Re: Putting my '99 homer hat on... Forgot to mention this earlier today: The Philadelphia Daily News' headline in the sports section: "So Low."
Re: Putting my '99 homer hat on... Speak for yourself. Some of those girls are ********ing hawwwwwwttttttttt And no Pauk, not talking about Mitts.
It is kind of depressing that the team to beat in the WUSA is the team to beat up on in WPS (no pun intended - it just came out that way). Well, I still miss C. Moore, the blonde twins, Bai Jie, and the rest.... Those were the days. WPS just hasn't been quite the same, even when we had a team.
No hate for San Diego? I hated them almost as much as I hated Carolina. See? That's what WPS needs -- HATE. Lots of it. Directed towards rival teams. I watch games and I'm like, 'Eh. I think there's some TNG repeats on ...' Even when things get nasty, there's no rivalry anymore.
Re: Putting my '99 homer hat on... You do realize that was a mockup and they said they would neer actually put Mitts on the cover? Since most people don't know she went...
The Little twins! Y'know how you sort of emotionally detached yourself from the Freedom when they pulled a snowbird to Fla.? Obviously, you're still going through it, but that's what I did when WUSA shut down. Even when they said ATL would be coming back, I couldn't do it. Still can't. Because I know I'll go out there and sit in the stands for 90 minutes and catch myself wondering why they haven't subbed in Kylie Bivens yet, or where that stupid ass dog mascot is. In the first few years after the league folded, I didn't watch any soccer. Well, I think I watched a Norway-U.S. friendly for shits and giggles. But I just logged off BS one day and didn't log back on for almost a year. The league was dead, Norway didn't qualify for the Olympics ... When I finally came back, I started following Norway again, but I also started keeping up with some foreign leagues. They weren't as polished as WUSA, but there were some pretty good matches going on. For me, I felt comfortable supporting Toppserien, Damallsvenskan and the Frauen Bundesliga because they had been around a while. That's why I think I've been so distant from WPS. Well, that and because I don't think a women's soccer league built on the standard U.S. sports model is *ever* going to last. Instead of creating something they can build on and expand over 5-10 years, they come out with guns blazing, TV deals, big-name international stars ... and at that point, the only place they can go is down. Sorry. Stroll down memory lane and all.
Re: Putting my '99 homer hat on... Well hell... I don't know if it was the pony tail... the number 9... or the look on her face when she was being all God-like in the middle of the game but... She was one of a very few women who could make this red blooded hetero girl drool! I mean damn...
Everything feels a lot more fragile in WPS. I mean, as much as you hated San Diego and Carolina, you didn't want the teams to go bankrupt. (At least I don't think so.) Unfortunately, that's a very real possibility these days. I think the Freedom and Athletica had the makings of a great rivalry, but St. Louis didn't last long enough to support it.
I'm still trying to figure out and digest Sunday. I haven't watched sportscenter or read the papers since we lost. And god forbid I ever watch the recording of it either. I was IN PAIN when we lost, and not even because of the loss really. I felt bad for all our players who played so hard (uphill, I'll give you that) to come away with a loss because we GAVE it to them. Pauk, you mess with Krieger and I'll cut you (too!). Anyway, I was reading about the death of the KK (I think, my patience wears thin when I'm on my phone), and I'm with Bon. After the WUSA I gave up on soccer altogether. It was hard enough being a fan without a team anywhere close by, but even harder when, WAR BEAT, seeing them and all your favorite players working their butts off trying to get the sport noticed and then fold it up. I was disheartened. Plus I didn't know anyone on the team, no one to be a homer about. So it was easy to forget. Not the people here in the KK, but the soccer element. Sadly, and thankfully, this tourney reminded me of how awesome of a sport soccer is. How much I missed watching it. How they need my support, our support. I guess I have to look into the new league? Heh, I don't even know where to start.
I loved to hate Hooper!!!! *waves goodbye enthusiastically* SAWA!!!!!!!! I always had this love/hate with the Beat because I love Bri and Sawa is so badass. I have a tough time cheering against Sawa still, and was happy for her on Sunday. UGH!! CAROLINA!! UGH!!! HAAAAAATED!!! This. Exactly. I tried to get into the WPS when it was here but...it was hard since I'd actually gotten to know several players on the CyberRays and just like you were saying about Bivens, I keep waiting for them to get subbed in. I tried but...I think the wounds are still too fresh in a way despite the years. And I have to be realistic that I'm never going to have that experience again, and to try to keep comparing the leagues in that way emotionally is unfair, but it's still hard. I mean, when you go to the World Cup and Dianne Alagich recognizes your voice in the stands in the middle of the game and gives you a fist-pump and then looks for you after the game...yeah. In basketball, when the ABL folded, I was sad, but it wasn't as bad because there was another league for the players to go to. I didn't lose that continuity. Having the WPS start so many years later means there were players who lost out on almost their whole careers. Yes, we still got to see players like Wambach on the USWNT, but think of how many years of watching that next tier play that we missed. So many of the young players who were drafted by the WUSA out of college have now just never played because there was nowhere to go. We should pick the SAME TEAM this time so we beat up on everyone else together, instead of beating up on each other. LOL
Ouch deluxe at this: http://offthebench.nbcsports.com/20...ns-team-estimated-10-million-in-endoresments/ ----- "As you probably know by now, Hope Solo and Abby Wambach will be on The Late Show with David Letterman tonight, talking about coming so close to winning the Women’s World Cup. And that would be great publicity, if either had a bunch of endorsement deals lined up. Sadly, they don’t. The team has lost about $10 million in endorsements with the loss, say marketing experts. And ex-U.S. National team star Julie Foudy, now an analyst for ESPN, agrees. "Star forward Abby Wambach and goalie Hope Solo were likely the biggest endorsement losers. Both players were looking at $3 million to $4 million a year in marketing deals — a modest sum predicted by sports marketing experts but still a decent amount for a sport that has had trouble sustaining roots with the American public. The experts said another $2 million could collectively be brought in by remainder of the team. "Yeah, the defeat cost the U.S. women some heavy endorsement dollars, but I don’t think it’s a total loss," said Bob Dorfman, exec VP-executive creative director at San Francisco-based Baker Street Partners and an expert in sports marketing. "The final was an epic match, it likely drew a huge audience, and it made household names of Wambach, Solo and Alex Morgan."
This is very true. Even without the rivalry though, you don't see a whole lot of fans huddling together in their team forums, talking about any and everything. Maybe it's the demographics, or maybe there's just not as many fans as when WUSA was around. I don't know. I mean, looking around now at all the old-timers, I would say that sense of community had as much to do with my support as the soccer on the field. And now I have Norway, and what's looking like an every 18-20 month visit to Europe to hang out with fans over there. Watch Toppserien and Norway, maybe some Damallsvenskan and Germany's WNT. That too. Not just young players, but players who would never be on the WNT, the players who either snubbed the WNT or had retired from it (Serlenga, Overbeck, etc.) ... I keep saying this, but I was most heartbroken about Nikki Serlenga. She was really coming into her own. You could see her mature as a player from season to season. And when the league was done, so was she. As far as I know, she never played again. Married a guy, moved to France and that was that. And there were so many out there like her ...