Monday, November 11, 2019

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. 


15 comments:

  1. Your pictures and comments made me feel like I was there in the crowd watching the game.
    Only difference I was nice and warm listening to some soft music instead of the roaring masses!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I knew your post would make me feel like I was there with you, and it did. How wonderful for the Sounders! Champions again. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats even though you bet our home team!

    ReplyDelete
  4. wow treats of all kinds and a championship! congrats...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Big time congratulations. I saw part of the game and looked for you in the stands but nope. Not being a big soccer fan I switched back and forth with another show. Oddly, I caught all three of your goals and the one for Toronto just by accident. I learned what an own goal was. You much be hoarse with ringing ears but really really happy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My throat is fine this morning. I learned how to cheer without straining my voice, most of the time. As for my ears, they are good too. I left my hearing aids at home. :-)

      Delete
  6. I can understand how it would be hard to sleep after so much excitement! Hooray for the Sounders!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations to the Sounders! I may be Canadian but your enthusiasm (and that of your fellow soccer fans) shines through. Here in Saskatchewan it's our Roughriders spirit (the other football) that encompasses the province and beyond. I hope our team does as well in their game next weekend; one more game until the Grey Cup!

    ReplyDelete
  8. No wonder you couldn't sleep with that much coffee. Sorry to say this but the wrong team won!!! Okay , I admit, I don't follow sports and I don't know anything about the Toronto team. If the truth be known , I didn't know they had a team. You had an awful lot of fun. I hope your team keeps going.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sounds like a fantastic game but too bad Canada lost.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm so excited for all of you. I'm also loving all these photos of the excitement and euphoria. Art texted a clipping to me of the game while I was at Zumba. I have texted it on to you. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congratulations! Sounds like you all had a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Congratulations! I've been meaning to look at this post for a week now. Your pictures of the stadium and the crowds always give me goosebumps. It's so amazing! Hard to believe you found Jill and the children in all those people.

    ReplyDelete

I would love to read your comments. Since I link most posts to Facebook, you may comment there if you do not have an account. I have eliminated Anonymous comments due to spammers.