Recent Stories with tag sounders

Freddie Ljungberg, the most famous player ever to suit up for a Seattle soccer team, likely won't wear the rave green again. With the Sounders unwilling to commit to a 2011 contract for the former Arsenal star, Ljungberg is looking elsewhere, likely to hook up with a team in Europe, where the season starts next month.

Ljungberg's signing five months before the Sounders' inaugural season gave the team instant credibility with local soccer fans. His pedigree was unmatched in local soccer history: nine years at one of the world's top club teams, a Premier League player of the year award, participant in two World Cups. Short of David Beckham, he was the most accomplished player in all of U.S. pro soccer.

During season one Ljungberg's reported $2.5M contact appeared to be worth the investment. He made the MLS "Best XI," confounded opposing defenders with his skill, speed, and strength, and helped the Sounders to the best expansion season of any Seattle franchise.

Season two started off poorly, with Ljungberg skipping preseason training and pissing off teammate Kasey Keller. Didn't get better once the games started. The Sounders have flopped, as key players like midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, and striker Nate Jaqua have missed most of the season with injuries. Ljungberg's presence hasn't done anything to make up for their loss. If anything, his presence through the Sounders' slow start suggests that he may have been less valuable than his far-less-heralded teammates.

Normally an offensive center midfielder, Ljungberg played a few games at forward this year as coach Sigi Schmid tried to squeeze more offense out of the team. Didn't work. Ljungberg will finish with as many goals this season as Ken Griffey Jr. had home runs. (Zippo.)

Taken as a whole, the Ljungberg signing was a success. His fame was a key ingredient of the hype soup that turned Seattle on to the Sounders. The franchise may never get a player of his caliber again.

Photo via Wikipedia/Creative Commons

Roger "The 'Stache" Levesque did it again. The MLS washout and holdover from the minor-league Sounders scored yet another game-winning goal last night, diving to head a last-minute Fredy Montero cross just inside the near post to beat DC United 1-0.

In the 1940s, the Brooklyn Dodgers had a fiery second baseman named Eddie "The Brat" Stanky. An opposing manager said of Stanky: "He can't hit, he can't field, he can't run—all the SOB can do is beat you."

Translate into soccer terms, and that's Levesque. I recall seeing him first in '05 with the old Sounders, and immediately falling in hate. Even a soccer neophyte could recognize how slow Levesque was, that he often lost the ball under pressure, that his passes rarely hit their mark, and that he didn't have the skill to beat defenders one-on-one. Yet who scored the game's only goal? Levesque did.

Don't take my word for it, read what Coach Sigi says about Levesque: "Roger’s a hard working player who can play a number of positions and always gives you his best." You may notice certain words missing from that summation. Talent. Skill. Ability.

For this reason, Levesque was a long shot to make the MLS Sounders, and didn't start an MLS game until late in the season. The team has brought in several younger or more accomplished contenders to take Levesque's roster spot. But Levesque continues to produce, in a big way.

Levesque scored the game-winner in the Sounders US Open Cup win at DC United last year, and his game-winner at Kansas City clinched the Sounders a playoff berth. Now he's notched another goal for the Sounders, themselves now long shots to make the MLS playoffs.

Roger Levesque can't run, he can't dribble, he has limited skills, and he can't pass. All Roger Levesque can do is beat you.

Under very threatening skies (but no rain), 38,000 people and the ESPN2 audience watched the Sounders go down to DC United on Thursday night, 2-3, with two very late goals punishing fair-weather fans who left with five minutes left. Chris Pontius walked away with all three DC goals, while James Riley and Fredy Montero (off a cross from Ljungberg) split the Sounders' scores. The Sounders seem deeply, passionately committed to Ljungberg sending in crosses from the wing, which he regularly placed in the box, but the rest of the team was infrequently ready to take advantage.

Sounders 3, Boca Juniors 0 [box]
Turns out the Sounders do have players who can score--they've just been sitting on the bench. Reserves Roger Levesque, Pat Noonan, and Charlie Michael Seamon provided the offense in a surprising romp over Argentina's top team. It was nice to finally see some offense at Qwest, exhibition or no, and the place was a madhouse once the Sounders finally started scoring. Seamon's goal proved a fount of innuendo-based comedy, which in retrospect was probably only funny because I'd drank a quart of Bud Light. Highlights (of the game, not the "comedy") below. Next game Saturday @ Colorado.

