The Sounders are encouraging fans attending the noon Saturday match vs. Chicago to arrive early (Gates open at 10:30.) due to the usual construction issues and the unusually close bump with a 1 p.m. Mariners game.

There could also be some early arrivers staking out good parking and watching spots for the SeaFair Torchlight Run at 6:30 and Torchlight Parade at 7:30.

I'll write more about this for the Saturday paper, but this collision of soccer and baseball is usually avoided due to a Sounders/Mariners/City agreement that usually bars games across the street from each other at the same time.

Usually, when soccer and baseball games are expected to draw a combined attendance of 70,000 on weekends or 58,000 on weekdays, there must be a three-hour gap between the projected end of one game and the start of the other.

However, the agreement acknowledges that conflicts can be inevitable, so it allows for two weekend exceptions and two weekday exceptions. This first use of the exception comes because ESPN selected the Sounders-Fire game for national telecast. And there’s little arguing with the choice, as this match projects among the best of this MLS season, if only for the first Qwest appearance of the Fire's utterly unique All-Star Cuauhtemoc Blanco.

More information at SoundersFC.com.

Meanwhile, a quick scouting report:

CHICAGO FIRE (7-3-7, 28 pts.)
AT SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (7-3-7; 28)
Noon Saturday, Qwest Field.

TV: ESPN.
Radio: 97.3 FM (in Spanish on 1210 AM).

Head-to-head: The teams tied 1-1 on May 2 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill.

Team leaders: For Chicago – G 6 Brian McBride; A 7 Cuauhtemoc Blanco; S 38 McBride; SOG 18 McBride/Marco Pappa. For Seattle – G 9 Fredy Montero; A 6 Montero/Nate Jaqua; S 52 Montero; SOG 21 Montero.

Coach Sigi Schmid scouting report: “I think the guys know we didn’t play well the first time in Chicago. Chicago’s sitting in first place in their conference. So that’s important for us, too: We want to continue to maintain where we’re at and to continue to push up. It’s going to be a tight race for the playoffs at the end, and we want to stay in the top two in the West.”

Notes: Seattle is unbeaten in its last five league games, Chicago in its last three. … Six MLS All-Stars are expected to be on the pitch: Montero, Kasey Keller, Freddie Ljungberg and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado for Seattle; Blanco and defender Wilman Conde for Chicago. … The Fire will be without McBride (shoulder), Bakary Soumare (card accumulation) and Gonzalo Segares (Costa Rican national team) and Logan Pause (USA); Pappa is probable (knee). For Seattle, Brad Evans (USA national team) is out and Patrick Ianni (toe) is probable. … Montero has scored goals in five straight league games, the longest streak in MLS this season. … Stephen King came to Seattle from Chicago in the expansion draft. Chicago’s Brandon Prideaux is a Renton native who played at the University of Washington and with the USL Sounders. He will return to UW as an assistant soccer coach after this season. … If Ljungberg is cautioned today, he will receive a one-game suspension for yellow-card accumulation. ... The game is sold out.

Next: MLS pauses for its All-Star Game, Wednesday at Sandy, Utah. Seattle’s season resumes Aug. 2 at San Jose.

The Sounders announced this afternoon that about 500 tickets remain for the Sounders FC vs. FC Barcelona match, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 5.

Tickets are available at www.SoundersFC.com, by calling 877-MLS-GOAL, through Ticketmaster and the Qwest Field Box office.

As with Chelsea, the full stadium will be used, creating a capacity of 67,000.

Barca is the reigning La Liga, the UEFA Champions League and the Copa del Rey champion.

This just in from MLS:

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber today fined Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham $1,000 for his interaction with a fan at halftime of his team’s 2-2 draw against AC Milan in an exhibition match on July 19.

“We support our players interacting with fans, whether it is at clinics, charity events or by high-fiving their supporters in the stands while celebrating a goal,” Garber said. “However, our players should never engage in conduct that can be interpreted as encouraging fans to come out of the stands and onto the field, regardless of the reason.”

As one of the League’s official Charities of Choice, the US Soccer Foundation is the recipient of all player fines at the end of each season. Those fines are added to the Foundation’s Annual Grants Pool from which the Board of Directors awards grants to soccer clubs and organizations that serve economically disadvantaged children in urban areas. To learn more about the Foundation, please visit www.ussoccerfoundation.org.

Seems to be a well-deserved fine, especially if you can push out of your head just how little $1,000 must mean to Beckham.

Good morning. A couple of early items before heading out to Sounders practice:

Sounders tops in merchandise sales: Sounders gear is reported to be the most popular in the MLS this season, followed in order the Los Angeles Galaxy, Toronto F.C. , D.C. United, Chicago Fire , NY Red Bulls, and Houston Dynamo.

That according to this post from the New York Times soccer blog.

So, a question: Why? New team? Large fan base? Cool logo? Rave green? It's probably a combination of factors, but what's the top reason?

I asked Gary Wright, Sounders vice president of business:

"TThe newness of the team, certainly," he said. "The size of the crowds at the games. The fact that people like to belong, they like to be part of it, especially in this sport. And it all adds up into a great thing: the scarves, the tradition of the game, some people wearing jerseys. The support in the community is sensational, so I would expect we would be No. 1 in sales."

And how about that rave green?

"There are a lot of factors, and the color is certainly one of them," Wright said. "It’s different, it’s unique, no one else has it. I think the logo is sharp and crisp. I don’t think you can put your finger on just one thing, but if you did I think it would be the support of the community."

Meanwhile:

Fire becomes Husky: OK, it's not as cool as "Forrest becomes Timber," but it's the focus of my story in today's paper: Chicago Fire defender Brandon Prideaux, who will become a UW assistant soccer coach at the end of this MLS season.

Should have some more notes in the early afternoon, after the Sounders conclude their final practice before the Fire's visit at noon Saturday. Be back then.