One thing I took from the conversation with Arlo White today is that he is admittedly not all the way up on his knowledge of MLS, but he pledges to do his homework.

And he'll be relocating to the Seattle area for the season well before the first match, he said.

Let me clarify something...White will call all games on radio, but will do radio only when it is a national TV broadcast.

"That's going to be fairly new," White said. "I think the TV would be the priority in that situation. One of the keys to it for the radio audience is going to be where is the ball on the field without overtalking, because the TV audience doesn't necessarily want too much talking."

White will also handle pregame show duties.

I asked him about any memorable games he's called. He said Manchester City's success and Liverpool's implosion on the field have been hot topics for him this season. White grew up a fan of Leicester City, now out of the EPL, and he remembers calling a game against Leeds United involving his favorite team.

He had previously made it a policy not call games involving Leicester, but changed his mind because his colleagues were doing it.
"You find that you're harsher on your own team because you're overcompensating a bit," White said. "There was a game against Leeds United and they were going for promotion to the Premier League and were 2-nil down in our stadium. The crowd was 20,000, 10,000 which came from Leeds. Crazy but quite volatile atmosphere. And we got it to 2-2 and they went 3-2 with about five minutes to go. And Leicester scored twice in the last three minutes to win 4-3. And I think I came down off the cloud around Wednesday or Thursday. Hard to keep calm through reporting on that game was one of the biggest challenges I think I ever faced as a broadcaster."

White plans to go to Spain to see the Sounders play in the La Manga Cup this month.
He's excited for the World Cup and said he's nervous about the U.S.-England game.

Another thing to clarify - White will call all matches, even if any one, say U.S. Open Cup, is done on a Webcast rather than TV or radio.

The team is inviting fans to come out to George & Dragon Pub in Fremont at 11:30 a.m., prior to the Man. U. - Aston Villa and Arsenal-Liverpool matches, and meet Arlo White.

It's a welcome to Seattle time.

Parking is tough down there. I got a ticket last time. Here's the address. You'll Never Walk Alone. (That doesn't mean I am a Liverpool fan!)

206 North 36th Street
Seattle WA 98103
206.545.6864

Here are the facts:

-Arlo White is 36 and is a native of Leicester, England and currently lives in Derby, England.
-He's spent the past 9 years with the BBC and has called the past 5 Super Bowls, including the one in Miami two days ago. He's also called a lot of EPL matches and cricket all over the world.
-He'll be calling every Sounders match alone, and on simulcast (radio/TV). All Sounders FC matches will be on radio this season, even U.S. Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League.
-The club approached Kevin Calabro to return this season, but because of Calabro's scheduling conflicts with the NBA and his local radio show, plus other possibilities, the team decided it wanted the same person for every match though it considered keeping Calabro and filling in as needed.
-Calabro and the Seahawks are discussing him calling Seahawks preseason games on TV.
-Calabro had a one-year contract with Sounders FC last year.
-White said he was "blown away" by the atmosphere for Sounders FC games at Qwest Field when he came to Seattle to do a mock broadcast of the inaugural game and when he returned in July to handle the Seattle-Houston match.

Can't sleep, thinking about my wonderful time in Seattle. By this time next week I'll be en route to my new home and new world.

Still have a couple of stories to write and work to do before I check out for good...

-Jesse Marsch, most recently of Chivas USA, is retiring and will help coach the U.S. men's national team.

-Guillermo Barros Schelotto of the Columbus Crew, the Columbus Dispatch reports, likes it in Buckeye country so much that he took a pay cut to remain with the Crew. The Crew have also signed Colombian striker Sergio Herrera. He played with Fredy Montero at Deportivo Cali.

-The Philadelphia Union can't get away from snow at training camp in North Carolina, and its rookies are getting baptized into MLS play.

-The Associated Press reports that Sunil Gulati has been unanimously re-elected to a second four-year term as president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. OK now start it off with a good World Cup run!