Mariners 5, Detroit 4 [box]
Maybe the best win of the year for the M's, who scored four eighth-inning runs to steal this one from the Tigers. Mike Sweeney started the comeback with a two-run homer (his 6th, all in May) and Josh Wilson finished it with a two-run bloop single. M's 18-28, 4th place, 7.5 GB. Next game Fri. @ Anaheim.

U.S. World Cup team announced, Ching not on it [P-I story]
In a controversial...

Storm come back again, stay undefeated [box]
The difference between last year's Storm and this year's? The reason why they won this game despite awful first-half performances from Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson? My Storm fan friend Janey has it right: "They finally have a bench." Le'Coe Willingham (r.) had 8 points and 3 big o-boards from the pine last night. The Storm also have a terrific home crowd, who stomped, stood and cheered the team back from a 10-point second half deficit. Storm 4-0, 1st place W. Conf. Next game Thurs @ Chicago.

Griffey-less and Sweeney-less, M's not punchless [box]
With Milton Bradley at his national position--DH--for only the 4th time this year, the M's scored in bunches. Well, for them. 5 runs, 3 of them driven in by Bradley, who homered in the 1st and plopped a Justin Verlander change into right to plate Figgins with the go-ahead run in the 8th. AL ERA leader Doug Fister didn't get the win, but threw 7 and allowed just 3 runs. M's 17-28, 4th place, 8.5 GB. Next game: Today at 12:40 p.m. vs. Detroit, Vargas v. Bonderman.

Boca comes to Qwest tonight
The legendary Argentine club faces our Sounders at 7:30 p.m. You can still get tickets. Kasey Keller says he'll only play the first half, same probably holds true for most of the top Sounders. As for Boca, Sounders broadcaster Arlo White says to keep an eye on striker Sergio Araujo, center-back Ezequiel Munoz and left winger Pablo Mouche, all of whom are being scouted by EPL teams. Our own Argentine soccer correspondent shared his thoughts about Boca yesterday.

Nate Robinson needs a party planner [Twitterverse]
"Not sure what I should do for my bday, Any ideas? Speak to me #wordaapp!"

With Argentine team Boca Juniors (of Buenos Aires) here Wednesday, we figured it was a good time to check in with our underutilized Senior Argentine Soccer Correspondent, Josh Michtom. What can you tell us about Boca, Josh?

Boca plays in a little bandbox of a stadium called La Bombonera (the candybox), located in a rough neighborhood at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, and has always been the more down-and-dirty, "people's team," in contrast to its archrival and Argentina's other perennial soccer powerhouse, the appropriately English-named River Plate (although Boca is the Juniors, so go figure).

It's not that the River and Boca fans divide neatly along class lines--far from it; like New York baseball allegiances, people's soccer loyalties in greater Buenos Aires can stem from myriad accidents of personal history (I root for River because my best friend in Argentina rooted for River, and I always detected a certain reactionary streak among the Boca fans I knew, although this was probably just coincidence.).

La Bombonera

In Buenos Aires and environs, it is pretty much assumed that people root either for Boca or River (to the chagrin of boosters of lesser area teams like Velez and Argentinos--for whom I feel great sympathy now that I live in Central Connecticut, where the baseball breakdown is 45 percent Yankees, 45 percent Red Sox, and 10 percent my beloved Mets.).

This is the source of frequent fights and interminable boasting matches and Ditka-vs-host-of-angels style what-ifs, many of which settle on the inarguable fact that Boca was the home team of the greatest Argentinian soccer player of the modern era, Diego Maradona. Maradona, by the way, really embodied the Boca aesthetic with his scrappy-yet-showy style, his flashy living and womanizing, and all of that.

I remember that when I lived in Argentina, Boca won the national championship and its fans overturned and burned cars in my neighborhood to celebrate. I don't think that really proves anything about Boca or its fans, but it was a memorable occasion for me when I lived there.

Thanks, Josh! The Sounders/Boca Juniors match is Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Qwest. Plenty of good seats left.

