just as the club is part of me.”
Did someone say crushing defeat? Several weekends ago, the Sounders
got properly trounced in an exhibition match against the English
Premier League powerhouse Chelsea FC (average home attendance: 41,588).
The 2–0 final score doesn’t begin to communicate the degree to
which Chelsea effortlessly dominated Seattle from the first touch to
the last whistle. But Chelsea’s effortless dominance failed to deter
the Sounders crowd from throwing its collective heart and lungs behind
the men in the Xbox jerseys. (Speaking of which, the ultimate sign of
the Sounders’ popularity might be the fact that every week tens of
thousands of Seattleites dress themselves in an ad for Microsoft, of
all things, to show their support.)
Walking into Qwest Field—surrounded on all sides by people
wearing green-and-blue Xbox shirts and scarves, and bouncing on their
tiptoes in eagerness to find their seats despite the fact that
everybody in the stadium stands for the entire match, cheering loudly,
chatting convivially—the scene is captivating. The game-day
crowds blabber loudly and often knowledgeably about the sport, with the
classic stadium dilemma in full effect: one know-it-all guy incessantly
shouting instructions to the players (“Get off the pitch! You’re not
hurt!”), coach, and refs while others commiserate a few rows down by
making fun of his analysis. Is it the allure of highly paid foreign
players on the marquee? Possibly, but as dazzling as they often are,
Freddie Ljungberg, Fredy Montero, Osvaldo Alonso, and their confreres
ain’t David Beckham in terms of star power. Is it novelty? Is it trend
hopping? Is it that athletic men running in shorts for 90 minutes is
empirically super hot? Is it that the game itself is thrilling in ways
you wouldn’t imagine? Maybe. Or maybe it’s just that there’s finally a
local men’s pro sports team that you can feel genuinely good about
cheering for, since they haven’t yet had an opportunity to demonstrate
the telltale trait of Seattle sports teams: choking in the home
stretch.
But also… I mean, of COURSE Seattle would be into soccer. It’s
almost too perfect. It’s the hybrid car with the Obama bumper sticker
of pro sports, a distillation of exactly what people from Des Moines to
Des Moines think is so noxious about Seattleites with their fleece
jackets and their recumbent bikes and their lattes and their
solar-powered condos and their adopted minority babies and their
gay-marriage advocacy and… Despite having no political affiliation or
even reverberation, soccer fits comfortably into any generic
anti-liberal screed you’d care to level. And yet, is it not awesome? Go
to a game, you’ll see: Soccer is awesome. Fact. The negative energy
sent by the Romes and Olbermanns of the world is like a dare; let them
judge our motives, our attitudes, our pretensions—we’ll be over
here enjoying the match. They are free to hate the player, but they
should stop hating the game.
This city has had plenty of time to warm
up to its more conventional sports, and it basically has, at least when
those teams are winning. But can it ever be what journalists call a
“sports town”? The conflict between mass culture and cool culture rages
more conspicuously in Seattle proper than in any other comparable city
in America. Not to say it’s hard to be into sports here. This is
America, after all. Rather, it’s easier to reject sports here without
feeling like a complete outcast. Some places, you talk about football
or nothing, baseball or nothing. Seattle truly is not like that, and on
purpose—though you can always find those conversations if you
want them. The middle ground, in which a casual interest in sports is
incorporated into an otherwise sports-free lifestyle, may be a little
harder to navigate. (Maybe not, though. Plenty of indie rockers go to
Ms games, after all.) Yet soccer stands astride the Manichean split
between the sports culture that dominates everything in American life
and the let’s call it “other” culture that Seattle has spent the last
several decades exemplifying. Despite its Euro patina, it is also
unmistakably virile, unmistakably sports. What a soccer game doesn’t
look like, maybe feel like is more accurate, is a football game.
It doesn’t feel lived in and predetermined and institutional. It feels
new. Sports, yes. But new.
As many a hater has pointed out, American TV has a difficult time
with soccer’s pace and scope. The mistake, of course, is blaming the
sport—futbol is the only thing worth looking at on most
European networks. For
commentators obsessed with imposing a
narrative on every second of every play—and using lengthy
built-in pauses to bloviate analysis, regurgitate stats, and sell
beer—soccer is an organic downer. The clock only stops twice in a
match, the game requires a widescreen perspective, and the tempo is
deceptively languid considering how much sprinting is being done. The
drama that arises is necessarily sudden and fleeting. Whereas football
and basketball rely on manipulation of time, stretching 12- and
15-minute periods out endlessly by slicing them into infinitesimal
subsections, and baseball is unbound by any temporal imperative, soccer
time is immutably progressive—long enough to seem like a full
meal, but finite and unforgiving. Low scores also confound soccer’s
critics, who don’t appreciate the explosive payoff of making each goal
precious and difficult to achieve (see also: the word “goal”) or the
purity of one goal = one point.
Maybe purity is the allure. The game is incredibly simple: 11
players try to move a ball down a field without using their hands,
while 11 other players try to do the same in the opposite direction.
Take away the jersey logos and Jumbotrons, and what you’re watching
isn’t substantially different from what you’d have seen 2,000 years
ago. You can’t say that about any of the big three American sports, all
of which are governed by arcane logic and systems that only make sense
if you don’t question them.
