Came here on a whim for a short visit … and am still here. It happens. Nothing quite like how this city looks in the summer.

The bluest skies you’ve ever seen….

Most times when I read about MLS people are apologizing about it.
It is a great league with a lot to offer.

Let’s see, I know nothing about where he played before, but I am going to say better stadium (even with turf ) with way more fans, major US city that isn’t too big, very livable with great summers, in a very well run league where his team will probably be toward the top, but competitive enough that Kasey Keller found it challenging. I take it as more of a “we are very lucky and he is smart enough to know it”

Take a deep breathe and repeat after me….“MLS has a LOT to offer”

I wonder how much of his enthusiasm for Seattle is because it reminds him of home? It’d be worth asking him. The Cascades often get compared to the Alps. Hell, Leavenworth has made a cottage industry out of it. So, other than the Sound, the scenery and geography are very reminiscent of Austria.

That made me curious about the climates between Seattle and Graz, so I did a little research and it is kind of interesting. The annual rainfall is 34" here and 34.4" there. We’re more temperate then Graz, not quite reaching the highs and lows, but some of the similarities are striking, especially around the time he visited. For July, we have a high/low(F) of 74°/56° and they have 77°/58°. August is 74°/56° here and 75°/56° there, and September is 68°/53° vs. 68°/51°.

His whole life and career have been in Austria, except the last four years where he has been in the very different, both climatically and culturally, Greece. In both regards, Seattle is much closer to his homeland. Perhaps the combination of familiar, comforting, yet still exotic surroundings is a major part of his desire to live here.

Very dissappointed no reporter has asked him to say “pineapple pizza”