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Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

PubliCola was off and running. In June 2009, PubliCola hired another award-winning journalist, super-sourced Seattle city hall reporter Erica C. Barnett.

People were afraid that blogging would change journalism. Instead, we believe journalism can change blogging. Twenty-first century journalism may look and feel different, and yes Erica isn't afraid to get cranky, but we're committed to making sure online news still delivers independent, reliable, even-keeled coverage. And most of all, we're committed to making sure the coverage sparks honest civic debate.

Bringing you cola for the people, PubliCola is named after Publius Valerius PubliCola, the alias for the authors of the Federalist Papers—the original bloggers.

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The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Sounders Now in 5th Playoff Spot

News   October 5, 2009 at 8:44 am LaRoche

The Sounders adrenalizing 1-0 victory over Columbus Crew brought the Crew’s 22 home-game non-losing streak to a screeching halt  and propelled us to 3rd in the West/5th in the playoffs. It was nothing short of fucking awesome.

Our unstoppable first-half defense (countering Columbus’ relentless attacks—they did beat us 17-7 in shots). Columbus hitting the post. Levesque’s late first-half goal. Hurtado shutting down Schelotto. Marshall clearing the ball from the goal-line. Crew Moreno’s dramatic yellow-carded fake foul. Hurtado’s sloppy foul and Schel-opps!o’s missed PK; Alonso’s Ljunberg-like run/shot/hitting the post; Keller’s laundry list of saves.

Damn, what a game.

Reviewing the Sounders psycholo-analysis cheat sheet reinforces the theory that the Green Freaks save it for when it matters.  New England?  Didn’t matter. Columbus, mattered big.  They pulled a major upset and showed (again) how to play under pressure.

This is nothing but good news for the playoffs, which the super nerds at Sports Club Stats say we have a 94.5% chance of reaching! (That doesn’t bode well for Kansas City in two weeks and Dallas at the home finale).

Suffer, Husky, Seahawks, Mariners, Sonics fans.  Your pain is of your own creation.


  • Bobblehead

    Seattle’s prospects for the playoffs are very good, IMHO. The game in two weeks against KCW isn’t as easy as one would think, so I wouldn’t say a win is a lock and would be pleased with a tie. FCD is a horrible road team, but the Sounders haven’t been all that good at home lately, so that game could go either way.

    Sounders can clinch a playoff spot with a win, a tie eliminates DCU and KCW from passing them and a win eliminates Toronto, RSL, and FCD from passing them. I think the Sounders are really playing for playoff position right now. If they stay ahead of Colorado they are the 4th seed in the West, but if Colorado passes them, they are the 4th seed in the East. I’d much rather play Houston in a Home and Home than I would Columbus.

  • Bobblehead

    Seattle’s prospects for the playoffs are very good, IMHO. The game in two weeks against KCW isn’t as easy as one would think, so I wouldn’t say a win is a lock and would be pleased with a tie. FCD is a horrible road team, but the Sounders haven’t been all that good at home lately, so that game could go either way.

    Sounders can clinch a playoff spot with a win, a tie eliminates DCU and KCW from passing them and a win eliminates Toronto, RSL, and FCD from passing them. I think the Sounders are really playing for playoff position right now. If they stay ahead of Colorado they are the 4th seed in the West, but if Colorado passes them, they are the 4th seed in the East. I’d much rather play Houston in a Home and Home than I would Columbus.

  • Bobblehead

    Seattle’s prospects for the playoffs are very good, IMHO. The game in two weeks against KCW isn’t as easy as one would think, so I wouldn’t say a win is a lock and would be pleased with a tie. FCD is a horrible road team, but the Sounders haven’t been all that good at home lately, so that game could go either way.

    Sounders can clinch a playoff spot with a win, a tie eliminates DCU and KCW from passing them and a win eliminates Toronto, RSL, and FCD from passing them. I think the Sounders are really playing for playoff position right now. If they stay ahead of Colorado they are the 4th seed in the West, but if Colorado passes them, they are the 4th seed in the East. I’d much rather play Houston in a Home and Home than I would Columbus.

