Category: sport

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Dirty Mancs!

Wednesday night was soccer night and the dirty Mancs were in town! It was the second game of our three match bundle and after a grey few days we had an evening of sunshine for the game. The local news was advising getting to the ground early as it was likely to be a chaotic evening in Seattle, with 67,502 (another record crowd) going to the soccer and 30,000 or so going to the Key Arena to see a Katy Perry concert.

They were right, it was pretty bad traffic going across the bridge even though we had left at 4:30pm. Mysteriously though as we went through the tunnel on the Seattle side of the bridge the traffic completely disappeared and we were left with an empty freeway which was nice! We’re not sure where it all went it was most peculiar!

Once we got to the stadium, we mooched about for a bit, listened to the band, saw the Premier League trophy which was rather shiny and then went up to the top of the stadium for something to eat before the match.

If you didn’t enjoy the Sound Wave video in the previous Sounders post then you can probably skip these two videos. I however, rather like the band, hence two more videos!

httpv://youtu.be/e0sMCOQAzaE

httpv://youtu.be/IBVKHp-7D2Y

Then we had some pre-match build up followed by the national anthem and fireworks – they take their sporting events very seriously over here:

httpv://youtu.be/we9aWZ2J8Ko

httpv://youtu.be/SYj5TxXzE-8

And, despite the fact that the Sounders lost 7-0, a good time was had by all. Even though I’m sure Tracy would rather have been at the Katy Perry concert!

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Shooting Hoops

Because Toby had some brand new basketball shorts – which he refers to as “the most famous basketball shorts in the world” – we decided to go play some basketball on the nearby court. Considering the difference in size between the boys and the hoop, it has to be said that they are very good. Toby with the dribbles and Harry with the shots. The following video was the first take – beginners luck or natural skill you decide:

httpv://youtu.be/G3cQVWNGT-g

They certainly don’t get their skills from their father as this short clip highlights, it captures the few moments after one of my attempts at shooting a hoop:

httpv://youtu.be/yDJ7TtEdzTE

I hope you noticed the most famous basketball shorts in the world on the second video?

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Sounders, Red Bulls

After the excitement of the driving test what better than following it up with a first ever Sounders game for Tracy, Harry and Toby?? Harry and Toby had managed to behave since Sunday so we were good to go. Plus I’d already bought the tickets and it seemed a shame to waste them!

Kick-off was at 7pm so we set off over to Seattle at just after 5pm to avoid the rush. We parked at the stadium, which was ridiculously expensive but also explains why the tickets were so cheap, and set off for a mooch about and to find some food.

The atmosphere was building nicely, as it always does at a Seattle game – I think they are the best supported team in the MLS, and it turned out that the final attendance for this game would be a Sounders record with over 46,000 people there. I’m glad it was a record attendance because Toby had wanted to know if this was the most famous Seattle game ever, which I had reassured him that it was. So by being a record attendance I feel justified in saying that it was!

The team band (Soundwave) helped build the atmosphere nicely outside the stadium by the giant soccer ball. It’s not the best quality video but hopefully it gives a flavor. If nothing else it helped Harry and Toby dance their way all the way to their seats!

httpv://youtu.be/TyLNtcq7RAU

As we were up in the third tier of the stadium we had a pretty good view of the city and the dock area when we were on the outside of the stadium. Since having our furniture shipped half way round the world (or however far it is) in a little red container Tracy has turned into a bit of a container geek. I think she would have happily spent the evening with a glass of wine watching containers in the port!

We grabbed some food (Seahawk dogs for the boys and fish and chips for Tracy and I) and headed to our seats. They were a long way up. It made my legs go a bit funny sitting up there but at least we still had a good view of the pitch.

Based on my experience of previous games I was fearing the worst – both games to date have been awful! However this was a cracker! Within about 15 minutes Seattle were winning 2-0 and comfortable. Then, in what I have found out to be a Seattle sporting trait (and somewhat similar to England/the UK) they normally find a way of mucking it up. With this in mind after about 10 minutes into the second half it was 2-2 and all going horribly wrong. Harry, being the loyal fan he is, was predicting a New York win and I couldn’t help agreeing with him.

