The picture above represents what I wanted to do to my television this afternoon, long before Landon Donovan and the Galaxy ripped the Sounders for 4 goals.
Let me explain.
Even though I spent the $80 Directv requires to watch all the MLS games (which means, all the Sounders games, although I will catch the occasional match not involving Seattle), I could not watch today's match. The reason being when a MLS game is shown on a national carrier, the Directv package blacks it out. No problem though right? I have ESPN, ESPN 2, and FSC, so I'll still be able to watch. Not exactly.
The Spanish speaking Telefutura is considered by MLS to be "national". I do not have this channel, as most Americans with Directv, cable, or Dish do not. Many fans of MLS teams HATE this policy, but nothing is done about it. I finally get a free Saturday to watch, and its the damn Telefutura game! I punched the couch, I'm not kidding although I wish I was.
So off I went to follow the blog at the Seattle Times website. The laptop was at my girlfriends, so I couldn't follow a gamecast, or even watch an illegal stream of the game (not that I've ever done that of course). My only choices were to follow the play by play on ESPN Soccernet Mobile or the live game blog the Seattle Times does on my phone. Since Soccernet's mobile play by play of MLS games reminds me of Monty, the color commentator from the Major League movies ("Fly ball....caught."), I went with the Times.
After the Sounders enjoyed a large spell of possession and a couple of half chances the first 20 or so minutes, the Galaxy got a goal completely against the grain when Jovan Kirovski struck from long range in the 22nd minute. That, coupled with Ozzie Alonso leaving the game with an injury, made it a first half to forget, but no reason for panic.
Then, the bottom fell out.
Big time.
Three goals in thirteen minutes for the Galaxy lead to a 4-0 defeat, the worst home defeat ever, and just so happened to be in front of the largest crowd to EVER view a Sounders home league match. Even Joshua Mayers, who covers the Sounders for the Seattle Times and does the game blogs checked out in the 71st minute.
There were hardly any positives to take away from this one. Maybe the debut of 18 year old Colombian forward Miguel Montano was about it. To be fair, the Galaxy are destroying everything in their path and currently hold the league's best record, but this performance is the bow on a package of dismal performances as of late. The Sounders are now without a victory since a 1-0 win at home on April 17th against Kansas City, and it doesn't get any easier next week. If there's one team that has been on par with LA, its Red Bull New York. Not to mention, their new stadium has become something of a fortress, and that's exactly where the game is. The MLS and its strange scheduling format has the Sounders going there after just playing New York at Qwest Field back on April 3rd, a 1-0 defeat. At first glance, the game doesn't appear to be on Telefutura and I should be able to tune in.
Although sometimes, television blackouts can be a blessing.
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