Our camp set-up… we bring EVERYTHING we could possibly need.
I <3 Mommy Bib as we take in warm-up of the Seattle Sounders vs. the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Candid unflattering pic of what I like to call ‘the Mom sway’ during the first part of the game. Missed Fucito getting ran over and the ensuing fight/curses that followed.
A taste of the up-close action that we witnessed. We were about six feet off of the field. Great seats!
nom.nom.nom.
Mean muggin with Dad.
Rosales how I love thee. As soon as the final whistle blew some of the players that played in the first round of the game(1 of 3, 45 minute mini-games) started heading back toward the dorms at the complex. Gabe handed me the camera and I brazenly marched right across the field- who is going to mess with this mom?-not them. I saw Rosales fleeing the crowd because well frankly it was cold and he had been sitting, watching with cold sweat(probably) for over an hour and a half and wanted to seek refuge. I went straight up to him and asked if he would kindly take a picture with Dirk. He gave me this HUGE smile and said, “Of course!”. He grabbed him and immediately cuddled up with Dirk. He even gave him two mini-baby kisses on the cheek! Such a gracious athlete!
Mike Fucito was hobbling off the field with his shoes in hand because he had gotten ROCKED in the first part of the game by a Whitecaps player who consequently received a card. Poor guy. He got hurt at the start of the season last year too. He said he is just a little stiff and is going to be fine though, thankgoodness, because he is one firecracker up front! I asked if he would take a picture with Dirk and he looked down at his shoes and ice pack he was carrying and said, “Okay, this is a delicate case.” And he handed his stuff to a teammate(who is trying out for the team) and asked if Dirk needed his head supported. SO SWEET! As soon as he gave Dirk back to me, Dirk immediately started to do this really sad cry and Mike was soooo apologetic because he thought he did something wrong. Poor guy.
And last, but not least, Steve Zakuani who had his leg savagely broken last year at the start of the season(really-google it if you didn’t see that) wasn’t able to play in any of the games today. He didn’t look even 50% when we watched him practice so I wasn’t surprised. After what happened last year I definitely didn’t expect him to be even close to 100% by now. But I kind of chased after him… well, speed walked, and asked if he was okay handling Dirk… he said okay… but really? Alonso was behind him and he said, “Uhhhhhh you really are going to…. Okay well….” and burst into laughter. Apparently Dirk is the first baby he has held and the picture definitively shows that. Alonso loved it and Dirk just stared at him off to the side= priceless.
We were going to wait for a couple of the other players, we, as in Gabe finally caught up to me after packing up our monster load of stuff we travel with for soccer matches. But it was quite cold out and the players that played in the last match of the day were still cooling down in drills, so we will just have to wait until next spring training.
Gabe and I have talked about just how wonderful an experience like this is. We sit literally a few feet away from some of the best players in the league, get to talk to them(instead of just muttering at the TV- I find that I really have to watch what I say because I can be quite critical and they can hear EVERYTHING), and get to meet them for FREE. Gabe and I hope that Seattle, along with other MLS teams will continue with this tradition well into the future! <3
<3 SEATTLE. SOUNDERS. <3