Sports fandom is the ultimate pop-culture thing that you don’t have
to be cool, or smart, or rich, or talented, or good-looking to do. It
belongs to everyone. But many feel that in truth, it belongs to
everyone else. And it can be a drag when everyone else already
knows everything there is to know about something you’re attempting to
discover. Sounders soccer, Seattle soccer, American soccer is a
constant process of real-time, learn-as-you-go discovery. It’s
available to anyone, yes, but not yet dominated by Everyone. This
enables people who otherwise don’t feel comfortable saying “we” to say
it about groups of 30,000 people. Like this: “We were down one-nil and
the refs were really against us, but Fredy scored and then Freddie
scored and we won!” We won. Instead of feeling faintly silly, or
at least inaccurate—”we” didn’t really win anything; “we” just
watched them run their asses off for 90 minutes—they simply
identify. It’s such an obvious transaction to any sports fan. But MLS
is not just any sport. It is fledgling, inchoate, hopeful, an underdog,
an acquired taste, in beta stage. And Seattle loves a beta stage.
Every Sounders fan knows the team, the league, the whole enterprise
could easily fail financially as similar efforts to Americanize soccer
have failed so many times in the past. The partisan documentary Once
in a Lifetime tells the agonizing story of a so-close-yet-so-far
campaign in the late 1970s, led by the well-funded superstar
clearinghouse New York Cosmos, who had every opportunity to drive the
sport into the American consciousness—including corporate
ownership and global superstars like Pelé on board—and
even scored a TV contract with ABC, before it all went the way of
Studio 54. And so there is some degree of urgency at Sounders matches,
a combination of cheering extra loud because every little bit helps and
taking it all in now before it goes away. But the dominant energy is
ascendant jubilation in the fact that this is really happening. We’re
really watching pro soccer in America. And we’re really a we. Aren’t
we?
If there was any doubt about the We
relation between Sounders supporters and the Sounders themselves, it
was answered in the second half of the July 11 match against the
Houston Dynamo. Houston was dominant in the first half, scoring early
and maintaining commanding pressure throughout. Seattle equalized with
a stumbling but effective Fredy Montero goal at the 31-minute mark,
then returned from halftime on fire, scoring again almost immediately
with a beautifully acrobatic, if semiaccidental bicycle kick (the kind
Pelé did in the movie Victory) by Patrick Ianni. With the
momentum turned decisively in the home team’s favor, the unbridled roar
of the assembled mass was loud enough to drown out the brass band and
the announcer. The sun was beaming, the sky was clear, tiny pieces of
green, blue, and silver Mylar confetti sparkled across the field like
little gay shrapnel. This was a good Saturday afternoon. But then one
of the essential sports tropes happened: A villain emerged. Houston
defender Craig Waibel—bald, six-foot-two, and impressively
imposing—became frustrated with the tide having turned against
his team, and in the most blatant foul of the match, grabbed Montero by
the jersey, swung him around in a full circle, and threw him to the
ground. The crowd, already on its feet, went berserk, shouting, “WHAT
THE FUCK!?” and “RED CARD! REEEEEEEEEED! THROW HIM OUT! OUUUUUUUUUT!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
It was exhilarating to be in the midst of such a thunderclap of
intense negative emotion on such a glorious day. But the emotion was
honorable and earned: Fredy had been wronged! Our Fredy! And no red
card! Not even a yellow! No matter. From that point onward, the
Sounders were pure stealth, and the crowd was with them for every step.
But the villain was about to raise the stakes, like any good villain
must. A few minutes later, as Waibel was about to throw the ball in
from the sideline, Freddie Ljungberg got up in his face to flummox him.
Waibel, in a gesture equal parts frustration and absurdism, bonked the
ball down on Ljungberg’s head. Apoplexy. Outrage. The crowd redoubled
its ballistic assault, demanding Waibel’s bald head on a platter. And
again, no penalty. This would not stand. In the grand scheme of
athletic assaults (one thinks of Tyson, Iverson, Zidane), a bonk on the
head with a soccer ball is small potatoes. But it was an unmistakable
sign of disrespect for Ljungberg, the Sounders’ most recognizable star
and the team’s undeniable heart. He may as well have boxed Ljungberg’s
ears. For the rest of the match, every time Waibel got anywhere near
the ball, everyone booed. If he dribbled a few yards: “BOOOOOOOO!” If
he was guarding a Sounders forward till they passed: “BOOOOO!” If he
just tapped the ball to clear it: “Boo!” When the game was over, he got
booed right off the field, unforgiven in defeat for the disgrace of
being unsportsmanlike. It visibly rattled him as he trudged to the
locker room. (I’m not sure how many people in the crowd knew that he
used to play for the Sounders before they became an MLS team.) It was
funny and mean and exactly right—an authentic sports experience.
And when the game ended, the ecstatic crowd felt like it had been
transformed definitively. The Sounders had played a fine match and
prevailed against a tough opponent.
But We won. 
Hey! When did the Stranger hire Ring Lardner?
Such an enjoyable read. Thank you, Sean. I’m a true fan and happy to get behind this fantastic sport and organization.
Tonight it’s Barca vs. Sounders FC, and even if Barca’s destined to dominate, most everyone I’ve talked to (planning to attend) plan to join together to celebrate the game, in all it’s glory, while WE watch our Sounders FC take on the world champions!
