According to Heather Mitts’ website, the final game of the fan celebration tour is now confirmed for Wednesday, December 8 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA vs. Mexico. This information was posted on her homepage within the last 36 hours. Which means the reason for the Philly game being televised by ESPN2 is now crystal clear. If this is accurate (and I don’t see why it wouldn’t), then 11/6 at the Linc will be the final east coast appearance of Mia and Foudy before they retire from international duty. Ditto for Fawcett, but she has been sidelined the entire tour with a rumored back injury (perhaps a recurrance of the same injury that allowed Mitts to rack up the caps this year; Costa Rica, Algarve, etc.) and is unlikely to partake even in this penultimate game of the tour. So even though it’s still a ways off (a week and a half), why not have one last pre-match thread, for old times’ sake before this and all the other WUSA boards begin to finally fade away. The prices for memorabilia seem to be a bit on the high side, from the few reports I’ve read on the N&A forum (more than $70 for a replica jersey, for example). Heinrichs will be conducting a coaching clinic on the weekend of the friendly, I believe, and maybe Mitts will make a cameo appearance on NBC10 where she used to work for before moving to Miami. And hopefully, she'll get another cap as a tip of the hat to her Charge career here. Paul
Re: 11/6 US-Denmark Pre-Match... I am in. I don't know how many people with though but I should soon.
Fawcett KO'd for Philly - injury... A check of this, http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=122127&itype=113&iCategoryID=0 not only reveals the HDC will get the final game of the tour, but that Joy Fawcett will not play that game, nor Wednesday *or* Saturday, either, due to injury. I believe this was the first time US Soccer officially confirmed that she was injured. Paul
Re: 11/6 US-Denmark Pre-Match... Mitts was on NBC’s ’10!’ morning show and WIP during Howard Eskin’s shift later in the day. She was the only one from the WNT to come down from the Meadowlands ahead of time to drum up pub for the game, as the rest of the team shows up sometime today. That’s been the m.o. of the tour so far – the team arrives the afternoon before the game, grant an interview or two, and may or may not practice beforehand (Mitts suggested it didn’t seem there would be any official practice either at the Linc, NovaCare or even Villanova Stadium, now dark save for university lacrosse or field hockey as the football team played its final home game of the year 2 weeks ago). She was gracious, as always to the fans who showed up after she finished taping the show. It would have been nice if they had all made the trip together, and a few of them fan out to the TV stations yesterday (Comcast SportsNet, anyone?). There may be a couple mentions of it on the tube today and the obligatory Inquirer write-up tomorrow, but will it be enough to push the crowd over 20,000? The weather won’t be an excuse; it’ll be sunny, and the Kixx will have their home opener an hour after the game ends at the Spectrum. So maybe they’ll get a bounce from tomorrow’s festivities (I’m surprised they haven’t pursued that - bring your US-Denmark ticket stub to our game and get $4 or $5 off, for example, your Kixx ticket). Time will tell. I want to thank Heather for making the extra effort to let everyone know about the game. During the ‘10’ interview she said there would definitely not be a WUSA in 2005 (she didn’t even bring up the possibility of another round of festivals like in Blaine, MN and the HDC). What was a downer is that even a 2006 start is iffy, and there may not be a Philadelphia franchise (nice to slap down all those Charge fans who came out in the monsoons that were more than a few Saturday night games in ’03 and propelled the team to the highest non-MLS twinbill-aided average home attendance in the league). :| Paul (looking forward to meeting contributors to the board tomorrow...)
Re: 11/6 US-Denmark Pre-Match... I was hoping they would be in town and practicing some where open to the public.... no luck even though I took a day off just in case I am so looking forward to the game tomorrow A group of fans will be across from the Linc in the wacovia lot, beating a dead hourse with our large red SAVE THE WUSA banner so people will see it as they head into the game. I will be there between 12 and 1... I am looking to bing a couple of large Subs and some soda
Re: 11/6 US-Denmark Pre-Match... I should be getting down there between 2:15 and 2:30. Remember to head for the northwest plaza (near the HeadHouse entrance) at halftime; I'll be wearing a Penn hat and a Mathis 5 jersey over a Penn sweatshirt.
Re: 11/6 US-Denmark Pre-Match... Can do, thanks. I'll bring the Charge foam #1 thing out of mothballs; it figures to be a terrific rematch, and maybe we'll get to see a Mitts goal (and another cap for the home-away-from-home fans at least...)
