Sounder At Heart: For Seattle Sounders And Reign Fc Fans

We caught up with friend of the show Alicia Rodriguez (aka @soccermusings) to give us the lowdown on LAFC. While they won't be particularly well rested, Alicia thinks LAFC will continue with their mild rotation they've been doing through their first four matches of the season and will be looking at this game as a significant test. Sponsors Full Pull Wines Watson's Counter If you'd like to become a subscriber to our Substack, that can be found here. This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)

Coming off two resounding wins, the Sounders were dealt a “humbling” loss -- in the words of Cristian Roldan -- when they went on the road for the first time, falling 1-0 to FC Cincinnati. I wouldn’t say it was bad loss, per se, FCC is expected to be one of the best teams in the league this year but it was a bit of a reality check that the Sounders aren’t just going to prance through the league schedule.  They showed a bit of fight and even appeared to get the equalizer until VAR disallowed it, but will head into this week’s match against LAFC looking to rebound. Sponsors Full Pull Wines Watson's Counter If you'd like to become a subscriber to our Substack, that can be found here. This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)

Whether you loved or hated Kasey Keller as a Sounders broadcaster, it would be impossible to deny his place in club history. Not only was his signing ahead of the 2009 season a signal of intent from the new MLS franchise, but he was an inarguably massive part of how they came out of the gates and won U.S. Open Cups in each of his first three seasons. He also won a MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in his final season. But Keller made an even longer-lasting mark by serving as the team’s color announcer on TV broadcasts from 2012-2022. During those 11 seasons, Keller barely a missed a game despite also working fulltime for ESPN and his commentary accompanies many of the greatest moments in club history. Keller’s penchant for criticizing defenders more than praising offensive brilliance and insistence on remaining objective sometimes rubbed fans the wrong way, but his honesty was never questioned. Although Keller is no longer on the Sounders broadcast — a casualty of the move to AppleTV — he was still more than happy t

The Sounders are off to one of their most exciting starts ever, improving to 2-0 after dispatching Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Jeremiah and Aaron are understandably pretty excited and love what they're seeing both in attack and on defense. Aside from discussing some of the finer points of what makes "Highlife Soccer" they also weigh the possibility that this is the best midfield trio in MLS. Sponsors Full Pull Wines Watson's Counter If you'd like to become a subscriber to our Substack, that can be found here. This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)

Craig Waibel took over as the Seattle Sounders' third-ever general manager during the MLS era about three months ago. Although he had previously served as the team's sporting director and as such played a significant role in the current roster build, he has put his fingerprints on the team in ways that fans don't usually see.  Most of Waibel's work has been done behind the scenes, attempting to rebuild an office culture that took a hit during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic that led to the Sounders going 100% remote.  One of the biggest aspects of Waibel's directive has been encouraging more in-person interaction that isn't necessarily a meeting. He keeps his office at Starfire Sports Complex rather spartan, with just a stick-figure picture that he drew himself as one of the only decorations. He says that's because he doesn't want it to feel like "his" office, as much as a place where he happens to work and anyone else is welcome to use it.  We sat down last week for an hourlong conversation, the first ha

The Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake have a lot of shared history. Right now, RSL seems to be getting the better of things, having won the last four meetings (including the penalty shootout in 2021).  Once again, we caught up with friend of the show Matt Montgomery who has recently started a new project called Wasatch Soccer Sentinel (effectively what used to be RSL Soapbox), who gives us the inside scoop. Sponsors Full Pull Wines Watson's Counter This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)

The Sounders got off to a pretty awesome start to their 2023 MLS regular season. The 4-0 win over the Colorado Rapids was every bit as convincing as the score suggested and we had a ton of impressive performances, highlighted for me by Jordan Morris brace and general involvement in just about every dangerous chance the sounders had. It's obviously just one game and the Rapids might be bad -- and were at least missing a couple starters -- but this was a very positive performance either way. Suffice it to say, we were pretty excited to talk abou this one. Of course, we also made time to take your questions. Sponsors Full Pull Wines Watson's Counter This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)

