A Championship Day in Seattle

It's after midnight. I tried to settle down and go to sleep. I'm tired enough, but my brain is still too active. We had a big day in Seattle today.

We left home at 9:00 this morning. The MLS Cup match was due to start at noon. We wanted to be sure to get parking at the light rail station, and to just soak in the atmosphere in the city which we knew was going to be filling up with thousands of Sounders soccer fans. The stadium was a sell out,  69,270 tickets sold, and more people were gathering for watch parties in Occidental Park and in sports bars all over town. 

We geared up and were on the train by about 9:15. 

We just had a light breakfast, promising ourselves a Starbucks visit once we got into the city.  That proved trickier than we expected, but eventually we waited long enough in line to get our coffee and goodies and found a bench under the pergola in Pioneer Square to sit, sharing the bench with a sleeping homeless man who was unaware of us. Nor were we bothered by him.

We had been texting Jill and the kids, but did not meet up with them before the March to the Match got underway, so we joined the throng.

We started out way in the back of the crowd but worked our way forward, and what do you know! We found them!  We even found Tom's cousin about the same time!

Onward we marched to the stadium, where we waited some more for our turn to get through security. 

At last we were in our seats and watched as the field was set up for the opening ceremonies. 

 The singing of the national anthems. Our opponent was Toronto, and their fans were tucked up in the corner. I do love singing "Oh Canada".

 The Emerald City Supporters had tifo That encompased the whole staduim in our colors!

 That's Tom's hand. This is the view from our seats. That would be Row A in the 300 level. 

 It was very cool!

And then they played the soccer match. The first half was tough, 0-0 at the half, with Toronto looking like the better team.

But they weren't.  

 That's right. MLS Champions, Seattle Sounders FC! Final score: Seattle 3, Toronto 1. The reaction to each goal registered on the seismic meters. 

 That big star reappeared, our star.

 And our trophy, the MLS Cup.

 And our team celebrated. And so did we. Isaac's friend had never been to a Sounders match. This one will be hard to beat. 

It was awesome!

We let the crowds thin out as we hung around the stadium. We were hungry and they were still selling food so we got hot dogs and Cokes, no lines now. We browsed the team store but passed on the newly minted Championship gear. 

Not ready to go home, but happy for a calmer environment, we stopped at the Starbucks at our light rail station for another treat.

Well, it wasn't really sideways, but sometimes Blogger has a mind of it's own and no amount of coaxing will change it. I do recommend the cranberry bliss bars. We sat outside in the cool but calm air, blissful ourselves, before boarding the now uncrowded train for the ride back home. 

It was a great Championship Day in Seattle.