Each year Major League Soccer makes a big deal out of their first match, almost always now held days before the other teams enter action and now always featured on ESPN2. Tonight is no different; a 8pm start time for a match that has the "golden children" of the LA Galaxy going to Seattle to face the Sounders and their 30,000 plus fans at Qwest field. It should be an exciting match despite the fact that LA has owned Seattle since they joined the league, the Sounders have just one regular season win, one LHUSOC win over them, and in 2010 they lost both regular season matches with them as well as both of their playoff matches against them. Still expectations are high for both teams, but many fans of MLS and soccer in general are questioning the decision of MLS to hold their First Kick on same day as another huge match for the league.
Since CONCACAF reformatted the Champions Cup into the larger and grander Champions League, no MLS team has ever made the semi-finals, until this year, until tonight. Real Salt Lake will play host to Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica in the first leg of their series to see who will advance to the CCL final, this match is also huge as it pits "the best of the US" against "the best of the region" for bragging rights and to represent this region against the best of the world in the FIFA World Club Cup in December. This match should be one of the best attended CCL matches in US history as over 18K are expected to pack Rio Tinto Stadium for the 8pm match that will be broadcast on Fox Soccer channel.
So what will you do?