PBP: MLS Cup Final: RSL vs LA, 11/22- 6:30 MT

A few notes from a Sounders fan:

March to the Match: You guys totally owned it from Occidental Park! It was a blast to walk with you and join in your chants. Well done! Oh, and we witheld the usual Sounders flags, chants, songs, smoke, etc out of respect for you. I hope you appreciated that.

Booing the Galaxy Supporters: Yeah, a smattering I guess. Not classy on our part. Their "march" actually came from the South and it was tiny compared to yours. And they were not friendly or inclusive.

Sounders chant: that was to honor the Sounders, for crying out loud. OF COURSE our team marched out for honors - well before the game, and not in uniform. You would have the decency to do the same, had you ended your season on the road and had a chance for one last well-wishing goodbye!

RSL Chants: Your stuff includes some that we use, and some good simple stuff that was easy for folks to pick up. Folks I saw that leaned your way tried to get a bit of cheering on, it definitely helped to loosen up the RSL fans mixed in our section. But mostly your superior traveling support carried the day.

RSL Drums: You were drowning yourelves out. What is up with that? Somebody tell your drum corps they are there to support the RSL Supporters, not vice versa.

Golden Scarf Girls carrying in the MLS Cup: Those are NOT cheerleaders, they present all awards of honor at XBox Pitch, including presentation of the Golden Scarf before each Sounders match. Don't mess with the Golden Scarf Girls, capisce?

RSL Banner: Thank the gods you guys brought one. Looked good covering all of 203. Did you have anything up in 338? Couldn't see from the west seats, and nothing on the jumbo screens. Galaxy has one big flag, is that all they brought??

The game-play: Well-played, etc etc, whatever. Too much bunker-ball. Looked like you were playing for PK's after you tied it 1-1. Where were those all-out counterstrikes you pulled on us this year?

The PK's: It was a relief to see Real Salt Lake put every shot on frame. With Ricketts out, that's the no-brainer approach. I was glad to see Becks put his on frame and disappointed to see Donovan miss. Would have been nice to see if Rimando could have saved off Landon, in the Season-MVP vs Postseason-MVP showdown. The ECS crowd lost their resolve to stay neutral in PK's, they were definitely offering more distraction whenever Galaxy was kicking.

Celebration: Great to see the team go over to 104 and greet the fans at the rail. It was the opposite side from the presentation, but by far the best place to actually touch the fans. Too bad we didn't seem to have a way to get the 300-level crowd down to field level for the presentation - all our security planning was based on the possibility Chicago could get in, and that Section 8 would bring the WTO Riot Crew again from another local community. And once we plan for a worst-case scenario, we don't really know how to back off.

Painting the town Cobalt: You guys really showed up, and made our place yours. Well done, from start to finish. Well worth the effort and expense for most all, I'm sure. Moments like these are a joy! And a sincere thank you from an appreciative host.

FROM A QUAKES FAN:

Congratulations, RSL for your most deserved win! It gives me great pleasure to see the Galaxatives go down the way they did. It only goes to show that you don't need superstars to win matches (it certainly helps but not all the answer).

Congratulations again.

The comment that you guys shouldn't have been chanting for your team pre-game definitely reflects the minority opinion. If you'd been chanting during play, that might not be the case, but I thought you guys handled yourselves brilliantly.

Congratulations!!!

Well done dudes! Thank you for slaying the evil, cheating, smog-breathing, water-stealing galactowankers!!

- Mark
Quakes Fan

Congratulations!

RSL played like balls out and outlasted a very spent Galaxy squad that always looked beatable, but somehow found a way to win.
Your Barra Real earned some major street cred last night. I had to lower my TV last night.
Be proud RSL, you deserve all the respect in the world (well, at least in the MLS world).

ELAC

Meh... Looked to me like RSL was doing it's best to push forward in the second half and OT, despite two of its three midfield workhorses (Morales/Johnson) out of the game by half.

Reasonable minds could disagree and I'm sure your perspective as a neutral is very different from mine as an RSL fan.

