I’ve been incredibly fortunate to witness some great things in the world of American Socccer… And over the past couple of years, I’ve been involved in the Television Broadcast side of things for Real Salt Lake.

From being a part of the original team and seeing up close the difficulties that an “Expansion Franchise” faces (including the renting of a College Stadium while building your own in the form of Rio Tinto / finding the right coach and a team in his mold / finding the right management team and staff), the ultimate success that an MLS team may have is winning the MLS Cup Championship, which Real Salt Lake won in 2009 at Qwest Field in Seattle.

Something I wasn’t expecting though (and still not sure I deserve) was a 2009 MLS Cup Championship ring that was personalized…. And I’m very thankful to the people responsible for that decision (I’m looking at you Trey, Bill, Garth, Jason and Dave).

And to be clear, the players rings have a bit more to them.

More Pics after the Jump…….