Why Colorado?

So I've been asked a number of times why a guy from Seattle supports Colorado or Queen of the South or Tenerife. Every so often (usually when the Rapids news is quiet for a few days) I'll pick one of my teams and tell you why I support them.

Naturally I thought I should start with the Colorado Rapids, since they are the primary subject of View From The Couch. I started following the Rapids in 1998 in the run up to the World Cup in France. In fact, my whole soccer interest restarted at that time. I played in city leagues growing up, and my sister was getting ready to try out for her high school team in the summer of 1994 so the two of us followed the World Cup here in the U.S. but it wasn't until I got out of college and the 1998 World Cup came around that I really got into the game.

I was working with a number of soccer fans at the time and as I started looking at MLS teams I looked for Chris Henderson. At the time he and Kasey Keller were probably the best known Seattle-area soccer players, having been involved in the National Team for years. Henderson led me to Colorado and as I started looking at the roster Marcus Hahnemann was pointed out to me by one of my coworkers as the son of one of the managers in my division. The combination of the two were enough to get me to start following the team.

Since that time I've ridden the highs and lows but I've never been tempted to change teams. Hopefully the introduction of Seattle into MLS next year won't prove too much to resist. ;)