Hey Everybody,

What an unbelieveable la

Sorry I’ve been away for a few days, I will try to catch you all up.

Wednesday’s game against DC was very frustrating.  Being 3-1 up with 25 minutes left and tying the game almost put me over the edge.  I was pretty vocal after the game about my disappointment with the way we finished off the game.  I felt that we didn’t do what was needed to win the game.  We need to know when to play for the team and not ourselves.  That is the little discipline we need to improve on if we want to be a better team.  I think in the end we are going to be a better team if we continue to learn and not make the same mistakes.

Not much time to dwell on the past, the next morning I left the house at 6:45am  for the airport.  The flight to New York was 3 hours late because of bad weather on the East Coast.   A very uncomfortable flight, and 4 hours later than scheduled we got to our hotel in Hoboken.  We trained the next day at Giant Stadium, and what a disappointment the turf is in that place.  I have played there several times, but always on natural grass.  This stuff is so bad I don’t know how 2 NFL teams and  Redbull can play on such a field.  Good news is it is going to be blown up at the end of the football season.  Everybody involved is moving into new stadiums.

Game day and we really came out and played about as well as possible on that surface.  I was proud of the commitment, only a strange situation led to their goal.  Montero answered just before half-time, a great finish from Fredy.  Second half the best chances fell to us, but somehow the combination between the Redbull goalkeeper and the posts kept us from taking all 3 points.  Another draw, but that’s ok, we are once again moving in the right direction.  Another early flight.  This time we left the hotel at 5:45 a.m. Not a great time to catch a flight, but it was nice to get home and spend Father’s Day with my family.

With 3 games in a week, and us not having a game until Sunday, Sigi is giving us a couple of days off to recharge the batteries.  Looking forward to playing a little golf and spending some time with the family.  I hope the weather decides to cooperate.

Kasey

Hey Everybody,

Not a lot of time to savor the win against San Jose.  Tomorrow night we host an in-form DC United.  Looks like we’re in good shape injury wise, and with Jaqua and Kennedy off suspension we look to be back to full strength.  We want to build off of the success the other night and keep working our way back to the top of the table.  DC having had a poor start to the season have worked themselves up to the top of the East.   DC are a very attack minded team who like to out score their opponents.  We need to be wary of their potent offense, but with the number of players they like to commit forward we should have plenty of goalscoring chances ourselves.  Makes for a fun game to watch.  Let’s be honest, what is really fun is watching your team win!  So let’s score lots of goals and we can watch us win together.  You guys from the stands and on TV, and ideally, me from the goal with nothing to do but applaud the good play in front of me.

Over the years DC has tried to say that they are the home of soccer in the US.  They had some good MLS success early on and won a couple championships.  There  have also been some big games there for the National Team at RFK.  DC has a good faithful crowd, but I can’t wait for them to see  the new home for soccer in the US!  We have the Staduim, the Crowd, and the Team.

Scarves Up!

Kasey

Hey everybody,

Wow!  We made that a little more difficult than we had too, but in the end we got the three points that we truly needed.  I was thinking that my friend Joe Cannon at the other end was going to have one of those game.  When he made the save with the back of his heel I thought it might be a long night.  A great passing combo after we stole the ball, released Freddie to score a very classy goal.  A well rehearsed corner found Montero in the right spot to tuck home the second.  We lost our focus a little, and let San Jose back into the match.  We held on and got the three points, to the delight of everyone, especially our majority owner Joe Roth, Happy Birthday!

Now it  is all about recovery for the game on Wednesday.  Hopefully everyone got through the game without any problems.  I had an appearance at the new club shop in Pacific Place downtown this afternoon.  The three amigos preceded me and the turnout was tremendous.  Got lots of  positive comments about the orange jersey.  Looks like it will have to be making more appearances.  Got several questions about how my ribs were after the little hit I received.  Unfortunately the hit was a little lower than my ribs.  The joys of being a man!

My wife launched a line of apparel at the club shop.  We have had a lot of requests for my gear, and because of the limitations with the Adidas gear and MLS, we thought it would be cool to put together something a little different.  I have had a lot of questions about the cow t-shirt, and what it means.  In an interview a reporter asked me about my work ethic, and I always attributed it to growing up on a farm, where we had to work hard.  I said in the interview, “what are you going do, let the cows starve?”, apparently people thought it was pretty funny so the suggestion was made that we should put it on a t-shirt, so we did.  

