SEATTLE — From the moment the players were supposed to exit the tunnel on Sunday, there was a sense that something was a little off at CenturyLink Field.
The whale call that precludes the Sounders’ walkout went on quite a bit longer than normal, delaying the start of the introductory “boom-boom-clap.” Then rather than kicking off almost immediately after the national anthem, a ceremony honoring former club owner Joe Roth delayed things a bit more. Once the game kicked off, there were far more empty seats than usual.
The weirdness continued from there. Jordan Morris scored off a corner kick less than two minutes into the game, only for officials to delay the restart while they checked for a possible handball.