November 13, 2007.
MLS MVP Luciano Emilio just led D.C. United to the Supporters’ Shield a few weeks earlier. The top box office hit was Bee Movie. Chris Brown’s “Kiss Kiss” had just supplanted Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” atop the music charts. I was already a few lessons behind in my ninth-grade Algebra II class.
Most importantly, though, MLS was officially coming to Seattle.
At a media event atop the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle, MLS commissioner Don Garber, along with the club’s ownership group – including owners Adrian Hanauer and Joe Roth, plus then-CEO of Vulcan Sports & Entertanment Tod Leiweke – granted Seattle the 15th MLS franchise.