Sounders Fan Insider: Video and Photo Tribute to Sebastien Le Toux

09_SFI_Logo-3  By Greg Roth

On Wednesday, November 25th, The MLS Expansion Philadelphia Union chose Sebastien Le Toux from the Seattle Sounders. Seba, played with the USL Sounders and was the MLS Sounders first player signing. Over the years that he played in Seattle Le Toux won the hearts and admiration of fans by his tireless work ethic on the pitch and his passion for the the fans and community off the pitch. This video is a tribute and example of what he meant to Seattle Sounders fans and the community.

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November 28, 2009  Tags: ,   Posted in: Sounders FC 360 News Coverage  Comments Closed

Sounders Fan Insider: Heartbreak…Sebastien Le Toux no longer a Sounder (video)

DSC01377_edited-109_SFI_Logo-3  By Greg Roth

It was a dream season culminating with a world cup type atmosphere right here in Seattle this past Sunday as Real Salt Lake took on the LA Galaxy for MLS Cup 2009. The love affair that started back in 1974 when the Sounders made their debut at Memorial Stadium continued to new heights in 2009. However, there is no joy in the Emerald City tonight for we found out earlier today that our first MLS Sounder and beloved Sebastien Le Toux, will no longer be wearing the Rave Green. 

Perhaps Seattle’s most beloved player, Le Toux is heading east to help launch another MLS franchise, the Philadelphia Union. Sebastien Le  Toux is one of the most classiest and gracious professional athletes that I have had the opportunity to get to know. I had the opportunity to interview him several times and chat with him at the several charity events that he attended. If there was ever a Sounders FC charity event for a worthy cause you could count on Le Toux to be in attendance talking with fans and signing autographs.

At one event this past year at the Baltic Room, Seba as he is affectionately known by fans, fellow players and coaches, even got out on the dance floor to cut a rug with the fans. On and off the pitch he carried himself with grace and class and had the reputation for one of the hardest working men on the team and in the league.

I remember covering a Sounders match this past summer and walking on the pitch back up to the press box long after the match was over. After several players had dressed and were heading out of the stadium, Seba would still be on the pitch in full gear signing autographs for fans. He would not leave until every single autograph was signed, much to the chagrin of the Sounders and Qwest staff, who were all anxious to get home to their families. Seba just couldn’t help himself. He loves the fans of Seattle and the feeling is more than mutual.

In 2010, The Union will take the field in Seattle for their debut against our Sounders. Seba will be wearing the blue and gold of the MLS newest franchise. Of course we will root against the Union but we will be cheering for our Seba because in our hearts he is and always will be a Sounder.

Here is an interview that SFI TV did with Seba before he and our Sounders traveled down south to take on the Portland Timbers in the US Open Cup tourney…

 

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November 25, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Sounders FC 360 News Coverage  Comments Closed

Supporters Summit Seattle 2009: One week until liftoff

summit_logo-300x109

Seattle, WA: In less than one week Supporters Summit Seattle 2009 kicks of in the Emerald City. Even though the basic schedule is locked down, events are being added and several Sounders FC and MLS players are being added to the attendee lists of some great social activities that soccer fans from all over the U.S will be partaking in. Keep checking back here as well as the official Summit Web Site  for updates on player appearances and other surprises.

Major League Soccer fans and specifically, Supporters Groups of MLS clubs from across the U.S. and Canada will converge in the city of Seattle for the MLS Cup weekend, starting Friday, November 20th and culminating Sunday Afternoon, November 22nd with the Major League Soccer Championship, MLS Cup 2009. This is Our Passion, these are Our Clubs and this is Our League. We will all be celebrating soccer that is live in 15 stadiums in the USA and Canada with supporters in full voice every week for nine months of every year.

The Supporter Summit will provide a unique opportunity for supporters of current and future MLS teams, to come together in a centralized location. In addition this event is a great opportunity to interact with league officials and provide solution-oriented feedback that contributes to helping improve MLS.