I would like to say, I understood your point of using Des Moines as a middle america F soccer reference, but would like to point out that the Des Moines menace play in the PDL(the lowest tier of american soccer) and regularly get 4k supporters for amatures and college players, hell they even have their own supporters group as small as it may be they still are just as passionate for soccer.
also, as a side note, I really meant to add Great piece of writing. I think all non soccer fans should read this. Your really convey what its like to be a soccer fan.
“distillation of exactly what people from Des Moines to Des Moines think is so noxious about Seattleites with their fleece jackets and their recumbent bikes and their lattes and their solar-powered condos and their adopted minority babies and their gay-marriage advocacy”
What is with Coasters and this ignorant Iowa-bashing? My guy grew up there, and DM is still the quintessence of moderate, live-land-let-live school of American thought. If you want proof of how stupid your comment is, take a good look at the last item on your rant list. Last I heard, gay couples were getting married in Des Moines, but not Seattle.
Why?
One word:
punkassedfaggots
In your picture: Which of those faces is (a little bit) not like the others?
Sounders fans are nearly 100% white men. White men typically dislike being around women and minorities in their free time — and they sure do have a lot of free time.
White men make up 32% of Seattle. I would be interested in any article in The Stranger covering an event that isn’t dominated by that 32% minority.
“What is with Coasters and this ignorant Iowa-bashing? My guy grew up there, and DM is still the quintessence of moderate, live-land-let-live school of American thought. If you want proof of how stupid your comment is, take a good look at the last item on your rant list. Last I heard, gay couples were getting married in Des Moines, but not Seattle.”
OH SNAP!
not sure if you actually went to the Chelsea game, but I would disagree with your assessment. I believe your view of that game would be accurate if you were describing the clinic Messi and the Barca squad put on last night. The Sounders had many scoring chances in the Chelsea game. Soccer haters are merely confused simpletons in a complex world.
Already addressed by T-Man this morning.
Hey Iowa, it was a decent example, lets admit it, sorry that it happens to be somewhat cool in Des Moines, most everywhere has a silver lining, but none of you live there anymore, and your quick-to-defend comments seem somewhat insecure. Lets be honest, had he used Omaha, or Kansas Ciy, some other transplant would have taken your place.
The “arcane logic” of football, baseball, hockey, & basketball (in roughly descending order of arcane-ness) is exactly what makes those sports interesting. For those of us who find soccer boring — and there are many of us — its “purity” is part of the reason why.
Well, that and the scarves. What is this, Hogwart’s?
Excellent piece, Sean. If only the rest of the paper was this good all the time.
Short version of this story: Soccer is fun so shut the fuck up you haters.
We need more seasons tickets and more game-day single tickets.
Sell more, Sounders!
Soccer is populare here because Seattle so desperately likes to think of itself as uniquely un-American and some sort of special liberal bastion of the U.S.
Too bad Des Moines has gay marriage and cities like San Francisco, Boston, and New York are just as if not more liberal than Seattle but somehow aren’t lame enough to latch onto soccer for soft warm feelings of “We”
There are a handful reasons why soccer hasn’t caught on in America, all of which say a lot about our society:
1. No stopped clock means very little, if any, time for advertising, aside from the jerseys and ticker along the field. If it can’t be dominated by a corporation and manipulated by the media, it’s not American.
2. It’s a sport that requires incredible athleticism to play—far more than our nation’s past time. Comparatively few people grew up playing it and, thus, there is not that “personal” connection with the sport that many Americans have with baseball or football. How many times have you heard someone say—“Soccer? That’s just too much running.”
3. There’s less physical contact than in football or basketball. Americans love gladiatorial exploits in which the players beat the shit out of each other.
4. There’s no instant gratification in soccer. It’s a game that takes patience to watch–though that long awaited goal is worth far more than 120 points in basketball, in my opinion.
5. It’s a sport in which America cannot dominate the rest of the world.
Really, most Americans are, presently, too insular, fat, and slow (mentally and physically) to wholly appreciate and/or embrace the magnificence of the world’s sport. Having grown up playing basketball and watching the “big three” American sports, witnessing my first world cup, when I was in high school, was a complete epiphany for me. Of course, no sport is perfect and soccer certainly has its share of corruption, money, and other issues, but it’s really encouraging to see the MLS continue to grow, and for all the labels one might slap on Sounders fans, I’m pleased with how many people in the States are joining the rest of the world in appreciating a spectacular sport.
Soccer players are hotter than football, basketball, and most baseball players; the Seattle demographic may respond to that difference more readily.
What should be mentioned is the unique style of ownership, as pimped by Drew Carey, part owner.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/so…
It’s pretty cool, and mildly democratic.
@ Pithy:
1.) Soccer makes up for lack of TV advertising dollars with those stupid-looking jersey sponsorships, the Xbox Pitch, the ads all over the side of the field, etc. Not an issue.
2.) Dollars to donuts more kids in the U.S. grow up playing soccer than football. Or baseball, for that matter.
3.) Physical contact is a plus for an American audience, that’s true — but it’s not the only thing, otherwise we’d all just watch MMA instead of the NFL.
