After the live Q&A session Seattle Sounders FC committed to answering the rest of the questions that were submitted by Alliance members. Many of these passed through my hands at some point, though not all. Several had to be condensed together as they covered similar issues. But in the final versions of the questions as submitted to the club through the Council or through twitter submissions they answered.

Many of the questions and answers are not of broad interest, but there are a few that should be highlighted.

Two related to finances of the club. First the club announced a 92% renewal rate on season tickets with 1000 new season ticket holders added. During the meeting they announced that every suite is sold for 2012. The other most notable financial situation is that the organization paid "multiple millions of dollars" in transfer fees. Those fees do not show up on any list relating to salary cap or relationship of payroll to wins.

The club is also listening to its fans. Vuvuzelas are no more. Healthy food options are available. Only Seattle gets female and child kits for the alternate uniforms.

Of course many of the questions are answered in a mix of PR and business speak. Let's remember that this Democracy is quite limited as all powers are granted by the owners. Again, the link to the remaining Q&A at SoundersFC.com.

When the Alliance Council asked for a larger role in the planning and execution of the End of Year Business Meeting the goal was for a more streamlined event, less repetitive Q&A and an increase in participation overall. On those three goals we probably got 2.5 right. This recap is built from the team's official live blog, my tweets from backstage and my memory of the event.

First off, I think it was important that all five MLS era trophies the team holds were there. No matter the prestige of the Heritage Cup, what it represents is still worth noting. It's also great to note that Seattle has won six trophies in their three MLS years (2010, 2011 Heritage). Compare that to the zero combined wins by the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps in their inaugural years. Adrian Hanauer and Joe Roth both noted that the lack of MLS Cup on that trophy table is a failure by the team, one that will be rectified soon.

As a member of the Council the most important thing about the event were meeting the previous goals and the result of the ratification vote. It passed with an overwhelming 96% of the vote and would like to echo acting President Paul Cox' appreciation of everyone involved in any way.

Moving on to the meeting specifics;

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Seattle Sounders players vote to recognize their vision of the MVP and Defender of the Year. This differs slightly from recognition given by Sounder at Heart in that here there are awards for Offensive, Defensive and Young Players of a given season. Still there is a certain overlap.

Osvaldo Alonso's performance in 2011 earned him recognition from both his teammates and readers here. From the players he is the repeat MVP, while you voted him the Defensive Player of 2011. The vote was not close as Alonso earned 55% of the vote with Kasey Keller in second and Parke in third.

Jeff Parke was recognized by his teammates as being the best defender in 2011. He didn't just take in the most minutes of any defender, but was clearly the best player on the backline in all competitions. Never really an offensive threat (except for that wonderful winner against Sporting Kansas City) Parke led both vocally and by shutting down all varieties of forwards.

The team does not vote on the best offensive player, instead recognizing the Golden Boot winner. Fredy Montero nabbed that rather easily, especially considering that he scored the most goals by any MLS player through the 2011 calendar year's various competitions. This site though chose to recognize Mauro Rosales (who will be here for at least two more years) as the squad's best Offensive Player. This ends Montero's two year streak. Rosales took 58% of the vote.

At the beginning of 2011 the Young Player of the Year was expected by most to be Steve Zakuani. When his injury opened up playing time for Alvaro Fernandez and Lamar Neagle it also meant that a mainly Reserve player would win the YPY.Servando Carrasco took 67% of the vote and Zakuani finished second.

Alonso's goal that iced the US Open Cup won the vote for Moment of 2011. If there's one thing readers here can't get enough of it's winning that Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Second and third give an indication of our other favorite things - Kasey Keller and the rivalry with the Portland Timbers.

Team Release on their awards follows. It also contains James Riley earning Humanitarian of the Year which was previously announced.

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So if there is one thing I learned last night at the end-of-year Alliance "Business" meeting it is that it apparently takes two years for adidas to scour the globe to look for the most hideous color combinations of highlighter shades to use in our 3rd kits... well, that and the fact that the Sounder training staff doesn't give "happy endings" and Drew Carey likes pain killers (but who doesn't?).

What's really telling is that Joe Roth apparently has never heard of the wish amongst fans to vote on third kits, even though I seem to recall the very same subject of ugly kits came up at last year's meeting (and it is worth noting Mr. Roth repeated the same David Stern anecdote near the beginning of his podium time). In fact, whining about the awful 3rd kits started about 3 seconds after the "Electricity" bomb was dropped on us...

