This Is American Soccer, US Soccer, MNT, WNT, and MLS - Tackling the subject of Soccer in the US, and worldwide.

The treasure is not always what it seems. Didn’t Jack T. Colton teach us anything? It’s not a shiny, Tiffany-made cup. It’s not a three-day party of networking and one-night stands. It’s a moment where truth and disbelief bleed into the surreal. It’s a band on parade with a madcap leader out front. It’s the fans and all the swag they buy, creating a cohesive gang of support whereby the entire stadium is a supporters group. It’s the stadium with as many images of Sounders as Seahawks. It’s the Emerald City itself–the temporary end of the yellow brick road until there is proof that it can be extended. Seattle didn’t pave the way for American soccer, and stadium banners be damned it didn’t save MLS, but it steamrolled every obstacle so far in the adolescent league’s path (well, there is that one little munchkin about the turf).

So when the tears crept toward my eyes and memory transported me back to the banks of the Thames, I knew I found what I had been seeking. The sousaphones swirled around me like a tornado, the drums hammered me with their thunder.

Tap Tap Tap. Tap Tap Tap. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.

With apologies to Salt Lake and LA, this weekend was all about Seattle. Not since my first trip to London did a soccer scene affect me so much. I grew up in the empty Omni of the Atlanta Attack, in a NBA/MLB family. Soccer was my game alone. Soccer was the badge I wore, the target others saw. Just knowing some in the younger generations need not deal with all that makes me proud. But not too proud to cry.

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After 5 days of clouds and rain, the sky opened up as if on a timer. Pioneer Square would be soon filling with fans, one being Mother Nature. I was headed that way.

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Nick Cannon for the day.

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Running up to the game I was hearing lots about Sounders fans dumping tickets. Neither the streets or stadium reflected that. They were out in force.

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heaven reflected.

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Underdog? Try underrated. Beckerman is a beast–a lion with locks–and though he missed a PK, he was the best field player out there last night for 120 minutes. I told you he would be a week ago on Waiting For Gaetjens.

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Words cannot give enough credit to Drew Carey and the Sounders ownership group, but there were other factors, I believe, that played a strong part in this success…

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Been a rough few years for this guy I guess, but his loss was the Sounders’ gain. Sometimes you have to lose in order to learn to win. Seattle learned it off the field; For RSL, that lesson came on the field.

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Lesson 1A: put the stadium in a commercially viable downtown location. Still waiting for the NYC MSG for soccer. Beckham, Mr. 20th Owner, make it happen. Prove you really care.

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“So your a face painter?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but I think we saw the two best ownership groups in MLS this weekend. RSL fans outnumbered Galaxy fans by hundreds, thanks in part to JetBlue charters from SLC. What happened LA, was there a Laker game this weekend?

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One of the biggest MLS crowd I have ever seen. 46,000 strong.

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I don’t believe it literally, but I feel it.

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One is the loneliest number. Luckily, Degree “protects men who take risks.”

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Good Stuff from Rimando.

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Can’t blame Saunders, but good luck trying to tell him that.

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I dropped my Mangosteen!!!!

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Thank you Seattle. Thank you MLS. Not for a great weekend. But a great year. Here’s to many more.

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Follow TIAS on Twitter and listen to the new podcast Waiting For Gaetjens with myself and Greg Lalas. Thanks to all of those who came out to Kells on Friday night in Seattle and partied with the Designated Players.