Seattle Sounders To The Front Of The Cool Line...

((HT:ESPN/MLS))

Xander Bailey had his moment...

Through the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the Sounders, the 18-year-old from West Virginia got his chance to not only practice with Seattle, but start against Tottenham Hotspurs in their friendly Saturday.


The Sounders even got to catch up with Bailey post-match and it's a moment he will never forget...
((HT: Seattle Sounders FC))


Sounders and Spurs drew at 3 in the visitor's first stop on their American tour

Cascadia Doesn't Disappoint... Again...

((HT: MLS/NBCSN))

The "Cascadia Derby" involves three cities in the Pacific Northwest- Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver- and the teams and cities do not like each other when it comes to soccer. Seattle and Portland, especially, share an intense dislike for one another...

And this dates back to 1975...

Here's what it's like to be a part of the Timbers Army on game day...
((HT: KICKTV))


The teams play each other three times in the MLS season- and round one was in Portland...

Safe to say, with all these moving parts, it was another slug fest...


The Timbers are still winless on the season, at 0-2-3, while the Sounders are now 2-2-1.

41 shots, 38 fouls, 14 shots on goal, 8 goals, 7 yellow cards, and a Clint Dempsey hat trick...

That's all...

Not Your Father's Toronto FC

((HT: BT Sport/MLS))

It was a busy first 45 minutes for the new guys playing for the Reds...

Jermain Defoe had two goals and becomes the first player in TFC history to score two goals in a debut...


With a roster of Bradley, Defoe, and Julio Cesar, it might be a little early to say something
But these guys are good...

TFC hung on for a 2-1 win at Seattle and Defoe has only been in since the early part of the week...

Imagine what can happen with a lot of practice time...

Deuce Rolled Out In Seattle

((HT: MLS/KING-TV))

Now, having elevated his game from Fulham to Spurs, Clint Dempsey is now officially back in Major League Soccer for a reported $9-million transfer fee and a Designated Player status of $32-million over the next four years...

"I am very excited about coming back to the MLS and thrilled to be joining Sounders FC," said Dempsey as part of the press release. "Having recently played in Seattle with the National Team, I experienced the incredible atmosphere and the passion from the supporters first-hand. It's going to be an honor to represent the fans in Seattle." Think Seattle is serious...???

“Major League Soccer is thrilled to have Clint Dempsey, arguably one of the best players the United States has ever produced, return to the league to play for the Sounders,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in the standard press release. “Clint could have played in any league throughout the world, and he chose MLS and the Sounders. Our vision is to become one of the best leagues in the world, and we look forward to Clint being a part of that legacy.”

Dempsey is expected to join the Sounders’ workouts Monday and is supposed to make his debut with the club next Saturday in Toronto.

His first home game is supposed to be the Cascadia match-up on the 25th, when the Sounders host Portland.
No pressure there or anything...

Dempsey was presented to the fans at Century Link Field before the game with FC Dallas- and, to no one's surprise, he's wearing the number 2... gear available for purchase now at mlssoccer.com

Here's part of the welcome... ((HT: MLS/Sounders FC))

ICYMI: MLS Goes Big Time: Clint Dempsey Moves From The Premier League

Ini the professional soccer world, this is considered somewhat of a big deal. Though it's a bigger deal here in the U.S than in Europe.

U.S National soccer team captain Clint Dempsey is set to leave the English Premiere League Tottenham Hotspur team and sign a mega-deal to play in the U.S Major League Soccer for the Seattle Sounders.

Why is this a big deal?

On the global scale it's a big deal only because Dempsey is a big name soccer player. It's a coup for MLS, which usually loses players to the Premiere League, not the other way around. MLS is gaining traction in the U.S with the league looking to expand to as many as 30 teams over the next couple of years.

And keep that in mind, they need a face. A home-grown, marketable face and Dempsey certainly fills that role for them.

According to reports, the buyout from Tottenham is as much as $9 million and Dempsey is rumored to be getting a $4-8 million a year contract to move to Seattle. The Sounders are one of the leagues most successful franchises with a large, passionate fan-base and their own stadium.

It will be very interesting to see if the team...and the league can afford to start paying players that much money. Without a mega-TV deal, it will be tough. But MLS draws well in the markets they play in. And if you can put 20,000 or more in a stadium for your games, the chances of making some money increases--exponentially.

OSG MLS: Cascadia Match-Up Goes To Seattle... Again...

((HT: NBCSN/MLS))

The city of Seattle was trying to prove a point...

That grass could work at the Link...
That they could pack the place for another round of the Cascadia rivalry...
And that the city could be a good host to a World Cup qualifier (or a World Cup if the US Soccer federation chose to pursue one down the line)...

It worked on all fronts...

More than 53,000 showed up to cheer on the Sounders and the Vancouver Whitecaps- who were still trying to win their first match-up in the modern era. The Whitecaps scared the daylights out of the home team, but it ended up 3-2 for the Sounders.

Here's your highlights...
“We love big crowds,” said Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid, noting Seattle’s unbeaten record when over 40,000 cross the turnstiles. “We’re able to showcase ourselves in front of people who don’t normally get to come to our games. It had a tremendous atmosphere.”
The Sounders sent their unbeaten streak to 39 matches at 31-0-8 when they score the first goal.