I live in Seattle and we have an excellent, well-supported MLS franchise here. Some 15, 20 years ago, whenever it was, we voted in a special election to tear down the Kingdome (which wasn't even paid for yet) and replace it with a new NFL stadium for the Seahawks who were threatening to leave town if it wasn't approved. As a special incentive, the new stadium was going to be built with a grass pitch so as to attract world class 'soccer' to Seattle.
The stadium vote passed with 51% of the vote, and I'm assuming that at least 1% of the electorate were swayed by the promises of a grass pitch and world class soccer coming to town.
Of course we never got that grass pitch. That was ignored and discarded two seconds after the votes were counted. The Seahawks and the Sounders play on artificial turf.
I've attended two Sounder games since that time. I find it... odd... The stadium is sold out (the lower decks at least), and there are sections that make as much noise as a College basketball game. It just feels odd... I felt that nobody around me in the stands were paying much attention to the game and were chatting and on their cell phones throughout. I missed kick-off three out of the four times because of everything else going on.
Add to that the aforementioned plastic pitch... It's just not the same game and the whole experience feels as forced and artificial as that plastic pitch. I couldn't bring myself to warm up to it.
I'm honestly not trying to sound like a transplanted Eurosnob here, but it's just, as I said... odd.... The seasons don't last very long and occur largely in a vacuum, not as though it were part of a larger sporting canvass.
I don't think I'm explaining it well, but then I haven't fully come to terms with it myself.
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