Manchester United in Seattle: In Which Kevin Durant Goes Missing

by Justin Knutson

Justin Knutson is a guest contributor to R&GAD.  He lives in Seattle, and decided to check in on the nascent (or is it?) soccer scene in the Pacific Northwest for us.

Cities need heroes, people they can rally behind – people whose success and well-being is the very spirit of their hometown. In times of struggle, heroes are those we look toward for inspiration, and in times of prosperity, they are those who remind us not to become complacent. They are the firemen and women of 9/11 who put the lives of others before their own. They are the philanthropists whose contributions fight global poverty and genocide. They are healthcare workers, construction workers, and civil servants who keep our lives running smoothly. They are entertainers and athletes who remind us when times are bleak to put our best feet forward and act as role models for our youth.

Right now, Seattle needs a hero.


I’m not talking about a Herculean feat of human generosity here, but something to remind people who were born and raised with SoDo Mojo that we can be proud of our little city by the bay. And I don’t think we need a tragedy or an economic miracle to make it happen. The tragedy, if you ask me, has already occurred. Seattle has lost so much faith in itself in the past few years that we could really use someone to look up to, someone with a little more stardom and panache than Bill Gates and maybe a little more longevity than Kurt Cobain.

You see, not long ago, my hometown bore witness to some of the greats of sports and business – Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Jay Buhner, Randy Johnson, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Ichiro Suzuki, Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Detlef Schrempf and Nate McMillan shared a home with young, powerful versions of Microsoft, Boeing and Weyerhauser.  These athletes were the golden gods of the golden age of sports in the Pacific Northwest, and they represented a city with fight – the weather shone brighter in those days, despite the overcast skies and frequent rain.  While players like Griffey were out setting home run records, small businesses like Starbucks decided that small was too boring to last; both exploded onto the national stage.

But times changed all too quickly, and it seems as though the billboards from the ‘80s have all but returned, asking for the “last one to leave Seattle, please turn out the lights…” We built two beautiful stadiums only to see our heroic athletes leave town.  The SuperSonics left for Oklahoma, leaving behind a struggling Seattle Mariners and a Seahawks team that hasn’t met glory since the still locally-disputed Super Bowl XL in 2006 with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The weather and the economy – frankly, they suck, and our mayor is more concerned with appropriating environmentally friendly government vehicles than doing a damn thing for the future success of our fledgling Emerald City.

And then along came the World Cup, and, as always, America decided to take a passing fancy in that quaint sport played haphazardly with the feet that seems to so fascinate the rest of the world. Landon Donovan proved to be worth his weight in dramatic finishes, until Ghana eked out a win in the round of 16. “Hrumph,” said the United States, “what right does Ghana have to lay waste to our brilliant athletes?” And with that, we returned home to figure out something more productive to do with our feet.

Seattleites, however, at a loss for anything better to do with their feet, made an important realization – professional foot-to-ball isn’t half bad. In fact, we have a rather successful MLS team, the Seattle Sounders, waiting to bring our citizens together once more beneath the vacant rafters of Qwest Field (or is it CenturyLink?). Bring ‘em together they did, and in 2010, the Sounders sold out every league match, filling the stadium with an average attendance of over 36,000.  And last Wednesday, the combined fandom of Manchester United and the Sounders put them all to shame, topping the attendance charts at 67,052.

I had the privilege of attending this highly anticipated matchup, and was surprised to see not a sea of pure green, but a checkerboard of fiery red from Manchester United and the telltale Microsoft Xbox green of the Sounders. Scarves sewn at the half showed United on one side and Seattle on the other, and the same fans belting out Rooney’s name as he clinched his hat trick in the second half cried out their support just as loudly for every harrowing save team captain and goalkeeper Kasey Keller pulled out of his hat of tricks (see what I did there?).

In the end, the Sounders were crushed in a 7-0 defeat that is altogether a reminder of why the United States has continually left the World Cup with its proverbial tail between the legs.  Nevertheless, we all left the game smiling, and I think I know why. Manchester United, you see, is the stuff of legends; they are the heroes that Seattle longs to possess. The first half of the game proved that the Sounders were not to be underestimated. They worked as a team; they created opportunities that they merely failed to capitalize upon. Yet, when the A-squad of Manchester United took to the field, the difference became clear – these guys were walking fortresses of footballing prowess, looked up to as much by the Sounders’ players as their own fans. And when they saw opportunity, it rarely escaped them. Like clockwork, their playmaking turned into goals.

Seven of them, to be exact.

The closest we get to the stardom of Rooney, Valencia, Chicharito and Park is Keller, whose performance kept the 7-0 blowout to a 1-0 barn burner in the first 45 minutes of regulation time. Watching Keller block shots was a lot like watching Griffey hit home runs or GP make slam dunks all over again. He’s up there in age (41 now), but you could tell the Manchester United players led on with reverence. This was a man raised on an egg farm who went on to become the 1991 Adidas Goalkeeper of the Year. He spent time in the Premier League and is probably the only member of the Sounders who has ever looked Rooney in the face and said silently to himself, “you shall not pass,” with all the confidence and spite of Gandalf facing a Balrog.

Nevertheless, it was hard to admire Keller when across the field, Tomasz Kuszczak was putting our best forwards to shame. Ji-Sung saw 45 minutes of play, out of which he negotiated an assist to complete Rooney’s hat trick and even a goal for himself. The Koreans cheered, the drunkenly overenthusiastic United fans led waves of chants to Rooney’s name, and the Mexicans all wondered when, if ever, the ‘little pea’ would take to the field (he never did).

I don’t suppose the Sounders ever expected to pull off a victory against one of the most decorated and successful football clubs in the history of the game, but for them it must have been a thrill to try their skills against the very idols they grew up admiring. With the recent success and enthusiasm for the Sounders, perhaps they, too, will have the opportunity to become legends in their own right. Keller, for one, may be on his way out, but the team is still young, the city is still welcoming, and the time is ripe for a new hero to emerge.