Once again the fan support was great, just a great place to play, especially when we are winning.

Bring it on Wednesday.

Kasey

Hey Everybody,

Thursday is always the day that tells me a game is around the corner.  Training at the stadium and working on some specific tactics for the opponent is the typical Thursday.   I think it’s a nice change from the training ground and  it gives everybody the sense of familiarity with Qwest.  I was very happy with that attitude of training today.  I feel everyone is ready to get back to winning ways.

Tonight was a lot of fun.  Our majority owner’s wife, Irene, had a surprise birthday party  for Joe at the Four Seasons.  Very well done!  Great food, conversation , and a beautiful setting.  The players enjoyed themselves, but not as much as some of the staff who don’t have to play a game in the next couple of days. We hope we deliver the win for Joe’s birthday on Saturday, we all feel it is long overdue. 

Tomorrow is the final preparation training for the game Saturday.  Friday is the day I try to get comfortable with my technique.  My main focus is to work through the angles, make sure my timing is right on crosses, take a few back passes, and get a good nights sleep and win a game.

Have a great Friday.  Sneak away from work early if you can, and start your weekend right.

Kasey

Hey everybody,  

Yesterday we had a double with training in the morning and weights in the afternoon.  In the middle of the two, I shot off to NW Seattle to catch the Offspring play a short acoustical set.  Unfortunately they were running a little late and I had to get back to Renton to lift.  Missed the set, but if you saw the picture I posted, not a bad spot to watch the concert at WAMU.  That’s the 4th time I’ve seen the Offspring dating back to 1998.  They rocked as always!  Looked like from where I stood a good time was had by all.

Today was a day off and a beautiful day to play 18 with a friend.  Played Plateau Club in Sammamish,  played okay considering this is only my second round played since last October.   Too nice of an afternoon not to be outside.  I think it was the 10th or 11th tee box when I had to stop my friend from teeing off.  A Doe, a deer, a female deer walked about ten feet in front  of him as he started his back swing.  Obviously very comfortable around the golfers.

Tomorrow back at Qwest for training.  Nice day off, but time get ready for Saturday.

Kasey

Hey everybody,

Still trying to come to grips with the result against Chivas.  The huge opportunity to go back to the top of the table and the fact that we played well enough to win the game comfortably is so disappointing.  When you play poorly and deserve to lose that is one thing, but when you play well and still lose that makes you start to ask a lot of questions.  Things you really can’t find an answer for, but torture yourself asking “what if?”  Once again we get one player off of suspension, but two more go on.  If we want to get back to playing our best we need to build better relationships on the field, and the only way to do that is to play together.  We haven’t been able do that because of the red cards.  I have a feeling that the red cards are going to dry up for awhile.  Let’s hope I’m right.  

The reserve guys had a good little game today against some of the Wolves players.  Wolves are a semi-pro development team in the area.  It was good for both teams to have a chance to scrimmage against some different players in a training ground game.  It gets old playing against the same guys day after day, so it is nice for both parties.  

Tomorrow we have a double, field training at Starfire in the morning and a weight training session at VMAC in the afternoon.  Always nice to hang out over at VMAC, pretty cool facility.

Got the Molecule out on the water this evening.  The kids gave it a big thumbs up.  What is cool about it is you can cruise around on it, or you can kick up the speed a bit and make it a little extreme.  Thanks again HO!

Keep it cool Seattle and have fun while the weather lasts!

Kasey

Sometimes you do just about everything right, but win the game.  Sometimes life is not fair and sometimes you don’t always get what you deserve.  Last nights game was one of those days.  We did almost everything right except score the goals and conceded a goal against the run of play.  I think yesterday we could have played two games and not scored.  Sometimes it just goes that way, don’t ask me why.  If I could answer that question I could make a fortune selling the answer to all the coaches around the world.

