I have a scarf, from my first season as a STM with the Sounders. It says "There's Only One... Kasey Keller."

For a long time, Kasey has been one of my soccer heroes. The standard by which I judged other players. And validly so. He was a fantastic player, an outstanding goalkeeper, and an all around great guy.

This isn't about Kasey Keller.

In that first (for me) season, 2011, I have to admit, I didn't like what I saw from Zach Scott. He was foul prone, his attacking was slipshod, and his defensive efforts were limited to headers, and crushing tackles. Put simply, I was underwhelmed.

And then 2012 happened. Zach stepped onto the pitch day in and day out, and seemed an utterly different player. His tackles were still crushing. His headers were still high flying. But the attack was withdrawn, and he started to step up his passing game. His defensive efforts were bolstered with a renewed vigor, and he truly was Zach Scott: Man Marker. If you were the opposing player unlucky enough to draw the lot that would put you in Zach's cross hairs, you were, frankly, doomed.

2013 was a marquee year for Zach's play, as he stepped up again and again. His foul count was down, his ground tackles were cannier, his aerial game was superb. And as always, he was Mister Sounder. I admit I might have been looking through Rave Green Glasses, but I had finally become a Zach Scott Fan. I actively sought him out to talk to at practice, to ask a few questions, to congratulate on a well played game, to "you'll get em next time" on a missed chance.

In 2014, my wife and I had the outstanding luck to have the start of a season that fans rarely get. Shortly before the season opener, we came home one fine evening to discover that that very night, a Sounders player would be delivering our season ticket package! We were elated. We were on Cloud 9. We went to practice two weekends before the season started, and I was joking with Matt Gaschk that it would probably be Zach Scott delivering them, as we both lived in the same part of town. "The Front Office will likely just say 'Hey, Zach - drop these off on your way home, ok?'", was the running gag.



The Monday before the home opener, Zach Scott and Taylor Graham and a very nice cameraman showed up at our condo. Zach Scott was in our house. We were a heady mix of utterly speechless, and gibbering idiots. For the better part of half an hour, Zach and Taylor shot the breeze with us. We discussed the team, the pre-season matches, how Zach was doing. We showed off a bizarrely giant amount of Sounders paraphernalia, my prized Kasey Keller signed Sounders Rookie (2009) jersey, and generally just gushed like fools. Taylor commented at one point that we had more Sounders stuff than he did. I'm pretty sure he wasn't lying. We didn't ask Zach to sign anything, we just asked for a picture with him. It was an amazing night.

Two days later, we were at the Season Kickoff Luncheon. Where we ran into Zach, and jokingly said to each other "We have to stop meeting like this." The luncheon was fantastic, and there we had the pleasure of sitting with Tristan Bowen, and one of the nicest guys in the club, Nolan Myer. (That last has turned into a nice relationship with a man I would call one of the nicest guys I'd ever met... If I'd never met Sounders. Among them, he is "one of the guys", meaning he's in good company.)



Zach had a great season that year. He reached his 300 mark. He made tackles that blew my mind. He never ranked higher than #60 all season long in the fouls and yellow cards list. He was unfailingly polite to everyone he interacted with, including my wife and I. Gradually we (my wife and I) began to think he might seek a restraining order, we saw him so often. (That's a joke, folks.) We became regulars at every home practice on weekends. And through it all, there was Zach. The nice guy. The stalwart. We read the book by the Gasman. We talked with Zach on numerous occasions. We know how much he sacrifices in life and body to be with us every day.

This season has been the epitome of the man's career. He hasn't had a ton of starts, he hasn't had a ton of minutes. But every moment on the pitch, every moment off the pitch, he's been a Sounder. He's given everything he had when his feet were on the green. Left his heart on the field every night. He's made a few mistakes, it's true. He's had a gaffe or two. He's also been an absolute terror to the opposition.

You see, the teams we play against don't know Zach like we do. They see a man determined to destroy their every effort. They see a man willing to utterly sacrifice his body to stop them. A man who will fly through the air, and tear his body up, just to get a ball. They see a man who twists ankles, and comes back two weeks later to battle again. They see a man who has played the entire season with a broken bone in his foot. His job is to run and kick a rock hard football. And he does it with a broken bone... in his FOOT. He doesn't complain, he doesn't slow down, and he doesn't stop. And our opponents know this.

They fear him. He's basically the Terminator.

Last night, Zach made a mistake. It came down to a pass. One could argue that the pass wasn't really a mistake - he passed to a teammate, Gonzalo Pineda. Gonzo didn't get to the ball, couldn't catch up to the Galaxy player who got it, and we gave up the goal. Either Zach's pass was the mistake, or Gonzo's failure to get it was. But what followed that gaffe was a game where Zach dominated. His air game was outstanding. His tackles were clean. He shut down Gio Dos Santos. Without that initial mistake, this would have been a stellar match by any account.

And then this morning I saw the tweets. I saw the news. I saw that some people are complete and total wastes of air. I was, initially, without the words that might enable me to tell the world what I thought of these people. I have, since, come up with those words, and I will, in mind of my favorite Sounder, Zach Scott, not voice them. The thing I've learned most from Zach, both in his play style, and in how he comports himself, is that it's not worth the time and effort it would take to call these people out.

Instead, I'll just say this: Zach, you're an amazing player, and a great guy. I'm proud to say I'm a fan.

I'm Sounders 'Til I die.

I bleed Rave Green.

I sweat various shades of Pitch Black, Olympic White, Cascade Shale, and Eternal Sounders Blue.

I am a Zach Scott Fan.