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WA Legends of Soccer "Era of Legends" event and Eternal Sounders Circle of Legends most recent inductee voting
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WA Legends of Soccer "Era of Legends" event and Eternal Sounders Circle of Legends most recent inductee voting
A kind of one-off type episode we have today. WA Legends of Soccer Executive Director Frank MacDonald joins Jeremiah for chat about WA Legend's upcoming "Era of Legends" event. They also go into the recent voting for the Eternal Sounders Circle of Legends voting with a discussion on the three Sounders that are possible inductees.
Follow Frank MacDonald on BlueSky and WA Legends of Soccer.
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Transcript
Introduction of Will Bruin
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. Here we go. Come on. Hey, O'Shaan.
00:00:14
Speaker
Let's go. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. Here comes Ruiz Diaz through the middle to crown it for Seattle.
00:00:25
Speaker
The Sounders rule the region. of
00:00:59
Speaker
you know what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't?
Sponsor Highlight: Full Pull Wines
00:01:05
Speaker
Ever since I wrote a commentary that we didn't take the outcome seriously.
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:01:41
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Sarietes on the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. I am Jeremiah
Guest Introduction: Frank McDonald
00:01:47
Speaker
Chan. Joining me today, ah someone we've had on the show before, and hopefully ah you remember this this person, Frank McDonald. He is the executive director of washington Washington State Legends of Soccer, which is effectively the local Soccer Hall of Fame. Welcome to the show, Frank.
00:02:05
Speaker
Happy to have you back. Talking... An event that you guys have coming up as well as the ah the recent vote for Sounders Legends, ah Eternal Sounders Legends.
00:02:16
Speaker
What's the right name? Circle of Legends. It's really nice to be here. Yeah. Sorry. um No. i Yeah. It's an Eternal.
00:02:28
Speaker
Eternal Sounders like Circle of legend of Legends? Eternal Sounders the Circle of Legends, I think, is how it goes. A little complicated of a name. Apologies to anyone who who tested that title.
00:02:43
Speaker
Yeah. Well, let's get this. Let's start here. You have an event coming up on November
Preview: Upcoming Fundraising Event
00:02:50
Speaker
18th. It's essentially an evening with b Brian Schmetzer and friends.
00:02:55
Speaker
It's going to be on November. Like I said, November 18th. It's a ah fundraiser for ah the Washington Legends, as well as just a fun night out. Tell us a little bit about this event and what people should expect.
00:03:09
Speaker
Well, we've had a ah three or four of these events, but this this one ah where it honors the person that's mentioned in the title. But Brian Schmetzer the emcee, the chief storyteller or coaxer of ah stories out of the people he's going to bring on stage, which will be...
00:03:31
Speaker
ah representatives of each Sounders era going back to the 70s. um And so he'll he'll go through five days decades with them and tell stories, hopefully, you know, that that are not mainstream, that are kind of, you know, more...
00:03:49
Speaker
um B-sides, you know, but but probably more interesting anecdotes from over the years and what what made each decade kind of ah its own little story because it would change from time to time. So we're having that on November 18th at the um ah Providence Swedish ah Performance Center and Clubhouse. So that it's there in the atrium of of the headquarters there in Long Anchors.
00:04:20
Speaker
And includes ticket includes so food, drink, scarf and the program. And it benefits both the Washington Legends and also the Jimmy Gabriel Memorial Scholarship.
00:04:34
Speaker
So um ah it's our one fundraiser for the year. and And we're pretty excited about it. But we've had to pull it together rather quickly, um really since the end of summer when we got all the pieces in place.
Jimmy Gabriel Scholarship Details
00:04:49
Speaker
Well, tell me about what what does the Jimmy Gabriel Scholarship Fund do? So Jimmy Gabriel, who maybe not everyone recognizes his name. So he was the original.
