By Steven Agen

It’s been two days of high-profile events for the Seattle Sounders.

On Thursday night, the defending Shield champions opened their new clubhouse, The Ninety. The occasion for the event was a special one, as well. Both the primary and away jerseys were released officially, with players modelling the new kits.

One unwelcome guest not present was the threat of a labor dispute which was lifted of our collective shoulders on late Wednesday.

Sounders FC, like every other cub, was under orders to make no public comment but it does not take much imagination to guess a huge sigh of relief was present on Wednesday as their PR Department put the finishing touches on the event planning.

The new clubhouse is beautiful. There’s no other way to put it. The art-gallery like space features all of Seattle’s MLS-era trophies on one wall, a huge Chihuly glass sculpture on the ceiling, and their trademark rave green absolutely everywhere.

Adrian Hanauer, Garth Lagerwey, Chris Henderson, and assorted players mingled with media and high-profile (or spending?) fans.

Everyone has seen the jerseys by now. Without going into detail about patterns, it has to be said that the new white kit is sharp. The vertical stripes suit it better than the home kit. It’s a new, sharper look for the club, and fits its updated ethos heading into the 2015 season.

The home jersey is underwhelming. Other than indented “pinstripes” it looks exactly the same as 2014’s kit. Would thin navy-blue pinstripes have been more distinctive and enticing than kits in years past? Really, it’s a slightly updated version of a kit we’ve already seen a lot of.

The jerseys were the less exciting part though. Seeing The Ninety for the first time was the real prize. For many years, this website has been vocal in advocating for Seattle to act like the massive club they are, to emerge from the shadow of that giant winged bird. This clubhouse is the embodiment of the split from the Seahawks; their first real venture without them. It came out perfectly.

It’s refined, classy, accessible, and very very Seattle. The club now has a centerpiece for a side who wants to become known around the world, as opposed to merely inside the I5 corridor.

It is exactly what the revenues of 40,000 fans a match for 6 years should buy. And it’s executed well. It’s a home Sounders can be proud of. Now let’s see which bird soars.

——————————————————————————————–

The second of the two events in the last 24 hours was Media Day at CenturyLink Field.

Clint Dempsey ripped on a reporter and the catered lunch was great.

Those were the two highlights until Lagerwey, Schmid, Hanauer and Evans took the podium during a 45 minute press conference. Lagerwey spoke repeatedly to the importance of winning Champions League, as he did at the jersey unveil. The way to become the biggest club in the region, he reasoned, is to have a dominating presence in that tournament. He would know. With Real Salt Lake, he got within 90 minutes of taking an American side to the World Club Cup for the first time.

Lagerwey also mentioned he was happy with a permanent roster size of twelve for S2.

Hanauer spoke on the stadium situation. The turf isn’t ideal They’ve added almost a thousand new seats, and they have a good relationship with their co-tenants. He was the quietest of the four men, perhaps an attempt to allow his replacement to shine.

Schmid praised the preseason of Cristian Roldan. He also threw Mansaray, Jones, and Kovar into the ring of players who’ve improved their shot at minutes this season.

Brad Evans was the most interesting figure.

The Sounders captain looked a little distant and sullen, to be honest. It was as if he was trying to give off the air of defiance in the face of all the CBA garbage he’s gone through in the last few weeks. Maybe I’m just reading too much into his exhaustion following the negotiations, but it felt like he was still acclimating back to work as usual. Maybe it was just a little too soon after the hard fought battles with the league to ask him to do PR work.

Still he waited his time and when he shot, he shot straight.

When Lagerwey mentioned that he had to wait until his contract was up to sign with Seattle, Evans perked up with, “Free agency!” The comment drew a huge laugh from everyone in the room; it was a lighthearted moment, but one couldn’t shake the feeling that it was more calculated than the joking air behind it suggested.

In the video below, he speaks from the 3-minute mark until the 4:35 mark. It’s worth noting his body language and demeanor in the segments in which he doesn’t speak.

All in all, the events had the sense of having a more complete, well thought out purpose and execution to them. They were intelligent, and even a bit regal. This club is finally starting to become all it can be.

The suits have done their part. On Sunday it will be the jerseys’ turn.