Re: 11/6 US-Denmark Pre-Match... The meeting place is the gray area at the lower left corner of this picture.
Re: 11/6 US-Denmark Pre-Match... I've tried to write a review of the game twice and inadvertently closed the screen, so this is all or nothing now I want to thank Chargefan and Jonathan for taking time to shoot the breeze with me yesterday. I appreciated their company muchly. You know the coyote ugly stuff chapter and verse from yesterday; thet got whupped by a better side that played a lot higher than their #9 FIFA ranking would indicate. Heinrichs continues her Ed Wade impersonation, as a front office type without a clue. She needs to go, and the reasons don't even need to be rehashed here. Mitts acquitted herself well, I thought. Except for the handball, she did a good job on the right, and later in the second half when the middle of the US defense was leaking like a sieve, she stabilized it. My dad, who watches soccer every now and then, thought she did OK as well. It seemed like there were a bit more than 14,900 there; nice touch for the players to fan out to all parts of the stadium afterward. A downer was that there was no pseudo-retirement ceremony (since it was the last time the three of them on the east coast) for Mia, Julie and Fawcett. The only Charge alumnus I saw on the field afterward was Janel Schillig, Melissa's backup GK in 2002, looking as spectacular (and sadly, spoken-for) as ever. For anyone who saw the game on TV and those who showed up to see it live, whether or not you've posted here before or left for greener pastures, your opinions on the game are welcome, and since the hour is late for me, I'll hold off on saying a few things about the future of the forum until tomorrow night. Paul
Re: 11/6 US-Denmark Pre-Match... It was great to meet fans as always at the games, however the crowd was indicative of the future of the WUSA at this time. It was a lousy showing on a Saturday for the last chance to See the Ladies live on the East coast. Another note about the crowd, Maybe it was the temperature or the venue, but there seemed to be no "buzz" in the crowd and it seemed mainly subdued. I had mixed feelings going into this match, because they played to a tie that Wednesday and US Soccer seemed not to want to create an "Event" Atmosphere at the linc.. a little promotion and support would have been nice, not just the video tribute, but they should have done something on the field The whole evening made me long for those evenings at VIllanova even more, knowing that the WUSA is gone for good. With the Euros looming next June, I don't think we will see any Charge players in the Area playing (Although Lorrie may be around from time to time) I don't know how much fun the NJ WIldcats will be, but we should be able to see HEather O'Rielly playing there. CHeers to all
Re: 11/6 US-Denmark Pre-Match... For what it's worth, I thought Mitts performed a lot better than most of her teammates. IMHO Denmark played like a WWC finalist, score could have been more lopsided than 3-1. It will be interesting to see if the Danes continue to play that well in 2005.
Re: 11/6 US-Denmark Pre-Match... I agree with the earlier statements - the US was badly outplayed. As to the lead up, I consider myself to be fairly well-connected in the soccer community. There was NOTHING that I saw promoting this match after the initial "Farewell Tour" announcement . . . no reminders, advertising that I was aware of, or anything. If it weren't for my seeking out information, I would never have known the event took place. Due to a series of events, I was unable to attend - the first soccer match at the Linc that I have missed. I did get to see most of the game on TV. I would love to see LFF replace RFK as the east coast home of US Soccer - but not during Eagles season.
Re: 11/6 US-Denmark Pre-Match... According to their catalog, you can order a Heather Mitts shirt from Eurosport: http://www.soccer.com/IWCatProductP...ection_Id=1&pcount=&Product_Id=149434&Key_id=
Re: 11/6 US-Denmark Pre-Match... Nice of you to check in, Dave...the Danes simply felt, I suspect, that they had more to play for; they're prepping for Euro 2005, even if it's more than a half-year away. I think it was the temperature and not the Linc itself that didn't lend to a boisterous mood among the crowd. No local publicity, save for Mitts on NBC10 and a couple of newspaper articles. Awful luck, cubed, for the only game of the tour up to that point to be on national TV and it turn out the way it did. It should worry any fan of the WNT that we need *something* in place *coughWUSAWMLSwhatevercough* to keep ahead of the rest of the world, since they are catching up, and not just the Brazils and Germanys, either. Otherwise, we run the risk of being left at the train station. But you guys know that already Paul