Soccer Evangelism As Form Of Celebration

by Dave Clark on Aug 28, 2011 10:04 PM PDT in Life in the Sound

Saturday's game, that amazing blowout win over the Columbus Crew happened to be the closest home match to the three year anniversary of this very site. While it was nice for the Seattle Sounders to set a record with goals scored to celebrate Sounder at Heart's birthday, even better was using my extra ticket to take a man who is certainly not a soccer fan, but is the biggest fan of this site who doesn't pay attention to the team.

Three years ago this site was an idea that I got talked into by one Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider. He inspired me to take the way I had applied myself to baseball and basketball at KJR and online with his other projects and do it for a sport he knew I loved. And then he offered to sub-let space on his server, teach me how to use wordpress and guide me through the launch process.

Finally Churchill saw the team that has inspired this passion in me. He did the March to the Match. During pregame we talked about the upcoming game (I predicted a Seattle win with a total of 4 goals scored - oops), the culture he'd see in the stands and the friends that season ticket holders can make nearby. I tagged two players for him to watch, players with skillsets that anyone can recognize as being good without knowing the nuance of the game - Osvaldo Alonso and Mike Fucito.

At the end of the day he came away impressed not just by Fucito and Alonso, but by the entire team. Six-two wins will do that. He also was impressed by the call and repeat, the boom-boom-clap, the ECS, the Fucito song and church. An avid non-soccer fan, he enjoyed it enough that his "day with Dave that happened to include soccer" may be repeated. He still won't watch a game on TV, but he may be in CenturyLink Field again.

This effort at soccer evangelism probably started nearly 5 years ago. It wound up with me launching a website and just yesterday resulted in a day of solid entertainment helped by a great team and all of you who were in the stadium, and honestly everyone that reads this site has been part of it as well.

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Comments

Wait, I'm confused

Is he ambivalent to soccer or does he have an active dislike for it?

I met a possum.

by s0merand0mdude on Aug 28, 2011 10:12 PM PDT reply actions

Clarification

I have an active dislike for it. It’s just not for me. The one thing I have been able to do, however — thanks in large part to Dave — is avoid ripping the sport and the Sounders. It’s great for the city that they are not only a good team on the field, but that the support is tremendous and the organization is so good at pretty much everything.

Soccer just doesn’t agree with me, but I wasn’t bored out of my skull Saturday in the least. I focused, followed the ball, tried to look off the ball to the open spaces and got the most out of the game that I could.

As a single event, it’s as festive as anything I have ever attended outside the 1995 ALDS and this was ’just a regular season match." Quite epic.

Thanks to Dave for including me, despite me being such a baseball guy — so much that I now ignore the NBA unequivocally (not enough room in my brain for it anymore).

by Jason A. Churchill on Aug 29, 2011 12:00 AM PDT up reply actions 2 recs

“Wasn’t bored out of your skull”, but you are a baseball guy ?
I LOVE baseball, but come on.

Obviously, NBA should be ignored until Stern is dead, and Seattle has a team at the very least.

by Charles J on Aug 29, 2011 7:29 AM PDT up reply actions

The frequent naps during a baseball game

make the parts when you’re awake seem more exciting, on average

Nos Audietis

by sidereal on Aug 29, 2011 1:42 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Stats

May be a case of being interested in statistics. Baseball is tailor made for statistics because each event in the game is discreet. Football is the opposite. Almost nothing on the football pitch is discreet. The fluidity of football makes it much less tidy statistically.

The other issue that many Americans seem to have with the game is the dearth of scoring. 0-0 is a typical football score. Many American sports fans want a clear winner and lots of scoring. Basketball is the ultimate version of this with combined scores exceeding 200 points. (Which is one of the reasons I loathe watching basketball. )

by Abbott Smith on Aug 29, 2011 3:52 PM PDT up reply actions

Stats might be a draw, but diving is a deterrent.

Randomly talked with the owner of the gym we go to today about soccer and the Sounders. His main complaint is the diving. He went off on it. He vaguely mentioned the low scores, but that was a small percentage of his gripe. He did say MLS was different than other leagues though and he had a good time going to the two games he went to.

