Indirect Kick

The News Tribune's soccer blog

Saturday, May 10th, 2008

10,184 see Sounders-Timbers in 0-0 draw

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 09:20:01 pm

Interesting and evenly played game, but not many real thrills.

Here's our story from the Sunday paper.

The best thing was the crowd: 10,184, and good enthusiasm by both team's supporters clubs.

Sounders are 1-1-2 on the season. The Timbers move to 3-0-2.

"Some of what Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer had to say:
They got what they wanted: They got their point. They didn’t even come out of their half, and it was embarrassing.

"We had our opportunity to get on top and get an early goal that would have forced them to come out. When we didn’t they were able to make little minor adjustments. We weren’t able to get the ball behind their back four with any quality. They just kept everybody back and it was hard for us to get any kind of traction."

Categories: Footy in Tacoma

Halftime: Sounders 0, Portland 0

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 08:14:26 pm

Nice crowd here at Qwest ... early estimate of 9,000 or so. The usual good represenation of the Timbers Army is here, too.

The Sounders raised their USL Division 1 championship banner before the game.

Forward Roger Levesque is ouw with an ankle injury.

Seattle dominated possession and chances through the first half hour or so, but got nothing for it. The first 15-20 minutes were pretty aimless, with lots of unforced passing errors.

Categories: Seattle Sounders

At Qwest for Sounders-Timbers

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 06:13:28 pm

We're not going to be covering all of the USL Sounders games this season, but we're here for the home opener tonight ... and the only scheduled game this season played at Qwest Field, with the rest at Starfire in Tukwila.

There's already a fair crowd here, which has been watching some preliminary games. Now the field has been cleared and a few of the Sounders and Timbers are beginning to drift out onto the field.

We'll have a story in the Sunday paper, and I'll click in here as news breaks, with a halftime score, and then some final notes and quotes after the game.

Kickoff is 7 p.m., and plenty of good seats remain.

Categories: Footy in Tacoma

Tide smacked in Spokane, home opener Sunday

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 10:53:18 am

The Tacoma Tide opened its third season Friday with a 5-2 loss at Spokane ... actually, across the border at what sounds like a pretty odd pitch in Idaho.

The team will play its home opener Sunday at Curtis High School.

Info on both games is available at their www.tacomafc.com Web site.

We also had a short season preview in the Saturday paper.

Categories: Footy in Tacoma

Friday, May 9th, 2008

Tacoma Tide opens tonight, home opener Sunday

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 11:37:36 am

The Tacoma Tide, of the USL Premier Development League, opens its season tonight in Spokane.

(We are currently working out the logistics of opening the blog up to a PR representative of the Tide, so that they can keep TNT readers informed on game results and other news from the local side.)

Then the Tide returns for its home opener Sunday afternoon at Curtis High School stadium.

We'll have a short preview of that game and the coming season in our Saturday newspaper. In the meanwhile, here's a link to the Tide's official Web site.

Categories: Footy in Tacoma • 1 comment

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

Who will be Sounders FC's top rivals?

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 03:55:59 pm

The USL Sounders and Timbers renew their rivalry at 7 p.m. Saturday at Qwest Field. But that will just tick us one game closer to its conclusion -- or at least pause from the end of this season until Portland's possible eventual entry into MLS. (Here's a link to my story about all this in the Friday paper.)

However, Sounders FC seems certain to head into its expansion season without a real rival that gets the blood boiling.

That could change in an instant. Sometimes something happens on the field that creates rivarlies that have nothing to do with geography.

But for now, here are five best guesses -- roughly in order -- for potential MLS rivals for Seattle Sounders FC:

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: The nearest MLS city to Seattle geographically. This season’s expansion team vs. next season’s expansion team. And a history dating to the days of the North American Soccer League.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY: The big media center down the coast with the high-profile David Beckham and ambitions of becoming the glamour team of North American soccer. “Beat L.A., beat L.A. …”

TORONTO FC: This assumes Canadian fans come down to Qwest Field for TFC games in the same way that they follow the Blue Jays to Mariners games at Safeco. Traveling fans are great for juicing up a rivalry.

