Kasey's a Sounder!

Today at Qwest Field, Kasey Keller became the second player signed by Seattle Sounders FC.

Keller passed up at least one offer in Europe to return home to the Sounders, and signed a two-year deal for an undisclosed amount of money. Rest assured, he won't take up the designated player slot. Unfortunately, Seattle had to use an allocation to sign him, meaning that they drop to last in the order of being able to sign US National team players returning to MLS. Or something like that. MLS rules are still somewhat murky to me. In any case, he'll probably make around 200 to 250k a year, so he won't break the bank.

At the press conference, GM Adrian Hanauer spoke highly of Keller's experience and leadership abilities. Could Kasey be the first Sounders captain? Either way, his addition is a big step forward, will generate plenty of good PR, and will provide keeper-of-the-future Chris Eylander (As soon as they sign him - get on that, Sounders!) with a great mentor. Welcome home, Kasey.

Kicking it with Ciaran O'Brien

This coming Tuesday the Sounders will face the Charleston Battery on the road in a US Open Cup semifinal. A win, and the final will be played against either New England or DC United - in Seattle. Ciaran O'Brien, on loan to Seattle from the Colorado Rapids, will be a key player in this matchup. I talked with him today about MLS and his temporary return to the Sounders, his hometown team - as well as the team of his brother, Leighton.

Ness: I know you played in the US Open cup qualifiying rounds with Colorado… does that mean you’re cup-tied for Tuesday’s US Open Cup game?
Ciaran: No, because the game I played in with Colorado was a play-in game, so that doesn’t count.

N: Have you had a chance to pick up anything from (Colorado teammate and perennial MLS all-star) Christian Gomez?
C: I definitely have, his creativity and what he does on the ball is unlike anyone in MLS, so he’s a guy you can learn from. You try and watch and imitate what he does because he’s so good on the ball.

N: In your brief time as a pro, what’s the difference you've seen between MLS and USL, in talent?
C: There’s not a big difference at all. The biggest is obviously signing players like Beckham and Blanco. Apart from the big-name players there’s not really a drop. I think for Seattle there’ll be a good transition from USL into MLS, they won’t have a tough time adjusting because they’ve had the open cup matches.

N: Say you have the designated player slot for Seattle or Colorado, doesn’t matter. Who’s the one player in the world you’d want to play alongside?
C: Ooh. Tough question. Any player in the world?
N: Any player, regardless of contract.
C: I’m going to have to come back to that one.

N: I don’t know if you can answer this honestly but right now, at full health, who’s better, you or Leighton?
C: Leighton. He’s got more experience, he’s sharper on the ball so right now, he’s better.

N: I’m sure you’ve watched the Sounders a lot in the past… what’s it like to play for your hometown team?
C: It’s unbelievable. I grew up with Leighton and the Sounders from 2002, 2001 season is when I kinda started hanging around, and then 2002 they had that great year. From then on, I was at the games, warming up with the subs... It didn’t hit me in the Puerto Rico game, but it did at Portland that I was playing and not just sitting on the bench and watching. It was a great feeling, and it’s a great fit for me and the team. Against Portland the last game down there, it was great, playing against them in front of 12 thousand people. It fires you up as much as it fires them up.

N: Last one. It’s a softball question, or a spot-kick I guess, to be sport-appropriate. Best part about playing in Seattle?
C: Being in my hometown around all the guys, and just playing for the team, combination of those two, is great.

N: Any thoughts on the question we skipped over?
C: I’m going to go with Gerrard because I don’t want to say Ronaldo.

Big ups to Ciaran for chatting with me, and the best of luck to him and the Sounders in the Cup.

The case for Kasey

Let's put the puzzle pieces together.

First, Kasey Keller has repeatedly said he'd like to finish his career in Seattle. Second, Sounders FC front office man Chris Henderson recently said that "...some very exciting things are about to happen. In the next month we will sign one or more players for the 2009 team. I am not at liberty to tell you their names but watch for some press releases in the next few weeks." (from Soccer Seattle Style) Now, I certainly mean no offense to the current Sounders players, but I don't think the inking of a couple of them to MLS contracts would qualify as "very exciting." Besides, those who will make the MLS club probably won't be signed until the USL season ends.

