Around Noon on a Saturday in February, 1996, I made a run out of midfield, bearing down on our opponent's defenders, received a perfect pass from a teammate, wrong-footed the defender who was marking me, and found myself with space to my right.
My right foot is my weaker foot, but it has come through for me in a few key moments.
I fired a shot toward goal that, at first, looked like it would miss wide-right. The ball curled just enough to sneak inside the post, into the net, leaving Goal Keeper Marcus Hahneman lunging helplessly.
That was at Memorial Stadium in Seattle Center, where the Sounders were holding their first tryouts for the 1996 season, as defending champions of the "A-League."
Seven or eight years later, I noticed one day that Hahneman had moved from the Seattle Sounders to become Goal Keeper for Reading in the English Premier League. I realized it was him while watching a wave of Manchester United attackers descend on his defense. Ryan Giggs slotted a pass between two defenders. Christiano Ronaldo - one of the greatest players in the world - ran onto the ball and fired a blistering shot at Marcus Hahneman. Hahneman reacted perfectly, though, pushing the ball wide of goal.
I chuckled at the TV screen, and muttered sarcastically under my breath, "What's the matter Ronaldo? I scored against this guy. Why are you having so much trouble?"
Let's backtrack for a minute, though. I think I may be setting up a false impression here. I have never been a professional soccer player.
I am a writer, not a professional athlete. I am an amateur athlete, though, and I thought I might be able to combine the two things and write something about what it is like to spend time on the practice field with the nation's number one team.
Major League Soccer - MLS - had not launched its inaugural season yet. It would do so a month or so later. So, as defending A-League champions, the Seattle Sounders could legitimately lay claim to the title, "Best team in the nation."
I walked off the field after that practice, discussing my idea with Sounders Coach Tim Megson. It may seem odd from the perspective of 2009, but in 1996 the Sounders thought they would be in MLS within a year or two. The Coach and I agreed that writing something about an A-League team, with the launch of MLS just around the corner, might suffer from a "who cares" response. I was invited to stay in touch and revive my idea in a year or two. Thirteen years later, in 2009, the Sounders finally played their first MLS season.
Two decades earlier, in the 1970's, the Seattle Sounders were playing in the North American Soccer League - NASL.
I was a kid, and my older brother - my oldest brother, David; I have two, and the other one, Dan, will turn up in this story later on - took me to a handful of games at the Kingdome, that concrete cave-with-seats-inside, with what looked like green patio carpet on the floor. It was there, watching the Seattle Sounders play professional soccer, watching with amazement as teammates anticipated each other's runs, rotated around the field like living moving geometry (there is a reason the Italians call the game "calcio" - from the same root word we get "calculus" or "calculation"), that my deep life-long love of the game of soccer was born.
To those American sports fans who just don't get soccer, try being a kid in the 1970's, watching the professional game play out in front of you. then on the ride home you hear Rod Stewart on the car radio singing, "You're in my heart, you're in my soul..." while a friend in the car says, "I heard this song is about soccer." Rod Stewart flirted with professional soccer himself at one point, and did indeed dedicate that song to "The Beautiful Game." Experience all of that at the right age, and your life as a soccer fan is set.
The "new" Seattle Sounders saw their first season end recently, losing in the playoffs to Houston. It is a testament to how well the organization is run, though, that the team made the playoffs in their first year.
Wait a minute, what am I saying? the Sounders "first year"? Haven't they been around for 35 years!? Yes. They have, in one form or another.
This is a new team, but in many ways, it is a very very old and established team.
There is continuity with these new Seattle Sounders. There is a reason fans poured onto the website last year to demand that the new team be named "Sounders." Trust me. There is continuity.
The NASL folded in 1984. At the end, there were only four teams left to share that desparate last gasp. The Sounders were one of them, stubborn holdouts, determined to somehow leave a mark.
They held out long enough for my High School Coach to bring three Sounders to a handful of our practices.
I never knew the full story regarding how my High School Coach knew three Sounders. I heard he had been on their bench, or reserve squad, or something, in the early 1970's. For the record, any coaches reading this would be wise to bring a few professionals to any High School practice. You are guaranteed to gain the respect of your players.
One of the three was Tony Chursky, the Sounders Goal Keeper. One was Jimmy McAllister. the third name escapes me.
Tony Chursky seemed almost superhuman. As he went through a series of Goal Keeping drills, he jumped and rolled and bounced back up as if his body was made of rubber. He looked like Gumby to me.
I began to understand, watching him, that there is distinct difference between a "pretty good" athlete, who runs around and has a lot of fun, and a professional with a finely tuned, perfectly conditioned body.
Tony Chursky was also there that Saturday in 1996, the day I scored on Marcus Hahneman. He didn't remember me, but I sure as heck remembered him. He was older, of course, and had morphed into the crusty old Assistant Coach, barking out orders, demanding better from everyone.
Continuity...
I also read, sometime in the past few years, that the sons of Tony Chursky and Jimmy McAllister were teammartes playing for the Seattle University soccer team.
Continuity...
My brother Dan was actually recruited by the original Sounders to play for a development, or reserve squad, after High School. There wasn't going to be much of any money involved, and it was going to ruin his college eligibility. And he really wanted to go to college, mostly just to get out of town and away from our Dad - but getting away from our Dad is another story for another time. Dan said no to the Sounders, and went away to college. The NASL no longer existed when he graduated.
When the Kingdome - that concrete cave - was demolished, and the Seahawks new stadium was built, the first sports event in the new stadium was not a Seahawks game. During mid-summer, before the Seahawks moved in, The Seattle Sounders opened the new stadium. The Sounders - playing in a league that has become known as "USL-Division 1" - beat Vancouver 4-1 that day. I was there with my son.
Continuity...
The 2007 Sounders were USL-Division 1 Champions.
Those of us who follow soccer, and knew who Freddie Ljungberg was, were not just excited to learn that the new MLS Sounders had signed him. We were in disbelief.
Sure, in theory the Sounders always belonged in MLS. The Sounders tradition of winning, the conceit that our team should be the best in the nation, suggested that we have the right to play in, and dominate, the nation's top soccer league.
But to actually sign Freddie Ljungberg...
I was stunned. I held the newspaper in front of me, motionless. Maybe they can really pull this off, I thought. These guys are serious.
Real Salt Lake stole our story-line. They beat David Beckham and The L.A. Galaxy in the final this year. Salt Lake is the best team in the nation....for now.
The Sounders WILL win championships. And I will always say, "Yeah, I scored a goal as a Sounder once." If I'm smart, I'll shut up at that point and leave people wondering about the details.
The 2009 Sounders had a great season for a new team...I guess I can call them a new team. I prefer to focus on the fact that they really began 35 years ago.
Sounders forever!
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