"We're definitely shattered to lose Jhon and his presence on the team, his one-on-one defending, his quality. ... We can't hang our heads and worry about it now. We have to go forward and make the best of a bad situation."--Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer (full Todd Dybas column on loss of Hurtado).

"Kennedy has been a great defender. Like I said, I think one v. one he is one of the top couple of defenders in this league."--Sigi Schmid (full comments on Joshua Meyers' Sounders blog).

"This weekend, the Sounders lost at home again, and so did the Mariners. The UW softball team continued to be awesome. This trio of plotlines has repeated itself enough that it’s starting to feel like that movie Groundhog Day."--Robert C. (full Seattlest column).

"I now wish the Mariners wouldn't have had their success last year. Caused Wakamatsu to believe his own myth, contributing to this disaster."--Jeff Nusser, via Twitter.

"I was told a long, long time ago that it's a helluva lot harder to stay on the top, than it is to...

Hurtado: Torn ACL. Sounders: Torn Defense

Jhon Kennedy Hurtado out for regular season [team release]
The Sounders take a huge hit as all-star defender Hurtado has a torn ACL. He's another victim of the team's anemic offense: Hurtado was hurt chasing down a San Jose player headed toward the Sounders' empty net on Saturday.

More on Milton Bradley's suicidal thoughts [ESPN feature]
Hours after Geoff Baker broke news that Milton Bradley's self-imposed vacation was due to thoughts of suicide, ESPN's Elizabeth Merrill has a fuller version of the story. Two things: One, I wonder if Bradley's talked to Griffey, who attempted suicide at age 17. Two, it's definitely a good thing Bradley's in Seattle and not NYC. The Times' headline on Baker's piece was: "Milton Bradley opens up about why he asked the Mariners for help." Can you imagine what it would've been in the New York Post? "Milt's Kill Thoughts" is my guess.

UW continues to excel in sports no one a dedicated but relatively small fan base cares about [GoHuskies]
UW golfer Nick Taylor is winner of the Heisman of college golf, the Ben Hogan Award. Taylor's the first Dawg to win one. Ups to you, Nick! Also, gametimes for UW softball's superregional vs. Oklahoma here in Seattle were announced: Thursday at 7 p.m. (ESPN2), Friday at 5:30 p.m. (ESPNU) and Saturday if nec. at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. All games are on 1150 AM on your radio box, and ESPN3 on your computer box. Couldn't find any info about tickets so try the UW ticket office, 206-543-2200.

Jon Brockman evidently did not take a genetics class at UW [Twitter]
Tweeted Jon during last night's Celts/Magic game: "Does anyone else think that Ray Allen and his mom look exactly alike. Wow that's crazy!" It's actually not so crazy as you'd think, Jon.

Hanauer: A modern-day John Nordstrom?

The founders of Nordstrom, famous for their customer service, were also the founders of the Seattle Seahawks. Yet despite their propensity for offering retail exchanges, I don't recall those successful Swedes ever doing for Seahawks fans what the Sounders did for theirs yesterday: promise a full refund after the team lost.

The Sounders uglied up a gorgeous afternoon at Qwest on Saturday, losing 4-0 to the L.A. Galaxy and falling into last place in the MLS Western Conference. The pain started when the normally reliable Kasey Keller let a shot go through his hands for a goal, and continued in the second half with some invisible defense.

"That wasn't Sounders soccer and it was quite frankly embarrassing, humiliating and the fans don't deserve that," said Sounders FC owner and general manager Adrian Hanauer in announcing the refund to season ticket holders, which will come as a credit toward next year's tickets.

"We want our fans committed for the long haul and we think this is the right thing to do for our fans," said Hanauer. It's no minor hit for the team's financials--with 36,000 season ticket holders paying an average of around $20 per seat, the Sounders are giving back around three-quarters of a million smackers....

Although it sort-of looks like they've already been peed on. Sorry to go all old-angry-middle-aged-sports-writer on you, but looks like the Oregon-Ducksification of sports jerseys is spreading. Okay, I'm done now. It's for the kids!

Don't touch me, 'cause I'm electric. And if you touch me, you'll get shocked!

   If you so desire, you can fork over $90 for one of these at the Sounders Pro Shop.

