Aaaaahh it's Derby time folks! Starting off where the Sounders seized the Cascadia Cup last year, The Sounders travel to Vancouver to meet the Whitecaps for the first time in the newly remodeled BC Place. Over a 1000 fans traveled by car, bus and train to support the Rave Green.
Our trip started eary, and again we opted for the DIY method of away travel driving up the morning of the game. This time we were greeted by our good friend Benson and his two boys, Miles and Jack. Meeting up in the West End on Denman St. and strolling down Robson to the designated meeting area. We arrived at the parking lot two and half hours before kick-off, and it was already rocking. The ECS and their six bus loads of supporters made good time and were well lubricated and ready. Tickets granted by blueeyedbuddhist (Paul Cox) and we joined in the march to the match.
Benny and the boys
Nothing beats the feeling of rocking another city's stadium. As our march snaked it's way into the North entrance of BC Place, then into the concourse we were greeted by smiling concessionaires, except one as seen here:
Once in the stadium, the view was spectacular. This is one beautiful stadium, if not a bit unorthodox. The remodel included removing the inflated dome, adding a nest of suspension cables to support the canvas overhangs and the HUGE high-def big-screen hanging over the middle of the field. The screen is a gem, I remarked at the time it was like watching Fifa on PlayStation it was so crisp. With natural daylight allowed in it does make for some interesting shadows on the artificial surface. We were finally joined by our friends Eric and Beatrice also on their first away trip.
Miles, Jack, Marnye & I
The pregame entertainment was a treat - the UEFA Champions League final: Bayern Munich v. Chelsea FC. Unfortunately the match went to overtime and had to be turned off (to boos from the crowd) to begin the pre-game festivities. The ECS warmed up the crowd with a 10 minute extended play version of "Sky of Blue, Sea of Green" just to set the tone. Across the stadium the two or three Whitecaps banners sang nothing in response. Undeterred more ECS standards were let loose on the filling stadium. At the next break all that could be heard were crickets.
The pre-game pageantry included a pitch-fired firework display that filled the place with smoke. I wish teams wouldn't do that it's a disaster for photographers and for TV.
Crazy shadows - but I loved the big screen.
There's some familiar faces in there! credit: ECS Photo
Once the game was underway we were beholden to our capos. No chant would not be given anything short of full voice. The stadium was ours. To their credit at a few times, the Southsiders could be heard, but they still have a long ways to go. The only real fan interaction was later int he game when the Sounders were down 2-1, a few Whitecap fans had brought their friends from that scummy town to the south and they mustered the courage to shout a few things at the Brougham Faithful. A few chants back, plus a gorgeous goal by Fredy made them quiet down quickly.
This is what "going mental after a goal" looks like
Looking back at the match, the first half was hard to watch. The home side did well to open up the midfield and put unnecessary pressure on our back line and on our keeper. Sigi made good use of the mid-game break, shifted the alignment and made an un-typical substitution from Caskey to Rose to hold the midfield. the difference was evident with better possession and some great opportunities for Fredy. The lucky bounce on a free kick got us behind, and I won't lie, the last eight minutes of the match I had visions of a Cascadia loss in my head. Meredith's huge boot, Eddie's headed pass and some magic work by Fredy left Whitecaps center defender Jay Demerit on the ground and the ball in the back of the net.
September 24 is the last Cascadia Derby match for the sounders, and it's been a must-do even on my calendar for over a year. The match is the last Whitecaps game in the temporary Empire Field Stadium, at the Pacific Exposition Center. We missed playing int he re-modeled BC Place Stadium by just a week, as it opens for business next week with it's new retractable roof.
Gameday started easily, we opted for a DIY method of arrival over and drove up instead of joining the ECS on their buses. I think with the late start of the game, and the attraction of a weekend in Vancouver many others were also allured by this method of arrival. For us, the drive was uneventful and awe arrived at our hotel around noon. Some afternoon sightseeing, and then off to rendezvous with our fellow supporters, SuperFans Mike, Nancy and Emerson who we have become good friends as we sit just a row in front of them at CenturyLink Field. For some of the ECS that were not on the bus it was discussed to meet at The Pressbox, a small sports pub attached to a Holiday Inn Express near the stadium. Evidently we were not the only ones, as by 5pm it was nearly "sold-out" for space. Turns out this is the favorite for many of the Whitecaps supporters and the look of absolute surprise when they were eclipsed by a sea of Rave Green was priceless. Indeed the five of us eased our way across the street to Tom & Jerry's and enjoyed some Rickards Red and a pre-match meal.
The stadium is really not much to talk about, and as this was the last match there's nothing to pass on. They did a good job with the temporary environment, but it still felt like a concert at the fairgrounds.
Canadian for Beer Garden?
Seriously - what the heck is that mascot??
We had purchased our seats in the visitor section adjacent to the ECS. We entered the pitch at 15min to game time and the ECS were really rocking the stadium. As the Star Spangled Banner played, the U.S. contingent sang loudly. The Canadians followed suit with their anthem.
With the anthems past, the the supporters went about displaying their tifo's. The Southside Supporters put up a large British Columbia flag with the words "The sun will never set" and passed it down the south side of the stadium. Next the ECS deployed theirs, topical and relevant as ever:
Mauro brings the rage.
