É a cerca de 24 quilômetros do East L.A. College até o Stubhub Center.Quinze milhas e pouco mais de 40 anos.
Foi uma viagem longa e tortuosa da partida inaugural do Sounders para o mais importante até o momento, domingo contra a galáxia.
Seattle não precisa vencer.Um empate é suficiente.Um empate com um gol fora é gigantesco, como experimentamos no início deste mês.Claro, porém, uma vitória seria positivamente épica.
Qualquer pessoa associada aos Sounders conhece a história.Os rave já vieram aqui antes, a este lugar - ostubhub - e desta vez - os playoffs.
Embora gostem da história, sei muito bem que a história não se repete necessariamente.Se o fizesse, Seattle deve quebrar o azul de '09 (vencedores de 2 nulos), a eletricidade de '11 (0: 0) ou, que diabos, o branco e o aqua de 77 (3-1 na semifinal,1st leg). As it is, the Sounders are going back to Pitch Black. That outfit has juju, too; they wore it for the 2:2 fight back a month ago, laying the groundwork for a Supporters’ Shield-clinching win back home.
Some folks have their superstitions. They conjure such thoughts just to give themselves a framework for building or reinforcing confidence.
Sigi is a big believer in preparation and visualization. You could argue he’s pulling out the Pitch Black for superstitious reasons, but more importantly it lends itself to players visualizing good times in Carson: The Sounders know they can play with L.A. on the road, and they know they can take a goal (or two) and find a way to get a result.
There’s also been a 13-day break. Whoever the resident shrink, he’s probably reminding guys that they’ve had a couple 9-day gaps earlier this year and have come back strong. In September they returned to beat RSL at the death, and the L.A. draw also followed a pause. ‘See, we’ve done this. We can do it again.’
Sigi, who incidentally was at that first Sounders game against the Aztecs in ’74, also challenges his guys to make history. Be the first, he says. Be the first Sounders side to win or get a result at a playoff game in L.A. Be the first to get a leg up in a conference final. Be the first at those, and then next week be the first Sounders team to finish the job and make an MLS Cup final.
For the past eight months this has been a season of both celebrating history and making it. I can see it happening. Why stop now?