After an odd preseason that featured the FIFA Club World basically in the middle of it, the Seattle Sounders are finally just days away from their MLS regular season opener. To help preview the season, Aaron and Jeremiah welcomed Sounder at Heart colleagues Susie Rantz and Mark Kastner to the show to help us. We discussed our outlook for the season and explained some of the tactical tweaks the Sounders are implementing that they hope can help get them back to their rightful place atop MLS. In the second segment, we discussed some of the developments in the Apple deal and the rule changes that were implemented just a few days before the start of the season.   This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)

The Seattle Sounders will be playing Louisville City in their final preseason game on Saturday. To help give us a sense of what kind of opponent the Sounders are facing, we reached out to Vince Irvin. Vince is better known as a contributor to the Scuffed Podcast where he opines on the United States national team, but he's also a Louisville season-ticket holder. This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0) Sponsor read: James Woollard

The Club World Cup came at a particularly inopportune time for the Seattle Sounders. Despite being about midway through their preseason, however, the Sounders acquitted themselves well and actually looked like the better team for much of their loss to Al Ahly. We discussed this game, expressed some frustration with Brian Schmetzer's substitution patterns and looked ahead to the regular season while also taking a wide range of questions from listeners.   This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0) Sponsor read: James Woollard

Don't worry, we understand that almost no one really wants to be talking about things like sponsorships right now. But the Seattle Sounders' decision to join forces with Providence on a wide-ranging "partnership" that also happens to include the Catholic healthcare provider's name being prominently displayed on their jerseys has made completely moving on rather difficult. Fans remain upset and the Sounders are still seeking to calm those tensions. In the last week, the Sounders have met with ECS, the Alliance Council and other supporters' groups to at least begin the process of coming to an understanding. Similarly, they asked to talk to us and, more importantly, our audience. Jeremiah met with Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Taylor Graham as well as COO Maya Mendoza-Exstrom at Longacres on Monday to sort of replicate some of those conversations.  This much was clear: the individuals who run the Sounders remain as committed as ever to championing these causes. In fact, they gave the impression that they w

We caught up with Sam Rogers while he was with the United States national team in Los Angeles. It's been quite a couple years for Rogers, who turned disappointment over not making the Sounders first team into a journey that now has him poised to win his first senior national team cap. We talked about that journey and how he's enjoying life in Norway. Note: This is the first of what will become a regular series of interviews. This is available to all subscribers, but we'll likely start releasing extended cuts for paid subscribers through Substack in the next few months. 

Garth Lagerwey is out as the Sounders GM and was very quickly replaced by Craig Waibel, who joined the team about 18 months ago. We feel like this is a solid move, but understand that a lot of fans would like to see some proof. This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0) Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.

They clearly aren't the two most popular picks for the United States' World Cup roster, but we are thrilled for Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris making the trip to Qatar. If you're inclined to defend those picks to anyone, we give you plenty of ammunition. This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0) Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.

Will Bruin returns from a long time away from us to record what could be his final podcast with us. Will broke the news that his option was declined, but shared some thoughts on the highs and lows of 2022 and how a season with so much promise ultimately went off the rails. It's definitely worth a listen. Thanks to Fast Fashion brewery for hosting our recording session! Musics: "Bumped into Bigfoot" - Bedford; "Cutthroat" - prod. by Syndrome

The Seattle Sounders aren't quite dead, yet, but they are very much on life support after dropping two points at home against FC Cincinnati. We discuss how big of a deal it is that this 13-year of playoff qualification might now end.   This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0) Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.

Few would argue that Garth Lagerwey's eight-season tenure as Seattle Sounders GM has been anything short of highly successful. The trophies and finals and playoff appearances are all material accomplishments. But with him up for re-election and possibly other suitors lining up, now is as good of a time as any to reflect. He spent nearly an hour talking with us about the past eight years and why he's bullish on the future.   This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0) Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.

It's probably not healthy, but Jeremiah and Aaron are full back on the Sounders' bandwagon for at least another week. And even if this ends in tears, at least we had a wonderful moment against Houston. This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0) Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.

Sure, it was only a half of inspired soccer AND it didn't even get us a win, but it was enough for Aaron and Jeremiah to be bullish on the rest of the regular season. This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0) Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.

The Seattle Sounders are stuck in a bit of a rut right now, not necessarily playing badly but definitely not playing well. They're losing a lot of one-goal games these days and that's making it a little harder to have a strong opinion. We talked it through.   This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0) Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.