Note the two familiar faces in the lower right
Clever two-poles: "Duty Free" and "Canada - America's Hat"
Quick primer on the Cascadia Cup for those not familiar. Cascadia is the hopeful notion of a fictional nation made of northern Oregon, Washington and southwest British Columbia. The Cascadia Cup is a perpetual trophy created in 2004 by the supporters groups of the three teams in the region, and is given each year to the team that has the best head to head record among the three teams. Going into this match the Sounders needed a win to clinch, otherwise they would need help as the last match to remain had the Whitecaps hosting the Timbers (in the "new" BC Place!). To see this years record and years past, have a look at this site.
The Cascadia Cup
It warms the hearts of Sounders fans to know that two members of the Timbers Army (the former holders) had to drive to Vancouver this weekend to hand over the cup if the Sounders were to win. Oh what joy!
More about the atmosphere. With out the ECS the place would have been not unlike a Mariners game on a Tuesday night in September - dead quiet. They made their efforts to emote, and had some call and repeat. With 1500 visiting fans they had not chance but to sit in awe of the Sounders fans, lead by the ECS.
Boom-boom-clap
To be fair they did do a White/Caps echo chant, and they loved to stomp their feet on the aluminum decking from their seats. Yes, the Vancouver fans sit during their matches. After the Sounders scored to level, the easy retort were the ECS standard songs "You only sing when you are winning" and later after Montero's brace, "It's all gone quiet over there!" The Kasey Keller song was brought out as soon as Kasey made it to his post before kick-off, and was brought back at least two more times. Mike Fucito didn't even make it on the pitch for the match, but he got to hear his song at half-time warm-ups.
If you want to hear what the Southsiders thought about their performance (and the ECS's) have a read here.
As for the match - you all watched it right? Hassili was shutdown by our center backs, the 'Caps scored on breakaway by two offside players. Famed centerback, US National Team player and DP, Jay DeMerit commits a hand-ball foul in the box, setting up Brad Evens to sink the PK to level it. Yada yada yada, Keller's big and tall, Montero scores twice in four minutes in the second half. Celebrate.
The Timbers Army hands over the goods while a Southsider representative looks on
The cup get's passed on while USWNT forward and Carrasco's girl-fan, Alex Morgan watches on
Looks like they will let anyone handle it - even gingers!
Check out our super fans - Nancy and Emerson (photo: Arlo White)
By the end of the evening, we could only look at each other and think what a night, and thank god we won! With wins in both our rivals stadiums, the residents of Seattle have a lot to smile about. For us, the trip was great. Tempered only by a lack-luster stadium and location, but it's all looking good for downtown's BC Place next year. Driving down Robson this morning Marnye and I were discussing where the the march to the match should be and what hotel and pub would be best for Rave Green party crashers.
This is my third game on the road this season, and my record stands at 3-0. And like a broken record, I recommend to one and all to hit the road and join the Sounders where ever they may go. EBFG!
Away. Derby. Come-from-behind victory. Nothing better in sports!
I joined the Emerald City Supporters on one of the largest league match away fan trips ever organized in the history of Major League Soccer. The clubs allowed just 500 tickets (double the normal amount) allocated to the Seattle supporters group. ECS had 430 of those tickets. Seattle - Portland is both a huge and historic rivalry going back to 1975.
Trip summary - The morning went as planned, Left the house at 6:40am to walk to the light rail station, met some fellow Columbia City ECS along the way. Got to the Seattle ECS rendezvous area at the Tukwila light rail station at 7:15am. The ECS had 430 members on this trip, the balance was filled in by GorillaFC and North End Supporters. Nine buses total.
ECS provided one keg per bus (Manny's Pale Ale on our bus) plus a couple cases of water (for which everyone was very grateful post-game).
The beer arrives
Our seven buses rolled out around 7:50 to meet up with the other two from Tacoma and Olympia at a rest stop at mile post 11. On the way various activities were encouraged with keg stands and mooning the other buses being the crowd favorites. Most creepy item about the bus trip: Our driver, southern accent and all, had a ring tone on his phone that was of a squeeling pig. Cue "Deliverance" theme! The "no deuce" rule on the bus was broken by a few brave soles.
It's quite a scene to see 500 happy, green 'n blue clad fans exit the buses and run for the treeline for some relief.
Southbound rest stop
Singing in the rest stop parking lot:
Arriving into Portland was incredible. Fans greeted our caravan from the freeway exit to the stadium entrance with scarves and fingers up. This was an accurate premonition as to the number of points the Timbers were going to take off of the Sounders this season. Even a few lonely folks with no team to support held up their "ACES" scarves. So sad.
The locals greeting our caravan
Busing in:
Next we unloaded at the back of the stadium into the supporters entrance. No problems here, security was tight and our happy mob proceeded cooperatively, all the while enthusiastically singing. While in this group I bumped into Pete Fewing and Alan Hinton. I asked Pete for his opinion for the day and he said he very excited and was up at 4am and couldn't wait for the match.