"Tourist," a view from the Columbia Tower, courtesy of The SunBreak Flickr pool's slightlynorth.

It was a week featuring two of Seattle's most prominent architectural icons: on the tenth anniversary of the Kingdome implosion, the market for commercial space downtown has imploded, too. Beacon Capital Partners missed a loan payment on the Columbia Tower, and faces a 33 percent vacancy rate once Amazon decamps next year. Starbucks announced ten-cent-per-share dividends at its annual meeting. One of our hippos died.

Plans for a private Chihuly exhibit at Seattle Center ran smack into Seattle process; now the Center will open up public bidding for use of the space vacated by the Fun Forest. Seattlepi.com reports that "Beth Campbell filed a motion in U.S. District Court asking that construction of the southern mile of a viaduct-replacement project be delayed until a full environmental-impact study is done of the entire viaduct project."

The city council joined every other Washington Democrat in wishing AG Rob McKenna would not challenge the constitutionality of the federal health care reform bill. Seattle's direct care providers Qliance are looking forward to the new insurance exchanges. Seattle was named the top city for cybercrime in America.

Mayor McGinn claims he has an affordable West Seattle-Ballard light rail line up his sleeve. Amtrak passengers had to take the long way around when a mudslide hit the tracks near Mukilteo--for the second time in two weeks. Mudslides aside, we now have extra Amtrak to Vancouver, B.C., through September. Nick Licata wants to lean on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for help with the seawall replacement....

The Sounders FC held their season opener last night against expansion team the Philadephia Union, winning handily 2-0 (off goals by Fredy Montero and Brad Evans), despite showing some off-season rust out of the gate.

New kids on the block or not, the Union came out hard, snagging a yellow card in the first minute of the match, and eventually playing a man down after Toni Stahl secured a red card in the 40th minute. For the Sounders, Freddie Ljungberg was everywhere, giving a clinic on play-making.

Rain was more or less constant, the grass was slick, and wind gusts captured long balls, so I'll give the Sounders the benefit of the doubt on the number of missed passes. One thing was clear--the Union had no answer to Sounder speed to the ball. The score could have been 3 or 4 to 0, and the Sounders owned the second half, leaving keeper Keller mostly an onlooker.

Wednesday

• Dr. John Medina explains the "12 essential brain rules every parent needs to know" @ Town Hall
• Native American writers Marianne Broyles, of New Mexico; Tiffany Midge, of Idaho; and Erika Wurth, of Illinois present The Traveling Kickapoo Medicine Show @ Hugo House
• Dusseldorf's Hauschka and Berlin's Dustin O’Halloran tickle the ivories @ Triple Door

Thursday

• FREE: Tax help all afternoon @ Seattle Public Central Library
• Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard conducts Seattle Symphony for Lutoslawski's Symphony No. 4; Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40; and Sibelius's Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82 @ Benaroya Hall (through March 27; promo code 9103 gets you half-off tickets)
• Sounders FC home opener vs. Philadelphia Union @ Qwest Field
• Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba plays the first of four nights @ Jazz Alley
• The Live at the Film Forum series continues with the dance of "too" @ NWFF
• Get a taste for the new Broken Social Scene album with BSS member Jason Collett's solo show @ the Tractor

Friday

• Famous vegan musician Moby (and co-editor Miyun Park) read from their book Gristle: From Factory Farms to Food Safety @ Town Hall
• The Depreciation Guild and Sereena Maneesh get loud and shoegazey @ Triple Door
• Opening: Clifford Odets' Paradise Lost @ Intiman Theatre
• Seattle Rock Orchestra performs a "Tribute to David Bowie" @ the Moore Theatre

Saturday

• Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion sets up its old-timey shoppe @ the Paramount
• FREE with RSVP: The Horse Boy, real-life story of autistic boy discovering a connection with horses @ SIFF Cinema...
• (more)

Ljungberg: "The longest ever." Preseason! We're talking about preseason!

In all the Olympics excitement, you may have missed that spring training is underway. Both the Sounders and the Mariners have been preparing for their upcoming seasons--the Sounders at a tournament in Spain, the Mariners at their spring training hub northwest of Phoenix.

