On anniversaries and their celebrations

Back in 2008 I had a silly idea — what if there was an American soccer blog that approached the game in a way that combined stats, passion and tactics? August 27th the switch was flipped and a rather basic WordPress blog started with me muttering to my friends. Most of them didn’t like soccer, or at least the American club version of it, back then.

Here we are so many years later. On the very anniversary of the founding of Sounder at Heart, the Seattle Sounders, the team that inspired all of this effort, won a semifinal by beating the team that was the arch-nemesis in the early years. There’s always been more hate for Portland, but until 2016 it was the Galaxy that stood in the way.

Sunday’s Final, against one of the gods of soccer and the pantheon of friends he’s convinced to join him in his American marketing project, will be in a packed house of Seattle’s making. Greens and blues will dominate the stands (except in the south end, where it’ll be black).

The Leagues Cup Final is not a hosting event for Messi.

It is an absolute celebration of Seattle and Puget Sound’s soccer culture. It’s a demonstration that we sell out large stadia on our own as we’ve done in 2019 and 2022, as we’ve done against Portland and LA. Massive crowds over 50k watched Sounders against Vancouver, San Jose, Salt Lake, Atlético de Madrid, and Paris Saint-Germain. More than 70 matches in Seattle have featured crowds of 40k plus. Even the Open Cup, oft ignored in the rest of the US, sets records here with two finals at 30k+, both wins.

We show up for us.

Just like you've shown for Sounder at Heart.

Sounder at Heart is what it is because of readers like you. We are 90% subscriber funded and August is our most important fundraising month. If you like what we do, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. To help entice you, here’s a 10% discount on our entry-level plan.

Get 10% off a Backer membership

Our 10th anniversary party was at Cheney Stadium to watch Sounders 2 during the bad era of that squad. 100 people partied on the deck with us.

In some ways the 17th anniversary party is Sunday – of course you’re all invited. Any of you that can be there found a way. It’s a Final. You were always going to show. You travelled to watch championships in DC, Philly, Toronto. Of course you were coming to Seattle, it’s home.

Bust out your greens, your blues, your deep greys, your Sounder at Heart gear, your Nos Audietis garb, your Lobbing Scorchers stickers, your Ride of the Valkyries hoodies, your Cooler Guild coolers – represent yourself and the nation's best soccer community that supports the nation’s best teams. If you feel like prefunking with us, we’ll be at Fast Fashion in SoDo where Lobbing Scorchers will also be doing a live pregame show.

My first Sounders championship was 2007, before all this blogging life. That sold out, vibrant celebration in Tukwila planted a lot of seeds. It grew all of this, well past a single person.

The USL success also paved the way for an MLS side that defines itself by appearances in finals. For all the recent struggles, a woeful 39 months without a final (hahahahahaahahaha), the rest of American club soccer would love to have a team go 2002 to the present and make finals 15 times, winning a vast majority of those. Not to mention the regular season trophies taken by both the USL and MLS versions of the club. Including the USL and A-League era, this will be the eight cup final hosted by the Sounders and the seventh played at Lumen Field.

Sunday is another chance at a trophy. During the journey they won four games against Liga MX sides and vanquished the long-time foe LA Galaxy. It’s one of the rare holes in the trophy case.

Heck of an anniversary present the club’s given this little blog.

Many Sounder at Heart staffers, including a live recording of Lobbing Scorchers, will be at Fast Fashion SoDo on Sunday. Join us from 2 pm PT until we leave to watch the greatest team you've ever seen.

🚨 MERCH SALE 🚨 $12.50 Tees + up to 40% off Everything Sale prices as marked. $12.50 price applies to select styles. Ends 9/2 at 10 AM CDT. nosaudietis.threadless.com
— Sounder at Heart (@sounderatheart.com) 2025-08-29T19:26:09.638Z