The Pacific Northwest and Soccer

Even today, the Pacific Northwest is a little different. Seattle feels like California mixed with Canada. Individualistic and very polite. The region has, on more than one occasion, discussed secession, and the resulting country, Cascadia, would encompass Canada's British Columbia, Washington State, Oregon, and sections of Idaho and Northern California. Financially, Cascadia would dwarf the economies of many African and South American countries.

Their attitude is such that they celebrate DB Sweeney Day, named for the bank robber who parachuted out the plane he hijacked. He, nor his remains, have ever been recovered.

The region is also very active in the soccer world. Large cities like Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver have a fan-base that has been woefully under-represented with major professional teams. Between the three, we have one football, one baseball, and one basketball. Fans feel slighted. And you better not mention the OKC Thunder in Seattle, lest you have an effigy of Clay Bennett ready to ignite.

Soccer, while being overlooked in many places, had been enjoying quite the fan-frenzy in the Pacific Northwest. The current major league American soccer, aptly named Major League Soccer, has placed franchises in each of the three cities, Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver, and each remain in the running for wildest soccer venue in the league.

One of the first major leagues for soccer in America, NASL (North American Soccer League), also had teams in each of the cities. I've written before about how cities pick the names of their expansion teams, and here is no different. Each franchise kept the same name from the NASL era through to the MLS era. NASL ended in 1984, and the MLS began in 1996, with the teams in the Northwest coming a few years later.

Here's each logo, the first being the NASL, and the second coming from the current MLS teams.

The first MLS team in the region were the Sounders from Seattle. Their current color scheme uses the usual Seattle colors: blue and green. The older logo from the NASL days has the same color scheme as both of Vancouver's logos. While the color schemes are different, like any good Seattle team, both logos retain the Space Needle:

Portland was the next city in the region to get an MLS franchise, and we can see that both the name and logo are pretty much identical between the two incarnations:

Vancouver's current MLS team is older than only Montreal's squad, who're going through their first year right now. While the logo is has changed, the color scheme has remained the same:

Some differences between watching soccer in person in America versus in Europe: one location has as fans all men who are all drinking; the other is a family affair with moms and daughters among the picnicking masses.

I like to imagine the craziness during a Timbers and Sounders game in Portland resembles the other type of watching soccer in person.