So I was absolutely blown away upon the outpouring of support for Team USA during Wednesday’s:”Do-or-Die” final first round intra-group match against Algeria... Having arisen at 5 BLOODY AM in order to arrive at the sleepy little Town’s Sportsbar by 6AM in order to obtain a seat; you’ve gotta be Joking, right? Oh no Sir, it’ll be filled-up by then as the ‘Regular’s come in for breakfast at 4:45AM; SHEISA!

Thus we entered the Sportsbar promptly at 6-BLEEPIN’ O’clock on the Dot to a completely empty establishment except for three elderly Gentlemen chewin’ the fat over cups ‘O coffee... Yet I have to give them credit as the one man said to us Deadpan; Oh, didn’t Y’all here? The games been cancelled due to Rain! And he said it so eloquently that you were hard pressed NOT to believe him... Before he pronounced; Just Kidding! Good one – Dude... As we sat there laughing to ourselves and pondering now just why in the HELL did we need to be here at 6AM? Although there was a reserved table for eight behind us and by 6:30AM the crowd of Football (Soccer) Fans began filtering in, as by Kickoff at 7AM it was standing room only and later on there would be even more people sitting on the floor everywhere around us... As we were simply locked into our seats!

The Fans were quite attentive, good natured and very vocal about what was occurring on every attack to ward’s our opponent’s goal... Even encouraging OLD Slick Willie to have a chat with FIFA’s President after our second disallowed goal due to questionable officiating...

And then in the 91st minute of the match, as we’d gone into the extra 4-minutes of stoppage time, Landon Donovan scored a zinger from six yards out and the Sportsbar simply ERUPTED! As the Big Screen TV we were directly situated in front of that had been blaring at me for 120+ minutes was completely drowned out by the Oblivious Fans for several minutes as everybody was simply DELIRIOUS with Joy; Jumping, Hooting ‘N Hollering over the improvable win once again by the “Cardiac Kids” of Team USA, who would advance to the second round of Sixteen in South Africa’s 2010 World Cup Tournament.

Meanwhile during the TV Pre-game build-up they showed crazed Soccer Fans at Seattle’s Atlantic City Pub whilst what I like to call “George and The Dragon,” a.k.a. George and Dragon, a British Pub also in Seattle was hosting another Mega viewing, showing the “Simulcast” matches of England vs. Slovenia and USA vs. Algeria, while our sleepy ‘lil Island Sportsbar also had a single “Tellie” tuned into England, which a lone voice yelled out in glee upon “His” Team’s score, as both England and USA won their decisive final Group C matches “One-Nil.” (1-0)

Couple this with the fact that the Seattle Sounders FC, co-owned by Drew “The Prices Right” Carry are leading the Major League Soccer (MLS) in Attendance for the second year in-a-row, regularly selling-out with 36,000+ Spectators, while the three Exhibition matches see crowds swelling towards 65,000+ at Qwest Field where the Seattle Seahawks are in quest of a winning season; YOUCH!

Then factor in that two ‘Cat’s named Steve ‘N Steve, as in Steve Nash and Steve Luczo of some entity now known as De Ferran Dragon Racing are co-owners of the 2011 MLS expansion Vancouver Whitecaps, with Drew Carry’s “Triangle ‘O Death” being completed by the MLS expansion Franchise Portland Timbers and Holy FOOTE-BALLS Batman! You’ve got quite the Sports base of Hungry Spectators to draw upon, or in Promoter lingo “Butts-in-Seats!”

So why all of the Hubbub over Soccer, eh? Whale as Y’all may be aware of by now, I’m simply Cornfuzed over why Indy Car continues to ignore the Pacific Northwest market, and more importantly why they seemingly refuse to return to Portland International Raceway... to which I recently asked Kevin Lee ‘bout on Trackside with Kevin ‘N Cavin, to which I was pleasantly surprised to hear Kevin read my email On Air...

And I admit I’m hard pressed to not become emotional over this quandary and perhaps don’t present my “Argument” correctly, as I find myself continuously trying to take-away the most over abused “Talking Point” of Low Attendance... To which I tried pointing out that Iowa is all snap-happy over drawing 40,000 Spectators... Of which Milwaukee sees a similar number I believe, while I’ll leave Homestead outta the mix...

As I’ve tried pointing out to Mr. Randy Bernard, the state’s of Washington and Oregon reportedly contain nearly 11 million bodies, as Washington alone reputedly ranks two places higher then Indiana in population numbers...

