One-hundred seventy-three miles separate the Cascadian battlefields of CenturyLink Field and Providence Park. In between are significant mileposts positioned along Interstate 5: Tacoma, Olympia, Centralia, Longview and Vancouver.
And somewhere between where Merritt Paulson placed his Soccer City signage in 2011 and the state borderline under the Columbia lies the dividing line, where the Rave yields to the deeper green color of the arch-rival.
Graphic courtesy Likkit Pocinwong
Throughout the world of football there are myriad rationale why fans flock to one side of a derby or another. In close quarters it will likely be differences of religion, social class, political ties or cultural heritage. Generally, however, geography is always a factor. The next most proximate league club to one’s neighborhood is thine enemy. And so it is with Seattle and Portland, and it has been since territorial times of Oregon and Washington.
How many ways can thee examine a hat trick? While delving deep into Seattle lore, let us count the ways.
You can do it early; you can leave it late.
Tommy Ord did the first Sounders trick in 1977, three games after arriving in a trade.
Cam Weaver completed his in the 34th minute. Three others required the full 90.
Mark Baena’s three hat tricks is the most for a Seattle player. (Frank MacDonald Collection)
Five hat tricks started in the first four minutes. Mark Baena was scoreless for the game’s first 62 minutes, then… BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
You can do it in a gallop; you can do it at a canter.
For Brent Goulet in ’89, it was as fast as 1-2-3; his hat trick started and finished in seven minutes. The longest hunt: 77 minutes from first to third for Chuggar Adair.
Today it would be absurd, but once upon a time – actually, make it twice – the road to the Olympic Games ran through Seattle. Lured here under some extraordinary circumstances, U.S. Soccer sent its best team of the day to be road tested on a relatively narrow patch of plastic against some locals with much to prove.
Prior to both the 1972 and ’84 Summer Games, utilizing sheer will and a discretionary expense account, missionaries from the local footballing community convinced federation officials to make Northwest detours, essentially, for the good of the game. All right, so the second visit guarantee involved some wool blends, but more about that in a few paragraphs.
Of course nowadays Seattle would be a logical stop for a national team bound for a major tournament. Big, loud crowds and a beautiful stadium. A generation ago, both city and the sport were pariahs, and perhaps therein was the mutual appeal.
You couldn’t tell the players without a program, and your program was useless unless you arrived at the park early enough to hear the squad announced. That was the first lesson learned upon attending a British football match some 30 years ago. It was a brisk spring evening in Scotland, with dust swirling in a windswept, dilapidated ground of Stirling Albion (don’t ask).
Nicolas Lodeiro (Courtesy Jane Gersovich/Sounders FC)
There were no programs and not a lot of spectators either. Although Scottish in heritage this visitor didn’t speak the language. But I’m pretty sure the ol’ man in tweed a few yards away was suggesting I keep an eye on the No. 10. And ain’t that always the case?
Since the height of Pelé’s reign, the No. 10 shirt has been football’s most prized. In theory, it should be issued to a player of quality (at least compared to the rest of the squad). Ideally, it would be worn by an attacking player with a creative, cunning mind to go along with a quiver of skills for surgically dismembering a defense.
Enter Nicolás Lodeiro, Seattle’s new No. 10 and most recently of Boca Juniors. Talk about the pressure and expectation of wearing that number, at La Bombonera Lodeiro was tracing the footsteps of both a demigod (Maradona) and a recently retired legend (Riquelme). And Nico handled it with aplomb, settling in soon after his arrival and leading Boca to the domestic double.
As his father tells the story, Walter Schmetzer beckoned Alan Hinton to watch his vaunted Lake City Hawks to watch a player of promise. But it wasn’t his son.
Still, as is often the case when coaches scout young (in this case U18) players, the original target can be eclipsed by another aspirant sharing the field, and that’s how on spring day in 1980 Brian Schmetzer’s long association with Puget Sound professional soccer began.
Schmetzer’s first turn as a Sounders head coach was from 2002-08.
Over 36 years since, Schmetzer has been associated as a player or coach with virtually every entity where one could draw a paycheck. Of the 500-some players who’ve worn a Seattle or Tacoma shirt over the years, Brian’s probably watched, played beside or coached an overwhelming majority of them.
For those who have grown to appreciate the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for its history, gritty displays and penchant for upsets, the Washington chapter can deliver on all those counts and more.
When Sounders FC pulls into the StubHub Center’s track venue for the quarterfinal date with the Galaxy, it will almost be like old, old times. Like when a Seattle side first ventured into southern California for a quarterfinal that, incidentally, was 50 years ago. Spoiler alert: Seattle did OK. That day, anyway. But more on that later.
At the ripe old age of 90, Mr. Lipton stands up straight, and though he shows signs of obvious wear there is a gleam to his appearance. Women with flowing hair, goddesses perhaps, flank him on either side.
Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, made solid sterling silver, stands nearly three feet and was crafted 90 years ago.