00:05:03
Speaker
um He was both the assistant coach and the captain of the 74 Sounders. he was... and he was um ah Scotsman who had played at Everton won an FA Cup there but he came to the Sounders he's probably in his mid-30s he just was a a force of nature in that he was a leader.
00:05:26
Speaker
He was ah the, you know, set the tone for the team um after playing. And ah ah for three seasons, he then was ah the second head coach of the NASL team, took him to the final in his first year. so he coached three years,
00:05:46
Speaker
and ah But Jimmy would later coach. He was an assistant coach for both the men and the women over at the UW. So he was involved in ah collegiate um the collegiate game. He was Brian Schmetzer's assistant with the A-League team.
00:06:05
Speaker
He was the Washington State youth soccer ah first coaching director, so he was involved in the youth game. Just ubiquitous.
00:06:18
Speaker
So Jimmy came from a very modest means um there in in Dundee, Scotland. And so we wanted to honor him in his passing a few years back with the creation of this scholarship for in-need kids.
00:06:36
Speaker
So it's... It's not based on your talent level, whether yeah and you're awarded a scholarship or you're eligible for the scholarship. It's more we're looking for people that are in need um and that want to seek higher education, either at a college, four year school, two year school, vocational school. And we've um so this is we started this in 2019
00:07:04
Speaker
ah So far, I believe we're up to about 30 young people that we have scholarshiped. And ah last year, we bumped up the level by 50% the pot because of what we raised at the Cliff McGrath event a year ago.
00:07:22
Speaker
So we're hoping we can at least sustain that, ah if not grow that of for these people. So um that's that's the Jimmy Gabriel Memorial Scholarship in essence.
00:07:34
Speaker
Yeah. And you don't have yeah you don't have to be the top scorer on your team. fact, a lot of these people don't even play soccer in college or they they're playing at a junior college or or whatever. but um So it it is all about the individual and and helping them um b a you know follow their dreams, essentially. Awesome.
00:07:57
Speaker
And so this event that we're that we're getting into here for ah Brian, you said he's he's mostly going to be sort of like the chief storyteller. Anything you can give us ah any any teasers as to who some of these guests might be?
00:08:13
Speaker
Uh, well, he's got his invitations out and so I can't slip, but I will just say some of them will seem like a natural, like you've seen, um okay Brian banter with, with certain people that he, especially that he's coached in the past.
00:08:29
Speaker
Um, but I mean, some of these, uh, people were, you know, Brian started off as a fan, you know, he went to the games at Memorial and the kingdom and then he joined the team.
00:08:39
Speaker
So, uh, you know he he knows these people as ah people he was a fan of, to teammates, to that he coached with. So I think there's there's going to be a personal relationship with just about everybody.
00:08:57
Speaker
And we're going to start dribbling those names out as they as they confirm. But I would estimate there are going to 12 to 15 different people coming Yeah. twelve to fifteen different people coming up Wow.
00:09:11
Speaker
That's, that's quite a, not all at once. Heaven help us. Stage there is not that large. So, but I think, you know, about three at a time or two and one or something like that. Yeah.
00:09:23
Speaker
Just quick nuggets.
Exploring Sounders History Online
00:09:24
Speaker
ah good Yeah, people can go check out tickets for that on wasoccerlegends.com if they're interested. That's also where the ah where the online museum lives, right? at the same There's a link that says history, and then there then you go there.
00:09:44
Speaker
yeah ah which we We encourage people to look in there. you know You can go down the rabbit hole very quickly and you just punch in a name of someone you're curious about.
00:09:55
Speaker
and you'll get everything there is to do about that. So, you know, if you're like me back in the seventies, you're trying to do a high school term paper and you forgot about it for two weeks and you want to do it on talker. This is an easy resource and everything of course is vetted. So, uh, yeah, it's all, it's, it's there. And I, I was, we were very, um, I went to the men in blazers, uh,
00:10:23
Speaker
I guess you call it podcast at a show box Soto. And they liberally took from our online museum. yeah We got low with credit with credit obviously right wait ah crap got no credit, but at least we knew that they were doing the research, doing their research, but yeah maybe just the night before.
