I figure this deserves its own thread so a lot of people will see it. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/wusa/2003-09-19-wusa-revival-_x.htm Obviously it's just a start, but you never know.
I have two hopes: 1. There is a White Knight for a Women's Professional Soccer League in the USA, and 2. more importantly, that they learn from the mistakes of the WUSA
They can learn a great lesson from just everyday life (that most of us have to live by)...LIVE SIMPLY AND WITHIN YOUR MEANS. Hearing all the stories of lavish VIP functions makes me wonder.
Ollie must be heartbroken. ----------- An irony is that the sponsorships are more valuable if the league is being resurrected. The companies get more publicity, and more of a "goodwill" boost. I mean, they're not just paying to get their logos on WUSA jerseys, they're the White Knights, they're Cinderella's Prince Charming.
quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kelly Whiteside: A committee was formed to do just that and has received interest from some major investors. I think the WUSA will be back, however it is unclear right now in what form for 2004. If it doesn't come back in its previous form for next year, they hope to have either a barnstorming tour or a round-robin tournament with all eight teams. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think that they either have to work to keep the status quo for 2004 or realize if they scrap the league, they may have to start over in a few years with all new talent. These ladies have lives and have to support themselves. WUSA can't expect them to start a new career and then quit to rejoin WUSA at a later date. WUSA fans have a certain amount of loyalty to their home grown players. A layoff of even one year runs the risk of decimating this talent pool that they have worked hard to establish.
This is true on all levels...players.. team and league staff.. coaches... and other administrative types...
Billie Jean King is da bomb. I'm VERY glad that she's involved. That gives me more hope than anything else right now.
I wonder what effect any of this has on the transactions that occurred before the cessation of operations...like the Wagner/Hucles trade? If the teams are kept "intact", does this trade count?
So what exactly does Billie Jean King bring to the table? Street cred? Connections to corporate America? A deep pocketbook? Knowledge on how to run a successful women's league?
We can only speculate on this... so... it would seem to be logical that, yes the trade would be in effect. The trade was made 12 days prior to the suspension of the league, with little concrete knowledge of the possible suspending of ops of it. Of course, noone really knows anything. Anything could happen, nothing could happen. It would be a poor decision to overturn the trade if things resume as the are. Kinda taking the power/responsibility away from those who made the trade. Not good.
Yeah, and in all the confusion, I think I remember hearing that the Beat made a few last minute moves when they traded Dieke for A. Wambach and Withers for Prinz. Oh well, it was worth a try.....
She has corporate cred. She's the one who professionalized women's tennis. She understands getting sponsors. She understands how to sell women's sports. She has a rep as being about the business and being focused on making women's sports a going, i.e. profitable, concern. She understands women's sports and what that phrase means in a sports landscape saturated with Kobe and LeBron and NFL football.
Ain't she one of the ones that got World Team Tennis off the ground? I've been to a couple of Idaho Sneakers games here way back in the days and even though attendance sucked, those were sure fun!
Oh, yeah, World Team Tennis. She http://www.wtt.com/about/billie.asp She established the first successful women's professional tennis tour and the WTA. Over the objections of women tennis players who didn't want a pro tour. "In 1970, King was one of nine players who broke away from the tennis establishment and accepted $1 contracts from tennis promoter Gladys Heldman in Houston. The revolt lead to the formation of the Virginia Slims Tour and Women’s Tennis Association. In 1971, she was the first woman athlete to win more than $100,000 in any sport."
She's single-handedly kept WTT going, even after it was no longer the "flavor of the month" in the mid to late 1970's. There are many similarities to WUSA's current predicament and WTT's history. But she's made WTT survive on one level or another by sheer force of will.
Laura Davies is Da Bomb! Supposedly, she took a portable TV in her bag so she could watch Euro '96 while she played in a tournament and I seem to remember her "playing" for a D3 team a few years back? Has anyone hit up Big Bad Momma yet?
A little more from the AJC: Renewed push begins to keep WUSA afloat Good choices on Cummings and Bjornsrud.
Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong woman, but isn't she a bit heavy to be in a constant movement game like soccer?