…and you can hear us scream!
Posted by Adrienne on July 24, 2009 under Soccer, Sounders | 
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On Tuesday, the Sounders came from behind to beat Houston 2-1 in overtime, guaranteeing themselves a spot in the US Open Cup Final. It was a hard-fought, epic contest, and easily the most exciting soccer match we’ve been to so far.
The match was played in tiny intimate Starfire Sports Complex. This was the same place we went for the last USOC match but instead of standing in the grandstands on the east side of the stadium, we were told that our tickets gave us space on one of the sets of temporary bleachers that had been set up. After walking about 3/4 of the way around the pitch and not seeing much space, we ended up right next to the crazy ultra fans, the Emerald City Supporters. There was a set of temporary bleachers to the left of the ECS section in the covered grandstand, and we were able to squeeze up to the top seats. The ECS folks had spilled over on to these bleachers, so we had a lot of the ultras around us.
It soon became clear that this was going to make our match experience VERY different from previous ones.When we’ve gone to Qwest, we have been close enough to the ECS section to pick up on some of their more simple chants and songs, and I often sneak a quick look at the Brougham End during the play to see what they’re doing and try to get our section in on it too (with varying degrees of success). But this time, we were right in the thick of things. There were three different “capos” (song leaders) in front of our bleachers and the ECS section to our right. The capos were armed with bullhorns, and their job was to lead the group in the chants, songs, and motions (waving arms, jumping, clapping, swinging scarves and waving flags, to name a few things). It was just like being in choir and watching the director for the musical cues, but without worrying much about being on key or tonality. And there was only one dynamic: Fortissimo! What fun! We joined in the chanting and singing with no hesitation as the players were warming up on the pitch and the PA announcer gave the starting lineups.
I should point out here that along with our new location, we also had a new prop: a Sierra Leone flag that we had ordered off the Internet, with the express purpose of bringing to Sounders matches and waving around wildly.
This is what the flag of Sierra Leone looks like. It’s the closest to Sounders colors!
So here we are, on top of some rickety bleachers, waving a flag and watching the capo in front of us as he leads us in Perry Como’s hit tune, “In Seattle.” I was concentrating so hard on not falling off the bleachers AND singing all the words AND keeping the flag from bothering the people in front of us that I didn’t see the opening kickoff! And I didn’t see much of the first 10 minutes of the match either; being in the middle of the ECS gave me so many other things to look at and concentrate on! But after those first 10 minutes of sensory overload, I was able to fold the flag up and watch the match while singing and clapping along with the supporters around me. I really can’t stress how much fun it was. In some ways, I felt more involved in the competition than I have ever felt at a sporting event that I wasn’t playing in. It really was incredible.
When Houston scored their goal, I was very disappointed. But the supporters around me didn’t give up – they kept right on singing, with no let up in tempo – and I knew that I couldn’t give up either, that my continuing to sing was Important and Necessary and would help the Sounders to win in the end.
You can see us in the top left corner of this photo. I’m holding the flag! (Picture courtesy of melissa_brassard’s Picasa album)
Go Sounders Go,
Fight Sounders Fight,
And the entire world will tremble at your might!
We sing for you,
We love you so,
And we will follow you wherever you may go!
We are the blue! (We are the blue!)
We are the green! (We are the green!)
We are the ECS and you can hear us scream! (Hear us scream!)
For our boys! (For our boys!)
Until the end! (Until the end!)
Our love for you only the gods can understand!
For 15 minutes straight we sang this song – it was the song we were singing when Jaqua scored, so it was obviously lucky, and indeed, we continued singing it without breaking (much) even as King scored to take the lead – because no one wanted to stop. I don’t think I’ve ever sung the same song over and over for that long before. We just kept going and going. It was fantastic and unreal. And at the end of the game, even though my voice was almost gone and I was absolutely beat from singing at the top of my lungs, waving a flag and trying to keep my balance on the bleachers, I was exhilerated! What an experience!
The Open Cup Final will be played on Wednesday, September 2nd, in Washington DC’s RFK Stadium, and Seattle will take on DC United. Because of the mid-week schedule and the upcoming academic quarter, we won’t be able to go. It makes me sad that we can’t be there to support the Sounders in person, but we were blessed on Tuesday to see an extraordinary game, one that we will not soon forget!
Here we are during half-time, holding the flag high. The capo for our section is in the front right, with his back to the camera. Some of the flags being waved by the ECS section in the grandstand can be seen in the top left. We had no idea what was in store for us! (Picture courtesy of melissa_brassard’s Picasa album)
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