00:10:46
Speaker
Yeah. Fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah. Yeah. So, so, Yeah, so one of the other events that you were sort of, or ongoing ah endeavors that you're sort of in, that you are involved with is this, like I said, the...
00:11:02
Speaker
eternal sounders circle of legends.
Eternal Sounders Circle of Legends Vote Results
00:11:05
Speaker
There we go. Nailed it. Uh, and we just, so we just closed the vote for this closed a few weeks, a couple weeks ago. um my understanding is that all three of Jimmy Gabriel, uh, Siggy Schmidt and Casey Keller have all, uh, gained entry into this. i don't think that's been formally announced, but the, they've let us know that this, that they all, they all ended up being approved.
00:11:27
Speaker
Uh, What you know, you my understanding is you were involved in the nomination process. What what is that like? And what do you think? You know what? I guess the question is, how quickly do you think this is going to start getting really interesting or contentious?
00:11:43
Speaker
And or is it or do you feel like this is going to usually be a pretty smooth sailing kind of situation? Because I know a lot of people have like compared it to the Seahawks who have, you know, a dozen or so people.
00:11:57
Speaker
But off the top of my head, I feel like I could reel off easily that many Sounders who feel like they should maybe belong. a And that, you know, and part of that is because the Sounders have been really successful for their 50 years.
00:12:11
Speaker
They have. and so And you're also playing from behind because the Seahawks started their recognition of of past players and coaches and so on.
00:12:25
Speaker
you know know, 25, 30 years ago, and this is just beginning. So there's a backlog. And I think that's ah that's the what you're weighing um when you're ah sifting through the nominations or coming up with the nominations, actually. at ah So you want pillars to start something you can build upon.
00:12:49
Speaker
um You don't want to. ah Yeah, there should be an order to it. You know, if, if, uh, um, someone has a great, and, and a lot of the criteria doesn't allow for you to just inject somebody in the year after they retire necessarily. I mean, there's, there are special circumstances, but, uh, there is a there should be an order. So it should be an orderly, but we're limited by size.
00:13:20
Speaker
Um, um and And the criteria that's being developed is rather, um you know, it's not something that everybody is is going to check all the boxes.
00:13:36
Speaker
So, um but I feel like this is a very representative class. You know, as I described Jimmy Gabriel, he was so much a part of the first um six years of the Sounders,
00:13:50
Speaker
He was a part of the second iteration. He was a broadcast radio analyst for the MLS era early on, you know involved all along the way. um and Ziggy was so much you know drove the expectations and um and just the competitive nature of him those first few years. So so You know, um there's that. And I just think, you know, Casey was one of those pieces.
00:14:25
Speaker
you know, if we had had a team, if MLS had existed 90s, you know, he... It's conceivable he would have been here, but I know he always had dreamed of of playing in Europe.
00:14:38
Speaker
But he came back, and that was such a great homecoming. And he got himself so prepared because he didn't want to let anybody down. He wanted to be the Casey Keller that had been with the national team. And you saw play for Spurs or Leicester or...
00:14:53
Speaker
wherever he played in Europe, um he wanted to be that same keeper when he came home to play in front of his he's friends and neighbors, essentially. So I just think they all set they set a standard, um and that's...
00:15:07
Speaker
That's all you can ask really ah of a ah incoming um initial class of individuals. You know, I know they follow the 74 team, which is the North Star really for everything. But anyway, I think as individuals, they really fit the mold of of what I would want.
00:15:26
Speaker
Yeah, I know i when I saw the the class, it made total sense to me. But when i was started talking to people, like in like in the Sound of Heart Discord, there was ah there was a pretty robust discussion about Casey's status in particular.
00:15:40
Speaker
And I think it was mainly around the idea that you know as good as Casey was, and he was you know he's a first I think he's a first ballot soccer National Soccer Hall of Famer, he is know at one point he was considered arguably the greatest goalkeeper in the world.