NEW YORK RED BULLS: Their first name is “New York” and their nickname comes from an energy drink. How hard can it be to hate them?

COLORADO RAPIDS: Well, maybe. Seahawks-Broncos was a fierce rivalry. Sonics-Nuggets and Mariners-Rockies, not so much.

Categories: MLS in Seattle, Footy in Tacoma, Seattle Sounders • 5 comments

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

First MLS Sounder signed: Sebastien LeToux

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 12:24:59 pm

Seattle Sounders FC today announced its first player signing: forward Sebastien LeToux, who was last season's United Soccer League's first-division player of the year while playing for the USL Sounders.

LeToux will play with the USL Sounders again this season, on loan, before jumping to the Major League Soccer expansion team next season.

USL Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer speculated that from six to 10 members of the current Sounders could eventually sign with FC, but he said any other signings would likely come after the current USL season.

Reaction from LeToux:
I wanted to stay here. We did all the things that we could to get things settled because I really like my life here. … When I decide to stay it’s for everybody to play in the USL with me this year to keep the groove and prove to everybody that we can play in MLS together. (I’d like to bring all my teammates) with me to MLS.

Comment from Schmetzer:
"He’s a young man who came here, he wants to be here. He’s an exceptional soccer player. We’ve developed him on the USL level. Now he’s made the jump to Seattle Sounders FC. We hope to do that with six, eight, 10 of (the USL Sounders) and hopefully we can have a good nucleus of the team for ’09. ... If (other current Sounders) can be just a little bit more consistent and take care of themselves and train just a little bit differently, they’ll have the chance to play in MLS in ’09 as well. I think right now it’s a positive."

Categories: MLS in Seattle, Footy in Tacoma, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer • 5 comments

Sounders FC will have shirt sponsor ... but VW taken

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 08:59:19 am

D.C. United announced Tuesday that Volkswagon will be their new shirt sponsor, and modeled their new jerseys.

About half of the teams in Major League Soccer now use shirt sponsors, and Seattle Sounders FC have made it clear that they want one too.

"That’s a big part of the business side of it," FC executive Gary Wright said. "It helps make everything else work. … It’s so prevalent all over the world, that I think the soccer purist, they understand."

Assuming so, any particular hopes for who FC eventually pairs with? Among the usual suspects, I kind of like the idea of Starbucks, since it's instantly recognizable with Seattle and the mermaid logo works with the nautical implications of the name "Sounders."

Categories: Footy in Tacoma • 5 comments

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

Two Sounders on USL team of the week

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 03:18:12 pm

Two Sounders were honored by the United Soccer Leagues this week for their work in Seattle's nationally televised 2-0 win at Atlanta on Friday.

Here's the Sounders' release:

Seattle Sounders midfielder Leighton O’Brien and defender Taylor Graham were named to the USL team of the week following Seattle’s 2-0 win in Atlanta on Friday.

O’Brien, the 2003 league player of the year, scored in spectacular fashion in the eighth minute for the game’s first goal. The goal started with Josh Gardner creating a corner kick for the Sounders and O’Brien, stepping up for the corner, bent the ball directly in at the far post.

Taylor Graham anchored a backline that shutout the Atlanta Silverbacks for the fourth consecutive meeting. Winning challenges in the air and keeping the defense organized, Atlanta had few real chances at goal and took only three shots total.

Don’t forget, the Sounders home opener is Saturday at Qwest Field against their arch-rival and league leaders, the Portland Timbers!

Categories: Footy in Tacoma, Seattle Sounders

Henry says he wants to stay at Barca

Posted by Mike Gilbert @ 09:04:17 am

The Guardian has a piece today that says the formerly high-flying Frenchman wants to remain with Barcelona.

"I still have three years left on my contract here and I will still be here next year," the London paper quoted him as saying.

Not sure if that clarifies the Henry-to-Sounders situation. For one thing, Barcelona looks likely to get a new manager -- Frank Rijkaard out, former Barca skipper Pep Guardiola in. For another, there was always the prospect that Henry's move to the States would be like Beckham's – after the close of the European season.

