By Kaitlyn O’Rourke
December 10th, 2016. A day that Seattle Sounders fans won’t soon forget. A day that finally brought Seattle an MLS Cup.
For me, it was a day when I lost all of my fingernails. And lost a LOT of tears. This was the story of the Sounders 2016 season. Everyone’s heard it, “from last in the West to MLS Champions.” So I won’t talk about their miracle turnaround, I’ll talk about the emotional rollercoaster of the 2016 Seattle Sounders season.
October 27th, 2016. Sounders vs. Sporting KC. Playoff game number 1. For 88 minutes fans stood in the pouring Seattle rain. And finally, a goal. Even on my TV screen, 2720 miles away, I could see the tears streaming down Nelson Valdez’s face. I could feel the fans yelling. My dog started barking; I had jumped up off the couch screaming and knocked her head off my lap, causing her to fall to the floor. The miracle season had somehow continued.
They played FC Dallas, pulling out another miracle first game and holding on in the second. This brought more tears, I remembered what happened in 2015 against them. How I ran to my room crying the second I saw Jesse Gonzalez save Chad Barrett’s PK. Colorado Rapids vs Sounders, in Colorado. I remember hearing before the game that Jordan Morris was sick. Morris has Type 1 diabetes, something that someone close to me has. I started freaking out; I know how being sick and at altitude affects people’s blood sugar. When he scored in the 56th minute, I jumped up yelling of joy then out of fear, Jordan Morris was down on the field with an injury(he was okay). “You look like mom after a Hillary Clinton speech,” said my little brother as I fought back tears watching them lift the Western Conference Championship trophy.
Flashback to June 1st, the Sounders playing D.C. United in DC. I went with my friend who wore one of my Sounders shirts. To be honest, I almost cried when I heard the BOOM BOOM CLAP from the Sounders fans in the upper left corner of RFK, when I heard them shout the last names of the Sounders players. When they shouted “JORDAN MORRIS” after he scored.
I live 2720 miles away from Seattle. Some of their games I can watch on TV. The others, I listen to on KIRO Radio. I can’t tell you how many nights I stayed up until 12:30 in the morning on Wednesday nights, knowing that I had tests and quizzes the next day at school.
After the Sounders won the MLS Final, I facetimed my friend, the one who had gone to the D.C. United game with me over 6 months ago. She had tears running down her face. She had become attached, she’d listened to me talk about the players for months.
The Sounders are more than a team. Their rivalry with Portland Timbers is more than a rivalry. Every game they play isn’t “just another game.” If they were just a team, if it was “just a game”, then I wouldn’t cry about it, I wouldn’t spend hours making cookies with players names on them. If they were just a team, if it was just a game, it wouldn’t be the same.
My name is Kaitlyn O’Rourke and I am so excited to be a Key Contributor for the Seattle Sounders with MLS Female this season. I’m excited to be writing for a website that celebrates women sports writers. I am so happy that soccer brought me to this place and got me together with all these other women, and I am excited to build friendships that will keep us together.
Chat with me in the comments section