4.) The same could be said of baseball, although mercifully it doesn’t end in ties. 90 minutes with a single break doesn’t take that much patience, just a reasonably strong bladder.
5.) Yes, America certainly can’t win the women’s World Cup or go to the Gold Cup final in South Africa, or whatever. Besides, it’s not like we dominate the rest of the world in real football, since no one but the Canadians even plays anything similar to American football.
Soccer is popular in Seattle for three reasons:
– Rich local tradition of pro teams (NASL, USL) and large local playing audience
– Idiot hipsters who are just too cool for other major sports (cf. Stranger staff)
– Transplants who finally have a Seattle team they can embrace without abandoning their precious Red Sox, Bears, Cubs, Packers, etc.
I get it, Sean: you had to break up Harvey Danger so you could follow your new-found muse as a soccer journalist.
Another reason soccer is great and why the Sounders get it right: pregame drinking, I mean neighborhood outreach, is practically encouraged with the “march to the match” from Pioneer Square’s bar district, and the rowdiest fans are segregated into a general admission area that’s clearly marked as not for the squeamish, where they can freely chant “let him die” whenever an opposing player falls to the ground. An “all inclusive” ticket encourages families to sit all the way at the opposite end of the stadium.
Contrast to the Mariners’ uber-cautious kid-friendly approach, featuring a crowd of cell-phone-talking moms and dads and grandmas who complain when anyone decides to yell anything derogatory about either team. Or Seahawks fans, whose idea of awesome fan support basically consists of screaming as loud as they can whenever the team’s on defense.
Our biggest hurdles as a “soccer town” are still to come: MLS’ strict salary cap means the best Americans leave for Europe after the US system develops them, and others move around between teams almost at random.
Whereas with the last Seattle sports infatuation we had the likes of Griffey, Johnson, Buhner and Martinez to cheer for for years, Sounders fans might be unpleasantly surprised by the turnover and the ensuing inconsistency.
Hate to say it but I think @20 nailed it. If I had a quarter for every person I knew who hated on professional sports only to go out and buy a sounder jersey, I would have about $2.25.
Personally, I really don’t care for all the flopping and tied scores.
You left out something obvious and important, I think: people grow up playing soccer here, and they keep playing as adults. There are a couple adult soccer leagues here, and just one of them (Co-Rec Soccer Association) has up to 488 men’s, women’s or co-ed teams playing every season. That includes Winter, where on any given night, you’ll see 35-year olds playing night games in the 40-degree rain. Year after year we play, until our knees give out. People who continue to play a sport are likely to want to go watch it, and they’re going to be very knowledgeable about it. It has nothing to do with political outlook, being a “hipster” or anything else. We like to play, so we like to watch. Pretty simple.
As far as I know, there aren’t adult (American) football leagues, and adult softball/hardball leagues are only Spring/Summer, right? Are there other sports a lot of people play as kids that they can keep playing as adults? Not that I can think of.
You left out something obvious and important, I think: people grow up playing soccer here, and they keep playing as adults. There are a couple adult soccer leagues here, and just one of them (Co-Rec Soccer Association) has up to 488 men’s, women’s or co-ed teams playing every season. That includes Winter, where on any given night, you’ll see 35-year olds playing night games in the 40-degree rain. Year after year we play, until our knees give out. People who continue to play a sport are likely to want to go watch it, and they’re going to be very knowledgeable about it. It has nothing to do with political outlook, being a “hipster” or anything else. We like to play, so we like to watch. Pretty simple.
As far as I know, there aren’t adult (American) football leagues, and adult softball/hardball leagues are only Spring/Summer, right? Are there other sports a lot of people play as kids that they can keep playing as adults? Not that I can think of.
What a pathetic bunch of drivel. “WE” limited to Soccer? What a crock. “WE” is a part of every sport. It’s obvious that the writer of this garbage has never allowed himself to embrace a sport before because it would be so uncool to join in with the group. I bet he through out his copy of Nevermind as soon as it started getting airplay – even if he bought it the day it came out. “Too Commercial” he said. If it’s popular – it must be rebelled against.”Nevermind” that he loved the actual content. What a load.
I remember Warren Moon running 90 yards against USC in 1976 – and WE Won! I remember Dennis Johnson tossing a basketball high in the air as Les Habbegger hopped across the the floor at the Capital Center in Landover Maryland – WE WON the World Championship! I remember Chuck Knox being carried off the field in Miami after WE WON a playoff game against the Dolphins. I remember calling my Sister in Oklahoma after Griffey slid home. All I said was – “AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
I didn’t need to say anything else because – WE WON!
I’m sorry you haven’t discovered the joy of “WE” until now. Maybe you could become a WSU fan – you could learn to say We Couged it again! – would that make you feel better?
What a pathetic bunch of drivel. “WE” limited to Soccer? What a crock. “WE” is a part of every sport. It’s obvious that the writer of this garbage has never allowed himself to embrace a sport before because it would be so uncool to join in with the group. I bet he through out his copy of Nevermind as soon as it started getting airplay – even if he bought it the day it came out. “Too Commercial” he said. If it’s popular – it must be rebelled against.”Nevermind” that he loved the actual content. What a load.