00:15:55
Speaker
ah Like that at the height of his, you know, at the height of his powers. And certainly he was, you know, he, he you know, he played what he played in three or four World Cups for the United States. He, so you know, he was a starter for at least two, if not three of those.
00:16:09
Speaker
And yeah, i guess he was in four and he he was the starter for three. Right. Is that right? remember that correctly. Well, he was on squads, and yeah, he and ah Chris were on the 90 team, and right they weren't on the 94.
00:16:23
Speaker
ah But anyway, yes, and he was supposed to alternate with Friedel, and then Friedel got really hot there in the 02, you know, and he, you know, Arena played the hot hand. ah get that.
00:16:34
Speaker
ah But yeah, he was... yeah I think he he retired from international play with the the most wins and shutouts of any national team keeper.
Casey Keller's Impact on Sounders
00:16:44
Speaker
so Yeah, and he has you know he has ah plenty, as as you know we've all of a sudden started measuring, he had a lot of signature wins. He had some so massive performances and massive games for the United States.
00:16:54
Speaker
and yeah And I guess the knock against him for the on the Sounders side is he was only here three years. And i suppose that's sort of where the the shortfalls end. But for me, like I look at him as there was ah there was multiple levels of why he was important. you know There was the fact that his signing was sort of a proof of seriousness for this organization.
00:17:16
Speaker
I believe he was the first big name that the that the Sounders signed, even though that's technically a little before i started getting involved in this. But that must have been, i guess let's start there. That had to have been a pretty big deal. I really i know season tickets were already selling pretty well at that point, but bringing, bringing in a Casey Keller had to sort of change the conversation around what this team was sort of aspiring to be.
00:17:41
Speaker
ah Thank you for listening to the sounder at heart podcast network, which now includes no study at this, loving scorchers and the cooler guild. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible through our paid subscribers plans start as low as $30 a year and allow us to remain independent and mostly ad free. subscribers get access to all our written and podcast content, including a full text RSS feed and a mostly ad free podcast feed that includes every show in one spot. If you really like what we're doing though, I'd encourage you to sign up at our higher tiers, which include all sorts of various perks. The most popular of those is our members only discord or the real Sounders sickos hang out. I know I've called this group, the smartest, funniest and best informed Sounders fans in the world, but it's more than the rough equivalent of a Sounders Mensa meeting. Discord is where we make things happen. Like, for real.
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Speaker
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00:19:58
Speaker
Confirmed what everybody hoped. You know, you hoped that this team would set a standard that it wasn't just entering the fray, wanting to be one of the gang, you know, I think one are the, I can't remember how many teams there were back 15, maybe if they were the 15th. Yeah.
00:20:17
Speaker
Yeah. I think he, uh, I think it was also one of the worst kept secrets. So, uh, um I think people had already ah speculated that he was going to join.
00:20:32
Speaker
yeah um and so, ah you know, and then later on, Lumberg ah followed. But I think there was an expectation that Casey was free. He was a free agent and he should be available and they'd be, you know,
00:20:52
Speaker
I think there was the expectation that he was going to be involved. He said some very complimentary things about the organization before he came aboard.
00:21:05
Speaker
So, you know, i I just don't know what people would – if Messi hadn't signed the other day to you know ah renew his contract or extend his contract, would you keep him out of the inner Miami Hall of Fame after three years?
00:21:22
Speaker
I don't know. That's a great analogy. And that's really – I don't and um in some ways that's hyperbolic, but in other ways, it's not. I mean, this is a player who was the starter almost literally every game. I mean, he started almost every Open Cup game during that era.
00:21:39
Speaker
He started, I believe, every CONCACAF Champions League game during that era if or maybe save for one or two. ah But he he obviously played. I think he played. I don't I think he missed only one or two regular season games.