Obviously I cannot predict the regions buying habits, Demographics, etc, but I’d hazard a guess that being the home of Starbuck’s would seemingly fall into the target audience IZOD’s looking for? And if Mr. Bernard is true to his word about Tradition; AHEM! Portland’s certainly got that as you’ve seen my story title Portland’s Centennial several times now...

Yeah, I get-it, that there’s something called the Economy going on right now and Portland Int’l Raceway potentially doesn’t have a Promoter... Although I’d assume that the past Joes 200 presented by Budweiser race event Promoter Global Events Group is still situated in Oregon? And even if I can’t say they did a fantastic job, they weren’t horrible either...

As for loyal Fans, I can only relate to my “Groups” experience, as we had a yearly gathering of 8-12 people who went almost every year; most of us in the 20+ consecutive years category with our “Cub” attendee Randal joining us for somewhere between 12-15 events, as the CART race was traditionally Portland’s largest Single Day event for many years!

So I’ll say it again, if Indy Car can put on a good event, have more then a ‘Quiltwork patch group ‘O 17 competitors running in the ‘Big Show, decent support races or even better yet an American Le Mans Series – Indy Car Double Header! Along with giving the event sometime to grow, you could have another potential winner on your hands... Then again, Nah; may be the Indy Racing League is just holding a grudge against the Pacific Northwest for being ultimately loyal to CART and Champ Car for nearly 25yrs and Fans being upset over the IRL possibly taking away our event when bidding for another three year contract was under way during the Tony George era; which I seriously vowed to NOT renew my yearly 3-Day ticket for!

Now I’ve gotta go catch a bus to George ‘N The Dragon to see those amazing “Cardiac Kids” BEAT Ghana!

El Soundero!

Portland’s Centennial

Dragonslayers?

The Winter Olympics begin today in Vancouver, BC, when the Opening ceremonies will take part in BC Place tonight, in one of the only DRY venues of the Winter Games, before the actual competition commences on Saturday, Feb 13 and runs thru Sunday, Feb 28, with the Closing ceremonies occurring later that same Sunday evening.

You can check out countless hours of Olympics television coverage upon the Peacock Network, a.k.a. NBC, now a proud? Member of the cable TV behemoth known as Comcast.

Yet I’m not terribly excited by these games which are just Up North Eh! From my hometown, as after all it was these very games which sealed the fate of a most enjoyable Temporary Street Circuit event once known as Molson Indy Vancouver… As was it really 20yrs ago that I attended the inaugural event; SHEISA!

And quick, without utilizing duh Google-monster, who was the races inaugural winner? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-ENT! Times Up! As I know the answer… It was none other then then rising Star ‘lil Al, a.k.a. Al Unser Jr. As I still DON’T get it, as residents routinely BITCHED about the noise, although leaf blowers weren’t’ a nuisance… As this event was truly a Fan favourite, NOT to mention extremely popular with the CART Drivers, as those ‘Kuh-Nucks simply enjoy their Motor Racing, eh?

Ironically, although NO official reason was ever given, if you check out the locale of the Olympic Village, you’ll notice that its located adjacent to False Creek, which is where the Champ Cars used to pound ‘round at high speeds over the bumpy streets, and I believe that the monstrous complex will then be turned back over to the city of Vancouver to become luxury Condos after the games.

And I recall on ‘Juan ‘O my last treks to the race, after its traditional Labour Day date had been changed to early August instead… I recall there being a massive 3D Diorama model encased in Plexiglas depicting the cities plans for the new race venue/city complex, a la “Monn-nocquoe” (Monaco) replete with a Pit lane ‘Walkabout boulevard As the city seeked to make its version of Long Beach a reality, yet now its simply gonna be wall to wall sky rises instead.

So although I coulda gone, and will probably tune-in to duh Peacock to watch selected events, I’ll always be just a bit jaded… Since after all we’ve LOST two great Open Wheel Racing events here in the Pacific Northwest which the Blunderheads at IRL DON’T seem too inclined to do anything about replacing… As in seriously? You’re gonna continue to SNUB the major metropolitan markets of Vancouver, BC-Seattle-Portland? As even Californians were gladly attending Portland’s race after the cancellation of Laguna Seca. Oh Never Mind!

Now where’s Eddie the Eagle when Yuhs needs him, eh? Tuh-Duh! Like I couldn’t have planned this better as none ‘utter then duh USA Today has answered my questione..