I remember Warren Moon running 90 yards against USC in 1976 – and WE Won! I remember Dennis Johnson tossing a basketball high in the air as Les Habbegger hopped across the the floor at the Capital Center in Landover Maryland – WE WON the World Championship! I remember Chuck Knox being carried off the field in Miami after WE WON a playoff game against the Dolphins. I remember calling my Sister in Oklahoma after Griffey slid home. All I said was – “AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
I didn’t need to say anything else because – WE WON!
I’m sorry you haven’t discovered the joy of “WE” until now. Maybe you could become a WSU fan – you could learn to say We Couged it again! – would that make you feel better?
Oh Please…. They won, you watched.
I don’t hate soccer. I’m just indifferent to all organized sporting. It may as well be Nascar for all I care.
What is this “verile”? Seattle folks are “verile”?
@22, there are adult football leagues. There’s the Kent County Jaguars for men, and there’s also a women’s league which has the Seattle Majestics. There’s also various flag football teams that people can play on if you search around.
The reason there’s not A LOT of options for adult football is the expense that goes into playing. As a Majestic, my equipment alone ran me at least $700 this season.
@26 – I imagine significantly fewer gay, artsy, liberal, literate, fashionable, female, or otherwise ostracizable teenagers were beaten up, roughed up, verbally taunted, gang-raped, or otherwise fucked with by soccer players in the way a good number of us might remember being by players of the sport the rest of the world calls gridiron. So there are no associations that breed resentment and enmity; it’s easier to feel included in the victory, less inclined to feel like that feeling of “WE” is something from which we were deliberately, and perhaps inexplicably, excluded.
That is to say, it might be a matter of being “too cool” to participate in mainstream sports, but it may also be a matter of having been forced out of that world earlier in life, and deciding to be okay with that.
Finally, I think the assumption that one would like soccer solely for its outsider appeal is rather like the assumption that one would only like postpunk or art-films or, I dunno, shaven eyebrows simply because its transgressive. Sure, there are posers out there who are only in it for appearances. There are also not a few who just like what they like. That this liking may have grown out of past experiences or the social phenomenon of your choice doesn’t make the preference insincere. All preference, after all, be it for black coffee, industrial music, or, well, soccer, is affectation.
“Sounders fans are nearly 100% white men. White men typically dislike being around women and minorities in their free time — and they sure do have a lot of free time.
White men make up 32% of Seattle. I would be interested in any article in The Stranger covering an event that isn’t dominated by that 32% minority.”
Oh for the love of god, what a typically stupid politically correct man-hating Seattle thing to say. First, get your head out of your ass and come see a game. Lots of women, kids and minorities…in fact more than either football or baseball. Soccer is the World’s game and is reflected in the number of Hispanics, Africans and others who attend soccer games in Seattle and around the world.
Second, the picture is of the Supporter section of the stadium which I’ll admit is more predominantly white, young and male (but I do see some other colors you obviously missed). A picture of most other parts of the stadium would reflect a bit more diversity that still wouldn’t move you to come see a game because you’re more interested in hating white men than enjoy a collective joyful experience.
Go away.
To thelyamhound –
I’m sorry for your painful experiences – there is no excuse for anyone to be treated the way you describe. For what it’s worth – I’d be happy to welcome you to watch any game with me. If you’re a Gay, Artsy, Literate, Liberal and Fashionable Female – all the better!
My point is only that the author of this article is a complete nincompoop. “WE” is not exclusive to the sport of Soccer. “WE” have been having a grand time rooting for our teams for quite some time.
P.S. at the local Christian Liberal Arts University I attended in the mid 80’s on the north side of Queen Anne. Hill, the team with the very reputation you describe was the SOCCER team. A Girl who went to Soccer Parties was “that kind of girl”
No problem, martin7341. I was fortunate enough to wriggle my way out of the ugly side of things with copious martial arts training. By high school, I was to the band as the Golem of Prague was to the residents of Prague’s Jewish ghetto. 🙂
I’m male (and dubiously fashionable), and if I’m gay, well, my wife’ll be pretty disappointed; I just tried to cover everything that could put you in danger in little bergs like Helena, MT. I’ll certainly cop to artsy, literate, and liberal (depending on how we define our terms).
“We” may not be exclusive to the sport of soccer, but it’s worth noting that a lot of the “hipsters” derided in the meta (and note: like “bourgeois,” if you use the word as a pejorative, you probably ARE it) fled here from small, Western towns where they felt fundamentally unwelcome. It’s possible, if not downright likely, that they don’t feel part of the “WE” that got to participate in love of the other sports.
Since I can neither confirm nor deny that you accurately describe your situation in the ’80s, I’ll buy it arguendo. It’s not unimaginable to me that lean Europhiles less acceptable out in the provinces, where I grew up, represented that black heart of mainstream maledom here in a semi-urban area.
Frankly, I like soccer because it’s associated with better music. Now when are we gonna get a RUGBY team?
@ 28 — That’s a typo, sadly. It’s been fixed. The copyeditors have been killed and eaten.
@24, I think you pretty much nailed it. There are tons and tons of people who play soccer in seattle. At a Sounders match it is immediately impressive the shape that the supporters are in. Everyone is obviously either a current or former player, or the significant other of one.
It’s also apparent because *everybody* knows when to cheer, when to boo, and when to clutch your head and double-over… AND when to stomp and BOO furiously, then turn to your neighbor and say “Yeah, that was probably a good call.”
