Five-Year Anniversary of the Most Awe-Inspiring Event in Team Sports

Re: Five-Year Anniversary of the Most Awe-Inspiring Event in Women's Team Sports

First, let's amend the title of the thread. Miracle on Ice trumps WWC '99 a million times over.

Second, it's sad to say, but the legacy doesn't seem terribly bright. The pro league that WWC spawned flamed out after three years and isn't likely to return (the "festivals" don't count).

Women's soccer has as many mainstream stars today as it did in 1999, and both of them (Hamm and Foudy, and Foudy is borderline "mainstream") are will be retired soon.

The US Women's National Team isn't a big draw unless it's the World Cup --- an average of about 12,200 for three games this season (all of them in non-MLS cities).

On the field, the rest of the world has caught up. Americans will likely never be as dominant as they were in the first decade of FIFA competition -- thus it will be much harder for the USWNT to capture the nation's attention.

The lasting legacy of 1999 is that it marked the first time Americans embraced a women's team sport to that degree. Those women were pioneers, it was a Title IX-fueled breakthrough, etc. The thing is, you can only be a pioneer once. The next step for women's sports is to generate enough lasting fan/corporate support to sustain a successful pro league. WUSA failed, rather miserably, in that regard, and the WNBA survives primarily because of its sugar daddy, Mr. Stern.

I enjoyed the WUSA. It was an excellent league, but it couldn't last. You could say the same about the National Team's boom. If the Americans don't win the gold in Athens and Mia retires as planned, the next two years could see the USWNT fall off the radar screen. I'd hate to see it happen, but it's very possible.

 

Re: Five-Year Anniversary of the Most Awe-Inspiring Event in Women's Team Sports

First off.....I will never ever tire of reading about what happened in 1999 nor will I ever tire of watching the final. I remember that day as if it was yesterday....I was running back and forth between my climbing wall and the upstairs mens locker room catching the game on the TV hanging on the wall. I truly respect the 1999 team.

Secondly....I'm a vet homer through and through. When Foudylicious, BChaz, Lilly, Fawcett, and Hamm take the field for perhaps the last time together later this fall...I do hope to be at the stadium to give them a rousing, standing ovation when they are all subbed out one by one late in the match. Pipe dream.

With that being said.....

How much longer can we keep hanging our hats on the 1999 team??? It's getting to the point where our 1999 homerism is sad. As much as I love the vets...I'm actually looking forward to them being handed their AARP cards and taking up residence at the Shady Acres Retirement Home. It's about time this team went through a big change. I'm really anticipating watching the next generation take the field for many years to come. I'll support them as much as I support this current incarnation. And if you are one of those that doesn't want to support the team no longer because your fave player is no longer on the team....it's a free country and you can do whatever you want to do. It's one less tubbo that I need to deal with at the concession stand.

What's gonna suck is that regardless of how many wins they rack up or how many WWC trophies they hoist....they will be forever living under the shadows of the '99 team and IMNSHO...that really isn't fair. Heck I'll probably be one of those idiots that says "Well if we had Lilly or Hamm instead of .......". Let the "new" team be it's own team and let's hope that they provide as many great memories as the 99 team did.

 

I remember that day in July like it was yesterday. That's when I really became a huge fan of the USWNT. Our whole family (who previously hadn't really watched or followed soccer) was up on the edge of the couch the entire game. There was so much energy that day, out on the field and in the crowd as well. People were so enthusiastic and excited for soccer in this country, they captured almost everyone's attention. That tournament was the pinnacle of the USA team...they were one of the greatest sports teams in recent history.

Since then, the rest of the world has caught up to the elite, and the quality of play for the Nats has decreased (mostly due to a certain coach). But I continue to support the team, and come post-Olympics time, a new and fresh start will hopefully happen. As much as I love the vets (the game won't be the same without them), it's time the torch is passed. The 91er's have done so much for this sport, and I hope more than anything they can end their career's on a high note by winning the gold, which I'm confident they can.

 

I caught the womens soccer bug at the 96 Olympics. It was fun to watch the USA dynasty of the 90's reach their pinacle in 1999. I wish WUSA would have made it so we could have seen the true impact of the 99 team on our talent pool. As it is, I think that the 2000 Olympics should have been the swan song for a number of those players.

 

Awe, By this question do mean "what personal effect" did that game have on you [me]? The reason I ask is because the game had a tremendous personal effect on me. I had started writing a reply and got way into it, almost getting lost in thought, rambling on and on, until I realized that I might've totally misread the questions you posed, especially after reading some of the posts, and thought I might bore some people to tears with my rather long-winded post.