00:21:51
Speaker
He played every playoff game. he won goalkeeper of the year. He led the Sounders to three. he was on the field for three open cup titles. I mean, he did everything you could have possibly asked for the Sounders at that time. And, you know, one of the things that stood out to me, and this is actually right around the time when I first started covering the team was in 2010, when there was all this talk of a, a strike or a lockout, that there was going to be some labor disruption in 2010. My,
00:22:21
Speaker
ah my Freddie Umberg did not report for camp at the beginning of camp because he was like, oh, I thought we were maybe striking. I don't know. What's the we don't have a contract. So what's the what's the deal here?
00:22:33
Speaker
And and Casey like went on like public and was just like he needs to get his ass here. This is not this is not Europe. You get where our camp is open. Get your ass over here.
00:22:43
Speaker
And I thought like, this is a guy who really takes this. seat Like, this is not a he wasn't here to be on vacation and go on a retirement tour. He was here to play ball. Yeah, I think that's what happens when you when you come home and you and you have a reputation and you're coming home to your hometown team.
00:23:02
Speaker
If anything, you ratchet up the. ah the expectation and um in your own mind, he doesn't want, he didn't want people probably to bring up his age. He wanted to be scene as, you know, an elite keeper um coming into a team that expected to do well, expected to make the playoffs. And there, you know, that's where you Ziggy and ah Casey kind of intersect is there, there was an expectation in that locker room.
00:23:34
Speaker
We will compete. will. We won't you know accept anything but victory. you know ah we we came out those first three years ah with an expectation to make playoffs, compete for championships, um you know and and you've got to be at your top four, especially if you're a keeper. it's you know Casey worked out...
00:24:02
Speaker
ah quite a bit for, you know, he was almost off, what, a half a season or three quarters of a season coming into 09. And I know he worked out with the ah Tommy Dutra during that time um to prepare himself, you know, and games are what a keeper really needs. But, you know, he was he was doing everything he could to get himself ready for that season. He he took it most seriously. Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:31
Speaker
Yeah. ah And then, of course, he stuck around for a long time as the as the play by board of the color broadcaster, which I you know, I know that was sort of a controversial. ah He was a controversial figure, I think, in that he was not always glowing in his ah praise.
00:24:49
Speaker
But I actually came to really appreciate that, unlike a lot of color announcers across sport, he was really wanting to educate the the listener. Like he wanted people to understand, like, yes, he oftentimes had a defense first sort of mindset and every miss every goal. There was a mistake that he felt compelled to point out.
00:25:13
Speaker
But there was a real learning process in that. And you were and it it wasn't all about just fluffing everyone and getting excited. There was like an educational element to this.
00:25:24
Speaker
And I felt like that wasn't always appreciated as much as it deserved to be. But he was, for me, a really good, high quality color commentator. And and I feel like he's I miss him.
00:25:36
Speaker
I think on the broadcast more than anyone else, because ah that's one of the things that in the, in this new April, know, universe where you have a new announcing team every week, they just don't have the familiarity that he has.
00:25:49
Speaker
And, and honestly, they didn't have, they don't have the, not the expertise that he has even beyond, you know, knowing the team. Well, Yeah, I think it was that. And yeah, you you always felt like you're getting his view from, you know, standing in the box and looking out. Right.
00:26:06
Speaker
you know, what's coming at you and and who who got caught too far forward or out of line with the rest of the four. Yeah. you know and And if ven anything, you just you wanted to hear a little bit of joy before you you know started dissecting the play. um ah But that's you know that was him. He was very analytical and very good at organizing a defense and a team. And and when and you talk about the 2010. I mean, he took his captaincy very closely.
00:26:41
Speaker
Yeah, seriously. You know, it wasn't just the honorary title or anything. You know, I know it in MLS, it doesn't have the same role that it would have in in Europe where the captain is going in, or at least in the old days where you'd the captain would go in and ah give the pitch for how much should be divided, you know, for the spoils of a cup run or something like that. I don't think, you know, CBA is over here whatever.
