Young soccer player class act on, off field

Recently my family and I went to the Seattle Sounders vs. San Jose Earthquakes game at the Interbay soccer field at the west end of Queen Anne. There was an overflow crowd, presumably to see the 20-year-old star of the U.S. national team, Landon Donovan. The game itself was quite exciting; the Sounders scored first on a curving free kick. San Jose evened the score and moved ahead. The score went back and forth until it was tied 3-3 at the end of regulation.

Since this was a tournament game, it went into overtime, and San Jose finally scored a golden goal in the second overtime. Donovan did not start the game but entertained the crowd by taking shots on Sounders mascot Sammy the Orca at halftime. When he finally came in during the second half, the crowd roared its approval but Donovan, being the great team player he is, did not have a lot of chances to shine more brilliantly than any of the other stars on the field.

After the game, however, Donovan had his chance to shine. Many of us remember that when Jay Buhner had a rehab assignment with the Aquasox last summer, he remained after the game to sign autographs until the last child was satisfied. Well, Donovan did him perhaps one better. The Aquasox have a nice table for players to sit and sign at, but Donovan remained standing on the edge of the field with hundreds of loyal fans handing their soccer balls, jerseys, tickets and programs to him until the last young player, fan and swooning teenage girl was happy. The team bus had left more than a half hour earlier, but Donovan didn’t seem in a hurry. There was always a smile on his face, and he was as polite and gracious as could be.

This was still not quite the end of it. As he left the stadium, he took time to pose with those few remaining fans who preferred pictures to autographs, our son included. Those who were impressed by his foot-skills last month should be just as impressed by the class, patience and love for the game and those who look up to him as the epitome of what a soccer player should be. Landon Donovan more than meets that standard, and we applaud him for it.

Everett