A few pictures from my side of the world

A well-deserved release of four years of frustration

I don't know if I have watched as fun and frustrating a match as what I witnessed live this morning. Everyone is familiar with the images from South Africa, but this match was also about Americans in every city coming together early in the morning to support our national team's efforts. I watched the match at The Market Arms in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, getting up very early to do some work so I could take the two hours to support the boys in South Africa.

The picture below, taken about half an hour before the match began, was taken from where I spent the entire match. I wanted to sit outside, as the inside was getting pretty crowded and we were experiencing our first decent weather of the summer. There's also something nice about having an Irish coffee on an open street at 6:30 AM.

The picture below, taken by a Seattle Times photographer, showed the bar's reaction to the game winning goal by Landon Donovan. I was just off to the left, where the door leads to the outside seating. To get a real sense of what Seattle reaction was like to that goal, see this video.

Wherever you were today, I hope you were able to enjoy the match. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we need to take time to appreciate it. Before long, it will be time to play every game like it's our last, starting with Ghana.