Reports all week from the lovingly grungy Northwest

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True story, swear it: I had big pep in my step on my first trip to Seattle about 10 or 12 years ago. I got to my downtown hotel and immediately saw some sketchy, hep cat in the lobby, a moppy-topped cheesy weasel who obviously thought he was cooler than a Gordon Gekko and P. Diddy rolled into one. He had two women with him of highly questionable virtue. Hot, but whorey. Still, I kept thinking, “I know this guy from somewhere.”

Then it hits me and I’m saying to myself: “Oh, man! I come all the way to Seattle and the first person I run into is this banana?”

Kato freakin’ Kaelin! True dat. Talk about letting the air out of your little Seattle soccer ball.

I recovered quickly. Seattle is a way-cool place, stocking-stuffed with cultural diversity, great coffee (I do love myself a big ol’ cup of “Hell Yeah!”), good music (KEXP rocks) and a generally cool vibe. This week, it’s also the site of the 14^th MLS Cup. So, I’m en route.

For now I’m stuck at the Dallas airport paying half-ass attention to CNN. (Current topic: “Why teenagers are fat: too much food and lack of exercise.” I swear it’s true. Up next I assume: “How people get drunk: beer and booze!”)

Upon Emerald City arrival, I’ll post two or three times a day on the comings and goings of MLS Cup week. Players from each team will participate in a national media tele-conference call later today, train in their cities tomorrow and touch down in rainy city just beyond Mt. Rainier on Thursday. I’m getting in a little early to channel my inner Kurt Cobain and to eat lunch at my favorite cheap Seattle noodle house. (Mostly, I traveled today so I can be in place tomorrow for the World Cup qualifiers. I may watch Ireland-France from here, unless someone has a better idea.)