The Supporters 2009 planning team is delighted to announce that Seattle Sounders FC minority owner Drew Carey and MLS Commissioner Don Garber will be joining MLS fans and supporters by participating on Saturday, November 21st. Carey and Garberwill be moderating a Q&A with questions from the fans for the Commissioner. In addition there will be an officiating and technical discussion panel with Joe Machnick and Alfonso Mondelo

Friday night, November 20th, from 6PM – 8PM, Gorilla FC will be hosting an icebreaker to kick off the weekend activities at FadoPub. Entertainment will be provided by the 89’s 90’s cover band, the Pop Offs from 10pm until close. The silent auction opens with autographed MLS items, Autographed Ken Griffey Jr. label wines, and more! Auction to benefit the club’s selected charities (Sounders are supporting Seattle Children’s Hospital) (Player appearances to be announced later in the week).

Below is the detailed schedule of the Saturday Summit event:

10AM – 2PM, Hosted at Qwest Field, West Club Lounge

($10 suggested charity donation, lunch provided)

9.45am to 10.15am

•Registration for Supporters Summit participants

10.15am to 11.00am

• MLS Commissioner Don Garber will give a state of the league address. Serious supporters won’t to want to miss these speakers, or the upcoming announcements!

• Q&A session with Commissioner Garber, moderated by Drew Carey

11.00am to 11.10am

• Break

11.10am to 12.15am

• Officiating and technical discussion panel with Joe Machnick and Alfonso Mondelo

12.15pm to 1.00pm

• Lunch provided

1.00pm to 2.00pm

• Supporters Shield history and presentation by Sam Pierron, Kansas City Wizards

• Raffle for some great gifts from MLS sponsors

At 6pm The Seattle Sounders FC Alliance Council will be hosting an event at Elysian Fields. This is will be an opportunity for folks that attended the summit to continue the days discussions with fellow supporters in addition, the event will be the last opportunity to get in your bids for the charity before the silent auction closes at 8pm. (Proceeds raised from the auction will benefit Children’s Hospital of Seattle) and goes until 9:00 pm (Player appearances and other special guests will be announced later in the week).

In addition to the summit proper, there are several attractive summit related events that will be taking place in andaroundSeattle, MLS Cup weekend:

Prost Amerika’s Sounders End of Year Party

Fox Soccer Channel’s Jeremy St Louis and Sounders FC’s Pete Fewing highlight the guest list.

Pioneer Pub Crawl hosted by the Sounder Supporter Groups

Pub crawl the soccer-friendly establishments in andaround Qwest Field and continues the day’s discussions with fellow supporters while enjoying local drink/food specials at establishments such as Fado, Fuel, Elysian Fields, Swannies and F.X. McRory’s. There will be a silent auction with autographed MLS items and more, to benefit Seattle Children’s Hospital. Emerald City Supporters will present a special player of the year award to Sounders FC goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who will be in attendance to accept the award.

FIFA 2010 Tournament Hosted By Gorilla FC

Are you the best FIFA10 XBOX player? Winner takes home a large prize basket full of Sounders autographed swag and GFC’s favorite bars and stores gift cards. Benefit for the victims of Black October in Bolivia. Limited to 32 teams, so register today!

MLS Cup Finals Pre-Game Spaghetti Feed

Hosted by the North End Supporters at Swannies ($6/person: Meat & veggie spaghetti, salad, & bread) and joined by the Emerald City Supporters at Fuel. Game day drink specials will be available.

MLS Cup Final “March to the Match”

Seattle WA, As part of the MLS Cup andSupporters Summit activities, there will be the traditional march to match 90 minutes prior to MLS Cup Final. The Sounders FC band, “Sound Wave” along with Sounders FC owners, players, coaches and MLS Commissioner Don Garber are all slated to take part in the march. This is an opportunity for fans from all over, regardless of which team they are supporting, to celebrate the beautiful game and our league’s championship match up. Major League Soccer fans will meet at 3:45 at Occidental Park for a brief celebration and address and then depart from there towards the X-Box Pitch at Qwest Field at 4:00 p.m.