  • Purple til I die

    Laroche,

    You are a bitch.

  • Purple til I die

    Laroche,

    You are a bitch.

  • Purple til I die

    Laroche,

    You are a bitch.

  • http://www.rthunter.com/ Ross Hunter

    I want pictures with these articles! You need to send your photographer (with whom I am only tangentially related, being his father) to away games.

  • http://www.rthunter.com/ Ross Hunter

    I want pictures with these articles! You need to send your photographer (with whom I am only tangentially related, being his father) to away games.

  • http://www.rthunter.com Ross Hunter

    I want pictures with these articles! You need to send your photographer (with whom I am only tangentially related, being his father) to away games.

  • Soundersnerd

    Mr. Hunter,

    We are currently seeking offers from private funders to send our photographer and myself to these away games to have better, more accurate, and deeper-indepth coverage of the games. Please write “soccer coverage” in the memo section of your donation and mail it to Publicola. Thanks in advance!

    Purple til you die (and if you’re purple, doesn’t that mean you’re not breathing = imminent death anyway?) and As you should be! Were you there for UW Huskyettes 3-1 victory over Gonzaga on Friday? Or their 1-0 victory over my beloved Alma mater, UM, yesterday? Probably not. So, then, who’s the bitch now?

    Finally: Bobblehead, do you do me shame as a nerd, I gotta get on this playoff staging stat. Will know by end of reg season. Thanks.

  • Soundersnerd

    Mr. Hunter,

    We are currently seeking offers from private funders to send our photographer and myself to these away games to have better, more accurate, and deeper-indepth coverage of the games. Please write “soccer coverage” in the memo section of your donation and mail it to Publicola. Thanks in advance!

    Purple til you die (and if you’re purple, doesn’t that mean you’re not breathing = imminent death anyway?) and As you should be! Were you there for UW Huskyettes 3-1 victory over Gonzaga on Friday? Or their 1-0 victory over my beloved Alma mater, UM, yesterday? Probably not. So, then, who’s the bitch now?

    Finally: Bobblehead, do you do me shame as a nerd, I gotta get on this playoff staging stat. Will know by end of reg season. Thanks.

  • Soundersnerd

    Mr. Hunter,

    We are currently seeking offers from private funders to send our photographer and myself to these away games to have better, more accurate, and deeper-indepth coverage of the games. Please write “soccer coverage” in the memo section of your donation and mail it to Publicola. Thanks in advance!

    Purple til you die (and if you’re purple, doesn’t that mean you’re not breathing = imminent death anyway?) and As you should be! Were you there for UW Huskyettes 3-1 victory over Gonzaga on Friday? Or their 1-0 victory over my beloved Alma mater, UM, yesterday? Probably not. So, then, who’s the bitch now?

    Finally: Bobblehead, do you do me shame as a nerd, I gotta get on this playoff staging stat. Will know by end of reg season. Thanks.

  • Bobblehead

    And the sad thing is, that’s the short version. I started to go through each of the teams on the outside looking in and whether or not I thought they could catch the Sounders, but figured it would be bad form for my post to be longer than yours. :)

  • Bobblehead

    And the sad thing is, that’s the short version. I started to go through each of the teams on the outside looking in and whether or not I thought they could catch the Sounders, but figured it would be bad form for my post to be longer than yours. :)

  • http://threetreejournal.blogspot.com/ David in Burien

    I enjoy professional soccer a lot and am glad for the Sounders’s season so far. But wtf is up with the Mariner’s dig? This was their most enjoyable season since 2001 with good prospects for next year and a lot of interesting stuff to transpire this off-season. I think your blurtation was pretty gratuitous and is exactly the reason why “mainstream sports-fan-guy” hates soccer and soccer fans.