So it's been a week since Henderson's comments, and no players have been signed. Meanwhile, Kasey Keller remains mysteriously out of contract.

It's beginning to seem like a given that the northwest native will end up a Sounder. I would guess that the deal hasn't been completed yet because Keller will be loaned to a European team, probably in Germany, until December or January. So as Henderson said, look for an announcement in the upcoming weeks.

Sounders add players for 2008, maybe 2009

Forward Kevin Forrest, in an interview with this blog in January:
"I love Seattle and playing here would be amazing. For now I have to keep my options open and take opportunities as they come, but if I end up playing here I couldn't be happier."

Well, Kevin Forrest has now achieved maximum happiness. The local UW product has just signed with the USL Seattle Sounders for the remainder of the 2008 season to aid the injury-depleted roster, and perhaps take a crack at making the MLS team in 2009. In addition, the Sounders have acquired Federal Way native Ciaran O'Brien on loan from the Colorado Rapids. O'Brien is an attacking midfielder who was picked 5th overall in the MLS draft this year.

Could either of them realistically end up in Seattle in 2009? If so, then the Sounders will have to do some dealing with Colorado (they also own Forrest's MLS rights for next year). The Rapids will be hard-pressed to deal O'Brien, as they probably won't want to give away their top draft pick after just 1 year and very little playing time for the main club. They'll value him higher than the price the Sounders would be willing to pay. Forrest is a different matter; they would probably trade his rights for next to nothing. If he impresses, he will likely end up in Sounders blue and green next year.

Calabro to be the voice of the Sounders

Another stroke of genius and luck has come to Seattle's 2009 entry into MLS, as Kevin Calabro will be the first announcer for Seattle Sounders FC. King 5 and KONG (channel 6) will be the local broadcast team, and around 5 games will be on King 5, broadcast throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Calabro is obviously a legend, having called games for the late Seattle Supersonics for seemingly ever, greatly endearing him to his listeners. Don't be worried about the transition between sports for Calabro. He made light of it, saying "A lot of commonalities between the MLS and NBA - New York is dead last in the NBA, and dead last in the MLS." He seems genuinely excited for his new job, and he sounds like he knows more about soccer than I honestly would expected. (Although he certainly has a lot to learn.) I can almost guarantee that he will be a great spokesman and face of the franchise in 2009 and the years to follow.

(Calabro will be on King 5 at 5:45, so tune in then if you want to hear him talk some more.)

Jaqua to Sounders FC?

Here's some relatively breaking news - according to an article out of Houston, Nate Jaqua has been offered a contract by the Houston Dynamo that would put him in Seattle when the Sounders FC begin play in 2009. 

The article quotes Dynamo team president Oliver Luck. Here's the most relevant bit: "The offer would have Jaqua in Dynamo uniform as early as mid July. The forward would then be traded to Seattle FC for the 2009 season under an agreement with the expansion franchise, Luck said."

The whole article can be viewed here. More updates as I get them...

Nate Jaqua - How to get him?

Meet Nate Jaqua.He's the ideal player for Seattle Sounders FC. He is a relatively young striker and is talented enough to be an occasional US National team player. He recently had a good run playing in Europe (OK, Austria, but it's still Europe) yet has MLS experience - he won the cup last year with Houston. And now he's out of contract, hanging out in Oregon - yes, he's a native Pacific Northwesterner. The icing on the cake is the fact that he has expressed interest in playing in MLS, and reportedly wants to come to the Sounders FC. Brilliant!

One tiny problem though - his rights are still owned by Houston. Which means if he returns to MLS, they have first dibs. Now, the astute reader might think, "couldn't we just sign him to the Sounders in USL and bring him up to MLS next year?" While the rules about the 'promotion' of the Sounders are pretty hazy, since this is an unprecedented situation in American soccer... I don't think they could work this. A month or so ago, the Sounders passed on signing a defender who had been let go by New York Red Bulls, mainly because NYRB would still have owned his rights in MLS. This would probably be the same case regarding Jaqua. And yes, MLS rules are somewhat ridiculous and should be clarified. Like that'll ever happen.

