What an amazing talent and so neat to watch. Thanks to everyone involved for allowing me to be there and participate.

WOW....That's the Curt Onalfo I have met before, really outspoken and blunt.

The Kansas City Wizards' coach wouldn't remember it, but I talked to him after the U.S. Open Cup match last year when the USL Sounders beat his Wizards on PKs at Qwest Field. Onalfo was clearly not happy to have had to travel to Seattle for the match in the middle of his team's season. And he was unhappy long after the Wizards' 1-0 loss to Sounders FC, a feeling that carried over to today.

Onalfo thought Seattle's Fredy Montero took a dive to draw a foul in the 89th minute that led Sounders FC's 1-0 win on a PK in the 90th minute. In the following story from the Kansas City Kansan sent to me by Kyle Rogers from the Wizards (thanks), Onalfo said he was furious after the game and expressed his disgust for Montero.

After practice I went over to the famed artist's work space on north Lake Union by the Ivar's Salmon House and Bar.

Great move by me, I must say. Sounders FC representatives, including GM/owner Adrian Hanauer and GK Kasey Keller were there to announce a five-year partnership to create a unique piece of commemorative artwork that will be presented to the team's two international friendly opponents, Chelsea and FC Barcelona.

Here's what the piece of art, called the Emerald Spire, looks like. It's made of handblown glass. Keller, Chihuly and Hanauer are in the photo.

Chihuly's team of glass artists was making a replica of the piece while I was there.

Keller said he was honored to be there with Chihuly, who is a Tacoma native.

"What's always customary is you give a gift to the other team as a token of what has happened on that day," Keller said. He explained that since Chelsea, Barcelona and Seattle meetings are a rare occurrence, Sounders FC is presenting the teams the artwork for display in their vast trophy cases in their home cities.

"There will be a piece of Chihuly glass in their trophy case," Keller said. "Everybody in Spain and London will see their trophy case and see that the game was in Seattle."

Chihuly said he likes soccer and that he was happy to enter into a partnership with the team.

After the announcement Chihuly's representative asked if I wanted to try some glass blowing. Oh yes, I said, and it was really fun. My air formed a glass bowl that is now cooling at Chihuly's studio.

One player is, technically. Houston GK Pat Onstad is one of the two goalkeepers on the giant lithographs on the tarps that cover the upper decks at Qwest.

Onstad, 41, is from Vancouver B.C.and his likeness is on the west side of the stadium. Sounders FC president Gary Wright told me today that it was just a coincidence that the team picked a photo of a keeper for the tarp that happened to be Onstad.

Judge for yourself. Onstad's mug from ESPN Soccernet:

And Onstad at Qwest:

I asked Nate Jaqua about having his former teammate being a part of Sounders FC's home field.

"It's hard to tell, but it looks like it could be him," Jaqua said. "It's a little strange but I don't really give it a second thought."

Practice was at Qwest Field today.

I have to run to an event, but the news on the injury front is that MID Freddie Ljungberg is ready to play despite missing the two Open Cup games.

"It was never a situation where he was injured or he couldn't have played in the Open Cup games, he could have played," Sigi Schmid said.

MID Osvaldo Alonso went through all of practice today and the team will wait until tomorrow to determine whether he is on the field, on the bench or not in the 18 active list for the game.

"We want to be careful, we want to get through this game on Saturday, then we've got the Chelsea game," Schmid said. "We want to make sure that without a doubt he's ready for the 21st (US Open Cup match vs. Houston)."

Also, Open Cup tickets went on sale this morning. Prices are $20 and $15 for Starfire. Capacity will be increased by at least 500 seats for the semifinal game, I am told.

Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid will miss tomorrow's practice and Saturday's match against Houston to attend his son Kurt's wedding in Northern Caifornia on Saturday.

From there, the coach will travel to the nation's capital for a ceremony Monday with President Obama honoring the Columbus Crew's MLS championship from last season. That wil take place at White House.

Schmid will be in D.C. along with assistant coach Ezra Hendrickson and possibly Sounders FC midfielder Brad Evans, assuming he gets the clearance to leave the U.S. national team during its Gold Cup participation.

