Seattle Sounders opening game.

For my wife's birthday, I had acquired some tickets to the inaugural home game of the new pro soccer team in Seattle, the Sounders. A trio of us went -- Gabi, our friend Gio, and I -- and watched the home team crush flat the New York Red Bulls, 3 to nil.

I'm not a huge soccer fan, but Gab has played for years (and is quite good). One of her coaches has a connection to Seattle goaltender Kasey Keller (who is from Lacey, just a few blocks from the comic shop, as it happens). Gab's a huge fan of Keller (who until hooking up with the Sounders has been playing soccer in Europe and kicking major ass, it seems).

It's the first pro sporting event I've been to in a long time, and it was absolutely riveting. The crowd was on its feet for the majority of the game, and the gameplay -- once the Sounders settled down a bit -- was terrific. Very physical, very fast.

Gabi was adorable, of course, waving her Sounders scarf in the air and cheering wildly.

I actually found myself getting into it. I haven't had a team to root for since I gave up on the NHL after the last strike.

I... I think I'm a soccer fan now.

(Two nits to pick, however: 1) American soccer needs more football hooligans; and 2) the Sounders are sponsored largely by "Xbox 360", which means the team colors are the muted silver/gray and puke green of the Xbox 360 logo. Green shirts on a green field make for effective camouflage.)