Arlo White, the new voice of the Seattle Sounders, arrived in the radio booth with five minutes to spare to call the Seattle-Philadelphia opening gameThursday. His day began in London, where he awaited word whether his passport would be available for him to fly to Seattle to do the First Kick.
White, a former BBC radio commentator, wasready to head home when he got word that he could pick up his passport. For the flight to Seattle, he was upgraded to business class — “It was like being told that I’d made the EnglandWorld Cup squad,” he said — and he arrived in Seattle two hours before kickoff.
White still need to get from the airport to Qwest Field, and he got there thanks to his escort: a statetrooper on a motorcycle. “I could barely believe it,” he said. “The officer parted the traffic on I-5 like Moses and the Red Sea.”