 

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C'mon BB

lets hear it! we are all Soccer lovin' Peeps and I for one would love to read your heartfelt reactions, emotions, ETC. to the event that REALLY introduced America to the beautiful game.

 

Personal impact of the '99 WWC

Okay... I'll bite. I thought I'd have more time to organize my response, but I didn't and I'm sorry if I rambled or seemed disjointed... but here's the stream of consciousness (in words) sparked by one of Awe's questions:

The 1999 Women's World Cup Final had a tremendous impact on me as a fan, as a person, and as a soccer player.

The final match of the tournament was a thriller. I was at the edge of my seat the entire match -- from the beginning, through an exciting back-and-forth scoreless regulation, through a pulsating overtime, and finally through each and every hold-your-breath penalty kick, until Brandi made television history by netting the decisive kick passed the Chinese keeper and ripping her jersey off in celebration. Prior to the match I had only heard of the great [defensive] Chinese Wall, but during the match, I was witnessing it first hand. I cringed when China pushed forward with such finesse; I gritted my teeth when the US was unable to penetrate the stingy Wall; and I nearly fell over in agony when China nearly scored only to have several chances knocked off the goal line. Throughout the tournament, Michelle Akers re-wrote my view of women's and men's sports. She redefined what it meant to be an athlete and a sports player and one who can endure pain in a way many other top athletes cannot. She endured. She excelled. She performed. Hers was a tournament for the ages. I was transformed. A new fan. Of not only Mich., of not only women's soccer, but of soccer. I had always loved the sport, but now I understood why it was The Beautiful Game.

The '99 Cup Final opened my eyes to women's sports and planted the seed of the love of The Beautiful Game in my being. I had played ball as a kid -- played through middle school and high school and the beginning stages of college. Soccer was a part of who I was, both on and off the field. I loved being on the field, but even when I wasn't, I was never caught without my Samba's keeping my feet warm, as you never knew when a impromptu kick-around might break out. Although I was young at the time, I was loosely a fan of the NASL, but it wasn't until our fine ladies -- showing grit, determination, and poise, all wrapped up in a feel-good, can't-miss story -- graced the glorious pitch in the WWC Final in 1999 that my eyes were opened for the first time as a *fan* to the game I knew predominantly as a player and a player only.

I felt connected to '99 WWC because it was sport in its purest, and I was able to witness each and every moment -- from the heart-warming stories of the players background to watching the matches on television, all done in a broadcast style similar to the Olympics. It was pristine sport. All sports should be this way. I thought it ironic that the sport just getting started and entering the consciousness of the general public was what the other sports should be: clean sport for the good of the game. And yet this was just the beginning (here in the 'States). The players played because they wanted to play, not because of a paycheck or that this was the only thing they were good at. They were educated. They were in shape. They were determined. They were passionate. They were good role models. They genuinely seemed to try to strive to be the best as a player and as a role model, which was important to me. Compared to players in other professional sports, they were paid peanuts; they stayed above the fray and left their egos at the door. It was feel-good all over. They could just as easily be you or I. It reminded me of high school ball and playing for the county championship: We wanted to be there. There were no egos. We were a team and would have it no other way. The bus rides and cheering and singing outloud of "We Are the Champions" blaring from the back of the bus while the coach tried in vane not to sign along with us (which of course he failed… but we did not fail him). I could see the women doing this. I felt closer in level to the women than I did the men, as if, if I were a women, I too might be able to play at that level.

I enjoyed watching each of the games of the WWC, especially when the better teams played, like the US, Sweden, Norway, China, and a few others, as the game was slower than the men's and not as much as a quick-shot firing range, as some of the men's games can be. Each game was more of a chess match, exactly the style I remember as a bright-eyed child watching with my father his native West German side in previous men's World Cups. The US would work the ball up the field from the back. They would patiently pass it around the midfield until a slot developed; if one didn't open, they'd slide it across and change fields for a different look. Then suddenly a slot would open; a forward would break free into open space. Invariably the midfielder to thread the ball perfectly to the forward, who would drive forward, spin and go, or provide a textbook give and go, and when nothing was there, when the defense collapsed upon the attacking formation, the forward would pull the ball back to the midfield for another go. No pressure. Pure soccer. Work it up again.

