The Wonder Of It All

A Sounders fan finally makes a long-awaited return to Lumen Field.

Anticipation tastes sweet. Tuesday night the Seattel Sounders welcome FC Cincinnati to Lumen Field. For the first time in six years, I get to see the Sounders play in person. As I prepared to board my flight from Cincinnati, I couldn’t stop fidgeting. I was coming home. A Sounders scarf draped across my shoulders, I wore my affiliation with pride. This club beats through my heart.

This 2022 MLS season stutters along and the Sounders’ playoff appearance hangs perilously over the abyss. Hope requires a win this week and yet the roster for Tuesday will dive deep into the team’s depth. Injuries, suspension and international call-ups perforate the choices. Truthfully I don’t care. Tuesday night the Sounders will take the pitch and I will scream my fool head off regardless of their peril. I’m a Sounder ‘Til I Die. I committed to this team years ago. I believe the long-term vision of a globally relevant franchise built around a spine of character. This year’s trials haven’t even nudged my resolve.

I find myself thinking about the crowd at Anfield singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as Liverpool FC takes the pitch. Sounders FC approaches 50 years old as a franchise and their repeated success should be cherished even in the face of adversity. How many American soccer clubs share the Sounders’ history of excellence? But it also means we support the community through the lows. Being a Sounder at Heart means I experience the full range of emotions watching the team play. But it also means I never lose sight of how special each opportunity to see them play in person can be. Tuesday night I’ll revel with the friends who banded together to bring me home to see this game. And I won’t regret anything about that experience regardless of what happens on the pitch. How could I? I get to see the Sounders play and that still strikes me with wonder.