No. You're right. Guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

The two neutrals I was watching the game with (one of whom is a rabid Man Utd fan from Africa was being introduced to American soccer at any level with this game) both thought RSL attacked really well through the 2nd half and 1st overtime.

And, on a completely different topic, can I give a shout out to Ned Grabavoy? Dude stepped up when it counted. Glad he was on our team last night.

CONGRATS FELLAS! you guys played as a team and won as a team! Now my question is are you guys gonna have an all expense paid trip vacation for Landon Donovan like the people from honduras with Johnny B? haha jk ENJOY THE CUP and celebrations!

We must smoke the same stuff; was just thinking the same thing.

Ned = Man. I thought Mathis was going to have to attempt to fill Morales' playmaking boots, but Ned ended up leading most (if not all) of the attacks.

Congrats.

The RSL supporters definitely set a new standard for away support at a neutral venue. So many people. It was incredible to be there to see it.

Your team was the best on the day. You deserved the win even before the PKs. (And what's the alternative? Endless overtime?) Enjoy it. Every team in MLS will be gunning for you next year.

I haven't seen anybody give Wingert props for his PK, so I will.

Wingert was the only shooter of the night for RSL who had to score. If he had missed it would have been over.

Williams and Russell were in the pressure situation where they have the chance to end it, but if they missed (as Williams did) it simply would have moved on to the next round.

The pressure Wingert was under was 10 times greater. And instead of getting nervous and trying to power one home (and launching it into the night sky like Landy), he hit one low and slow - that guy is one seriously cool customer.

A kudos to Wingert from all of us is in order....

Also, Regarding RSL in the second overtime, Williams was clearly injured (don't know if that was apparent on TV) so I can't blame them for not pushing in that last 15 minutes.

+1.

Good call. Anyone else not watch--I mean literally NOT watch--Wingert's PK? I still don't think my heart's ready to watch it.

Agree with everything you wrote. I'll pat myself on the back and say that I specifically congratulated him on his pressured PK try while waiting in the security lines at Sea-Tac.

i was damn near curled up in a fetal position doing this so hard my knuckles were straight white:


and my heart was POUNDING. insanely stressful moment for sure.

No, I watched it just for the sake of not wanting to miss anything. But this morning when I rewatched it, my pulse increased a lot as Wingert stepped up....even though I already knew what was going to happen.

You can't write a better script than what we've seen this past month.

Has anybody stopped to realize that if Kansas City hadn't been awarded (and finished) that 93rd minute penalty kick against DC back on 10/24, RSL wouldn't have made the playoffs? I still remember watching that live on the press box TV while RSL was playing Colorado....not a single reporter up there was watching RSL at that moment (despite how that's our job).

Wow, what a ride this has been!

Oh man. I watched it, but that's because I was too terrified to look away.

Thanks, Chris. Let's try to work on that cross, though, yeah?

I think I know a ref who's earned a jersey!

np. I'll admit I've got an odd perspective - lived in SLC for a year, but I care more about the city & supporters than I do about the play of 22 guys, 4 refs, and 6 subs on any given day. I spend most of any match hollering instructions to the players and ref, they never seem to take notice so clearly I'm not getting it somehow!

As a city, Salt Lake beat Los Angeles up one side of Seattle and down the other. That was good to see, and that's what I really wanted to commend you guys on.

RSL should never fear the road again. That monkey should be firmly off the back. And, if that is the case, this team becomes world beaters again.

None of us watching on TV (and therefore commenting in real time watching the game on this forum) knew that the Sounders team was being presented. The TV announcers were drooling all over LA at that time, no way to know what was going on in the stadium.

I did notice that it didn't happen again... so I know that what you are saying is true.

Thanks for correcting the record for those of us who didn't know what the actual reason was (a good reason).

Agreed! Man of the Match for that. They gave it to Rimando, but if anyone literally saved the team, it was Wingert in that moment.

Hear, hear!!!