Miracle On Pitch

It was only months ago, early this year, when everyone in America said Seattle didn’t have a chance. The pundits said Seattle did not play well enough to earn a shot at the playoffs. People believed the game was over before it had even begun. Of course we know how that turned out; the Seahawks defeated the defending champion New Orleans Saints by a score of 41 to 36.

1996 saw another time where everyone dismissed Seattle. The Chicago Bulls had the greatest record in NBA history at 72-10. They dominated the first three rounds of the playoffs, going 11-1 against the best teams in the Eastern Conference. They were being called the greatest basketball team of all time. Then they played the Seattle SuperSonics. Although the Bulls won the first three games, Seattle fought back to win the next two, before finally falling in game six. The narrative changed; the Bulls went from the greatest team of all time, to the greatest Bulls team of all time. Seattle stepped up when no one expected them to and exceeded expectations.

Should I mention the 1995 Mariners coming back from 11.5 games to overtake the Angels for the American League West? After winning the West they fell behind two games to none to the Yankees in the first round of the playoffs, came back to win the next two games, fell behind in game five, came back, fell behind in extra innings, and came back again to win! That’s heart. That’s Seattle.

Can the Seattle Sounders score three goals tomorrow? Well, the 2011 team has scored exactly three points on five separate occasions during the regular season. Four goals? We did it twice. And then there was that amazing six-point afternoon in August.

Were any of those multi-goal matches against a team as good as Real Salt Lake? No, they were not. But that does not mean a damn thing. The fact of the matter is, the Seattle Sounders have the capability of scoring a lot of goals within 90 minutes. And the fact is, Seattle has a long history of amazing comebacks. In less than twenty-four hours, we make history.