Sounders Game

In my absence from blogging, I'm sure that many of you have come back to my sad, lonely homepage. . . 

In wishing that I would post, or perhaps checking if I had, those of you who've missed me and wandered to my other pages MUST have seen that number 55 on my bucket list has been crossed off.

I went to a Sounders game!

My dear friend, Marian, (link up, here's her awesome blog :) http://all-that-is-gold.blogspot.com/)
noticed that I had this on my list and emailed me saying she had tickets, and I was invited! Not only was this the Sounders, but they were playing LA Galaxy, which currently has both David Beckham and Landon Donovan. Needless to say I was beside myself with excitement.

We went up to Seattle and traversed a 1/2 mile from the car to the stadium. It was hot! My phone said it was 91* F, but it felt hotter, we were all melting. We were escorted to the stadium by a sea of blue and green clad fans, all seeming hardcore and under the belief that this wasn't "just a game" (Never say that to a sports fan, any sport).

If you have never been to a soccer game, go to a Seattle Sounders FC home game. If you like sports, go to a Seattle Sounders FC home game. If you don't like sports, go to a Seattle Sounders FC home game. If you live in Washington, go to a Seattle Sounders FC home game. If you live in Minnesota, New Mexico or Michigan, go to a Seattle Sounders FC home game. 

So, these fans. . . The crowd was alive. A.L.I.V.E. There is no way I can think of to describe the energy of the crowd. And the loyalty. When LA came out, one by one, every team member, besides Donovan and Beckham, got booed. Every time the ball came anywhere *near* a goal for the home team, everyone (including me, it's contagious) would leap to their feet screaming and cheering. Every other person was chanting, screaming, cursing, booing - all very loudly. I think I counted like, 10 fight songs, it was insane.

Phone wallpaper, please don't laugh at Mr. Baldspot

We won ("we" didn't do anything, we just watched :P) 4-0. Every score was incredible, and I'm still swept away by the pure energy that filled the stadium. I can't wait to go to another game (there's actually a home game going on today, wish I was there). Thank you, Marian, for taking me and helping cross off #55! We need another get together soon! :D

*All the pics are from my phone, which usually turn out bigger and better on my blog. . . Hmm. . .

How I met Evan Lysacek

Hello there. It’s been quite a while since I posted, so forgive me if I make such an exciting event sound boring.

Last weekend I went up to Seattle with some friends to see the Smuckers Stars On Ice tour. It was completely amazing! We saw Todd Eldredge, Jeremy Abbott, Meryl Davis & Charlie White, Alissa Czisny, Yuka Sato, Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto, Sasha Cohen (my skating idol), Evan Lysacek, Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo, Michael Weiss and Miki Ando.

We met up at the skating center and then drove to Seattle. The bruises on my upper left arm testify to the high percentage of PT Cruisers and VW Bugs that are on the highway from Tacoma to Seattle. Luckily I was sitting in the front, so I was able to duck to the side when I heard, “No take backs!”. We ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory, then hung out at the sculpture park nearby. It was overcast, chilly and windy, but it was fun.

In front of the Key Arena was a sign that said, “No outside food or drink. No camera flash or video cameras.” My friend’s mom (for the sake of the story, we’ll call her Patty) said that we should just shove our water bottles down our shirts. We did, much to the hilarity of my companions, and Patty put the bag of cookies I brought up her shirt so it looked like she was pregnant. I wasn’t able to stop laughing about that for a while, so when we were done we passed the checkpoint without incident.

We found our seats; Patty got front row seats on a discount through something, so the view was wonderful, and perfect for pictures. While we watched, we ate cookies, said, “I can do that!” occasionally, and in my case, frantically took pictures.

Todd Eldredge

Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo

Alissa Czisny

Ben Agosto (He played a Van Halen song on the ice! One of my favorite parts of the show)

Meryl Davis & Charlie White ( they did their Olympic routine, apparently. I wouldn’t know, I don’t have television. Olympic routine or not, it was the best I’ve seen ever)

Michael Weiss

Sasha Cohen (I got some amazing, crystal clear pictures of her. I also got some videos)

Evan Lysacek

After the show, we took some pictures. Touching the ice, sitting in our seats, etc. Another girl from our rink was there, and she found a fan-club pass on her seat. We went with her and sat down, but the guard said that only the person with the pass could meet Evan, but we could watch. When the line thinned down, Patty told us to get in line surreptitiously. In horror at the act and in abject terror of being caught, we snuck into line. We weren't thrown out, but the guard said, "Okay, group picture, not individually, since only one of you has a pass." Tee-hee. Thank you, Ms. Guard. We all got our things signed. If we had known, we would’ve brought our skates! I think that one of my friends almost passed out, until she saw Evan. I was standing behind her, so I heard her say, "Thank you. Bye, I love you." I was laughing too hard to say anything but thank you to Mr. Lysacek, but he was laughing too, so I can say that I shared a joke with a famous, gold-winning skater.

Seattle at night is beautiful. As we walked back to the car, we all gushed about how fabulous the evening was, and Patty apologized for encouraging us to perform questionable and possibly illegal acts. We forgave her.

Such an unbelievable event! It’s so cool that I know how to do some things that the pros do. I think that we counted seven or eight maneuvers that we could do, excluding getting onto and off of the ice : ) It was a completely amazing experience and I am grateful to have attended!

~Sophia