There could be ways around this, of course. The Sounders FC - NOT the Sounders in USL - could trade for his rights and sign him, possibly loaning him back to Houston for the remainder of this season as part of the deal. The Sounders FC are free to sign players already if they want, as they already have locked up USL Sounder Sebastien Le Toux. What could they trade, since they only have one signed player? Possibly a draft pick, a slot for an international player or an allocation allowing for some amount of salary to go over the salary cap.

Complicated enough? In a nutshell, we could get Jaqua, and I'd give pretty good odds that the signing happens eventually. There's just a ton of formalities to go through first.
(Photo courtesy American Soccer News)

Sounders FC sponsored by XBOX 360!

So I was sitting in section 121 at Qwest Field, listening to Joe Roth talk about how he (quite impressively) had woken up at 5 AM in Los Angeles this morning and had gotten to Seattle for the jersey unveiling at 11:30. I reached into my bag to pull out my camera and turned it on. The words "change batteries" showed up on the screen. I stared at it in sadness for about 15 seconds and put it away. So, no pictures from the event. Instead, here's an image of our new jersey!

Can't complain. It's unique (no other team in MLS has a green jersey) and doesn't look too busy or too boring. With over 16,000 season deposits being made, you can bet that these jerseys will be flying off of the shelves just as soon as they're on them in the first place. Which could be as soon as this Saturday. Some sort of merchandise will be available at the Qwest Field team shop by this Saturday, but it's unlikely (not impossible) that this jersey is among stuff available to purchase. We'll find out...

The membership scheme revealed

"I order the club sandwich all the time and I'm not even a member, man. I don't know how I get away with it." (Mitch Hedberg)

Drew Carey was in town Friday to talk to fans at Kells Irish Pub downtown. He said that the process of the Sounders ownership group coming together to get their place in MLS took "less time than the R. Kelly trial." Aside from being a funnyman, he was there to reveal details about the increasingly famous membership system that he and the Sounders FC are implementing. 

The best part is that it's all free to season-ticket holders! Of course, anyone else can pay $125 a year to join. Every 4 years there will be a vote among all members whether or not to keep the current GM. More than 50% of votes are needed to vote the GM out. (The club will still pick the new GM.) Also, members can call a vote in any given year with at least 20% of members signing. And there was mention of a 'membership council.' Any member with 25 others backing him or her gets to be on the council, which meets a couple times a year to hear directly from the suits and give their input.

The team is definitely taking some big steps to involve the fans, as they have so often promised. Drew was very clear in pointing out to the fans in attendance that "it'll be your team, for sure." Words like that from the team's owner are great, but the actual system being implemented and measures being taken to involve the fans are even better. 

Marcus Hahnemann and the goalkeeper puzzle

As a Seattle native, Marcus Hahnemann has been targeted as a potential Sounder in MLS almost since the team was announced. As somewhat of a response, three-ish weeks ago he wrote, "...let me shout it loud and clear. Playing for the Sounders again is an attractive proposition but there are only two things on my mind right now. No 1: keeping Reading in the Premier League. No 2: having a better campaign in the top flight next season." This was, of course, absolutely the right thing to say. 

However, thanks to a Fulham away win, Reading were relegated from the Premier league today. So who knows what is on Hahnemann's mind now. With Reading going down and probably choosing to offload some of their pricier players, SSFC might have just been given a very good opportunity to sign the 36 year old keeper. 

The USL Sounders already have a very strong goalkeeper in Chris Eylander, who was one of USL's best last year (and just held league-leading Portland to a scoreless draw last night). So keeper is not necessarily a position of need. But Eylander has publicly said that he would love to play understudy to either Hahnemann or local boy/Fulham keeper Kasey Keller (who almost certainly will be staying at his club next year). If Hahnemann is ready to come home in the summer of 2009 when his contract runs out, the Sounders will find a way to make it happen. It all depends on him at this point, and the rest of us will have to wait and see. 