  • http://threetreejournal.blogspot.com/ David in Burien

    I enjoy professional soccer a lot and am glad for the Sounders’s season so far. But wtf is up with the Mariner’s dig? This was their most enjoyable season since 2001 with good prospects for next year and a lot of interesting stuff to transpire this off-season. I think your blurtation was pretty gratuitous and is exactly the reason why “mainstream sports-fan-guy” hates soccer and soccer fans.

  • http://threetreejournal.blogspot.com David in Burien

    I enjoy professional soccer a lot and am glad for the Sounders’s season so far. But wtf is up with the Mariner’s dig? This was their most enjoyable season since 2001 with good prospects for next year and a lot of interesting stuff to transpire this off-season. I think your blurtation was pretty gratuitous and is exactly the reason why “mainstream sports-fan-guy” hates soccer and soccer fans.

  • Bobblehead

    Oh please. No one paid any attention to the Mariners this year. Sure they had their best season in years, but the years of ineptitude prior to this year have turned off many former Mariner fans.

    If a throw-away comment like the one LaRouche tossed out is enough to turn away “mainstream sports-fan-guy” then he was never going to be a soccer fan to begin with.

  • Bobblehead

    Oh please. No one paid any attention to the Mariners this year. Sure they had their best season in years, but the years of ineptitude prior to this year have turned off many former Mariner fans.

    If a throw-away comment like the one LaRouche tossed out is enough to turn away “mainstream sports-fan-guy” then he was never going to be a soccer fan to begin with.

  • Bobblehead

    Oh please. No one paid any attention to the Mariners this year. Sure they had their best season in years, but the years of ineptitude prior to this year have turned off many former Mariner fans.

    If a throw-away comment like the one LaRouche tossed out is enough to turn away “mainstream sports-fan-guy” then he was never going to be a soccer fan to begin with.

  • umvue

    Your pain is having to watch additional Sounders’ games.

  • umvue

    Your pain is having to watch additional Sounders’ games.

  • umvue

    Your pain is having to watch additional Sounders’ games.

  • SoundersNerd

    hUmvue- if that’s all the pain I have to endure, bring it on, in spades! And hopefully the off season too!

    7- Bobblehead, careful who you’re quoting here! Josh assigned me my byline, I would’ve never picked it myself, especially since I’m at the UW now. My name is my greatest curse (#2, #8, take note).

    PS- BH, go ahead and be nerdier than I, please. I have studying to do, I can use all the added comments (such as a breakdown on how the playoffs which) you can supply. Speaking of which, rumors are playoff tickets will go on sale next week.

  • SoundersNerd

    hUmvue- if that’s all the pain I have to endure, bring it on, in spades! And hopefully the off season too!

    7- Bobblehead, careful who you’re quoting here! Josh assigned me my byline, I would’ve never picked it myself, especially since I’m at the UW now. My name is my greatest curse (#2, #8, take note).

    PS- BH, go ahead and be nerdier than I, please. I have studying to do, I can use all the added comments (such as a breakdown on how the playoffs which) you can supply. Speaking of which, rumors are playoff tickets will go on sale next week.

  • SoundersNerd

    hUmvue- if that’s all the pain I have to endure, bring it on, in spades! And hopefully the off season too!

    7- Bobblehead, careful who you’re quoting here! Josh assigned me my byline, I would’ve never picked it myself, especially since I’m at the UW now. My name is my greatest curse (#2, #8, take note).

    PS- BH, go ahead and be nerdier than I, please. I have studying to do, I can use all the added comments (such as a breakdown on how the playoffs which) you can supply. Speaking of which, rumors are playoff tickets will go on sale next week.

  • bigyaz

    The Mariners had a higher winning percentage this season than the Sounders, who only have a shot at the playoffs because a ridiculous 50 percent of MLS teams qualify.

  • bigyaz

    The Mariners had a higher winning percentage this season than the Sounders, who only have a shot at the playoffs because a ridiculous 50 percent of MLS teams qualify.

  • bigyaz

    The Mariners had a higher winning percentage this season than the Sounders, who only have a shot at the playoffs because a ridiculous 50 percent of MLS teams qualify.