For once though it all had a happy ending! Seattle scored a third:

httpv://youtu.be/ECWVsNjPX-8

And then a fourth went in and Harry and Toby got right into the swing of singing and chanting (once Toby had clarified exactly what they were saying):

httpv://youtu.be/j7V-_Vw2WAw

So it all finished with a 4-2 victory and high fives all round. Next trip back to the Qwest stadium is when those dirty Mancs (Manchester Utd) come over for a pre season friendly. Can’t wait!

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Falls & Games

Having had quite a busy day on Saturday, Sunday followed suit for the most part. It started with a early trip across to Seattle Aquarium. I had received an email saying it was early entrance for members – which we are. However I obviously didn’t read the email as it is next Sunday! Never mind. We only had to wait for 15 minutes before we got in. We checked out the octopus, which really is ugly, stroked some starfish – the aquarium is unusual in that respect as they do let you touch some of the creatures. Having spent about 90 minutes there we took a quick walk up to Pike Place market to see some of the flower and seafood stands. They flowers were particularly impressive and incredibly cheap. We couldn’t buy Tracy any flowers though as we had more adventures to head off on.

Next stop was about 40 minutes east along the I-90. We headed past Issaquah and up some mountain foothills to Snoqualmie Falls. The waterfall here falls a very impressive 270 feet which is apparently 100ft higher than Niagara Falls. The log at the top of the waterfall in the 6th picture below is actually a massive tree which is probably a good 70+ foot long. I’d love to watch that go over the edge!

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”falls” tag_mode=”all”]

After leaving the Falls we headed back to Bellevue and had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. This is the restaurant that always does giant portions that make you feel full just looking at them. Worryingly this time we ate most of the food and remarked that the portion size wasn’t as bad. Hopefully they have reduced their portion sized. If not, we are obviously just turning into biffas and becoming American! The rest of the afternoon saw us spend most of our time lazing around the apartment and playing a little bit of tennis. Toby is improving no-end.

Monday saw us take in our first game of baseball as the Mariners hosted (and beat 4-3) the Baltimore Orioles:

[flickr-gallery mode=”tag” tags=”orioles” tag_mode=”all”]

The weekend had been spent building up to the baseball. Mainly in the shape of “you’re not going to go to the baseball unless you start behaving yourself”. Most of the time they didn’t behave. Particularly Toby “in a mood every 20 minutes” Stickells. He managed to just about behave enough to get his ticket and a trip to the match. It didn’t last long though as he also managed to end the day in a mood as well – crying about taking his clothes off and putting his pj’s on. Honestly! He is currently under threat of having to sleep in the middle bedroom which is the room with the single, hard bed and no duvet!

Anyway, back to the game. When we arrived one of the stewards asked if it was the first game Harry and Toby had been too – they are obviously trained to spot them! When it was confirmed that it was they were given a certificate to keep and a Seattle Mariners shirt each. They only had youths XL sizes so they look like they are wearing dresses but they are both happy and wore them out playing tennis later that evening. We climbed a lot of steps before finally reaching our seats. It was pretty high but the view was still surprisingly good, although it did make my legs have slight wobbles as I walked down the steps towards the ground on toilet trips with the boys. The game was pretty entertaining and lasted just short of 3 hours. Harry enjoyed it all, even going as far as saying it was better than soccer but I don’t expect that view to last long – he is a bit fickle. Tracy enjoyed it too – the Kindle didn’t even come out the handbag. Toby liked it but spent some of the time on his DS and quite a lot of the rest asking who was playing and who was winning. He enjoyed the games on the big screen, the singing and dancing though. As a side note, we managed to put away 3.5 foot of hotdogs between us! It sounds worse than it actually is. I think!

The weekend ended with shepherds pie, some tennis, Toby in a pj mood, Harry in the middle/naughty bedroom, Tracy drinking my bottles of beer and a lovely sunset over the lake. Perfect!