Eagle’s spirits still soaring 22yrs later

So recently I made the trek northwards to Vancouver, BC to visit the Greg Moore Gallery at the BC Sports Hall of Fame Museum, being Shepparded by esteemed Tacoma Bureau Chief Mary Ellen, who was my Tour guide and Chauffer for said trip, along with her trusty Canine Navigator’s & “Ferocious” Guard Dog’s…

Thus on Friday morning, Mary Ellen led Mwah & No Fenders Cub Photographer Alex Downtown on the Skytrain before a brief jaunt to BC Place, which appears to be under renovation for the fast approaching 2010 Winter Olympics; what a NIGHTMARE! That’ll be, (Larry) as it was pointed out by the Conductor on my northbound Amtrak Train that they’re increasing the number of “Checkpoint Charlie’s” (Border Crossing) stalls from three to ten at the Blaine Peace Arch, which was commissioned by Samuel Hill… In anticipation of the increased traffic flow, but I digress…

Entering the Museum, upon paying admission, Mary Ellen noticed there was a Greg Moore book on display; A Legacy of Spirit which was written shortly after his death and I’ve never heard of it before.

Terry fox
Walking thru the various hallways with photographs upon them, the first gallery we entered was for Terry fox, whom I very unwisely asked; who’s Terry Fox? What! You’ve never heard of Terry Fox? He’s only a National Hero of Canada. Having had his right leg amputated above the knee upon being diagnosed with cancer; Terry then in his early 20’s decided to create the Marathon of Hope, in which he aimed to run across the entire country of Canada in order to raise awareness (and funding) for a cure for cancer. Running with a prosthesis Terry planned to run a marathon a day in his quest to run from the Atlantic to Pacific Oceans, unfortunately having to quit after 143 days when his cancer had severely invaded both of his lungs and ultimately perishing from this in 1981 at the age of 22. So I find it very cool that the “Kuh-Nuck’s” have just created a new award in his memory for the fast approaching 2010 Winter Olympics…

Terry Fox Award unveiled for 2010 Olympics

I suppose it was destiny, eh? That the very first time in my life that I’d actually be able to see the International Space Station (ISS) would naturally occur upon the 40th Anniversary of Man landing upon the Moon…

You know the day; July 20th, 1969, when Neil Armstrong uttered those famous words: One small step for Man, One Giant step for Mankind. As I suppose it was sadly fitting that esteemed Newsman Walter Cronkite would die at the age of 92 years on the same weekend when he’d called the historic action live on TV 40yrs earlier…

And thus I set my trusty ‘Ol VCR to record the two shows being showed that Monday night on the History channel, Beginning with a 30min recap of Mr. Cronkite’s calling of the action, which is still the most ever watched event on TV, when an amazing 600 million viewers tuned-in. Or as the vigilee’s at Central Park pronounced to one reporter, they were having a “Moon-in.” Also, garnering interest from around the world, Pope John VI even went so far as to have a colour television set installed in his summer residence to watch the Moon landing, while the entire nation of Italy were still stuck with Black ‘N White Telescreens… With the half hour program being followed by the 2hr Moonshot show on how the Astronaut’s were picked and how the whole Apollo 11 mission occurred.

Yet I suppose another irony was the fact that with the Space Shuttle’s arrival at the ISS, it would mark the record for most people ever at the Space Station at one time with a total of 13 Astronauts, of which we’d soon learn that one of the two Station’s commodes (toilets) would break during this rendezvous… Not to mention the irony in just having listened to Kenny Sergeant once again dip into his bag ‘O Boyhood humour on the Speed Freaks (8/02) and dribble on about the Japanese Astronaut who just wore his “el speci-el” underpants for a whole month. BUTT! I digress…

Yet, for several years now, I’ve been most disappointed to not be able to see the various satellites screaming overhead as many Family members point towards the open skies, whilst in non obliterated areas outside the City’s overabundance of lighting. So it was with great delight while recently in La Conner, WA that I was able to pick out the whitish pebble sized object hurtling past us outta the corner of my eye as Blogmeister Miguel helped me spot the speeding hulk in the night sky before it was gone!

Of course, this in turned sparked multiple questions about said object the following morning as we drank our coffee next to the water with a pleasant breeze blowing as the sun rose. So, how high in the sky is it relative to us? How fast does it travel? What is the square footage of the living quarters, and on and on we went, even going so far as to attempt figuring out the next time it would pass by.

