The Seattle Sounders

I’m not a sports fanatic. In fact, I know very little about professional sports. My dislike of sports is not a recent revelation, and is most likely deep rooted in my loathing of competition. I’ll go out of my way to avoid a little “friendly” competition – especially if it involves athletic equipment (i.e. Frisbee, basketball, monopoly game board). I guess it all comes down to losing. I don’t like losing.

Growing up I despised physical education to the point where I would feign sickness to get out of class. When my parents forced me to participate on a soccer team in second grade I would have rather shoved needles under my fingernails. Oh, they tried everything to get me excited. Trips to the toy store: Bribery. Take away allowance: Threats. Trips to the candy store: Potential chocolate induced coma in which I would happily oblige to anything (I think that one might have worked). When I started to actually participate, I never had a clue what I was doing. As you might have expected this meant I was the kid who scored goals for the opposing team. By the time the season was over my parents’ hair had turned grey (or fallen out) and from then on they honored my wishes to remain absent from all athletic activities. Thank God.

So this past weekend when my friend Natalie invited me to a Seattle Sounders soccer game, I immediately had flashbacks to second grade. Luckily, my twenty five year old self is somewhat braver than my seven year old self, and so I agreed to go.

For those in the know the Seattle Sounders fans are a force to be reckoned with, if not just plain crazy. I wished I would have had a video camera to catch them in action (because to be honest they were more entertaining than the game itself). From their vibrant face paint, neon wigs, crazy masks, and beer breath, they were easy to spot.

We simply donned our Sounders scarves, which seemed to be the going fashion statement throughout the stadium, and that was enough to fit in. Natalie is diehard soccer fan and plays several games a week. She helped me to better understand the game by pointing out the different positions and techniques. Although truth be told, I was more interested in spotting this hottie on the field. Swoon Freddie Ljungberg. Don’t worry, my heart still belongs to Dan.

In the end, my eyes seemed to linger more in the skies than on the field. Qwest Stadium sits directly below the flight path for planes landing at SeaTac Airport. While Natalie was yelling at the players, I was yelling, “Look Natalie! A British Airways Boeing 747-400!!!” or “Wow, look at that Jet Blue Airbus 320, you can almost smell the Terra Blue chips from here!” Obviously, no matter where I am or what I am doing, my mind seems to wander to the exotic life of travel. Maybe my parents should have known better. Had they promised me a trip to Disneyland, I might very well have agreed to another season of soccer playing. Offer me a free trip anywhere and I’ll do just about anything in return.