Everything seemed to be going fine on Wednesday night as the Seattle Sounders built a 2-0 lead over Real Salt Lake in the second leg of their first round MLS playoff matchup. The Sounders were down by a goal on aggregate, but had 30 minutes to tie the game up after Lamar Neagle's goal. Momentum seemed to be on the Sounders' side.
And then it all went quiet. The Sounders failed to score again and Real Salt Lake escaped CenturyLink Field with the same one-goal advantage on aggregate. Seattle came so close, yet was so far away.
I think I found the culprit for the Sounders' inability to score over the last 30 minutes, though.
The following tweets are from Bill Simmons of ESPN.com and Grantland fame.
I just watched the last 30 mins of an MLS playoff game. The NBA lockout sucks.
Sorry. I was on bandwagon too. RT @LarryCenotto: We were rolling until the last 30 mins. Thanks for the jinx. Signed, the city of Seattle
I knew there were other forces at play.