00:27:07
Speaker
You can't do that. But no, he took it very, very seriously. And I... ah commend him for. it I can't think of anybody else. I just wish Marcus, we had so many good keepers. um I wish Marcus could have come at the, at the closer to the peak of his, his time.
00:27:29
Speaker
think he was able to come up. there There was talk of him coming a couple of years earlier, if I remember correctly, because he came in was it late 13 that he actually came, but he would have theoretically been available to come in 12.
00:27:45
Speaker
ah You know, the centers ended up with the range in advance. Yes. Yeah. I mean, Marcus, when he was totally, totally different kind of keeper, I think, but ah you know, if if you saw him play for Reading back when they were, you know, ah minnows against sharks in the premier league, he turned in some just,
00:28:06
Speaker
fantastic performances, but they were, if I recollect, they were a different type of, was this a different type of, uh, approach to goalkeeping, uh, Marcus versus Casey. Uh, I can't, I'm not a qualified coach to break it down, especially for this, but, uh,
00:28:27
Speaker
And he he was just such a character. i just, Oh, I loved Marcus. I, I think everyone who meets Marcus, uh, like, I think, uh, Casey is someone who you could really admire from afar. And you know, like I I've told this story before, but my wife, the first soccer player that she ever, that at least in my knowledge that she ever sort of like fell in love with was Casey Keller because of his performance at the 26 or the 2006 world Uh,
00:28:53
Speaker
ah Whereas Marcus was someone that if you, you may, you might not have known who he was necessarily because he was oftentimes not the highest profile player. Like he was always, yeah he made a bunch of world cups, but always, ah i don't think he made any appearances in the world cup as a example, but he, ah once you met him, it was like this,
00:29:13
Speaker
nuclear personality of you want to get, you just want to hang out with them. I mean, you would just want to be around him and you'd want to, uh, you know, ah be, be in his sphere of, uh, of energy just because he was so, yeah he's got a million stories and they're all fun. And, ah seems like, know he obviously in ac hang out, they've golfed together. they they do stuff together. Uh, their families saw one another when they were both, you know, uh, residing in England and,
00:29:43
Speaker
um you know, you would think that they're kind of different personalities, but they, but they mesh together. They were, they, and
00:29:54
Speaker
they hang out together. So that's, that's the podcast we need to make happen. The Casey Keller, Marcus Hahnemann podcast. Hosted by. Right.
00:30:05
Speaker
Yeah. On the Sounder Heart Podcast Network, guys, get in touch with my people. And we will make this happen. ah But, you know, looking forward into the, you know, I know you're not, i don't want you to give away too much and I don't want you to kind of, uh, to, uh, poison the pool, so to speak.
00:30:23
Speaker
But when you look ahead to, to the future of the eternal Sounders circle of legends, like, uh, I feel like we could all name off a bunch of MLS players who probably belong in this thing, but who are maybe some of the USL or NASL players that you think are are names that fans should start familiarizing themselves with so that they can have an educated opinion when they come up?
00:30:54
Speaker
Oh, I think we're out ahead of... We're we're not there yeah I don't even think that we really discussed... so down anybody beyond this group, who we were very intent upon getting this group, right.
00:31:12
Speaker
Getting ah a grasp of what this was all about. It's not just a hall of fame. um You know, I think that was the, ah that took a while for our heads to wrap around this, that this is more exclusive than a Hall of Fame.
00:31:29
Speaker
So ah um that is, once we landed on that, then we were really looking at just, like I said, again, pillars.
00:31:39
Speaker
And so I don't know, how do we have all the pillars yet? Probably not. so ah You know, you can have eight, 10, whatever, but these it's a, it's a start. And we just want to make sure that each one of these are just rock solid um that you wanted to build upon. i mean,
00:32:03
Speaker
I, there was a guy that wore a number six shirt for a while um that think would be very, um, Very well equipped. Animal nickname, probably. ah Yeah. ah I think of that. i um or like i'm I'm guessing that someone who fans may not totally be familiar with, but I would imagine you can speak to, like someone like a Gary Wright, who very much behind the scenes type of character. i would imagine someone like him ah very integral to sort of what the Sounders are.
