While we all would’ve preferred the Major League Soccer title game to include Sounders FC, the fact that the game took place here anyway (it’s a “neutral site” affair, like the NFL Super Bowl) was still a great cap to a great maiden season for bigtime soccer (or as bigtime as it gets in the US) in Seattle.

The afternoon before the big game, fans played a pickup game of street ball at First and Pike. This was literal street ball, 30-second dash plays in the middle of the intersection during its four-way WALK lights.

And if the Sounders couldn’t get to the MLS Cup, at least it was won by the non-LA, non-superstar squad.