Finally, big national coverage of the WUSA. The September 2 Sports Illustrated that just hit newstands has a two-page photo spread on pages 11-12 of the Founders Cup game, captioned "Washington Freedom goalie Siri Mullinix launches herself to block a shot by the Carolina Cougars ,,, the Cougars went on to win the game 3-2" Can you believe it?
I just the following e-mail to Sports Illustrated Letters to the Editor: To: letters@si.timeinc.com "Finally, big national coverage of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA). The September 2 Sports Illustrated that just hit newstands has a two-page photo spread on pages 11-12 of the Founders Cup game, captioned "Washington Freedom goalie Siri Mullinix launches herself to block a shot by the Carolina Cougars ... the Cougars went on to win the game 3-2". Can't we get a little better reporting of soccer, the number 1 participant sport in the USA? The WUSA league champs are the Carolina Courage. The Carolina Cougars and their multi-colored basketball died along with the ABA 25 years ago."
You tell 'em! Way to go, Canesfan. We'll all have to check the Letters to the Editor in coming weeks. I can just hear some copy editor now, looking over that caption, mumbling to himself, "Courage? That can't be right. Nobody would name their team the Courage, would they?"
Let's see. There's the Greensboro based women's professional football North Carolina Cougars (looks like they had a game last weekend: Cougars 14 - Fayetteville 12): http://www.eteamz.com/carolinacougars/ http://www.wfleague.com http://www.cajuncowboy.com/Cougars.htm There's the 1970-ish ABA basketball team from Charlotte, which if memory (not from being there, myself mind you) had Larry Brown as a coach, Ed Manning as an assistant, and Danny Manning as a ball boy (Rock Chalk Jayhawk!) http://www.wyattweb.com/users/sirduke/cougarguides.html http://www.geocities.com/~arthurh/Carolina-Cougars.html (Apparently they even played at Dorton and Reynolds at some point)
Re: You tell 'em! All things considered, yes I can. That is a horrendous mistake, though. That's a funny picture, and probably not too far from the truth. The caption originally said, "Courage" and some bright copy editor changed it to the closest thing that made sense. Ah, but they did, and it looks like it's going to stick. As opposed as I was to it originally, it has grown on me - I no longer shake my head in disbelief every time I hear it, but I do know how the copy editor must have felt. It's conceptually wrong, but very much in keeping with the current fad (which I hope will pass) in team names. It's actually just about the best team nickname in the WUSA. I've said that all along. I'm used to it now. Go Courage!! Go Blue Lions!!
Of course it is somewhat funny to see someone mentioning the Cougars/Courage foul-up, then messing up the name of the magazine in the thread title.
I got this from Sports Illustrated this week: Subject: Carolina COURAGE (SI Leading Off, 9/02/02) Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 12:41:49 -0400 From: "SI Letters Department" <letters@si.timeinc.com> Thanks to you and the other readers who pointed out the error regarding the Carolina Courage on the Leading Off section of SI's September 2 issue. The magazine greatly regrets giving the WUSA champions the incorrect name, and the editors appreciate your writing to set the record straight. Our apology. Sincerely, SI LETTERS