Another twist of the tail, at any rate.

Categories: MLS in Seattle, Great players we have known and loved

Monday, May 5th, 2008

FC: 'Extremely competitive team from Day One'

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 08:00:48 am

Here's a link to our story in the Monday paper that takes a look at a timeline of major (and less major) decisions facing Sounders FC in their run-up to their first game in 2009.

However, of everything in there, it's this quote from FC general manager Adrian Hanauer that should get fans most excited: "... We expect to feel a competititve team from Day One. I will certainly feel that I have underperformed if we don't have an extremely competitive team from Day One."

That won't be easy. MLS has a history of fielding terrible expansion teams -- Salt Lake has never been any good, Toronto finished last in 2007, San Jose is off to a 1-3-1 start now. So, Sounders FC will be trying to buck the trend.

Still, Hanauer didn't seem to just be saying things. He seems to believe it. Like everyone else I've spoken to in the organization, who all seem to believe that this is going to be a first-class organization on the field and off.

Categories: MLS in Seattle, Footy in Tacoma, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer • 7 comments

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

Sounders FC: No Seahawks lines on Qwest pitch

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 06:28:38 pm

I've always thought one of the small-but-significant tests regarding how seriously a community treats its soccer team is whether or not American football lines are allowed to mar the soccer pitch.

If that's a fair test, then there is good news ahead for Sounders FC fans. I recently spent some time with Gary Wright, who will be in charge of Seattle's new MLS team from the business side. And he sounds like he personally -- and the Sounders and Seahawks organizationally -- are determined to have the soccer team play on a pristine pitch.

"That is a definite thing that we are striving to make sure that does not happen," Wright said of football lines on the soccer field. "It has challenges, but that is one of the things that we’re working on. … That’s my preference, and what’s really nice is Tim Ruskell on the Seahawks football side: That was the first thing he said: 'You can’t play with our football lines on there. We have to make sure that it’s done right.'

"Well for a football guy to say you’ve got to make sure that it’s done right, that’s pretty neat and pretty cool. Our goal seriously is to never play a game with football lines on it. I would hate to see that happen. I’m as fervent about that as any longtime soccer person could be."

Wright admits that the challenge will increase from August to October, when the seasons overlap. The technology for removing the markings from FieldTurf isn't yet perfect ... especially for thicker lines or colored items like logos.

However, Wright had some very interesting things to say about future technology that could solve this problem entirely. And in the meanwhile, it's great to see that they're taking the issue as seriously as FC fans are likely to.

Categories: MLS in Seattle, Footy in Tacoma, Major League Soccer, Qwest Field: cauldron, or catacomb? • 1 comment

Hooking onto a rec team or pickup game

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 10:54:21 am

I got an email recently from a newcomer to the area having trouble making the right connections to hook onto a rec-league team (over 30, in his specific case) or even finding a welcoming pick-up game.

A section from his note:

It seems like there are leagues in the area but they all seem to be team-based, which is difficult to break into when you are new to the scene. Are there rec leagues open to new players in Tacoma? Good spots for pick up? Is all the action in Seattle?

Any insight would be great - thanks!

I figured there have got to be other folks also wondering the same thing, and I also figure that some of the readers of this blog have to have the answer or at least some good suggestions.

Got any?

Categories: Footy in Tacoma • 3 comments

How far has MLS come?

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 10:39:21 am

That's the question that is being asked at the FIFA Web site.

And although there isn't much to the story itself, some of the fans' reactions are interesting.

Here's the link.

Categories: MLS in Seattle, Major League Soccer

Friday, May 2nd, 2008

Sounders beat Atlanta, 2-0

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 09:00:33 pm

The Sounders concluded their season-opening three-game roadtrip by scoring a couple of odd goals in a 2-0 win over the Atlanta Silverbacks on Friday.

Leighton O’Brien got the first goal by sending a corner kick directly into the far corner. In the 65th minute, Sebastien LeToux apparently got a bit of foot on a long ball from Danny Jackson, which might have gone in even without the help.

