Model franchises win things.

Seattle Sounders was a testament to all that Major League Soccer can be last Sunday, living and breathing its potential with every furious chant bellowed from 35,000 excitable throats.

David Beckham, whose Los Angeles Galaxy defeated the Sounders 1-0 win at Qwest Field, said it was the first time on the field in America that he felt like he was in Europe.

That the Sounders are the best the league has to offer isn't news. In their second year, they drew more than 36,000 fans to their average home game, up from 31,000 the year before. (That's more than what the average English Premier League game draws -- 35,600 -- not to mention the Spanish Primera Division, the Italian Serie A and the French Ligue 1). This has rightfully caused the club to ponder if it should expand capacity to 40,000. The devotion of the Sounders' following is enviable, and a model for all other clubs.

The only problem is, as much as the turnout at the gate has been extraordinary, Seattle Sounders are struggling in the post-season. In three attempts, the club has failed to win a game or even score a goal in one.

Any occasion on which those fantastic fans, who cheer imaginatively through thick and thin, aren't on national television in a league game deciding the championship is an opportunity for league-wide publicity wasted. Sports events are in the business of selling atmosphere as much as they are performance. And there is no atmosphere quite like that of Qwest Field in American sports right now.

The Sounders just have to figure out a way to win in the post-season. There's no better way to turn the corner than by beating the Galaxy in the return leg on Sunday and winning the MLS Cup on Nov. 21. In many ways, that would be a victory for the entire league.