@33
Seattle has a team in the highest-level rugby league in the States, the Rugby Super League. Old Puget Sound Beach RFC has been around since 1971. Granted, it’s not the best rugby around, but it’s probably the best we’ll see for the sport in this country any time soon.
@31 – Sounders crowds are whiter than a Republican convention. My friend’s quote watching the pre-game parade. “Man, white people sure like soccer,” and then later, in the stands, pointng deep within the crowd: “Look! A black dude!”
Not trying to slight soccer or its Seattle fans. Just pointing out the obvious.
For me it was a joy when the U.S. led Brazil 2-0 at halftime in the Confederation Cup championship game. Too bad the Brazillians came back to win.
One thing that appeals to me about futebol is the combination of individual initiative and team play. When you get the ball there is no set play, you have to figure it out on the spot. But it is very much a team sport where people help each other and teamwork beats selfishness. In comparison, American football seems like a regimented fascist kind of game based on force and violence and do what you are told. Soccer is more creative, a metaphor for the combination of individual independence and community effort that makes a successful society. The Brazilians have a phrase “futebol do arte” to express how they like to see the game played. The Sounders are playing pretty football and fans love it.
Excellent article. Thank you.
It inspired this:
http://soccersoapbox.com/2009/08/08/majo…
Cheers.
@ # 7 –
There’s a black dude in the picture!
Soccer is fun so shut the fuck up you haters.
The contingents in Latin-heavy populations lead MLS teams like Chivas USA to draw decent crowds at home, while Seattle has a lot of George and Dragon sorts of fans who spent years following European soccer and probably pining for a chance at anything resembling such a local club of their own. there is something about club fandom in Europe that is so much more involving and different than fandom of popular sports here in America. Even American football, as passionate as fans are here for the NFL and college football, doesn’t get as wrapped up and rabid as, say, fans of English Premier League teams do.
So when Seattle got a chance at a top level MLS club, all these somewhat-closeted soccer fans jumped on the bandwagon and Sounders FC took off.
There’s something sociocultural about the population in Seattle that’s too convoluted to succinctly explain which made it ripe for a successful MLS fanbase. But it was a fit here, probably better than MLS will ever see again. Portland will try once they get their MLS team as they’re a similar bunch, but they won’t bring the crowds or intensity the Sounders fans do.
How much of the strength of the fanbase was based on the early success of the team? As you recall, the team won its first three games in style. I know those games were all sellouts, but my guess is that there wouldn’t be quite the bandwagon if they had started out struggling the way they are now. Last weekend, I went to the G&D to watch the game, and it was not nearly as packed as it was early in the season.
For me, being a California transplant of 8 years, it’s a chance to root for a Seattle team. I hate the Seahawks, don’t care for the Mariners or Huskies, and don’t really care about the Storm. I love many neighborhoods and institutions within Seattle, but I’ve always felt outside the sports teams because my favorite teams are in direct competition. Seattle is a city of transplants and expats, and the Sounders are a chance to build a real community.
I totally buy the point on ‘purity’.
I can’t get into ‘American’ sports because there’s comparatively little actual playing going on per game. I’m not going to watch a sport that takes longer then ten minutes to explain all the rules. Even rugby is pushing it.
That, and I think it’s gaining popularity in general because it’s so much cheaper and safer for kids to play then football. As far as I know, no one’s ever died playing soccer, and pretty much all you need is the ball.
@7: The Stranger covers violent crime…
It would be great to see how many people show up to bars to watch the sounders games… anyone want to start counting?
43. I can recall a lot of colleagues and locals who snapped up season tix the second they came available. I’m not sure they sell out every match if they don’t win the first three matches, but they were assured good crowds provided they didn’t completely crap the bed out of the gate.
It also helps that they play an up tempo attacking style that’s more fun to watch than the typical cautiously plodding MLS/Latino style.
Sounders attendance would be even greater if more seats were opened up!
As the south end so aptly put during our learning experience at the hands of Barcelona-
“WE CAN’T HEAR A FUCKING THING”
Yeah, that made it on the air.
I say that to all the haters who want to bash the real ‘football’.
And as a bonus, the worlds game has no time outs, no commercial breaks when on the tele, and a political system more complex than anything the BCS can come up with.
This is for all of you latte drinking, Kool-Aid slurping, Obama voting, Prius driving, sandal wearing, Kumbaya singing, vegatarian eating, socialist pond scum. When “your” Sounders can EQUAL them folks in Green Bay, then we can talk. Read the AP story I have included and lets see if your nutrino sized brain can wrap itself around the facts presented.
And I have one question for all of you. Do you really believe you would have your shity, minor league, sawker team if it were not for PAUL ALLEN, you know, the OWNER of that “inferior” team, that plays that “inferior” sport called American Football. Whats the name of that team, can’t seem to remember but I think it is some kind of bird. Anyway, That TEAM named after a bird that plays that “inferior” sport is worth what $1 Billion dollars give or take a 100 million. And some guy named Matt Hasselbeck, I think he throws the ball or something like that, he makes what:
2/22/2005: Signed a six-year, $47 million contract. The deal included a $16 million signing bonus. 2009: $5.25 million, 2010: $5.75 million, 2011: Free Agent. Cap charges: $9.5 million (2009), $10 million (2010).