Prior to the '99 WWC, I had been to a few of the then-new MLS games but didn't follow statistics and the like. The same was true for some of the European leagues. I knew a few of the popular named players but didn't find much interest in following their journeys... until after the '99 WWC. Even though I frequented a handful of matches from the men's '94 World Cup when it came to the old Foxboro Stadium, I was still a peripheral fan -- liking the sport, playing pickup games as time allowed, but still not really taken by the sport as a real fan. I played ball. I didn't watch it. I knew more about baseball then what the world called football.

When the WUSA kickoff their first season, because of the '99 WWC, I felt personal interest in making the league succeed. I attended every game I could -- often in lieu of seeing MLS's Revolution games -- because I felt the WUSA needed my support more than my mighty, mighty Revs. I dragged whoever I could to each game, which honestly (and sadly) was quite a chore. As my nephews grew older, it became even harder a chore, as they didn't want to be seen at a "girls" event. But support it I did. Because the '99 WWC made me want the league to succeed. I was that moved.

In the years after, now with my new-found love of the game (as a fan), I watched the rest of the world catch up to the US Women. Many fans, especially on these boards, seem bitter or quick to point out that our fine ladies have lost a step. I differ. Greatly. I don't think our ladies have lost a step at all. I think the rest of the world has caught up. The game had evolved very quickly, with the US being up top early on. We are still up top, with some of the best players in the world, but it is beautiful to see the glorious women's game mature to that of a more finely tuned chess match with more and more speed and more and more technicality. Watching the top teams, such as a Germany and a United States, battle it out is akin to me like watching an England and Germany. Prior to the '99 WWC, the only women's sport I would watch was tennis and figure skating. Women didn't play any other sports worthy of watching. That's just how it was, or so was my thinking. The '99 WWC Final changed all that.

I am now a total Soccer Nut because of the '99 Women's World Cup, and the final match had a lot to do with that. I used to only take vacations centured around either running a marathon in a new city, cycling in a charity event or across a state or by wineries or other visually astetic locales, but now, as a diehard fan of soccer, I have taken more "soccer" vacations than the former. If it weren't for our fine ladies and that Cup final in '99, I would've never had been such a fan of the sport to spend good money to take a vacation in the middle of the winter to go to frozen Columbus, Ohio -- of all places -- to support the US Men's team take on Mexico in a World Cup '02 qualifier. I would've never had become a Revolution season ticket holder. I would've never had spent ungodly amounts of money and vacation time jockeying all of the east coast and even out to the brand new Home Depot Center in LA to see the Women's World Cup '03 and Final and Third Place matches. And I would've never had purchased my airfare to Chicago to see the upcoming US-Poland match in the second week in June. The '99 WWC Final changed how I vacation, as costly a proposition as that may be. It changed my hobbies. It changed how I declare a player in any sport worthy of the title role model. And it changed how I look at sports as a fan.

 

I need to see matches. And I need to be able to read about them. And to be able to read about the top players. And to hear comments from them. On a consistenet basis. That's how I get into the excitement and energy of ANY league. Hearing and seeing the events unfold in real time, either at a match, on TV, or in the local newspaper, grabs my attention and pulls me in, yearning for more and more. Without it, I'll find another outlet (such as my re-upped interest in the EPL).

My interest in the WNT will likely diminish if the WUSA (or some rendition of it) cannot pick itself up off the floor and belly up to the bar. Even create a new league, like WMLS. I honestly don't care what you call it, what the background is, or who runs it, even if when it pushes up to the bar it orders cheap wine, as long as it is available as a product, has news reports about it (covered by the local media), and is accessible enough to either watch on television or, better yet, close enough in proximaty to attend a match or four.

The W-league offers some of this, however I have a hard time getting into it because a) I don't know most of the players, b) the product on the field isn't as good as the WUSA, c) I can't read about them in my local paper, and d) I can't view the matches on television. (Note: I should note that I do attend a few W-league matches a year.) With that said, if the local outlets would start talking up the W-league and some of the games were on TV, I would certainly make more a point to get to many more matches.