Lipton’s got it pretty good. Folks take care of him, and he’s got a room with a view. Unlike his prime, he no longer gets out much, if at all, and the notion of young people picking him up and jubilantly hoisting him skyward is certainly out of the question. Still, with proper care and attention, there’s no reason to think Lipton won’t outlive us all.
Such is life for the stately Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, likely among the oldest surviving artifacts of a rich soccer history that reaches back to the days before Washington’s statehood. Lipton and other sterling relics of their kind are hiding around the Seattle area, some of them in plain sight.
While the brightly-lighted Sounders FC trophy case on Occidental displays our biggest, brightest and most recent plunder–a Supporters’ Shield plus four Open Cups–the bulk of Washington’s historical treasures reside in a couple ordinary offices.
Sir Thomas Lipton, second from left, during his 1912 visit to Seattle Courtesy University of Washington Libraries)
Beyond the spectacle of it all–the crowd, the goals, the unlikely outcome–many of us came away from then-Qwest Field that brisk March night seven years ago believing we had found our next Mr. Sounder.
In 2009, Ozzie Alonso had pulled on the 6 shirt and instantly made it his own. For all the flash of the Rave jerseys, for all the flair exhibited by Fredy Montero, Seattle fans have always held their highest regard for a man with bite. A player who competes, who gives no quarter, who wins ball after ball and tackles hard. He makes the nuanced plays, the runs to open space and close down runners. He plays hard but stops short of becoming a hard man, at least from the home perspective.
Never backs down
Alonso covers acres of ground in each appearance, and last week’s Vancouver derby marked his 250th appearance for Seattle in all competitions.
There are those players whom we never wish to leave Sounderland, if only because we never wish to play or cheer against them. And yes, of course we love that sort of competitor.
Jimmy Gabriel, the original No. 6 and the original Mr. Sounder, never played for another U.S. club and has long made his home here, near the Sound. Nearly 40 years since his last tackle, we still love Jimmy.
Fresh-faced Ozzie, 2009
Sounders fans can’t imagine Alonso ever appearing in opposing colors. Yet during the past winter, we were given pause to contemplate just such a possibility. The untouchable tag was removed and Alonso’s name was dangled for all MLS to see. For me, the thought of seeing Ozzie in purple or orange or red was repugnant.
Thankfully, Alonso’s only offseason travel was the previously-thought-to-be impossible and emotional trip back to his island homeland. By first kick he was right back where he belonged, wearing the Rave Green 6 and in very fine form in the middle of the park.
Ozzie at 250
When the Honey Badger’s at the top of his game, he gives Seattle the best chance to win. Fans have rated him a solid 7 through the first five matches. Clearly, Alonso is not only back but performing as well as ever. Now if only the rest of the pieces can fall into place, the Sounders can begin climbing the table.
Seattle appreciates a ball-winner
While Zach Scott is the faraway leader in combined Sounders (USL and MLS eras) appearances, at 336 and counting, Alonso is the first to log 250 for any Seattle top flight entity. Scott Jenkins played 262 times in the A-League and USL-1.
Two-hundred fifty becomes all the more impressive when taking into account Alonso’s traits: increased mileage as a midfielder, tackling and his overall tenacity. Almost always he goes the full 90, full-on.
Without knowing whether the club marks these occasions with plaques or maybe a few platitudes in the locker room, it just feels right to acknowledge such a milestone, especially knowing the amount of commitment and passion Ozzie puts into it. Keep on doing your thing, Mr. Sounder, for many years to come.
He’s called well over a thousand games for the Huskies and long ago became a local broadcasting institution. But it may come as a surprise that Bob Rondeau cut his teeth on play-calling as the voice of the Sounders.
That’s right, before he first exclaimed “Touchdown, Washington!” came shouts of “Goooooooal, Sounders!”
Bob Rondeau has been the voice of Husky football since 1980 and UW men’s basketball since 1985. Courtesy UW Athletics.
Back in 1979, when KOMO AM-1000 added soccer to its stable of UW football and basketball, Rondeau stepped up to the mic with no experience in play-by-play and admittedly little knowledge of the game.
“I knew less than nothing about soccer,” says Rondeau. “I didn’t know a soccer ball from a cue ball.”
Whereas the next announcer will follow in some formidable footprints, for the original voice of the Sounders there simply was no trail. Bob Robertson blazed it himself.
Robertson, seen here in 1980, was a one-man crew in the booth. He called the original Sounders on radio and TV for eight of the 10 seasons.
“Up until (1974), as far as we knew, no one had broadcast soccer in America on a full-time basis,” remembers Robertson. “It hadn’t been done, other than a championship game in a small market. So we were pioneering.”
Robertson more than just broke ground. Already an established, respected pro, he helped grow the game’s audience and crowds with his rapid-fire, no-nonsense delivery, and he did so in a much more challenging environment that exists today. Robertson not only was the first, his tenure surpasses all followers, and he helped create a Sounders staple that thrives to this very day.
