Rave Green with Envy - The Hardest Day Away

In my entire 6 months of being away from my family, friends, and city, I can easily say that tomorrow will be the hardest day for me to miss. I've dreaded it like a college final that I didn't study for - you know it's coming but it'll happen no matter what you do and you just have to get through the day the best you can.

For most of my friends and family, what I'm talking about is pretty obvious. For the rest who are confused, let me clear it up for you - tomorrow is the first meeting first league meeting for the Seattle Sounders FC and Portland Timbers. It is the biggest rivalry in all of North American soccer, the biggest rivalry either of the cities of Seattle and Portland have, and one of the top 20 soccer rivalries in the world.

As a Sounders season ticket holder, one of the hardest decisions about leaving the States for 6 months was whether I wanted to miss this game. You would think 'Oh Doug, 6 months in Guatemala has got to be a greater experience than one soccer game.' And that's a valid point. However, it's not just a game - it's a full day of excitment, of true community unity over a love for one thing and a hate for another. It's an experience that I almost was willing to pay $800 to fly back and see. But now it's a day I will have to wait another year for. The hype and build up for this game has been unbelievable - every single pre-game converstation my friends and I had last season invloved some form of 'Man, I CANNOT wait 'til we play Portland next season. That's going to be amazing.' But ever since they released the schedule three months ago, I've dreaded tomorrow. Normally I read ever single blog and newspaper piece written about the Sounders - not this week. This week I've avoided the blogs and papers. I just can't handle reading about the hype. It just makes me too sad.

I'm not upset about coming to Guatemala. I'm really glad I came and in the long run, I will get to more Seattle-P*rtland games. In the long run, I will realize that this trip was important in my growth both personally and professionally. Until this realization somewhere down the line, tomorrow will suck. So to everyone at home - enjoy tomorrow. Somewhere far away from the madness, I will be sitting in my apartment - fully decked out in Rave Green, yelling obscenities at the ref, making fun of Portland for playing like a minor league tam still, and being the biggest Sounders fan Guatemala has ever seen.