 

BB.....that was beautiful

This team had something fresh and exciting to offer in 99' it had something that comes along but once in a life time and it is felt as much as seen. the chemistry of this group of women was phenominal. and each one seemed to fit so well into the puzzle that was the WNT.
there was unspoken communication. eyes seeking out another set of eyes as play developed. an intense absalute could be found in those same eyes. Never did their expressions waver. never did you see doubt. The team in 99' full on believed in itself, believed that it was invincible. and never once questioned the outcome. it was a striking balance between trust in one another and respect for ones apponent. never Cocky, but self assured. No Ego's just an unshakable faith.
the WNT in 99' was so well honed that it ran like a well oiled machine. Each player absalutely knew their role, Each player was willing to sacrifice themselves for the whole. it was an all for one and one for all mentality. it was a blue coler work ethic, scrappy, edgy group of women who refused to yeild. Were they as a team the absalute best technically?...skillwise?....not on every occasion. but those things do not win the big matches. those things do not win championships, gold medals, or world cups. A team that will kill themselves on the field for each other......those things......... those intangibles do. You can not mix it up like an elixor, you can not ration it out like vitamins. it is something that beats in the breast. and in 1999' Every starter and every sub had that thump felt right under the sternum.
for some that thump is still there, still palpable, still alive and hungry. but; this team now has members on it that did not live through the lean years.
Did not have to fight for every scrap of reluctant acceptance. some of these players did not have to ride the coal trains in china, or stay in roach infested hotels, or hotels that had hot water but 1 hour out of the day. These things I think breed a certain kind of toughness. I think it makes the bonds between teammates stronger.
it was that belief in each other, those bonds of trust and the enormous courage found in each, that set this team appart. and ya know what else?
We love the underdog. that statment may seem strange when you apply it to the WNT, but if you think about in a way they were. We applauded, we watched, and something moved in our breasts too....Because here was a U.S. womens soccer team. basically beating the world at their own game.
In short they made us feel something we had not felt in a long long time. pride....those were our girls out there. We cared about them. We loved them. and perhaps all the biterness being vented right now on these boards is not really because we feel that this team is no longer good enough. but; maybe in our selfishness we want to recapture what was lost to us. maybe we just want a little taste of 99' once more. maybe we are all just looking for something to make us feel good again. and maybe we feel a little bit cheated.
Perhaps we wish that there was atleast one thing we could count on. something that remains solid and unbreakable.
maybe in our quest for that something we lost sight of the fact that this team is made up of human beings. with feelings, and troubles, personal losses, cronic pain, injuries. that in short they are not machines, But; human beings just trying to do what they do the best they know how.
I still love um' ya know...... I still believe in them......I still believe that the U.S.WNT is the best there is, Even if their coach is not. it is just that the gap between the best and the second and third best has narrowed. In the very near future another major event will unfold with all it's drama and excitement. and when the dust settles, and the stadia are sent into silence....the one thing I wish with all my heart is that the crown be placed back on the head of the team that owned it for so long. to see these women once again huddled together on the gold medal stand with those wonderfully happy smiles on their faces....well I can not imagine a more perfect ending to what has been a most remarkable story.

Thanks for putting up with my ramblings

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Hamm-star! I simply loved your post, especially from when you started with the bit about being an underdog even though we weren't (see quote below). From then until the end of your post, I identified with every word, as each triggered a like emotion in a bid to rekindle the feel-good era the '99 WWC and the USWNT bestowed upon me (us?).

Exactly. This is exactly how it was for me. It was akin to Miracle on Ice, which I was just old enough yet still so young to be able to make sense of, only in '99 I had the added benefit that I was an adult. The beauty of the '99 WWC was that now the whole of America was catching on. We felt pride in our fine ladies. Soccer (er, football) was a foreign sport. It was only played by guys and gals with accents. Yet here was a team from the States pulling in our adoration and making waves -- big waves! -- on the Int'l front.

You very well might be right. If for nothing else, the USWNT performance in the '99 WWC has raised the bar to which we measure performances, but that bar was put in place in a much different soccer world than exists today; then, the difference between the contenders and the pretenders was gaping (as you rightfully pointed out), and the game was still in its infancy in maturing (as it still is now but is now more fine-tuning and working on speed as opposed to learning techincality for the first time). Is it a fair comparison? I do not know. But what is known is that the parameters were very different, making the statement, "with all things being equal (in comparing level of play now to '99)", impossible.

The US *may* have been the best team in the world in '99. After all, we won the World Cup, but we all know the victors could have just as easily been China. If China did win then, would we expect so much of our find ladies now? I don't know. With that said, I do believe, along with Hamm-star, that today we have assembled the best team in the world in the women's game. You can debate about a roster spot here and there, but by and large we are the best team in the world. Unfortunately, we do not have a coach who can best utilize these players to expose their potential, to get this team to achieve as much as the team in '99 did, and to keep them together long enough to bring out the camaradarie of yesteryear. But I am hopeful for an entertaining tournament and anxiously look forward to what's in store after the Olympics.

