The morning of the first game of the MLS Western Conference semifinal series between the Sounders and FC Dallas last Sunday, a pair of combatants met up for breakfast.
Dallas technical director Fernando Clavijo sat across the table from Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer, who was still a few days away from shedding the interim tag from his title.
Clavijo actually gave Schmetzer his start as an assistant for the indoor soccer Seattle SeaDogs in the mid-1990s. Ever since, the two former colleagues have made a point of meeting up every time their respective teams cross paths, at the very least for a cup of coffee.