I think last night was the best we have passed the ball as a team all season.  Probably the least busy I have been the whole season, but the first game I lost.  Like I just said above,  sports don’t always make sense.  One thing holds true, if you out play your opponents, more often than not, you will win more often than not.  Yesterday was the exception.  Goes to show you how cruel this game can be, for 99% of the game we were totally switched on defensively.  We turned off for one second and we were one nil down and couldn’t  find our way back.  Speaking with some of my friends from Chivas after the game they knew they got out played and were lucky to get the result.

It’s gut check time for a new team.  Can some guys step up to turn it around?  I have all the faith in the world that the team will rebound sooner rather than later.  We will sharpen up the intensity and the discipline.  Before you know it we will all be toasting another Sounders victory!

Kasey

Hey everybody,

Don’t remember the last time in June we had weather like this.  I was always used to coming home from Europe to not great weather.  I would spend 9 months in England dealing with the wet windy weather to come home to more wet windy weather.  Don’t get  me wrong, I’m totally digging the heat, but where was it the last 16 summers.  Finally, some benefits from global warming.  I’m just glad we train at 10 in the morning.  

Moving right along with the preparation for the big game down in LA.  I was a little upset with myself at the beginning.  During warm-ups my handling was a little off and I got a little frustrated.  A few expletives later, I got it sorted out and ended very happy with my training.  Went into a little 11 v 11 to work out the tactics for Saturday. Tomorrow should be a light day of training before our midday flight down to LA.  Looking forward to a nice uneventful flight.  No aborted landings like in Denver.

Had a great visit to the HO and Hyperlite factory in Redmond this afternoon.  I’m a big fan of their products and it was a honor to see how the magic gets made.  CJ, Tom, Dave, Bob, and everybody else were totally cool.  Thanks for a great time.  If you see a Molecule bombing around Lake Washington be sure to say hi!

Better go to bed, have a great Friday and an even better weekend.  Weather won’t be as hot, but I’m sure you all can find something cool to do!

Kasey

Hey Everybody,

Good day of training at Starfire.  A little warm, but who’s complaining.  Looks like we don’t have any new injury worries for the weekend.  Not sure if we’re getting anybody back who missed the last game.  With the exception of the suspended Marshall, we should have everybody available.

Just finished watching the US-Costa Rica game.  Not a great night for the US.  It is a difficult place to play and we have a bad history at that stadium.  When you are 2 down after 13 minutes you are giving yourself a huge hill to climb.  Easy to question some of the tactical decisions after the game is over, but a lot of guys on the field  haven’t been playing a whole lot with their teams in Europe. Maybe the fitness levels aren’t what they need to be.  I was surprised Conor Casey wasn’t in the squad after his recent run of form, especially since there wasn’t a real target man on the field tonight. The team just didn’t look like they were up for the fight.  That’s what disappoints me the most, you can have a bad day passing the ball but you can always run, tackle and fight.  Big game in Chicago this Saturday against Honduras.  Lose this game and qualifying is no longer a forgone conclusion.  Lets hope the boys can bounce back and get back on track for 2010.

Starting to wind down with the physical side of training, so tomorrow is more about tactics for how we are going to get that win at Chivas.  So come on Sounders! Lets break this streak of draws and get back to the top of the table.

Kasey

How’s everybody doing?

Yesterday was one of those Tuesday mornings after a day off from training.  Like usual, we started with a video session looking at the good, the bad, and the ugly from Saturday’s game.  Like most of the time when watching the tape, some things look better than remembered and other actions that you thought were innocuous were actually worse.  For the most part, we played much better in the second half and should have been able to win the game with the chances we created.  Credit to Columbus for scoring a great goal and holding on to win a point on the road.  We watched the tape to give examples of actions that the coaches liked and would like to see more of, or things they don’t ever want to see again.

Back on the field, we are continuing to work on those relationships.  Sigi has emphasized that we are at a disadvantage against some of the teams where the core of their team have played 50, 60 , even 70 games together.  Due to injuries and red cards we are struggling to get our attacking players to play more than a handful of games together. The guys are working hard, it just takes a while to get that natural flow of play that develops over time.  

After training, I went to Xbox for a visit with friends and a little gaming.  They have to be the coolest sponsor in the league.  I am looking forward to some of the new games coming out.  

Enjoy the sunshine Seattle.

Stay Cool!

Kasey