The summit and companion events are open to the public but seating will be limited. For the full schedule, times, details, registration and parking passes, please visit:

http://sounderscouncil.com/summit/

 

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November 13, 2009  Tags:   Posted in: Sounders FC 360 News Coverage  Comments Closed

Sounders Fan Insider: Just one of many…

09_SFI_Logo-3  By Greg Roth

 

golden-scarf1

SSFC Alliance Council Members (L to R): Robby Branom, Mark Inderhees, Greg Mockos, Greg Roth, Kevin Zelko, Iain Starr, Rachel Molloy, Leann Johnson and Dave Clark (not pictured, Nick Ewing) receive Golden Scarfs prior to last Saturday's match against FC Dallas - Photo: SSFC.com

 

 Some may or may not have noticed that I have not contributed to my site as much as in the past. A lot of it has to do with bandwidth or lack of it. Along with soccer, music is one of my greatest passions. I have been covering the Seattle music scene over the course of the last few months for Examiner.com. Unlike Soundersfaninsider.net, which is a labor of love and my small contribution to the fans, the club and game that I grew up playing, still play and love. The work that I do for Examiner pays, albeit a little. One of the other reasons that I have not written as prolifically recently is that there are some other folks that cover the Sounders and do it very well. Just check out some of the links that are posted on the left side of the page and you will see what I mean.

Last Saturday night, October 24th, Myself, along with 8 of my other associates on the SSFC Alliance Membership Council were given a once in a lifetime experience and that was being honored by the club by receiving a Golden Scarf prior to the match. It was a moment that I will hold close to my heart the rest of my life. I never would have imagined at the beginning of the year that I along with others, would be standing in the middle of the pitch in front of 33,000 screaming Sounders fans, for such an honor. It was truly emotional for me. I have been a Sounders fan since 1975.  To be in the same company as Alan Hinton, Jimmy McCalister, Bill Russell, Michele Akers among others, is nothing short of mind blowing (to say the least). I saw Jimmy “Mac” Play. I went to almost every match that the great Alan Hinton coached. They were and still are soccer heroes of mine. I was and am truly humbled.

Greg Mockos from ECS  perhaps said it best when he said that there were others in the that have done greater things than we have done on behalf of soccer in the community but on a glorious, October night, our club saw it befitting to honor you by honoring us.  We on the council are just a few of many of the greatest fans in U.S. Soccer. We represent you, we are you and you are us.

I want to take this moment to personally and sincerely thank, Adrian Hannauer, Joe Roth, Drew Carey, Paul Allen, Tod Leiweke, Gary Wright, Frank McDonald and Bart Wiley, for not only the Golden Scarf Honor but running an organization that is the pride of  U.S. and Major League Soccer. It is truly an amazing opportunity to serve on the membership council and the fans in some small way. I also want to thank you for honoring us the fans this past Saturday. It was a magical night capped off by a great Sounders victory and celebration between the club and it’s fans. We have a special bond that will never be broken.

To my fellow council members, Robby, Mark, Greg, Kevin, Iain, Rachel, Leann, Dave and Nick Ewing, who unfortunately was not able to attend, I couldn’t think of a greater group of individuals that I would rather serve with than you. It is truly an honor and privilege to have stood on the podium with you and to continue to serve with you on council for the greatest club from top to bottom, in U.S. soccer.

To the other fans that have supported SFI and sent the kind thoughts and congratulations. I am truly touched and humbled. Again, I am simply one of many of the greatest soccer fans in the U.S. The Golden Scarf was not just about me or the SSFC Alliance Council it was about all of us. I raise it high and with pride to you. What an amazing year it has been and guess what? It ain’t over yet! The best is yet to come. Come on you Sounders!

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October 26, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Sounders FC 360 News Coverage  Comments Closed

The Rave Green Commentary: Rounding the bend towards the playoffs…

th_soccer_life (2)By Rod Nicholls

Welcome back to soccer Saturday Sounders Fans!