Current Team Value $1 billion
Paul Allen
Seattle American Football Team
are owned by Paul Allen who bought them in 1997 for $194 mil.
That means for those of you who cannot divide that his investment has grown by 5.15 times in 11 years. Where I come from thats called APPRECIATION.
Bottom Line: Sounders = Fruit Cart Bussiness
Seahawks = A Fortune 500 company
Well, I am done here: So put ALL of that info in your BONG, your PIPE, your MOUTH, or your lilly white Seattle ASS and SMOKE IT!!!
And GO USA in the Azteca: May we carpet bomb them back to the stone age.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – The Green Bay Packers haven’t been sacked by the recession despite a rough season on the field and significant financial challenges off it, but officials remain wary of the future.
The NFL’s only publicly owned franchise turned a $20.1 million operating profit last year, according to team officials. That’s down $19.4 million from the previous year, but the final budget numbers remain black, not red, and that’s more than can be said for many businesses these days.
“We have been able to weather it OK,” Packers treasurer Larry Weyers said. “We’re still a strong institution and we still have the strength to support football operations and maintain the quality of our football team.”
But economic hardships have dealt a blow to some fans.
The team’s season ticket renewal rate fell by a fraction but remains a staggering 99.4 percent. In actual fan numbers, that means 192 people who put their names on the team’s waiting list in the 1970s will be able to buy season tickets; most years, 75 people or fewer come off the list, which currently numbers approximately 81,000.
PS – I hope at least of the Bigsoccer.com Sounder posters reads this. We can have a nice convo by e-mail.
Never has so little been said in so many words.
AAAAND #43 proves my point. But seriously, this is why I can’t take many Sounders fans seriously. The instant the conversation turns to another sport, they’re (quite literally) cheering for the other team! Talk about your civic pride (or lack thereof).
All or nothing, folks, or go back to California.
Like most of the world, the US loves to play soccer. We just don’t love to watch it. And we’re not alone—soccer takes a backseat in quite a few countries that have more, well, entertaining sports to watch. In Canada it falls behind hockey and American & Canadian football. In Ireland, Gaelic football and hurling are tops. In New Zealand and in South Africa (host of the next World Cup), rugby wins. And in Australia soccer comes in behind three other forms of footy: rugby league, rugby union, and Australian rules.
Seriously, if you want to see some truly amazing athleticism, search for AFL on YouTube. It’s the constant action of soccer with the speed of basketball plus the physicality of American football—but with absolutely no safety equipment. Soccer ain’t got nothing on that shit.
I’m shocked that no one has mentioned the talent required to be a successful soccer player. There are no visible physical traits required to make it in the big leagues (muscles for a DH; 7′ height for basketballers; 350lbs for a lineman). No, these are all men who wouldn’t stick out in a crowd physically like other sportsmen do, except for toned legs perhaps. There really is an insane amount of athleticism and finesse that goes into the game, and I feel like that is shortchanged or, worse, undervalued by the haters. These guys could run at you full bore with a ball and pass it off or roll around you at the last second without you even knowing it, and keep running to be there to head it in when it gets passed back. *end rant*
Also, to the commenter who said that no one played soccer growing up, a large number of children grow up playing soccer, but when you are a talented athlete and the NFL is offering 20x in payment (and pain) to you as a WR what you would make playing PDL or USL, then of course you’re going to focus on the more lucrative route. Let’s just hope that people can start to recognize the talent these guys have and give them some sort of incentive to stick around. I’ll start by making sure I show up at every game I purchased in my season ticket package a year ago.
Thanks for the great article Sean. As a European transplant in Seattle, I am amused by the trans-oceanic difference in attitudes. I had no idea that ‘soccer’ had gotten such hatred remarks and politicized (very funny the bit about being compared to socialism) in the US.
In Europe, people are just indifferent to baseball and american football, whereas basketball is very popular in some countries (e.g. Spain). But last time I checked, there was no ‘hatred’ to any of these. If you like it play it, if you don’t, go do something else.
Another thing I find interesting is the belief that some express that a ‘sports-fan’ should support all the city’s teams. How about just supporting the team that plays the sport you enjoy and play yourself??
Lastly… it is also very clear that the level of ‘belonging’ (or caring about) in European (and South American) soccer is on a whole different level to US sports- which has its negative effects sadly too.
@56, “just supporting the team that plays the sport you enjoy” is different than “actively cheering for one Seattle team but against all the others.” The latter was what #43 espoused.
Subpoint A. Organized Sports Are Awesome. Haters of Organized Sports Are Nerds Who Neeed to Go Back to Nerdland. Subpoint B. They are Many Awesome Organized Sports, including baseball, American football, hockey, AND soccer. Subpoint C. Love of Soccer (I am former All-State player) Does Not Trade Off with Love of Other Sports (I also love baseball, college football). Subpoint D. Soccer Is A Bit Of A Sports for White Elites in America. Subpoint E. That’s Not Soccer’s Fault, Its Not True Globally, And Its Changing.
