Instant (Over)Reaction: NE Revolution

For my daughter's 2nd birthday, we decided to take her to Qwest Field to see the Sounders play the Revolution. It was the third game she ever attended and we had hoped it would turn out better than the first two. We packed a bag full of food, books, diapers and extra clothes and headed off to Qwest in search of not only a win, but an enjoyable time...turns out we got both.

The Incident was pretty happy during the first twenty minute of the game, but when Tyson Wahl scored on an unexpected free kick, the stadium erupted and The Incident freaked out. We should have known better - she freaks out when it's just me and J-Will celebrating in our basement - 36k was definitely overwhelming.

We actually moved upstairs (300 level) for the second half and it turned out to be an excellent move. From a fan standpoint, we didn't get the comaraderie of standing the whole game, but we did get to sit down and be parent-fans. She was able to get some of her energy out and we were able to watch the game (when not reading to her). The seats provided certainly a different viewpoint - you could see the build-up and the spacing.

Besides a shot off the crossbar, the Revolution went away quietly in the second half as the Sounders improved to 8-4-7 after taking a full 9 points from 3 games over the span on 9 days. Now the team can focus on the Kitsap Pumas on Tuesday and the LA Galaxy on July 4th. Some random thoughts:

• I thoroughly enjoyed the offense. I'm not sure if anyone else agrees with me, but I thought the El Flaco-Friberg-Rosales-Levesque combo worked really well. There passing was crisp and provided a different look than normal.
• Props to Servando Carrasco for shutting down Shalrie Joseph. I think we all had the right to be worried going into the game without Ozzie, but Servando more than just filled in - he stepped up his game and shut down the big Grenadan.
• Mauro Rosales is the best player on the team right now.
• What can you say about Tyson Wahl? The guy was an afterthought his first two years in Seattle, but he has worked hard, reshaped his body to play outside back and has been the biggest surprise of the 2011 season. He has been solid on defense and now is becoming an offensive threat with not only assists, but goals as well
• Speaking of Wahl, anyone see his goal celebration? Kid didn't know what to do
• For the third straight game, this team had to overcome some adversity. Two weeks ago they had to play with 10 men for a half. Last week they blew a 2-0 lead. Yesterday they gave up a goal in the 3rd minute. I went into the game knowing it could be a trap game and it looked like that was how it was going to play out. Giving up goals is never a good thing, but it doesn't seem to bother this team right now.
• I haven't heard an update on Jeff Parke, but some people were speculating a concussion. Whatever the injury, he was replaced by Patrick Ianni early in the game - hopefully for both Jeff and the Sounders it is not serious.
• I will be interested to see who Sigi throws out on Tuesday against Kitsap. I think the backline will be Scott-Graham-Ianni-Leo. The midfield is a little tougher, but we might expect Montano, Estrada, Noonan and Seamon. Up front probably Jaqua and Fucito. The questions will be whether Alonso and Montero find themselves in the lineup after not playing yesterday and whether Micheal Tetteh finds anytime. Hopefully Boss gets the start in the net.
• I have been worried all season long that our position in the table was solely due to having played more games than everyone else...now after 19 games I honestly feel less concerned about making the playoffs. The West has 6 strong teams and 3 teams - PTL, VAN, Chivas - that won't even sniff the playoffs while the East has 3 decent teams and a bunch of also-rans. If we can't be one of the 10 teams the make the playoffs, then we might as well blow up the entire team.