 

Hmm, my post seems to have disappeared....

Anyway, I was saying the WWC03 final between Sweden and Germany was a far better, and more compelling, game than the WWC99 final - which was a pretty damn good game. It just shows how far women's international soccer has advanced in the last four years.

If I had to give somebody one game tape to sell them on women's soccer, it would either be the WWC03 final or possibly Founders Cup I.

 

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Well I think you have nailed it BB. april shuffles players in and out. never allows this team to really gel. You have the core (thank god) But you need the supporting cast too. and they need to be there year after year. this is how you get a team who depends on one another, truly cares about the other, is willing to lay it on the line for each other. Until Ape realizes this and uses the formation that best suits the style of this team, and the personel who can motivate this team in the future we are going to fall short. Remember those intangibles i was talking about in my earlier post?....i think this is one of the things that Ape just simply doesn't get.

 

LOL rolling on the ground laughing!!!! Please the final for womens soccer?? You have got to be joking!?!?! It was great but it was about as awe inspiring as the day I found 5 bucks on a bus seat on Michigan avenue. It was great but not awe inspiring. Please go watch some real sport finals and then come back and talk to us.

 

Do you troll every forum, or just all the ones I frequent?

 

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the 2003 WWC final between Germany and Sweden was excellent. as was the final in 99 between the U.S.A. and china. but if i had to pick a match that I thought was the greatest women's soccer match ever played. quiet honestly....Handball asside......it has to be the 2000 Olympic final between the U.S.A. and Norway.

 

The last three major tournament finals (WC and Olympics) have all been great and very entertaining matches, and all very different styles. The '99 and '03 finals were similar in that they were very well played, evenly matched games. The '99 final was a largely defensive game but entertaining nontheless, because the game was SO close and the energy and enthusiasm for the game was at an all time high. It was also the game when the US and China's (arguably the best two teams in women's soccer history) players were in their prime. In the '03 WC, they both relied on older players who, despite how good they still were, had seen their better days. The '03 final was refreshing to have two new teams playing for a world championship, and unlike the '99 final, it was highly offensive game with plenty of chances for both sides. But I would have to agree with Hamm-Star that the '00 Oly final between the biggest rivals in the women's game was the best match ever. It was a storybook game in which the US dominated, had crisp, controlled possesion and great work effort by every player out on the field. Norway was opportunistic, took the few chances they had, and finished. Millie's goal with about 10 seconds left was probably the most memorable goal (at least for me) ever. At 5'1" she outjumps the Norway defense and sticks it in the corner. Great cross by Mia as well. The handball was very unfortunate and one of the times you wish their was instant replay for the referees. But like Brandi said in the post-game interview sometimes the ball bounces the other way. The way the US handled themselves in defeat was a great tribute to the team.

The '00 final was the best played match IMO, but the '99 final still means the most to me as a fan, and how it introduced me to the wonderful game of soccer.

To sum it up, the last three finals have been great, and hopefully the streak will continue with the '04 Olympic final with hopefully, with team USA standing on the gold medal podium.

 

Hey!! I paid money to view any damm board on this sight I want to view and post on. If you dont like it too bad. Its what happens when you pay for service. Blocking guys that pay for the right to view and post on these boards opens this site up for a nice legal situation which I would have no problem doing to bigsoccer. I have the money to do so. So please move along.. You not liking what I say doesnt mean I dont have the right to post it.

 

This thread is for those who were influenced in a positive way by the 1999 World Cup final, and sharing our thoughts on how it affected us. If you don't like it, then why post at all?!?

Good luck on your lawsuit...(rolls eyes) And by the way, no one cares how much money you have.

 

I just asked a simple question. One which you didn't answer. And what the hell are you on about?

 

I was affected postively by it, but your riducles statement that is was the greatest spectatcle in professional sports is just an absolute joke. It wasnt in no way the greatest spectacle in professional sports, a 0-0 draw that ends in penalties, is about the greatest spectacle in sports as a dumping contest in the bathtroom after a chili cookoff.

 

This is EXACTLY the kind of myopic perspective that sent WUSA into bankruptcy. All these executives thought fantasized about 60,000 plus spectators at every WUSA game, and OPPS only 5k bothered to show up. Why do you think Anschutz wanted nothing to do with the group of idiots running the league?

 

Here's some post-world cup effects in the State of Michigan....

Area youth soccer booms Numbers are on rise, creating shortage of fields
http://www.mlive.com/sports/aanews/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1088433827157370.xml