00:32:41
Speaker
Yeah, those are names that, yeah, it's not just players. and And in that context, I mean, i don't know if everybody's attuned to ah people that made things happen, especially before MLS. Yeah.
00:33:00
Speaker
Yeah, it's just, ah like I said, we didn't get we should get to year two because we were using up our time making sure we got year one right. um I think yeah I'll just say i think you guys did a good job. I think you guys picked a good class to get this conversation going.
00:33:16
Speaker
Cool. Well, I just want people to i want people to be interested. i hope that you know the the pieces, the people involved in the nominating will probably change over over
Recognizing Contributions Across Eras
00:33:30
Speaker
time. But...
00:33:31
Speaker
ah but ah I think these, what they want to get is a breadth of knowledge over the eras to not overlook NESL and A-League times.
00:33:48
Speaker
um It's... you know that is what That's what started it all, and you want to exhaust all of the ones ah who made those ah teams go. There were some difficult times.
00:34:01
Speaker
I mean... you know there were some difficult times i mean yeah we We don't think necessarily media the the mass media is that friendly to soccer still, but you can't imagine what it was like in the 70s where they just, know, you get the eye roll or the sigh when soccer came up to a sports editor or sports director.
00:34:25
Speaker
um or you know, and then certainly the in the 90s, those guys aren't making... they're not making a full-time wage. So it was kind of treated as, you know, semi-pro or something like that. And and ah that didn't mean they weren't working any harder. They were probably working there. You know they had a job and then they'd...
00:34:43
Speaker
you know turn out in the evening and then they'd have to travel. So, I mean, there's a lot of sacrifice going on. So we want to make sure we get, um, the, the discovery process, I guess is what I'd say is make sure we're not overlooking anyone.
00:34:58
Speaker
um a lot a lot of the contemporary fans will have a firm grip on, you know, from 09 on who, who is deserving, um, It's the other ones that that we want to also be ah cognizant of.
00:35:15
Speaker
Yeah. ah You know, not that I necessarily, I'm not putting his name forward, but I, in researching some of this stuff, ah I was so much, I was taking back.
00:35:26
Speaker
Cam Weaver had a 19 goal season for the Sounders ah in the, in the USL era. That was like that. that I guess technically he was tied for the all competition lead, or he is still tied for the all competition lead in the organization's history. Yeah.
00:35:43
Speaker
No, that would be not at 19 goals, but you'd be tied with oba and, uh, And Raul, right? At at least, i want to say 27 goals in 1980. Oh, okay.
00:35:56
Speaker
oh So I need to go farther back. I need to go farther back. and Clearly. Mark Bain had back to back 20 goal seasons in the late nineties with a league team. And that didn't include playoffs. So there's some, that, I guess that's a exactly what I'm illustrating, but Cam Weaver,
00:36:15
Speaker
you know he He had that great season. He was Rookie the Year, and then he was ah promptly bought up by a team. I know it was a Scandinavian team. I just can't remember which country.
00:36:27
Speaker
So he goes there and then when he comes back to the U S he goes through Houston. Right. And so I think by the time he rejoined the Sounders and Sounders f c yeah Yeah. He was at the end of, excuse me, end of his ah career, so to speak. Right.
00:36:44
Speaker
um But yeah, I mean, there's, there's lots of ones, but again, and then it's, it's gotta be more than just a one big season. Yeah. that gets you noticed. I mean, did you, did it, was it sustained, you know? all right So that's all, um that's all important too.