I probably can sympathize with the Jim Rome’s of the world, but I don’t have anything against the Sounders or MLS. I think that you did a good job of saying the the Sounders are the best inaugural franchise is Seattle sports history. What I disagree with is comparing the attendance of the other major sports. We are talking apples and oranges. Seahawks only have 8 regular season games and draw over a half a million. Mariners play 82 home games and will draw about 2 million. MLS plays 19 home games and will draw about a half a million. I would also estimate that those average attendance numbers might be inflated with the two exhibition games. I think the real measure, not attendance, is the passion for the sport. I think that Seattle has it. Although, until you can attract the middle aged white guy (not me, by the way), the MLS is going to be an also ran to NFL, MLB, and NBA (even NASCAR). I also see attendance is a product of cheap tickets. I guy I work with has a season ticket that cost him $200 bucks. I think that is cool, but how long will those deals last and make it difficult to maintain attendance at it’s current level.
I have always loved soccer. Probably, the best reason is it doesn’t have any commercials while watching it on TV.
Soccer fags.
http://www.seahawks.com/tickets/season-t…
Every regular season and playoff game at Qwest Field since the 2nd week of the 2003 season has been played before a sellout crowd…A streak of 52 consecutive games. We are proud of this streak and thank you the 12TH Man!
I spoke to a Seahawks ticket representative and he told me the Seahawks and Sounders season ticket holders have at BEST, a 15% overlap. Is this true?
I have a quote for all of you Seattle Sawker Sucking bitches that bash AMERICAN FOOTBALL.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?…
The Seahawks, with their regional might and rich resources, have provided at least the appearance that the Sounders are in the race with pro football and baseball’s Mariners for the Northwest’s pro sports attention and fans’ money.
“Well, I hope so. That was my idea,” Roth said.
“Once a week, I wake up and say to myself, ‘What would I have done without the Seahawks?’ There’s no way we would be where we are right now without them.”
Who’s your Daddy now, BITCHES!!!
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthrea…
Dorito21
BigSoccer Newbie
Join Date: Aug 2009
Supporter: PAOK Saloniki
Everyone around the world knows that America produces more “Elite” athletes than anyone else. As such…The world soccer community isn’t scared about this generation of American soccer players or the next, just because they watched Euro 2008 in HD on ESPN, tune in every night to Fox Soccer Report or they sit around and play FIFA 2kXX with their friends, none of that produces great soccer talent. They are scared of the day when “Elite” American athletes can make money playing soccer, and thus they start choosing soccer over prospective MLB, NBA, and NFL careers.
Until the day comes in America when soccer becomes a bonafide ticket to financial success, the US will never be a “Football Powerhouse”. And by financial success I mean.
College Tuition. 1000’s of full rides are given out every year for Football and Basketball. I doubt 50 kids in all of America get a full ride in Soccer. The Department of Labor estimates that a college grad will make 2x the $$ a high school grad will over the course of a lifetime.
Professional Contract. Would you rather be the best soccer player America has ever produced (Donovan) and make $2,000,000 or so a year? Or a mediocre/sub off the bench NBA player who hung around the league for 5 years or so and picked up $4,000,000 a year?
Chad Johnson, Steve Nash and Wes Welker were great soccer talents in their teens. So why didn’t they stick with soccer? Would they have gotten a free college education? Would they be rich? Would they be on Entourage, Hard Knocks, or in ticker tape parades through Boston after winning the Super Bowl? Would they be famous? No, No, No and No.
They more than likely would have paid for their own tuition, played in college, gave up/moved on because of a lack of any real upward mobility and then….nothing. Now they are probably your neighbor, your kids teacher, or your coworker.
Until that changes soccer in America will continue to operate on the fringe.
When I first heard that the Sounders were becoming an MLS team, I couldn’t care less. I played college football, and in the “adult leagues” here in the area and I’ve been a Seahawks fan forever and other than the few times when the US teams were showing well in the Olympics, I could honestly say I didn’t give a shit about soccer.
But I watched the first Sounders game on TV because I was curious as how it would play on tv. Then I watched the next game and the next. Then I found myself watching a Sounders Open Cup game online, the entire game, even though 8 inches tall and in the world’s shittiest resolution. Most of the time I couldn’t even figure out where the ball was, but I watched, and cheered (or groaned) quietly.
Now I find myself yelling obscenties at the TV when a player from the opposing side roughs up one of our boys, or we miss a penalty kick, or miss a wide open shot in front of the net (Steve Z, I’m talking to you, c’mon man!), or for pretty much anything, good or bad.
My wife has said multiple times “I still can’t believe you’re watching soccer.”
I’m still getting used to the idea. But it’s a good thing, it’s fun and a bright spot (or not) in the week. I hope it lasts.
Go Sounders
Go Hawks
i’m writing from toronto,canada,and grew up with hockey,canadian football, baseball and all the north american sports and played most of them.being 6’2″ and weigh 220 i fit perfectly with those sports, i played because it was the thing to do.in 1966 there was a competition on a.b.c.called the superstars of sports,best of the northamerican athletes competeing against each other in different level of athleticism and they had one lonely soccer player from the college level and guess what? the soccer player won everything ,his athleticsm got my interest. the next year they dropped the soccer player because he made the north american sport athlete look foolish and they were afraid they would loose sponsorship. i played soccer for a few games and i love it and is my only spectator sport and rugby. the others i don’t pay any attention. i cheer t.f.c.