"There's nothing I'd rather be at than a Sounders game, with the exception that my son is getting married on Saturday," Schmid said. "They [the Crew] were nice enough to still invite me. I wanted to meet Obama. Ezra wants to know where his installment is, his first check...I'm trying to get the stimulus packge a little more involved in Seattle."

Assistant coach Brian Schmetzer will guide the team on Saturday.

MLS discipline report:

Bobby Boswell
Houston Dynamo
Suspension/Fine: 7/11/09 vs. SEA, $250
Reason: Caution Accumulation

Geoff Cameron
Houston Dynamo
Suspension/Fine: 7/11/09 vs. SEA, $250
Reason: Caution Accumulation

Seattle's Freddie Ljungberg has four cautions and has to go three games without before he gets one removed.

Nate Jaqua was made available today but was instructed not to discuss the legal matter that involves him.

(On having 4 yellows and facing suspension) NOTE: MLS site lists him with three, looks like he had one removed for good behavior. "Well you wouldn't go in on anything rash, sort of thing, so I hold myself back on rash challenges. I don't really need to slide tackle anyways, and when I do I come in a little late so that's one of the ones where I just try not to go down, or at all. Stuff in the air and battling - you got to fight the same way."

(On which win vs. Houston he'd rather have - Open Cup or league) "That's a tough one because we're in the semis now. An Open Cup to get in the finals would be really cool for us. I think there's a good chance we could host it at home so that'd be... but this is also, I mean these are both two huge games for us, we got to look at them both equally. We need to get a win right now, they're in first place. We've been on a little bit of a roll winning, if we could keep that going, especially right now in the middle of the season, I think it's really crucial for us."

SIGI SCHMID

(On getting a win last night) "Yeah it was nice. It was good to play, it was good to play and get a game in. It was good to get some guys (time) because they had about ten days off in terms of between games for some guys like (Fredy) Montero, so they get a little antsy. So it was good to get them out there and play. It was also good to get a result and get a win. We've won four of our last five right now. I don't think we have a loss in our last five when you think Open Cup games as well. So that's good for our team confidence."

(On team depth and play) "They've played well. I don't think many teams could be missing both of their starting central midfielders and still maintain the rhythm in their game. But certainly, Stephen King and (Nathan) Sturgis yesterday did a great job. Peter Vagenas has done a good job when he's come in. Patrick Ianni has stepped in at back and it's been pretty seamless. (Sanna) Nyassi, it was good for us to get him some games where he's starting and getting some rhythm - he got out there when (Steve) Zakuani was hurt. So all of that helps us and it's like we said at the beginning - it's a 24-man squad, there's a reason and different people have to step up at different times."

(On Osvaldo Alonso's health) "Well we'll see, he pretty much did everything in training today, although we played him as a neutral player in the one game, so we're easing him back into training. We'll see how he feels now tomorrow's training and that'll determine pretty much how much we're going to go with him on Saturday."

(On the Houston Dynamo) "Houston is a good team. They'[re a well-coached team, Dominic (Kinnear) and John Spencer has been a duo together for a while there now as the head coach and the assistant coach. They're just a veteran team. They got a lot of core players that have been through a lot of battles together. I know they're missing some guys but there's still a core and there's a nucleus and there's a team belief there and that makes them a very good team."

(On Houston vs. SSFC's opponents) "I think we've played some good teams. I think D.C. has played very well this year. I think Chivas was on a good run when we played them. Chicago was on a good run, Colorado was on a good run when they came in here. I think we've played teams when they've been on good runs. I think the difference is that Houston is a team that has an extreme high level of confidence in themselves - when you win championships together, when you've been through as many things as they've been through whether it was Super Liga together or CONCACAF champions league, there's a resolve that builds within your team that probably no other team that we've played this year has. New England had that in the past, and Houston, I think have been the primary two teams that have had that. When you go back a few years, teams like the Galaxy had it, teams like D.C. United had it. But I think they've been one of the only teams over the last four years that have had sort of that swagger, and that makes them a little more difficult, that makes them better. Some teams have played as well when we've played them but they don't have that swagger."

(On Chelsea lineup being affected by two Houston games) "Probably not much. Obviously we'll have an eye towards it. Chelsea is a great opportunity - everybody wants to get on the field during that game, whether you're a starter or a reserve and so we're going to try to give guys the opportunity to get on that field and be able to play in that particular game."