I am an outlier when it comes to soccer. Living in the Pacific Northwest, also known as Cascadia, we are fiercely independent and fiercely passionate about three things. Beer, Fish, and Soccer. When it comes to soccer there are three teams in Cascadia. The Vancouver Whitecaps, The Portland Timbers, and the Seattle Sounders.
I wasn’t always a fan of soccer, but soccer found me in Turkey. Yup, that’s right, Turkey. As an American kid in a country foreign to me I had to adapt to the games the kids were playing where I lived. And it was here where the game got me hooked. When I witnessed the passion, I could only equate it to the fans of American football. I saw the ups. The downs. The highs. The Lows. The joys. The sadness. Once I moved back to the U.S.A. I was greatly disappointed that the rest of my country didn’t share my passion for this game. I was lost…..….But I was found.
Enter Seattle. Home of the Greatest salmon in the world, actually Alaska has the best Salmon but ours is second. Our beer is definitely the BEST. And it was here that I discovered my people. The mighty Emerald City Supporters. We stand, we sing, we support our Sounders through it all.
Even though the pandemic has shortened our season. When we played the Portland Timbers, when the season started up again, we all watched from our homes and basically pulled our hair out for 71 minutes. Then, our Peruvian forward, Raul Ruidiaz scored in the 72nd minute. Huge! We wished we could have celebrated in the stands of Providence Park in Portland, but instead it was me, my wife, and my dog jumping for joy as we began to beat the Timbers. Patience is a virtue and being a soccer fan in the U.S.A. you surely need it. Having incredibly gifted South Americans also helps! (Nod to Nico (Uruguay), João Paulo (Brazil), Yeimar (Colombia), Arreaga (Ecuador).
This game was quite frankly, rubbish for most of the game. Sloppy and disjointed. No flow. But this was the first game back and we were shaking off the dust. Our manager, local legend, Mr. Brian Schmetzer played a typical North American style of game where we bunker in and hope for a counter or a set-piece. I know that many people find this game frustrating, but when you’re shaking off the dust and working on cohesiveness, then you gotta do what you can to survive.
Currently, we are sitting second in the table after nine games. I think if you enjoy this piece, I’ve got more to say. Especially the teams in Cascadia, they have a history in the North American Soccer scene. We all started around 1974 and I would be happy to share some of that history with you in the future.