More 'superstar to Seattle' speculation

Talks about Thierry Henry have cooled off, for now, due in part to the enormous fee it would cost and the fact that clubs like Chelsea are potentially in the running to acquire his services. But the Sounders (we can call them that now, yay!) are still clearly going to be looking for a player of international quality to lead their team in 2009. With that said, here's a guy they may be looking at.... Juan Roman Riquelme.

Here's why. According to Telam, Argentina's official news agency, MLS has just recently offered 15 million dollars for the Argentine superstar (currently playing for Boca Juniors in his home country). Combine that information with Seattle's deep pockets, the recent comments about going after a big name if available, and the fact that Adrian Hanauer IS on his way to Argentina today or tomorrow, and this possibility seems like it has a chance.

Obviously, this has a long shot of actually happening. If it did, though... wow. Riquelme, unlike Henry, is in his prime, and is one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. We'll be keeping tabs on this as it (hopefully) develops.

To the haters

Ok, obviously not everyone is going to be thrilled with the new name and colors, although a large majority of Seattleites seem to be. We have no problem with that - everyone's opinion is valid. However, we do have a problem with those threatening to quit the club, saying that you dislike the name so much that you won't support the team.

Look, the name was decided by a vote. Almost half the people voting chose some variation of 'Sounders' as the preferred name. It was clearly the most popular choice. To make an analogy, if a political leader like the president is decided by popular vote, and someone you don't like is elected, there's really nothing you can do about it. You can gripe, sure, but at the end of the day the leader was chosen by the will of the people. The people threatening to abandon Seattle MLS are like the people who threaten to move to Canada if their choice for president isn't elected.

And hey, the club's sold over 14000 deposits for season tickets, and in all likelihood is going to sell out their entire first season. There's no shortage of fans who WILL support Sounders FC, so we probably won't miss any of you who refuse to support our new club.

Here it is, in all its glory

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

We're not afraid to call it now - Seattle Sounders FC will enter MLS in 2009.

How do we know? Well, we've suspected it for around a month now, as we referenced in an earlier post. When the names to be voted upon were announced, we were confused - no mention of anything Sounders! At the time, the only available options to vote upon were Seattle Alliance, Seattle Republic and Seattle FC. They were registered trademarks and were also registered as websites by MLS Seattle. It seemed we were way off... but then the option to write in names was announced. And on March 31, last Monday, SeattleSoundersFC.net was registered by First and Goal (the operators of Qwest Field).

As of tonight, SeattleRepublic.net, SeattleAlliance.net and SeattleFC.net are all simply parked domain names. But SeattleSoundersFC.net gives us this message- "Coming Soon!
This site is under construction." Bingo.

Seattle Sounders FC. A combination of what were probably the two most popular choices. A combination of worldly and local tradition. We're pretty happy with the name. But don't let this stop you from watching the announcement at noon tomorrow (April 7), because we've yet to see our (undoubtedly splendid) new logo!

Who will we be supporting?

The biggest day in the short history of  Seattle MLS is almost here - the revealing of the team identity. Already known to be a fact is that the team colors will be green and blue, but Monday will give us our name and badge/logo/crest/thingy. 

As far as the voting goes, the clear most popular choices were Seattle FC and the write-in choice, Seattle Sounders. The official website has alluded to this as well. They've also said quite clearly that 'the most popular name wins,' but still... we wouldn't be surprised if the names were combined to reach the compromise of Seattle Sounders FC, the name we have suspected and predicted all along. One of these three will be the name - you can bet money on it.

Unfortunately, there probably isn't going to be any merchandise available yet for us all to get our hands on. Regardless, Monday will be a hugely exciting day, so make sure to check in at noon for the press conference!

3 things to watch for

1. San Jose Earthquakes at Los Angeles Galaxy, 7:30 April 3 on ESPN2. It's the return of San Jose to MLS, playing their first game since 2005. It's also the return of the best rivalry in the league, so for all of you who don't know much about MLS this is an excellent game to watch for a non-partisan fan.

2. Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait. NW Film Forum. Showing from April 4-6 at 7:15 and 9:15. Located at 1515 12th Ave. at Pike on Capitol Hill, Seattle. We're posting this only because it looks like a ridiculously cool movie. It's basically following the legendary Zinedine Zidane over the course of a full match (with a zillion HD cameras and epic, somewhat haunting music). Unconvinced? Watch the trailer... and become convinced.

3. Unveiling of Seattle MLS name, badge, colors, 12pm April 7. Yeah, this is the interesting one. The unveiling is taking place at the Space Needle (sweet!) but unless you're a media person, you'll have to watch online at MLSinSeattle.com. We still think the name will end up being Seattle Sounders FC, but that's certainly not for sure. Should be exciting!