The keeper conundrum

We're still half a year away from the serious roster building stuff, and already a potential roster conflict is emerging. But it's a good kind of conflict. Seattle Sounders FC will likely be able to choose between Kasey Keller and Marcus Hahnemann, both world-class keepers with local ties: Keller is from Lacey, Hahnemann is an SPU graduate and former Sounder from Seattle. And both have recently expressed serious interest in playing in Seattle.

Keller: "It’s an extremely attractive proposition. Hopefully at some stage it becomes a viable option, and coming from that area, it’s obviously something I’d find extremely interesting... there is a relationship (with the owners), and if it becomes something, then I’m all for it. If it doesn’t, I’ll still be a fan of the new franchise."

Hahnemann: "They (SSFC) are doing everything right and eventually when Reading don’t want me any more and I get sick of driving on the wrong side of the road and buying petrol instead of gas then I might leave... I know a lot of people are really excited to be getting a team in the MLS in Seattle and I am sure that those same people are, like myself, very pleased with what we saw. This may make coming home much easier."

Obviously, having either one of these players, both veterans selected for the 2006 World Cup, would be incredible both from a playing and a marketing standpoint. The first thought would probably be to take whichever one we can get. Both of their teams, especially Keller's Fulham, are in danger of being relegated from the lucrative English Premier League, so that could be a factor as well. We'll be watching closely to see whether Fulham and Hahnemann's Reading are sent down here in the last few weeks of the EPL season.

Quick update

Kevin Forrest was taken third in today's supplemental draft by Colorado, where he will join another local star, Ciaran O'Brien, in fighting for a roster spot and/or playing time. According to Forrest, the two are friends and have trained together with the Sounders. Good luck to both of them.

And Seattle MLS has made its first hire! Everett's Chris Henderson, a longtime Major League Soccer guy, will join the club as its technical director. His job's likely going to be mainly advising the staff on the many intricate facets of MLS, as well as simply being Hanauer's assistant. So congratulations to him and to the club for officially doing something.

Kicking it with... Kevin Forrest

UW's Kevin Forrest, former Pac-10 Player of the Year, was unfortunately passed over in the MLS Draft but will likely be picked in the Supplemental Draft next week. We tracked him down on Myspace and he was kind enough to answer a few questions.

Seattle MLS - So what's your plan from here? Just wait and see where you go in the supplemental draft?

Forrest - For now I will just wait and see how the supplemental draft goes, and if I get called in somewhere I'll definitely give it a shot.

SeaMLS - How was the combine? Was that the toughest competition you've ever faced?

Forrest - The competition at the Combine was good, but it wasn't anything new. It was a little more difficult for me having not played in a while, but the level was what you would expect from a group of good college players.

SeaMLS - Are you 100% recovered? (He missed much of last season with a stress fracture.)

Forrest - The Combine games were my first games back, fortunately my foot held up and seems to be healed. As far as gaining full fitness back I still have a ways to go and I still have to be careful about overtraining so that I don't put myself in a position to stress my injury.

SeaMLS - On a scale of 1 to awesome, how would it be to play professional soccer in Seattle?

Forrest - I love Seattle and playing here would be amazing. For now I have to keep my options open and take opportunities as they come, but if I end up playing here I couldn't be happier.

Results of MLS SuperDraft

...because it's not just a draft, it's a SUPERDraft.

Anyways. Local boy Ciaran O'Brien (Decatur HS) was picked 5th overall by the Colorado Rapids, so congratulations to him. Ely Allen (UW, Kentridge HS) was taken in the 2nd round by the Los Angeles Beckhams. Kevin Forrest wasn't selected, so where he plays next season is still up in the air, with the MLS Supplemental draft (in which 56 more players will be selected) coming next week.

In one year, the Seattle Somethings will have the first pick in the 2009 SuperDuperDraft. It'll be a long wait until then...