Ship’s Log, Aug. 17: Ambient magic
Walking into Lumen (or any soccer stadium really) is an encounter with magic. There’s a feeling and tone to each step, each breath, each clap, each chant. We don’t yet know how the players are going to channel that magic, casting spells with their feet.
Part of the thrill of sport is never knowing until it happens.
Each matchday has its own level of ambient magic. Unfortunately even while the Seattle Sounders are winning lots of games the background ambient feels diminished.
The Leagues Cup has reduced some of that. ECS is less participatory in that tournament than virtually any friendly. A partially full GA that doesn’t engage with the match reduces the ambient.
Empty food stands, months-old date stamps on the canned beer bought in a purchase that asks you to tip staff that never interacts with you reduce the ambient magic.
Tickets for sale that are never purchased reduce the ambient.
Playing the Necaxa goal song at a Sounders home game reduces the magic.
Raising prices while lowering the experience...
Not signing players while mere steps from silverware...
The list is long at this point.
And yet, the players are still finding enough ambient magic to smash great clubs, in a stretch of success stretching back months they’ve been as strong as any in the league. The performances of the group have been wizardly.
Rothrock, Morris, Rusnak, Nouhou, Thomas, et al are forcing the pitch at Lumen to bend to their will.
A list of sports teams that sour along with the sourness of a fanbase is long.
A list of sports teams that pick themselves up, those that refuse to let a reduction in ambiance change their approach is not.
Maybe there’s a lesson for those of us who are struggling with the ambient magic at Luman Field. Maybe the way forward is not to center a front office or a back office in our expectations of grand things, but to center the players – they’re the Magicians.
They’ve been with us through it. Some were ball kids when Lumen struggled to get 5,000 for a USL match. Others played at Starfire and Cheney when S2 and Defiance now struggle to get 500.
They’ve also seen what happens in Seattle when the ambient is at its highest. They marched with us in trophy parades. They sang and danced with us at 2 AM after winning the West. They’re the ones raise banners in front of 70,000.
Our club is the relationship between the players and the fans. We’re the ambient and they’re the Magicians. No office workers are going to change that.
Go Sounders. Beat LA always.
Catching up on Sounder at Heart
What you need to get caught up on the weekend's action
Sounders
Next match: Tonight at 5 pm, Lumen Field on MLS Season Pass in the Leagues Cup Quarterfinals against LAFC, a team that’s never won Concacaf nor beaten several Liga MX teams on their way to any trophy.
- Realio’s Ratings: Maybe, quite possibly, the best team ever
- Pedro de la Vega will be available vs. LAFC
- Key takeaways from Craig Waibel’s summer transfer window press conference
- Lobbing Scorchers: Seattle Sounders, Legal Owners of Pumas UNAM (feat. Niko Moreno)
- Andrew Thomas making most of opportunities
- Nos Audietis: All in on Leagues Cup?
- Postgame Pontifications: Rising to the occasion
- Punishing Pumas once again: Sounders advance to quarters
Reign
Next match: Aug. 25 against NC, featuring the Megan Rapinoe jersey retirement ceremony. You can get in and support Sounder at Heart.
Defiance
Next match: Sunday at 8 pm Starfire and Defiance host Ventura County (Galaxy II). You can watch on YouTube.
Spokane
- Zephyr start play tonight hosting Ft. Lauderdale at ONE Spokane Stadium at 6 p.m.
- Velocity are off this weekend. They are currently in 7th place with games in hand compared to the USL League One leaders.
Looking back at the news
Everything else you need to know
The MLS secondary transfer window slammed shut over the week. MLSsoccer.com rates the Sounders as a C-. GiveMeSport gave a slightly higher C. Backheeled ranked Seattle 29th of 29 teams in the league.
Rumor: Mauricio Pochettino agrees on deal to become next USMNT head coach. This is still not-quite official, mostly because the American owner of Chelsea.
Seattle’s youngsters are getting more and more praise. MLSsoccer’s annual 22 under 22 will feature Obed and Reed, with Doyle having Obed in the top 5. Academy watchers now rate Seattle as the 6th best in the league.
Major League Spending: The cost of being an MLS fan in 2024 - Scarves and Spikes. Seattle is the 10th most expensive team to watch.
Who’s next for the USWNT? Bethune, Yohannes headline next wave of talent. The Gold was just the start of Hayes' rebuild.
The Doctor’s Office – The Cooler Guild’s sponsor – is on the cover of Seattle Met’s Best Bars in Seattle and is mentioned first as a cocktail perfectionist.