Portland-Seattle: What a Packed House Means

Thursday night just further underscored what we already knew: MLS is going to work.
The only true obstacle that was ever going to hold back a professional soccer league in America was our country's general attitude toward the sport, and for decades the outcome seemed in doubt.  There wasn't just a  lack of knowledge about the beautiful game, we had been trained as fans of traditional American sports to look down our noses at it.  It was a sport for nancy boy Europeans.  It's boring.  Aren't all the games broadcast in Spanish?  What kind of a stupid sport allows a tie?

Even as recently as four years ago, I had my doubts.  My favorite club (San Jose Earthquakes) were trying to re-find their footing in the league, while also attempting to put their stamp on the local sporting community.  The process was slow, and success did not come with rushing speed.  The attendance numbers grew gradually, but the team still lacked a certain coolness factor.  They weren't a topic of discussion amongst even local sports fans.  People knew they existed, but their presence was treated as more of a sideshow; an event that one could take the kids to. 

Their situation reflected that of MLS teams in markets all across the country.  Attendance numbers were going up across the board, but there was a general lack of penetration into the country's sporting consciousness. At the time, I thought that a slow burn was the only way for the league to fulfill its vast potential.  I thought the only road was to take the time for these teams to become part of the social fabric of the markets they represent, similar to the experiences of the NBA and NFL.  By 2045 or 2050, I imagined, MLS would enjoy the sort of support and social cache that the other leagues enjoyed in their heyday.

And then, Seattle happened.  A perfect storm.  A city with a decidedly counter-culture mentality that had just been spurned by one of the "powerhouse" leagues.  It was almost as though the whole city decided, "F*** you ALL, we're going to root for AN MLS TEAM".  Suddenly there was a team that was decidedly cool in their own market.  For the first time, I could turn on an MLS game and actually feel the energy of the crowd.  It was a revelation, one that I thought was at least a decade off.  Seattle showed the entire league that a rabid fan base in MLS was not just a dream of the distant future.

These two games between Portland and Seattle were the realization of a dream that still sometimes feels impossible.  Portland entered the MLS fray the year after Seattle, and seemed to almost take exception to the Sounders being hailed as the league's new darling.  There is genuine dislike between these two cities, and Timbers and Sounders players were absolutely killing themselves to win those games.  They have tapped into something in the sporting psyche of our country, something that is both vital and very difficult to attain.  We need to feel as though what we're watching matters, even if if the teams mean nothing to us. 

I can tune into a random match between QPR and Bolton and be thoroughly entertained, but my attention wouldn't be quite so easily captured if not for the passion of the crowd.  In an era of HD television and microphones at field level, the in-stadium game experience is pretty representative of what comes across on TV.  The same could be said for Portland-Seattle.  Even a person that has no interest in MLS whatsoever would be interested to watch that game, because it clearly meant everything to the people in the stadium. 

I won't pretend the level of play was yet on par with what we'd see from the EPL, but honestly that should not be the League's primary focus.  If the league can build toward generating the sort of excitement that we saw from the crowd in Portland last night for every team, the level of play will rapidly accelerate.  Players want to play in front of fans that give a shit.  Four years ago I would have given it a 50-50 chance. 

Today, it's much closer to 100.