Both training seasons are much longer than they need to be--something Freddie Ljungberg complained about in a blog post for ESPN.com titled "The longest preseason training ever."

"We have been running our asses off," according to Ljungberg, who expressed concern that the long training schedule could be detrimental to his fitness. Ljungberg points out when he played for Arsenal, one of the top clubs in the world, training was half as long than the Sounders' is. Well, Fred, the Sounders have a lot more work to do.

Big question is, will they get to do it? Major League Soccer and its players' union are overdue to sign a collective bargaining agreement, and negotiations are not going well. "They're not even humoring us," says Kansas City Wizard Jimmy Conrad, whose invocation of the Weaken Resolve spell at the last bargaining session had no appreciable effect. (D&D reference! Yes!) There's a Thursday deadline to get a deal done--and a work stoppage is looking like a possibility.

The Sounders split two games in Spain, losing 3-0 to defending Norwegian champs Rosenborg FC on Thursday, but beating Staebek IF, another top Norwegian team, 2-0 on Sunday. Fredy Montero and Roger Levesque scored the goals, both assisted by Ljungberg.

The Mariners aren't yet playing games, or really doing much of anything, to the eternal dismay of the reporters in town to cover them. Said reporters had a difficult enough time finding material for stories in the pre-blog days; now, with both column inches and pixels to fill, they are desperate. How desperate? Tacoma News-Tribune writer Larry LaRue (the best writer among our local baseball scribes, in my view) posted a story about a new hitting drill the Mariners are doing. The Times' Geoff Baker, who has the best nose for news, could only come up with "Jack Hannahan catches bullpen session." Yeah....

"Lake Union" from the Space Needle, courtesy of The SunBreak Flickr pool stalwart Slightlynorth

Zeitgeist, Google calls it. For me, the list echoes of Lawrence Durrell's Spirit of Place. These are ten search terms that are unique to Seattle in their popularity. Some need no explanation, like the leader "sounders fc." The Sounders Football Club has singlehandedly brought back scarf-wearing to Seattle sports fandom, if that gives you any idea. I think they could bring back umbrellas! Seriously.

But what about "bellevue college"? Yes, Virginia, there really is a college in Bellevue (previously Bellevue Community College). In 2008-09 it conferred its first Baccalaureate degrees. It's the third-largest higher learning institution in Washington, that's all. 37,000 people attend.

Next we have "seahawks 2009 schedule." What does that tell us? That the Seahawks play San Francisco this weekend, for one thing. But more importantly, we learn that Seattleites are prone to rubbernecking at train wrecks. Can't help themselves.

Next! Let's take a trip to the "snoqualmie casino," with its daily blackjack tournaments, 1,700 slot machines, and ten poker tables. It's 170,000 square feet, with eight restaurants, lounges, and bars. There's an 11,000-sq.-ft. ballroom. Michael McDonald is going to appear there this weekend.

Here is something historic: "west seattle blog" is fifth on the popularity list. It is the only time that West Seattle has been fifth at anything! Tracy Record and Patrick Sands run the blog night and day, and have full-time since Tracy left KCPQ in December 2007. Today they have great shots of the moonrise from West Seattle.

I think it has to be another record that "uw libraries" makes the list. Libraries in Seattle enjoy the fame and adulation that, say, Studio 54 did in New York. A lot of you can recall Suzzallo and Odegaard without hesitation, but what about the Miller Horticultural Library? What about the K. K. Sherwood Library at Harborview? The UW libraries contain 7.14 million volumes.

I don't imagine I need to spend much time on "myuw.com." Big research university, brings in about $1 billion in grants annually, has over 4,100 full-time faculty and almost 50,000 students, there's a football team....

Photo courtesy of The SunBreak Flickr Pool's Great Beyond

Happy Halloween! If you haven't made plans yet, The SunBreak sponsor Central Cinema is having a Lost Boys Quote-Along--head over to sponsor Scarecrow Video for a list of other Halloween cinema options. I'll be out shopping for a handlebar mustache.

The big business story of the week was Boeing's selection of North Charleston, S.C., over Everett, for its second 787 Dreamliner assembly line. The Everett Herald supports the union's account that Boeing was dumbfounded when they agreed to the no-strike provision, and that North Charleston had really won the Boeing sweepstakes back in February.