 It was a gloriously gray Saturday morning in Seattle and it is time to get back to futbol for the Rave Green.  During the Sounders bye week it has been anything but a very quiet time in the soccer community and the various world cup qualification fixtures have played out with other MLS action.  There has been lots of drama in the soccer world including:

1)      The US Men’s National Team expelling the ghost of 2006 and qualifying for South Africa.

2)      The very sad and unfortunate car accident of Charlie Davies, (God speed for a speedy recovery, and prayers for the victims and their families of this unfortunate accident)

3)      Argentina – in the face of tremendous odds, qualifies for South Africa

4)      After securing Argentina’s 2010 spot, Diego Maradona, returning to the form of his Coca Jr. days and letting loose an amazingly descriptive blue streak with the media that has him facing a potential 5 game ban and fine for violating the FIFA rule concerning, “Anyone who offends the dignity of a person or group of persons through contemptuous, discriminatory or denigratory words or actions concerning race, color, language, or religion.”

After the drama filled bye week the Sounders position to claim what is appearing to be tantamount to their MLS birth right, a playoff spot in their inaugural season, has only strengthened.  Through hard work, dedication and a little help from some of the other sides in the MLS our lads are back in the position that they started the season in, in total control of their own destiny.  It is simple, win today and we are in.  Winning should be the singular focus of our team.  Let the rest of the different scenarios unfold on their own, they do not matter.  The Sounders have the luxury of being able to have a singular focus in this match, and by the way, the lads are most likely are going to need it.

Teams in survival mode or with nothing to play for are the most dangerous…

Today, our boys face the Harry Potter Wizards in Kansas City, and depending on the results of the Fake Lake v Toronto match or the Chicago v New England match earlier in the day, the Harry Potter boys may be eliminated from playoff contention just before today’s first kick.  Either way, the Wizards are poised to be a challenging opponent.  If at kickoff they are still in contention for a playoff spot, they have no choice but to win, they are a side filled with desperation, backed into a corner with only one way out, they must win.  If they are not in a position to secure a playoff spot, they are playing for the maintenance of some sort of scrap of dignity and hope that their 2009 campaign was anything but an epic failure. No matter what, the Sounders should expect that Harry Potter will be bringing his wand and looking for a tough fight.

A couple of things to look for in today’s match…

Over the last few matches the Sounders have been dialing in their form and playing tactics and the structure of today’s match should be another great chance to tighten up even more as they approach the playoffs.  There are a couple of key things to watch for in today’s match,  as they will go a long way to showing the mental readiness of our boys for the playoffs.

The first one is the tactical style of play used in today’s match.  The pitch in Kansas City at CommunityAmerica Ballpark is one of the smallest in the MLS.  It is so small that if the Sounders attempting to throw the ball forward and turn the match into a Zakuani track meet, the game is going to devolve into a veritable ping-pong match between defenses.  If this happens, Kansas City has a chance to cause the Sounders to drop points and no longer be the masters of our playoff destiny. 

However, if we play with discipline and don’t fall into old nasty playing habits, this small pitch should have the benefit of reinforcing the habit of playing the “Beautiful Game” style soccer that leads to Sounders victories.  It should require the Rave Green to continue to shorten up their style play, use crisp on target one and two touch passing with lots of movement off the ball.  By doing this they will create space to be exploited in Kansas City’s structure to score goals and secure our playoff spot. 

The second item to watch for is how Nate Jacqua is deployed on the field, this will go a long way to signaling the Sounders commitment to doing the things it needs to do as a tribe to win more silverware in 2009.  There has been a lot of public discussion by Sigi about moving him to the wing.  By doing this the Sounders remove him from being the central, and often illusory, focus of the offensive attack that has been structurally unproductive when he has played as a posting target.  Moving him to the wing is a mutually beneficial move for both the Sounders as a whole, and Jaqua, individually. In the past, by placing Nate upfront as a target to throw the ball at, the Sounders have defaulted to playing a very direct, and in the end, a very frustrating style of soccer.  The overall structure of the Sounders tribe is not well suited for hammer and tongs long ball, and by trying to play this way the Sounders were setting themselves up for failure.  They byproducts of this include multiple draws and several losses along with the unfair blaming of Nate for offensive unproductiveness within the fan base.

