I wish to sincerely apologize to those of you who made it to Anthony’s Homeport in Olympia on Monday night to celebrate the season, the great career of Kasey Keller, and my book “Sounders FC: Authentic Masterpiece.”

In 37 years of broadcasting and writing this is the first time I ever missed an assignment. I was waylaid by the traffic conditions just north of Olympia after that terrible accident on Interstate 5 yesterday.

I left my house at 1pm and figured 4 hours would be enough time but I was wrong. Please know I tried my best to get there but I got stuck in that zone we all get in once in a while where every time I made a choice it was the wrong one. After sitting on I-5 for about 45 minutes without moving I decided to try the back roads but they were no better.

My deepest gratitude to the staff at Anthony’s led by my all time favorite Moclips High Hyak Scott DeSota. Also a big thumbs up to Kasey Keller. Scott and his crew kept everyone happy food and drink wise and Kasey was, by all accounts, an outstanding host. One of the few things that made me smile Monday night was a phone conversation at around 7pm with Kasey.

Kasey: “Where are you?”

Me: “I’m stuck in traffic in Roy.”

Kasey: “Roy?!!? Where the hell is Roy???”

Thanks again to all of you. I’m in touch with Anthony’s right now and we’ll set up a new date as soon as we can.

Mike Gastineau