The H1N1 virus vaccine is still in short supply, but the government is releasing extra Tamiflu for children who are infected. Tamiflu's (rare) side effects mean it's not for sniffles. Mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan has come down with the flu and is taking Tamiflu. CHS has the October King County H1N1 statistics: so far 135 people have been hospitalized and two have died. And speaking of health news, I chatted with Michael McCarthy of the online Seattle Health Guide.

The only campaign news worth repeating is that I have voted and don't need to pay attention to any of the last-minute mud-slinging and elbow-throwing. Alea jacta est, Seattle. Those political mailers are going right into the recycling. For the sake of fair and balanced reporting, though, here's Stephen Colbert on R-71....

I'm reposting this one because it's Thursday and extremely topical. If you saw Game 1 of the World Series last night, you'll know what a freaking dilemma tonight's offerings create.--MvB

Thursday is shaping up to be one of those nights that I wish there were three of me. To wit:

At 5 p.m., Game 2 of the World Series will be extra special as the Phillies have chosen 38-year-old future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez to start at Yankee Stadium against his longtime rivals. Martinez was 8-4 in his career at Old Yankee Stadium, including the finest game I have ever seen pitched, a 17-K performance against the Yanks in September 1999. (Wow! I'm getting old!) Game's on FOX.

At 7 p.m., the Sounders play the franchise's first MLS playoff game, against the Houston Dynamo at Qwest Field. The game is the first leg of a home-and-home series, the teams will play again on Sunday the 8th in Houston and whoever's ahead in the combined score of the two games advances. If you don't have tickets, buy some (there are scads on StubHub<...

When I tell you that the highlight of the Seattle sports weekend was giving a standing ovation to a third-place team, you may think it wasn't much of a weekend. But it was epic, notably for our sports teams getting the worst Indiana lambasting since the Kerry campaign.

Notre Dame 37, Washington 30 (OT)

As I headed to Teddy's to watch Washington vs. Notre Dame (live from South Bend, Indiana), I wondered exactly how empty the bandwagon would be. Coming off the USC win, the bar was packed for Stanford. But after losing that game, how would it look? Let's let pictures tell the story:

Crowd at Teddy's for UW/Stanford

Crowd at Teddy's for UW/Notre Dame

So--yeah, Seattle sports fans, you are some fairweather sons of bitches. And you missed an amazing game, one that will always be remembered for the stunning inability of the Huskies to score one touchdown from twelve tries inside the one-yard-line. If you have a Husky fan at your office, I recommend putting his morning coffee three feet behind a white line and see...

Not to toot my own horn, but are you going to be memorialized forever at Qwest Field? Unless you are a Sounders season ticket holder (or Steve Largent), no you will not!

Got an email from the Sounders this week asking me to confirm the spelling of my name, they say they are planning a permanent display to honor inaugural season ticket holders.

The display will be unveiled October 24, when the Sounders host Dallas in the final regular season game of the year. Let's hope that the display is sweet--and that the Sounders won't later cover it up with bleachers, like the Mariners did with the commemorative bricks in centerfield.

Other Sounders news--the official U.S. Open Cup championship t-shirts are available at the team shops. I guess a t-shirt is pretty cool, but I'll take my name on a trophy any day.

Sounders star Freddie Ljungberg flew to London over the weekend try to convince Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger to take him back, the Daily Mirror reports.

Now he's back in Seattle, but he won't comment on who he spoke to, nor will he say what his plans are.

An Arsenal spokesperson also refused to comment.

Obviously Sounders fans would be a little wary of Ljungberg playing again for an top European club team--we saw what happened with David Beckham, who tipped his toe in and found he liked the water better. No he's just a part-time player for L.A.

Ljungberg did tell the Times' Jose Miguel Romero what he likes about playing in the U.S.--anonymity (or is it the lack of fashion sense?): "It's a totally different lifestyle for me ... I can walk in a track suit and look like [expletive] and I can walk my dog, and nobody minds."

Will the ability to walk in a track suit be enough to offset the thrill of playing European club soccer? (And the money that would come with it?) Stay tuned.

OTHER SOUNDERS NEWS:

Kasey Keller was...