The win pulls the Sounders even at 1-1-1 on the season, as they turn their attention to their home opener vs. rival Portland next Saturday (May 10) at Qwest Field.

Categories: Seattle Sounders

USL Sounders on TV Friday

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 05:20:03 pm

Just a quick -- and late -- reminder that the USL match between the Seattle Sounders at Atlanta Silverbacks is on Fox Sports Channel today at 5 p.m.

Categories: Footy in Tacoma, Seattle Sounders

Tacoman is MISL MVP for third time

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 09:59:41 am

Greg Howes of Tacoma has been selected most valuable player of the Major Indoor Soccer League for the third time.

Howes, 31, plays for the Milwaukee Wave.

Here's a full report from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Howes grew up in Tacoma, played collegiately at Oregon State, and has played for the USL Sounders.

Categories: Footy in Tacoma

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

Sounders FC announces ticket plans

Posted by Dale Phelps @ 12:36:54 pm

Seattle Sounders FC announced today how it will structure season-ticket packages for the 2009 MLS season. The team release:

Seattle Sounders FC Announce Ticket Pricing

KIRKLAND, WASH. — Seattle Sounders FC announced season ticket pricing today for the inaugural 2009 season. Season ticket packages will be based on an 18 home match schedule with prices starting as low as $288 for a full-season ticket package. All home matches will be played at Qwest Field.

“We’ve created a variety of season ticket packages to meet the needs of our passionate soccer fans in the Pacific Northwest,” said majority owner Joe Roth.
Season ticket prices per match are $16, $20, $24, $29 and $35. Ticket prices in Club Wells Fargo are $39 and $75 per match.

Fans seated in $75 ticket sections will receive exclusive benefits that include reserved parking and an all inclusive menu hosted in the FSN Lounge. The menu will feature regional flavors and local ingredients prepared by a personal Chef.

In the north end of the stadium, fans seated in $24 ticket sections will enjoy an all inclusive experience featuring classic stadium food and beverages.

Each season ticket holder will be assigned a personal customer sales representative to assist with their seating selection. Fans who placed deposits for Sounders FC will be sent an e-mail this week inviting them to submit
their seating preferences through an interactive website.

=> Read more!

Categories: Seattle Sounders • 2 comments

Two big derbies Sunday

Posted by Mike Gilbert @ 09:45:57 am

Actually, "big derby" doesn't quite do either game justice.

The Derby della Madonnina – AC Milan v Internazionale – is on Fox Soccer Channel at 6 a.m. This edition doesn't have quite the usual high stakes but there is still plenty for both teams to play for: Inter could all but clinch the Scudetto with a win, while Milan is trying to salvage Serie A's last Champions League spot. A big time glamor match.

But the really, really cool game is El Superclassico at noon, also on FSC: Boca Juniors y River Plate at La Bombonera. You can have Real Madrid v Barcelona, or Tottenham v Arsenal, America v Chivas – for me, this one is it.

Of course, you may disagree. Your favorite derby?

UDPATE: Our photo editor Jeremy Harrison put together this sweet gallery about Boca Juniors that convinces me more than ever that the Observer got it right when it put El Superclassico at the top of this list.

Categories: O Jogo Bonito, Soccer on TV • 1 comment

Brazil-Canada tickets go on sale Monday

Posted by Don Ruiz @ 08:04:01 am

A little more detail about the Brazil-Canada game at Qwest Field has been released, including the fact that tickets go on sale Monday morning.

Here's the release from Sounders FC.

Categories: Footy in Tacoma

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Indirect Kick

Updates on news, views and developments of the South Sound soccer scene.

Contributors:

Don Ruiz joined The News Tribune in 1988 and has been covering sports since 1999. He is a long-time recreational soccer player and has covered the 1999 Women's World Cup championship game and a variety of international, national and local soccer matches. E-mail Don.

Mike Gilbert has been a news reporter and editor at The News Tribune for 20 years. When he's not covering the military beat, he follows the beautiful game. He played until the wheels fell off; now that he can't play, he refs. E-mail Mike.