The good news is that the Sounder appear to have learned this lesson and are making adjustments.  He started on the wing in Boston against the Revolution and both he and the team made the adjustment well.  It would be a good omen if Nate gets the call to start on the wing tonight.  Nate has been an absolute hero to this team.  He has shown a tremendous amount of heart, work effort and determination.  His performance against Houston in the US Open Cup match at Starfire is one of the most memorable performances I have ever seen.  As Sigi dials in their structure and form leading towards the playoffs, it is imperative that Nate’s considerable talents are deployed in a way that accentuates his considerable strengths, while minimizing any unconscious attempt by his teammates to over extend his many attributes in a way that leads to team failure. 

 It is going be a great futbol Saturday!

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October 17, 2009   Posted in: Seattle Sounders FC  Comments Closed

Supporters Summit Seattle 2009 starts to take shape

summit_logo-300x109 

The weekend of November 20th – 22nd, Major League Soccer fans and specifically, Supporters Groups of MLS clubs from across the U.S. and Canada will converge in the city of Seattle for the MLS Cup Finals. This is Our Passion, these are Our Clubs and this is Our League. We will all be celebrating soccer that is live in 15 stadiums in the USA and Canada with supporters in full voice every week for nine months of every year.

In partnership with Major League Soccer, The Seattle Sounders FC Alliance and all Seattle Sounders FC Supporters Groups will be sponsoring “Supporters Summit Seattle 2009”. The 2009 SSPT (Supporters Summit Seattle Planning Team) is in the process of helping plan and coordinate events and activities specifically for members of the respective supporters groups across the league.

The Supporter Summit will provide a unique opportunity for supporters of current and future MLS teams, to come together in a centralized location. In addition this event is a great opportunity to interact with league officials and provide solution-oriented feedback that contributes to helping improve MLS.

Some of the activities currently planned are as follows:

Day I, Friday, November 20th – Icebreaker Social Event and Silent Auction
Specific time TBA
• Hosted by “Gorilla FC” at Fado’s pub with drink specials, pre-registration and entertainment
• Silent Auction Opens. Auction to benefit the club’s selected charities (Sounders Supporters Groups are supporting Seattle Children’s Hospital)

Day II, Saturday, November Sat, 21st – Supporters Summit (Event hosted at QWEST Field, West Club Lounge)
10.00am to 11.00am
• Short Q&A session with MLS executives and others. Specific speakers to be announced at a later date
11.00am to 12.15am
• Supporter roundtable break out with MLS staff moderating the discussion
• Key questions/objectives defined before roundtable
• MLS executives and other personnel to interact with supporters groups. Specific individuals to be announced in coming weeks12.15pm to 12.45pm
• Lunch, featuring Budweiser and Pepsi products
12.45pm to 2.00pm
• Supporters Shield history and presentation
• Raffle
Evening activity
Specific time TBA
• There are tentative plans for a pub crawl at establishments in and around the Qwest Field. Each supporters group would have their own establishment as their “home pub”. This particular event is in the planning stages and more details will be released in coming weeks

Day III, Sunday, November 22nd, Match Day – Pre-Game Parties
• Supporters groups of two teams competing in MLS Cup will be hosted by Emerald City Supporters and North End Supporters at their host pubs.

Most of the activities will take place in and around “The X-Box Pitch at Qwest Field” The itinerary and further details will be released and communicated out in coming weeks.
If you have any specific questions and / or would like to confirm you will be attending the conference, you are invited to e-mail the Supporters Summit Seattle Planning team at: supporters2009@live.com.

