Seattle at DC United, Open Cup Final

4:30pm FSN (TV)

Let us shift the focus from that other stuff—you know the playoff chase —and grim statistics like this one that says we have only a 52% chance of making them. Let's take a breather from  the painful downward slide of our beloved home team. Let's forget the lethargy.  Let's look for a positive.

And yes, there is a big potential positive: The Open Cup final and today's match against defending OCF champs D.C. United.

I was schooled on the Open Cup back when this whole Sounders thing started , back when the Sounders were hot and fresh and new and exciting.  Before they started getting all the cards, couldn't settle on a fourth defender, stopped scoring, lost big time to loser teams like San Jose, and stopped winning at home.

The road to the cup has included some of the Sounders' finest games, like the 2-1 overtime victory over Houston, and Levesque's 42 second goal in the bloody match against Portland.

We last played DC in June, a disappointing 3-3 tie when D.C. United came from behind late and snatched victory from our jaws.

The build up to the final has been filled with all sorts of behind the scenes drama , with Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer complaining that Qwest would have sold out had the game been here, while DC will be lucky to draw a crowd much larger than the United players’ families.



Photo by Jack Hunter

DC United’s average attendance this year is around 16,000.  Last year's OCF brought in a pitiful 8,000 fans.  That was not an anomaly —United just lost 3-1 at home to Toluca last week in the CONCACAF Champions League at RFK with that many attendees.

United has played at Qwest and the club realizes the embarrassment of of a near-empty stadium in D.C. They have responded with desperate attempts to draw a crowd , claiming to have sold 11,000tickets.

Whoop. Dee. Doo. (30,000 plus last Saturday at Qwest for ... Toronto .)

They've also started an arrogant "We Win Trophies" campaign , and are pulling publicity stunts like this .

Yeah, well, if a football club wins a trophy and no one is there to see it, does it really count?

Luckily, DC is tired. Playing in the Champs League involves a demanding schedule on top of the MLS, and this Open Cup is just a distraction for them.

The Sounders don't have another game for 12 days (ironically, against DC again). We have nothing to lose. We are demonstrating signs of "Underdog Syndrome." The tendency to win against better teams, and lose to lesser ones, a theory we'll test today.

We also need to wear our blue uniforms. Our only good games in the last month were with blue jerseys.  Just try it, Sigi.

Ljungberg will be ready (his suspension on Saturday doesn't count toward this tourney) and Marshall is on the roster, despite his injury on Saturday. That is particularly good news because Hurtado is out, red carded in the semifinal last month against Houston. It's bad enough not having one of them.

So there! This is one we can win. Too bad there will be so few people there to see it.