It's been talked about and rumored for some time and now it's about to become official - the club will likely be announcing this week the addition of White, who drew good reviews from fans last season when he stepped in for Kevin Calabro on play-by-play, to the broadcast team.

Today in the morning training session, the Sounders got back on the conditioning trail. After 30 minutes of conditioning drills, the team split into groups of four for some small-field 4v4 games. On one field they played with goalkeepers in front of regular goals and on the other they used two small goals on either end of the field without keepers. The name of the game was high-speed, continuous play, so once a goal was scored or a ball was knocked out of play another ball quickly replaced it.

The Sounders welcomed a new face to training in Chinese midfielder Gao Leilei, an attacking midfielder who last played for the Finnish club FC KooTeePee, but played the majority of his career at Beijing Guoan FC. From 1999-2006, he played 121 games with Guoan, scoring 11 goals in that span. The 29-year-old midfielder has since played for the New Zealand Knights and Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand, Beijing Hongdeng in China and MyPa and FC KooTeePee in Finland.

The team played without several players who had been in camp. Terry Boss did work on the side, but did not participate in full training after spraining his ankle earlier in camp. Nate Jaqua returned to Seattle to treat his osteitis pubis and is not expected to rejoin the team for 2-3 weeks. Eddie Johnson returned to Austin after suffering back spasms and is expected to rejoin the team on trial when they return from Spain in March. Fredy Montero, Sanna Nyassi, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Osvaldo Alonso were also out of training while they were in San Francisco with a team administrator to finalize paperwork at the Spanish Consulate for the team's trip to Spain.

It's open to the public, details and preseason schedule below...

Sounders FC Announces Preseason Match to Benefit Local Charities

RENTON, Wash. - The Seattle Sounders FC announced today details for the club's inaugural "Community Shield" match, which will take place on Thursday, March 11 at 6 p.m. on the Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field. The Sounders FC will face the Portland Timbers of the USL in the pre-season training match.

General Admission tickets for the event will go on sale Wednesday, February 10, at 10 a.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth (6-17). Children under the age of six are free. Tickets will be available at www.SoundersFC.com, by calling 800-745-3000, all Ticketmaster outlets and the Qwest Field Box Office.

Proceeds from the match will benefit the team's four community partners: Boys and Girls Club of Washington State, Save the Children, Seattle SCORES and Washington Youth Soccer. Following the match the teams will sign autographs from the field.

"The 'Community Shield' match will be a great opportunity for our fans to watch the team and give back to the community before the regular season begins on March 25," said Sounders FC general manager Adrian Hanauer.

Following in the steps of other MLS teams, the model for the event is based upon the "Charity or Community Shield" matches in England, where they are a long standing tradition featuring the champions of the FA Premier League against the winners of the FA Cup with all proceeds going to charity.

As previously announced, Seattle opens preseason play on Wednesday in Casa Grande, Ariz. against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Sounders FC will play three matches during the La Manga Cup II in Spain, from February 18 through February 26. The final preseason game is on March 19 at the Colorado Rapids.

Seattle hosts Philadelphia Union to open the MLS season March 25 before a national television audience on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

2010 Preseason Schedule

Date Time Game Location

Feb. 11 10:00 a.m. Vancouver Whitecaps FC Casa Grande, Ariz. (training game)

Feb. 18 7:30 a.m. Rosenborg BK La Manga, Spain (La Manga Cup II)

Feb. 21 TBD FC Norsjalland/Stabak La Manga, Spain (La Manga Cup II)

Feb. 25/26 TBD TBD La Manga, Spain (La Manga Cup II)

Mar. 11 6:00 p.m. Portland Timbers Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field, Seattle

Mar. 19 6:00 p.m. at Colorado Rapids Commerce City, Colo.

Futbol al nivel local.

Verde- Mexico United.
Azul - San Juan.

Marcador final: 1-0 Mexico United con un penal.

Para mas informacion de La Liga de Washington llame a Raul Sandoval, (206) 850-3444 o por la Internet www.laligadewa.com.

And here's my story on three Sounders players seeking better fortunes in 2010.