Every year this community grows I get a little stunned. It started with humble goals - write what I wanted to read. In many cases that meant learning faster than people around me. It also meant inviting others to join the writing staff. But one thing that it would not mean, or hasn't yet meant, is what game day is.

Match day is simple. It is about the passion of the game. It is about the city that defines our region. It is about my seatmates. Match day is about live, local soccer and voices raised in support. It is about being a Sounder.

On March 2nd that will continue.

In 2013 there will be some new features added to our regular game coverage. Every First Team game will get a tactical breakdown by Liviu. We will have on-site reporters at every home match for the Reserves, the Reign and the Sounders Women. Most home Academy games will get coverage. Depth charts, statistical analysis, power rankings, player profiles, scouting reports and the rest will continue (or if you are one of the thousands that discovered the site since the end of the season, you'll see them for the first time). There will be events - viewing parties, brewery tours, prematch gatherings and more. As always we are open to suggestions.

But all of that is useless without what this place has become. It is not just strong writers providing a plethora of news, analysis, commentary and metaphor. What it is is community.

That is our backbone, as it is the backbone of the Seattle Sounders commercial success. It is the people who gather around the Rave Green, the Blue and the Shale who make everything around Sounders soccer worth doing. Whether Sounders from birth (I am), or those that choose to call it home after growing up in evil California (it's a joke), or those who wish that they were here but it is not yet home - we are Sounders.

So let me introduce (or reintroduce) myself;

Name: Dave Clark

Playing career: Kent Parks & Rec League (this team actually produced a pro, several college players and a current local high school coach), Fort Campbell small sided, GSSL 1st Division single season (back when I was in Army shape)

Position: Right back, right mid

Favorite current Sounder: Zakuani

Favorite former Sounder: Fucito

Favorite non-Sounder: Khalifan Ibrahim Khalifan

Most common pregame site: The Berliner (Renton) or Temple Billiards

First Sounders match: Some point in 99 at Memorial Stadium

Current Tickets: Season Ticket Holder in 214

Supporters Group: None

Interesting not soccer stuff: I brew beer, write speculative fiction, was an Arabic linguist in the US Army