Well, alrighty then... so I guess this means it is time to commence dialogue about what we want to see with our third kits. Times a wasting, those pesky Portland-based adidas folks have surely already started collecting data on visually offensive pastel color combinations (I'm hearing pink "bra straps" is the opening-line favorite)

Polling for the site 'awards' (no physical award actually given) for Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year weren't really close. It looks like Moment of the Year will see a run-off just like in 2010. Moving into the Young Player of Year the contest may be more about hope than performance. In the past there were a handful of players with large amounts of playing time that would qualify for a U-23 roster. The players in this age grouping didn't get as much playing time. For Steve Zakuani that was due to injury, for Servando Carrasco it was because he is a back-up to an amazing talent, for the rest their time came primarily in Reserve League Games. The other three included in the poll are the next three most used in all competitions including reserve matches. This means that David Estrada, Mike Seamon and Michael Tetteh (who is going to the Netherlands to train with the Generation Adidas team) make the cut. Miguel Montano, Bryan Meredith, Amadou Sanyang do not.

Reserve Stats are courtesy of Seattle Pitch.

Which player who started the year qualifying for a U-23 (ie Olympics) Squad had the best 2011?

Legal documents aren't really a fun look. There's something dry about them that takes away from what they can mean. Words like "whereas" or parentheticals for future reference immediately cause a glassification of eyeballs and headaches in many.

In the case of the vote for ratification of the Alliance Constitution and Sounders FC Alliance Charter maybe some perspective of what the Alliance Council was asking for in the Charter and how I view what it can mean for you as a fan of the team may give you a reason to vote yes to ratify the full documents. First let's look at how the club described the document;

Additionally, the Club has written a charter which recognizes the Alliance as the voice of the overall fans and supporters of the Club, and which grants certain areas for the Alliance to have control over; other areas that the Club will try and advocate the Alliance's position; and agrees that the Alliance may choose to express its views on issues involving the Club.

In short it is a more formal version of the initial goals that Drew Carey had when he launched the whole "Democracy in Sports" concept. At length it describes exactly what the Alliance can do and why the club is willing to grant its fans so this much at this time.

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From the earliest moments of the young MLS Seattle Sounders FC franchise the team has spoken of "democracy in sports." The word DEMOCRACY has a power to it. It mobilizes men and women to do things that are previously unheard of. In politics it rears its head often, sometimes to surprising results. In sports it is uncommon. Real Madrid and Barcelona are trotted out as examples of what it can be with their votes on who runs the team and potential presidents campaigning by championing big budget transfers.

So when Drew Carey proposed that the Sounders have a modicum democracy I was very excited. In the early steps I ran for the Alliance Council, now twice elected to a position and the acting Vice-President. I'm only the acting veep because up until now the operating structure has been very loose. We're asking for your help in changing that.

Starting today and ending in barely under two weeks the Council and team are asking for people to vote to ratify the Constitution and Charter so our next steps along this democratic journey are done in support of the members of the club. While these documents are not perfect, and they certainly aren't Barcelona-esque, they are a great step.

Preamble

We, the united fans and supporters of the Seattle Sounders Football Club, are dedicated to protecting, upholding, and furthering the interests of the greater Sounders community. For this purpose, we join together to create this Alliance, where we shall find strength in our common purpose: the success of the Seattle Sounders FC on the field and in the community.

There will be a lot of questions about the documentation, about the process and our next steps. Some I can answer as my own opinion. Others I will have to go back to the Council as a whole rather than speaking off the cuff, because no one speaks for the full Council. Our officers are organizational only.

Below is the press release. Feel free to ask questions. I am firmly endorsing a yes vote if you have one.

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Today in his Q&A with SoundersFC.com Adrian Hanauer talked about away allocation for Cascadia Cup matches. He notes the success of the first year, but is hesitant to think that more seats are needed due to the new hyper-unbalanced schedule.

We have had early discussions about it.  We haven’t made any decisions.  It’s probably important to see where the schedule comes out and who we’re playing how often.  If we play more games against our Cascadia rivals, I don’t know whether a bigger allotment is necessary.  It’s a piece of information we need before we move on with the rest of the discussion.  We were happy with the way it worked out this year.  There was great atmosphere produced.  But at the same time, Portland got to fill their stadium with Portland fans, Vancouver got to fill their stadium with Vancouver fans and we got to fill our stadium with our fans.  It will still be a few weeks to a couple of months before we figure that piece out.

And while the schedule wasn't out when the Alliance Council passed a resolution recommending expansion, my reasons for voting in favor are not reduced due the number of games being played. Things were successful, the "trial" period worked. Both the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers expanded seating for 2012 by a couple thousand. The Vancouver Whitecaps are in their permanent downtown home and won't have 1000+ unsold seats that were bought by Seattle fans.

The thing is that part of the reason justifying the new schedule is that the regional rivalries can help power the league's growth. Part of what makes those regional rivalries so powerful are the visiting fans. The Alliance Council didn't ask for 5%, or a thousand more seats. There is an understanding that things are more complicated than any ideal. But the schedule doesn't make me want an expansion of Away Allocation any less.

TV ratings for those games are higher for a reason. The atmosphere is part of that. With expanded general seating the seating for away fans should increase as well.

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