So thank goodness for Al Gore and his world wide web thingy, which I pestered Miguel at ze Confuzer immediately after breakfast, who found the following answers to our questions. The ISS is situated 199-220 miles above Earth and is in a geosynchronous orbit. It circumnavigates the Earth’s diameter every 92 minutes and currently has 1,400 square feet of space for its living quarters… Which makes me think it musta been extremely tight quarters with all of those Astronauts up there, eh? (I got Dibbs on the bathroom…)

So with this knowledge in hand, and the assumption that we saw the ISS at 10PM, I quickly stated that we’d see the Space Station at 11:32PM tonight… (WRONG Answer) And then for humour I sat down and attempted to write my very first story on a laptop Confuzer, to which Miguel casually noted awhile later that it looked really good, except the CAPS lock had been on the entire time, not to mention the messed-up middle paragraph, which I contemplated publishing directly beneath the posting titled Tech Trouble; when I was without my Confuzer, but back to our discussion of when will the Space Station return?

I’ll give you a hint; 24 X 60min = 1440min. Divide by 92 and you come up with the answer of 15.652173, or as Miguel said; I still DON’T know what that get’s us? So the two of us sat down and mentally counted out loud the addition of 92min for either 15 or 16 times, assuming we’d seen the ISS at 10PM the night before and came up with the answer of either 9:08 or 10:40PM. (Which I’ve done the math again subsequently and of course didn’t get the same answer)

Thus armed with this new fangled knowledge, we were poised to see if we’d even be close? And as dessert was being served, Miguel took up his position outside so we’d not miss the passing of the Station… And Holy Space-Underwear Batman! As everyone sat engorged in their three berry pie ‘N ice cream, Miguel cried out; Here it comes! Unfortunately it was at a much lower trajectory, (perhaps further away?) and your Humble Scribe wasn’t able to discern the whitish pebble object against the black sky, although everyone else saw it! As I sat in glee, laughing inwardly that Miguel & I had actually made the calculation correctly…

On a side note, I later discovered the following article in the New York Times about a side of Walter Cronkite that was unknown, that being his passion for Motor Racing, as IMS Historian extraordinaire Donald Davidson was quick to point out that Mr. Cronkite was a common guest at the Speedway “Many Moons ago.”

Cronkite; The Speed Racer

And “That’s the way it was!”

Leonardo Gonzalez, No. 19; Sounder FC Defender

Hola Sounder FC Fanaticoes! As previously mentioned, I recently had the privilege of attending my very first Seattle sounders FC MLS “Fuutball” match: See No Fenders Mo Jo; as I attended the Sounders FC vs. Toronto FC MLS (Major League Soccer) game with Football Diehard Randal, who strangely has some affliction for Manchester United, but I digress…

Although the night prior to the match, Randal informed me that there were two items I needed to be aware of; First) EVERYBODY STANDS FOR THE ENTIRE MATCH! And Secondly) It’s tradition that whoever attends with him has to wear the Sounders FC Scarf given to Season Ticket holders. Uhm, Otay, I think I can handle that…

Crossing over the King Street Station railroad tracks and down the stairway towards QWest Field, I was immediately struck by the ambiance of the crowd already salivating in anticipation of the upcoming match as Randal informed me that the Sounders FC Band was playing the theme song of the original NASL Sounders along with the teams new fight song as there was a definite buzz outside of the Stadium, as I stopped for an “action” shot in front of Qwest Field.

Next we decided to enter the Stadium’s store which also seemed quite inundated with fans looking for Sounders FC souvenirs, but I decided to pass upon the $70 replica team jersey’s, before we set off for our seats…

And what FRILLIN’ AWESOME seats Randal has selected, as we were nearly at field level, just five yards shy of midfield, having stopped for another action shot ‘O Tomaso with the Soccer pitch as background, before the front row usher offered to take our picture together as we made our way towards Randal’s seats…

Over the din of the Pre-game banter, apparently Randal misheard my question as I asked him if the Sounders FC player the PA Announcer had just mentioned was a Forward? To which Randal replied: NO! He’s Black!
Which caused me to break out in laughter as I was actually inquiring about Forward Steve Zakuani, whom Randal had thought I’d asked; is he Polish?

And then it was time for the singing of the “Kuh-Naidiun” and American National Anthems… “Oh Canada!” As we simply remained standing as it was time for kickoff… As I still cannot get over the fact that everyone in the Stadium STANDS for the entire 90mins. GO SOUNDERS FC!

