Sounders FC, the baby of the bunch, leads Seattle's sports revival

Oh, so this is what the playoffs look like.

Nearly 36,000 fans on their feet, treating every second like it's the biggest moment ever, waving flags, lifting scarves, flailing their arms wildly.

This is what the playoffs feel like.

Two teams playing impassioned futbol, bumping, shoving, pushing and grinding to gain the upper hand.

This is what the playoffs sound like.

Noise, unrestrained noise, loud enough to tickle the eardrums, clapping, chanting, screaming, howling, the sounds of desperation and expectation and jubilation merging at once.

Now we remember what the playoffs do to the senses. Now we remember the thrill of having a team stay alive to participate in a do-or-die series. Now we remember why we bother with these silly games.

And look at who gave us this pleasure: the Sounders FC. The newborn.

For most of Seattle's prominent teams, it's been a year of redirection, rebuilding, revising — whatever "re-" you want to slap on them. So the new soccer team, the young'un who has yet to disappoint us, decided to lead the way.

It's downright biblical. And a child shall lead them.

Sounders FC has never acted like an expansion team throughout its expansion season. The franchise has always thought bigger, and as a result, it gave the city back its playoff verve.

Besides the Storm, the rest of the pro teams around here have been on a postseason hiatus. The Mariners haven't been to the playoffs in eight years. The Seahawks are working on a second straight absence and appear headed for a significant roster overhaul. The Sonics are no more, but before they left, the Oklahoma Raiders had turned them into an uncompetitive mess.

As much as the Storm has been a bright spot, it also has lost in the first round five straight seasons. The Storm entered money time the past two years with Lauren Jackson injured and scant hopes of winning a championship. In addition to the misfortune, the WNBA's insistence on playing a summer schedule means its postseason collides with the start of football season, so the playoffs can get lost on the sports calendar.

On the other hand, Sounders FC has our full attention now. With the Washington football team at 3-5, with the Seahawks at 2-4, the football season is losing interest. The college basketball season begins in a few weeks. The stage is clear for something new and exciting. It's clear for high-stakes soccer.

That's why a crowd of 35,807 came to Qwest Field on Thursday night for this Major League Soccer playoff opener, the largest ever for a conference semifinal. The fans came despite the weird MLS first-round playoff format.

Sounders FC and Houston Dynamo staged a tense scoreless tie, and, oh, don't we love those? In this format, it's kind of an unofficial victory for the Dynamo since they didn't fall behind on the road. Kind of. The series will finish in Houston in nine days, and the winner will be determined by the combined score of these two matches. So, basically, we just experienced the first half of one ridiculously long match with an even more ridiculous intermission.

So this series is do-or-die, but this match was do-or-try-again-in-nine-days. It's not the best way for a fledgling league to build drama. In Seattle, though, the excitement will be able to outlast this long break. Little can ruin the wonderful timing the Sounders FC had in becoming the ideal type of new team in town.

"For me, it was pretty much perfect timing," said 38-year-old fan Likkit Pocinwong. "I went to school at UW during the glory days. I was there for 1990 and 1991, when we were on top and we couldn't do anything wrong. Then things gradually went downhill. With the Seahawks, we had 2005, but now things are going downhill. With the Mariners, they've fallen from 2001 to where they are now.

"The Sounders are a breath of fresh air. It's awesome for me. I played soccer, and growing up, I wanted to be a pro soccer player. When NASL [North American Soccer League] folded, I thought, 'Oh, well, I'll play for fun now.' So, for me, having this team is like coming full circle. It's easy to embrace."

Many Sounders FC supporters can share a similar story. The circle is complete. Seattle participates in the best United States soccer league once again. And the team isn't half bad, either. The playoffs validate that much.

But this day wasn't simply a triumph for a new soccer franchise. It was a breakthrough for a sports market that collapsed in 2008 and remains in clean-up mode.

The newborn isn't just cute. It's loaded with impact, too.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com, Twitter: @Jerry_Brewer