Now in the stadium, 90 minutes before the match. As you can see the Timbers fans were well accounted for, many waiting outside the stadium since the night before. The ECS took no time to get the drum going and the capo lead us through the ECS standards. Above us you can see is a small balcony at the end of the sky boxes. Arlo White made his way down there to wave at us and the ECS sung back "we love you Arlo, we do" . Security was everywhere, in front of us, and watching from above. I chatted with Greg Mockos, ECS co-president about his view of how this was meeting his vision. Not content with 500, he wants to see more than double that next year, and we should be allowed if everyone behaves themselves. He added that nearly 800 total Sounder supporters would be at this game, including the 300+ that bought tickets by means outside the ECS.
90 minutes before kickoff. TA and ECS in full voice. Not a player to be seen.
View from the Press Box (photo: Josh Meyers, Seattle Times)
Mercifully, they had a trained singer to lead the anthem. Green boxes were for fireworks.
Introduction and anthem
Now is the time the Timbers Army needs to display a tifo worthy of this historic derby. This is it. Besides the King banner, the rest was re-used. Some say the king looks like Roger "the King" Levesque, you decide. (pic stolen off the interwebs)
King of.... just what again?
For comparison here's what the ECS did earlier this year when Portland came to town:
The ECS had a banner and each row held up green or blue fabric. I have no idea what it looked like as I was in it.
In-tifo view. Pregame.
You can see what the flag display and tifo looked like HERE
Once the match started it was all flags, singing, shouting, flags, singing, shouting repeat.
Take 'em all a ECS favorite:
Second half tifo display
It should be noted, the first six or eight rows of the visitors section was reserved for SoundesFC friends and family. ECS was a little dissapointed as the ECS would not be the first thing you see on TV. You can see this in the first pic above.
The game: First half, tight, stressful and a bit sloppy. Sounders were playing with verve, unlike the last time we played the Timbers, that was evident. Second half when I was taking these two-pole pics the Timbers scored. It was the loudest I had ever heard a stadium. Impressive. Thank god Montero had his lucky boots on (no help from the rat-tail) he equalized - equally loud from within the group. Repeat two more times.
On ESPN the TA's song "oohooohoooh Portland Rose City" was frequently heard. Actually more times than not, it was the ECS with their own version:
Most epic 45 minutes in soccer ended as it should. In the stands, we were stressed, The capos let us loose on "go sounders go" for the last five minutes. Noone on or off the field let up.
Outside the stadium before boarding our buses, the ESPN on-air crew were chatting with fans. I asked both John Harkes and Alexi Lalas if the match "was a good show". Both agreed enthusiastically.
The Portland PD escorted our caravan out of the city, with a perfect view of the local fauna
Final thoughts: A win made this a very memorable trip. Besides that, traveling with 500 strangers, that share a passion for the same thing is really fun just on its own. Everyone on the trip was happy, overtly helpful, extending a hand if needed, sharing food, water, high-fives, you name it. Not a cross word thrown other than at the Timbers, their fans and the at times the referee. The group was about 50/50 core ECS vs. newbies (like me) and one and all got along just fine. Again - I highly recommend the away-trip experience. You won't forget it.
Summary: We had a great time, ECS crew were friendly and fun, the game was just as cold and windy as it looked on TV. No hooliganry, but did get reprimanded by the UTA transit police (offense: Singing disrespectfully - or off-key, not sure which). Flew home with the team and sat next to Fitness Coach, Dave Tenney. Montero was not on the plane. Reason: he's flying to Portland to play with the reserves. Lamar Neagle earned a spot on the flight home with the starters to SEA, so one of the team administrators lost his seat and had to go standby (last one on the plane).
Pre-funk at Squatter's Brew Pub
KB5 is about to lose his head
KB5 DOES lose his head - wait for the line "I don't want to be weird but...."
Waiting for the TRAX train
ECS sold 100 tickets for the match. We met fans from Reno, Idaho, and recent local transplants.
Just before the transit cops joined us:
One female passenger with her two kids expressed her dismay with a profanity-laced tirade. Must be the worst person in SLC, everyone else were super nice. A few stops later we were joined by the transit police.
Nobody knows how those ECS stickers got there
Sandy PD and stadium security greeted our friendly mob at the train station and walked us the quarter mile into the stadium without incident. Pre-game, the host supporters were very nice and helpful. Saw one Timbers fan. Food was surprisingly good. Fan demographic reflects the populace: large families and lots of kids. Fans sit during the game and bring blankets (tarps?) for protection. The wind blew 12-15kts through out the game. Cops and security were super cool. They held us for 30 minutes at the end of the game, we sang from a mezzanine above the concourse and we got plenty of "birds" from the locals. Police escorted us back to the station, even stopping traffic twice for us - again, really helpful and considerate. They said the worst crowd was the 15 or so from L.A. that decided to throw gang signs at the local skinheads. Colorado only brings about 100 supporters like we did.
View from the away supporters section, upper level, and mercifully (ironically?) we were protected from the rain. Aluminum flooring made for great stomping. SSFC coaches said they could hear us just fine.
Early in the game, The stadium filled in after awhile but emptied quick after the 80th minute.
