I took this picture. I drank this beer. This is a post about Brad, and I'm trying to steal the show.

We’d like to welcome Brad Colyer to the mix here at North and South of Royal Brougham. I used to work with Brad on my college newspaper, where his smart ass sense of humor was much appreciated, and where his apparent man crush on Sean Casey made Sean Kramer and me pretty weirded out. That he kept reminding anyone that Casey’s nickname was “The Mayor” was only annoying when I was trying to run my no-huddle offense on the Playstation 2 that I donated to the journalism program there.

Brad has eclectic interests, but for… Continue reading

Shuper-Man? This guy needs a good nickname before we butcher the pronunciation

There was once a man in Sounders lore who was quite big. Others might describe him as tall. But they will all, at the end of the day,  fondly remember him as a MotherF*cking wall.

That man was of course, the legend Kasey Keller.

But looking at the new kid on the block, 6 foot 5 inch, 209 pound Michael Gspurning with a resume to boot, it might be easy to get the two confused on paper.

The Sounders announced a deal with the 31-year old keeper this morning. His resume is impressive, for an MLS player… Continue reading

It all started with the forgettable romping the Sounders took against Manchester United. A Wayne Rooney hat trick and seven goals that seemingly came with ease is all it took for the Sounders to actually have to explain themselves and their tactics following a meaningless game.

The explanation Sigi gave to the press for taking his starters out at halftime when the game was only one-nil?

‘We have to save our guys for Champions League next week, too many games coming up,’ is something along the lines of what coach said, and he was right to do so in my opinion. Hanauer elaborated that the goal of the franchise was to win trophies, which is what the team is committed to doing right now.

Great, awesome, that’s… Continue reading

courtesy of Emerald City Supporters

When I first got into the sport of soccer the most appealing about the sport is still what is most appealing about it to me today:  The hatred factor.

I remember watching the United States epic victory over the Mexican national team in the 2002 World Cup that saw frustrations boil over late in the match with Rafa Marquez’s red card.

I remember the United States’ gritty and ugly draw against an Italian side known for their dirty tactics and overly physical play.

And when I jumped on the soccer bandwagon full time going into 2009 it was a match against the Mexicans again in 2009… Continue reading

Is there such thing as a statement tie?

The Sounders FC unceremoniously drew with the Los Angeles Galaxy last night, their second straight 4th of July at the Home Depot Center.

It wasn’t without storylines, such as Landon Donovan’s first MLS match since the Gold Cup, David Beckham starting on the bench, LA’s third string keeper, and the Sounders horrendous Penalty Kick luck continuing.

We can all sit here and lament the fact that if Fredy Montero was a little more inconspicuous in where he was going with his penalty maybe we’d be talking about Seattle as legitimate Supporters Shield contenders at the moment.

Then again we can all sit here and remember how the Sounders got smashed by the Galaxy in four matches last season by a… Continue reading

For the sake of not trying to be too cute or try to hard to be witty I think it would be best for me to just get to the point, besides, I’m in a writing funk right now as it is anyways.

The Sounders FC are doing a horrible job of marketing the rivalry with the Vancouver Whitecaps. It’s almost like they don’t even really want there to be one.

Let’s be real here, the vast majority of the 36,000 people that go to Qwest Field weren’t there in the Kingdome in the mid to late 70′s when the old NASL rivalries were formed with Vancouver or Portland. Hell, I’d bet most of those fans didn’t even know the Sounders existed before this decade. And most weren’t… Continue reading

Congratulations Seattle.

For two years you’ve been the most dedicated soccer fan base in the country.

You’ve averaged over 32,000 fans a match during each of the Sounders FC home matches. During friendlies against world powers such as Chelsea and Barcelona over 65,000 packed the Qwest Field stands, every bit as much that packed the stands for the Seahawks playoff victory over the New Orleans Saints.

During the World Cup ESPN took a gamble on sending out camera crews to a small bar in North Seattle, and loved the atmosphere so much that they were featured during the United States’ match against Algeria.

When the United States Soccer Federation tried to win over the FIFA board to quite possibly host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups… Continue reading

It’s hard to stomach what happened on Sunday night at the Home Depot center.

It’s even more hard to stomach considering what I saw the Sunday before when I was at Qwest Field for the first leg of it.

These weren’t the Sounders I had become accustomed to seeing since the MLS resumed after the World Cup break. These aren’t the fierce attacking Sounders who had found multiple scorers and only had to wish for a clutch goal for it to appear.

No, these Sounders were systematically dominated by a better team. In fact, the best team in Major League Soccer.

As much we love our Sounders and condescend the rest of the league for not having the kind of support and hype that the Rave… Continue reading