Yah her name appeared in the starting line up. But in fact Gayle had sprained her ankle in the semi against the the Krush. Ottawa missed her dearly.
Announcer for the TV game, or on the webcast? Also, Dobbyn winning the MVP isn't THAT surprising. There isn't ONE player on any of the top teams who stands out as an MVP....without Melissa, Detroit doesn't even make the playoffs. Who else should have gotten the award?
If Central Florida didn't have Fotop, they wouldn't have made the postseason, either. Dobbyn's team didn't make the final four, CF did. Advantage Fotop, respectfully.
A night where soccer shined... This was my first time seeing the Wildcats live, and as they say, timing is everything. As good as it was on TV, in person is the only way to do it justice. They were as good a women's pro team as any on the continent, maybe anywhere. Fundamentally, devastatingly sound. Not a wasted moment, opportunity, pass, defensive stop...it was poetry. It was Real Madrid without the egos. It was a great a game as the CF-Vancouver third place game was yecch deluxe; the cards were flowing like Eminem disses on one of his albums - it was like watching the rebirth of the Atlanta Beat *coughVancouvercough*. They didn't acquit themselves well at all in victory. Thanks to TomFODW and Star City Fan (Kevin) for their kindness in shuttling me from the Trenton rail station to MCCC and back. The 609 NJ Transit bus doesn't have service to MCCC on weekends, so I was SOL until Tom came through with the transit. I actually got to hold the W-League trophy afterward (didn't take a pic of that, unfortunately). It was a simply terrific night to watch my first championship clinching game of a team that I came to like and respect.
Everything I worked hard for all year and I could not enjoy the game, I did not see any of the games even though I was there from 11 am on. I can't even watch the game on tape My favorite player was in town i did not get to see her play for more than 5 minutes Needless to say, Women's soccer lost a fan yesterday. I do not see myself being back on this board or any other.
What TV coverage? They only televise the Championship game -- although they did have one regular season game this year televised on FSC (or was that two?). And, I'm sure they are raking in money for that coverage!
Here's the final capper on the weekend, the league's announcement of the All-Tournament Team late last night: GK: LeBlanc (who else?) D: Reddick, Kendell Fletcher (NJ), Randee Hermus (VAN), Erin Baxter-McCorkle (Central Florida) M: Kacey White (New Jersey), Kim Montgomery (Central FL), Rachel Yankey (NJ), Diana Matheson (Ottawa) F: Rhian Wilkinson (Ottawa), Amber Allen (Vancouver)
No Kara Lang....she was very diaspoointing..I expected way better from her from all i had heard......strong leg but very very slow and not that great technically...NJ totally shut her down but what team wouldn't NJ shut down these days.
Charge! and I talked with him as we were leaving. Apparently he volunteered to help with logistics or somesuch in the TV trailer, expecting that it would only be for pre-game stuff. Instead, he was stuck there for the entire game and so didn't get to see any of it. He was not very happy.
So Long and Thanks for all the fish So many people have emailed, pm'd, and Im me that I updated my site. At the request of the Wildcats I put that up. explanation I am not looking for any thank you, sympathy, or reward Everything that i could have dreamed of for the season happened, i understand that it was not the WIldcats fault, not the players fault, not the fans fault. I was OK until I tried to join in the celebration. I did not see any of the games, I saw players running on the monitors when I had a chance to look at them. I cannot bring my self to watch the game, Even though i was a part of the wildcats, I was so far removed from everyone that night (My Birthday) that I could not find any enjoyment in the entire evening.. My family even senced my being upset and decided to leave without seeing any of the players either
This may have been a tad bit bitter... I still intend to stay off the boards at his time. I did a very tough job for which I was ill prepared to do. I take extreme pride in everything i do, even if it is just trash duty...The players hopefully will see the benifit from that next year in the form of greater exposure. I will not be able to look at this weekend with the same magic in my eye that I had Saturday night...
Lang has not been up to her normal self for a while, don't know what the issue is. In the 2003 WWC she was a dominant force for Canada. I remember her powering her way through Reddick and Chastain both on a number of occasions. But she's been doing double/triple duty since she was 15 years old (U19's, Senior National Team, Whitecaps) so she might be suffering from burn-out. She has an awful lot of miles on her for a girl who has yet to play her first college game - maybe too many.
Personally I think Lang will benfit from going to UCAA this year. The only training she has received thus far is from the Women's National team. Personally I think that the Canadian National teams style of play limits the likes of a Kara Lang. She needs to experience an atmophere that will allow her to be more creative and nurture and refine her skills.
I agree. Under that big cloud of hype (or golden aura of hype, depending on how you look at it) Kara has been improving. However, spending so much time with the NT staff may have slowed down her development. She takes coaching well. When they ask her to pound the ball downfield she pounds the ball downfield. She seemed to be doing a lot of that with the U-19s last year. She needs to develop the full range of skills for a midfielder. She feels comfortable playing along the sideline and moving straight up and down the field but, strangely, she's not really suited to be a traditional winger because she isn't fast enough. I think she can improve rapidly at UCLA. I don't think she's burnt out but I do think she's moved from team to team and position to position in the last two years. She needs to spend time in one program to fill in the missing pieces of her game.