Register online at: http://www.sounderscouncil.com/summit

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October 7, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Sounders FC 360 News Coverage  Comments Closed

Sounders Fan Insider: victory against Columbus perhaps biggest league win this year

Levesque - SFI09_SFI_Logo-3  By Greg Roth / Sounders Fan Insider

The  2008 MLS Cup Champions and Supporters Shield winners, Columbus Crew had a 22 home game winning streak going in to today’s match up with Sounders FC. With 46 points, a playoff spot secure and 5 point lead in the East, Columbus is clearly the team to beat again this year. Seattle desperately needing a win, went into the Columbus Crew fortress and grinded out a 1-0 win to come away with 3 valuable and precious points. Former USL Sounder and current Sounders FC fan favorite (pictured), scored what turned out to be the winning goal against The Crew.

 The win was not pretty. A missed penalty kick, (ala Freddie Ljungberg who missed one earlier this year), Barros Schelotto missed an almost certain equalizer by shooting his penalty kick wide of the net as Seattle was able to hang on for the victory. Points are points and at this stage of the 2009 MLS season, style points are irrelevant.

With The LA Galaxy winning this past Friday, and Chivas victory over DC United earlier today, a tie and one point simply would not have been enough. At this point in the season and with MLS parity being at an all time high, every match and every point matters. A bounce here or a bounce there could be the difference in determining who sits in November and who continues on the “Qwest” (pun intended) toward MLS Cup 2009.

If the Season were to end today, we would be in the playoffs, albeit in the East. There are two matches left. The Sounders have a nice break between now and October 17th, when they go on the road to face a club that defeated them at home earlier this year in the KC Wizards 1-0. A week later the club wraps up it’s regular season against FC Dallas, a club that is almost for certain out of the playoff hunt but can play the spoiler. Dallas stole a tie from the Sounders at home earlier this year, in a match they clearly should have won.

From here on in, every match has playoff implications. Given those implications, today’s win against Columbus was (pardon the expression Crew fans) truly massive. If one looks at the below MLS West table, one cannot deny how important this victory was, not necessarily from a moral stand point but simply from a practical numbers standpoint. The Sounders had to win and win the did against arguably, the strongest club in MLS, in their house no less. If the club were ever to have one of their biggest league match wins of the year, today was the day to do it.

Eastern Standings

    home   away
club gp w l t pts gf ga +/-   w l t gf ga   w l t gf ga
x – Columbus 26 12 4 10 46 40 28 12   9 0 4 25 13   3 4 6 15 15
Chicago 28 10 7 11 41 38 34 4   4 4 6 15 17   6 3 5 23 17
New England 26 10 9 7 37 31 35 -4   7 3 3 22 15   3 6 4 9 20
D.C. United 27 8 7 12 36 40 40 0   6 2 5 18 12   2 5 7 22 28
Toronto FC 27 9 10 8 35 35 40 -5   7 3 3 18 13   2 7 5 17 27
Kansas City 26 8 11 7 31 28 34 -6   4 5 4 14 15   4 6 3 14 19
New York 27 4 17 6 18 22 44 -22   4 6 4 19 20   0 11 2 3 24

 Western Standings

club gp w l t pts gf ga +/-   w l t gf ga   w l t gf ga
Los Angeles 28 11 6 11 44 34 31 3   6 4 4 16 17   5 2 7 18 14
Houston 27 12 8 7 43 35 26 9   8 1 4 22 12   4 7 3 13 14
Colorado 27 10 8 9 39 40 32 8   8 2 4 24 9   2 6 5 16 23
Chivas USA 25 11 9 5 38 26 25 1   8 2 2 19 9   3 7 3 7 16
Seattle 27 9 7 11 38 32 26 6   6 2 6 19 9   3 5 5 13 17
Real Salt Lake 27 9 11 7 34 38 34 4   7 1 5 29 11   2 10 2 9 23
FC Dallas 27 9 12 6 33 45 43 2   7 3 4 26 18   2 9 2 19 25
San Jose 25 6 12 7 25 31 43 -12   5 4 4 20 19   1 8 3 11 24

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October 3, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Sounders FC 360 News Coverage  Comments Closed