00:37:05
Speaker
So I don't have the criteria in front of me. I've, I know i know i mean, the criteriaimid oh it's just the, it's just the baseline for what needs to be even considered. Not necessarily, there's no, there's no automatic entries into this thing. and that's sort of what makes it great is,
00:37:20
Speaker
ah you you have to meet the criteria to get nominated or to be considered. And then you have to be nominated by the, and then you have to get voted in by the, by the, the proles as a, as it were.
Establishing the Eternal Sounders Circle of Legends
00:37:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:35
Speaker
You, you've got to be patient. If you're a fan of a certain players or something, you just, because we are, we have a backlog. I would, and the classes are, you know, Very small.
00:37:47
Speaker
You just have to keep that in that in mind. I mean, I've been involved in other halls of fame where, you know, we've inducted people posthumously.
00:37:58
Speaker
We've been, well, that'll be the case with, you know both Jimmy and Ziggy. um But you want you want ah you want the person to be there to acknowledge ah the respect and the the outpouring of ah gratitude for them receiving this award. So we don't want to wait too long, but there is ah there's an orderly yeah process, I guess.
00:38:24
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I won't put you on the spot, but I will go on my ah my bully pulpit here and say it for this this to be taken as seriously as I think it needs to be taken, and I think this is a very serious thing, is the Sounders need to get some sort of like permanent signage inside the facility.
00:38:43
Speaker
the the you know The digital ad board is a decent placeholder. It's it's not bad. But I do think it gets lost too easily. I think it's too easy to just see it as a temporary thing that can be flipped on and flipped off.
00:38:57
Speaker
And for this to really mean something, I think what you know you can look down or look up ah into Vancouver where our friends at the Whitecaps have built a similar ah structure And it, they they can, I guess it's removable, but it it looks permanent when it's in the facility.
00:39:14
Speaker
I think that's sort of where the sounders need to be going with this. They need to, you know, if they want this to be a big deal and if they want it to get the ah the hype and the energy and the attention that it deserves,
00:39:26
Speaker
it It deserves some kind of permanent signage in the facility. And I think that's sort of where that's the next step of this thing. Like, like I said, as a first year thing, the temporary digital board worked okay, but it it needs to be visible. It needs to be permanent and it needs to be, uh, where it needs to be something worthy of the honor that, that this is meant to be.
00:39:47
Speaker
I agree. I agree. And I, um, I know I've been to, uh, Other facilities where I don't feel these are out of state, where their Hall of Famers are out by the practice field, that's where you yeah find them. It has to be in plain view for the public.
00:40:08
Speaker
and And to that, I agree with you. I wish um the stadium was... ah just as much a Sounders venue as it is a Seahawks venue. we're called.
00:40:21
Speaker
That is voted in as a soccer football facility. yeah So i I hold them to that. And yeah, but we don't have everything we want for a soccer venue right now, but we can make a little more progress on that. be great.
00:40:39
Speaker
Yeah, I would totally agree with you there. Well, Frank, I think I'm going to let you go. i appreciate all the time that you put into this. i'll I'll give another plug for ah Washington State Legends of Soccer.
00:40:51
Speaker
If you want to visit their website, it's walegends.com. that right? It's waasoccerlegends.org. There you go. ah And, of course, there's this ah Brian Schmetzer event on November 18th that you guys are currently selling tickets to.
00:41:06
Speaker
And I think it'll also be great. ah Frank, thank you so much for doing this. um Anywhere else people can follow you? yeah Obviously, you can read. he Also, Frank periodically writes for Sounder at Heart, it should be said.
00:41:20
Speaker
Yeah. yeah just Yeah. I'm on Blue Sky and Twitter and... That's about it. And I got a blog, but you'll find that. Just look around, just spell the right name, right? Little Scottish spelling, M-A-C, and you got it all set.
00:41:34
Speaker
Very good. Well, thank you, Frank, for doing this. I'm Jeremiah Shan, signing off for Nos Adientes, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network, and will catch you next time.
00:42:13
Speaker
Let's go at Sounders. um