Even more impressive was the voracionous cheering of what I quickly nicknamed “Keller’s Crew,” referring to the Rabid fans behind what is typically Sounders FC goal keeper Kasey Keller’s box during the first half of the match, as this section would be responsible for leading ALL of the chants for the entire match… Starting off with SEATTLE as the other half of the Stadium responded with SOUNDERS!

SEAAAA… AT-TULL!!! SOUND DDDEERRRSSS!!!
SEAAAA… AT-TULL!!! SOUND DDDEERRRSSS!!!
SEAAAA… AT-TULL!!! SOUND DDDEERRRSSS!!!

As the Fans tried to excite our Homeboys who got off to a very shaky start and shoulda literally been behind 3-0; SHEISA! Thus it was even more entertaining to hear “Keller’s Crew” chant: The Ref is a WANKER! The Ref is a WANKER! The Ref is a WANKER!

As the Rabid Fans shouted their objections on questionable calls, sloppy play and handed out numerous “Air Cards,” when they thought a Yellow Card was required… As I kept mentioning to Randal how amazing the crowd’s exuberance was and how hilarious I found the sanctioning of the air-Cards to be... Whilst waiting Randal pointing out my favourite Sounders FC player: (#19) Leonardo Gonzalez; Left Fullback, as I was impressed by the Costa Rican’s *Gonzalez) willingness to come to a Foreign country and play his heart out for the Major” football league in order to get a chance at playing full time professionally… Oh, what’s that Randal? He’s really good you say? No Kidding? COOL!

And towards the middle of the second half, we began screaming BOO! BOO! BBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Booing “Del Rio” every time Toronto FC Striker Wayne Del Rosario got his boots upon the soccer ball, since apparently he’s one of Toronto’s major threats… While we also chanted Eh! Eh! Eh! Eh! Eh! Eh! Several times during the match, which although was disappointing to end in a zero-zero draw, at least it was somewhat better then an outright loss, eh?

And thus it seemed simply overwhelming that the entire 32,679 in Attendance (the ENTIRE Season is SOLD OUT!) stood gleefully thru the entire match, including the extra five minutes added for stoppage as we made our exit from the Raucous Qwest Stadium, where the 2009 MLS Expansion Sounders FC club are in quest of making the playoffs in their very first Major League Soccer season.

Playoffs
The Sounders became only the second ever MLS Expansion Team to make the Playoffs in their inaugural season, the feat having not occurred since the 1998 Chicago Fire went all the way to the finals and won the title.

Thus in their playoff grouping, the sounders hosted the Houston Dynamo in round 1 of a two game playoff match, with the first game being held at Qwest Field, where a Record 35,807 Fans attended the Sellout match that ended in a 0-0 draw.

Thus on November 8th a all or nothing Game Two was held on Houston’s home turf, where the top two defensive Teams in the League played another ninety scoreless minutes, with the two squads having completed a total of 180 minutes without a single goal having been scored!

Yet sadly in the games 96th minute, during the first of two 15min extended time half’s, Houston Striker Brian ching fired a rocketing salvo during a very brief defensive lapse, taking the shot unsighted and landing in the back of the net in which would prove to be the decisive score of the 1-0 match in Houston’s favour…

Ironically Brian Ching played his collegiate Soccer at Eastern Washington’s Gonzaga University, where he scored 34 goals for the Bulldogs before playing for the Spokane Shadow prior to being drafted by the LA Galaxy and then playing a short stint with the Seattle Sounders “A” League Team before returning to MLS action fulltime.

And this year’s Major League Soccer Championship Final, the MLS Cup was held at Qwest Field with a very impressive 41,000+ Fans attending, where some locals could be heard silently chanting Beat LA! And thus, I was absolutely thrilled to discover upon my return from Canada that Real Salt Lake had indeed defeated Messer Beckem & Donovan’s Galaxy in a sudden death shoot-out!

Yet the Sounders can be quite proud of their inaugural MLS campaign, having won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, along with Goalkeeper Kasey Keller and midfielder Freddie Ljungberg being named to the MLS All Star Team, while Forward Fredy Montero Beat out teammates Keller & Ljungberg for the MLS’s Newcomer of the Year Award.

The Sounders FC Team had a total of five members nominated for MLS Yearend Awards, with the three above and central defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado plus Coach Sigi Schmid.

Meanwhile MLS’s 2008 coach of the Year Schmid who was once again nominated for the award, has just been released from the Hospital after a bout of Pneumonia; with Sigi having now passed US National Team Coach Bob Bradley for number of All Time MLS victories with 125 wins…

GO SOUNDERS FC and Kudos Randal!