This past Saturday was pretty special for me because I pretty much lived at the X-Box Pitch at Qwest Field. I was down there from about 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. During that time, I had the privilege to cover two significant events for NSS.
The first one was the Puget Sound Corporate Soccer Challenge.
The second was The Seattle Sounders vs. San Jose Earthquakes match. Most of you know what happened on the pitch but being on the field covering the match gives me a unique opportunity to talk to some interesting folks and see some things that a typical fan does not see.
To Continue...
First and Goal and Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke is clearly passionate about Sounders FC and passionate about the fans. His emotions ebbed and flowed just like all of ours as the Sounders battled to hang on to a 2-1 win this past Saturday, our first win in over six weeks.
It is not uncommon for Leiweke to slap high-fives with the press or fans before, during and after a match. While Leiweke was standing on the North side of the pitch, He gazed up into the crowd and said, "it is all about the fans." His comments were not necessarily directed at me but were more of an overt observation of what he saw and felt.
What I experienced while photographing and getting video footage to use for stories this week was also inspiring.
When the matches are over, a lot of folks head out of the stadium to their cars that will take them home or the nearest pub. What those people don't see are players like Tyrone Marshall practically up in the stands after the match getting his picture taken with fans and signing autographs or James Riley and others staying out on the pitch until they have signed every fan's scarf or shirt, ticket or whatever.
They don't do it because they have to, they do it because of the love; the love the fans have for them and the love they have for the fans.
I could go on but I invite you to see the below video. I shot it and took a lot of the photos several minutes after the match ended.
Reach Greg Roth Sounders Fan Insider at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
Posts