So not to hijack your comment…

Pulling it back to what Abbott said above, there are some serious fanboys for baseball centering around stats just like there are fanboys for soccer who could care less about stats. I don’t necessarily get what the fascination is with baseball, but can sort of appreciate it. Probably about as much as a hardcore baseball fan can appreciate a good match.

by SoundersForever on Aug 29, 2011 10:49 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm a hardcore baseball fan.

Some people don’t like baseball. Some people don’t like soccer. Some people like both. It’s not a culture war.

by Aaron Campeau on Aug 29, 2011 10:57 PM PDT up reply actions 3 recs

Have to hand it to you though

At least you go to the games. And while there you actually try and pay attention and learn the game. That is far and above what others who actively dislike the sport do. So kudos for that.

And hey, maybe when you come across someone else who thinks that maybe baseball might be for them, maybe it’s too slow or something, you can send them over to CLink for a soccer match! Just saying…

by expatB on Sep 3, 2011 1:24 AM PDT up reply actions

Happy 3rd Birthday to S@H

by Graham MacAree on Aug 28, 2011 11:00 PM PDT reply actions 4 recs

We are part of something special.

Three years ago a friend hyped me up on the Sounders and my life hasn’t been the same since. I’ve only been to a handful of games each year but damn have they been some good ones, and its an event every time!

This has become a family passion and something I can’t picture living without. We have our own songs for the players and we never miss a game on the tube. Full 90, 24×7.

Cheers to S@H and all of the fans who keep it going and growing!

by butterGlory on Aug 28, 2011 11:06 PM PDT reply actions

Great post. And congrats on three years!

by nicktjacob on Aug 28, 2011 11:10 PM PDT reply actions

You might just turn him

One of my best friends would literally choose to sit home and do nothing over going to a Sounders game the first season. By the end of year two I finally got him to a game using a fail safe technique – I promised him an awesome tailgate. Now, he is one of the first people I call when a ticket is available. He knows the players, performs reasonable analysis of the games, and damn near rushed the field to confront the ref during the Chivas game. All from a guy who hated soccer three years ago. My point is he finally came from the atmosphere but now he stays for the soccer.

by UWERIC on Aug 29, 2011 6:43 AM PDT reply actions

Thank you Jason and Dave

Jason for your incredible passion and depth of knowledge about all things Mariners and baseball. Can totally understanding not having room enough in your brain for another sport. And thank you for igniting Dave’s soccer blogging fuse.

2 1/2 years ago I went searching for a Sounders blog that matched the excellence I was used to from the M’s blogosphere – USSM, Lookout Landing and Prospect Insider. I found Sounder at Heart and have been an avid follower ever since. Thank you Dave, you’ve built a great ~~blog~~ community.

by look4wrd on Aug 29, 2011 8:25 AM PDT reply actions

It’s not about loving baseball. I’m a baseball guy. It’s what I do, it’s who I am 24 hours a day. Again, however, I was far from bored Saturday despite not knowing the game of soccer very well at all.

by Jason A. Churchill on Aug 29, 2011 11:56 AM PDT reply actions

That's kind of the point

I can go to sports that aren’t part of my daily routine (that would be here these days) and enjoy them.

Here’s someone who made that same effort with soccer.

I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on Aug 29, 2011 12:52 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs

Thank you for starting and maintaining this site Dave.

I recently discovered it and it is now on my favorites list. Thank you to your friend as well. This site might not be here if he had not helped and encouraged you.

by Proud American123 on Aug 29, 2011 6:14 PM PDT via mobile reply actions 2 recs

Well done Dave

I’ve had an incredible year with the Sounders as well. An avid lifelong Seattle sports fan living in SoCal—and hardcore football, baseball and (formerly) basketball devotee—I had never been to an MLS match before the Portscum away game: a come-from-behind-twice 3-2 win, truly one of the greatest sports experiences of my life. Then I saw my first home game: a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Colorado. Later I came back north and caught my first international soccer match: a come-from-behind 4-1 win over Comunicaciones.

Thank you Sounders, Gorilla FC and Sounder at Heart. You have taken away so much of the sting of the death of the Sonics, and made this native son so damn proud.

by lemonverbena on Aug 30, 2011 9:02 AM PDT reply actions