We won't be watching the match on TV (hope the VCR is working!) so we won't be able to give updates. Go Blue Lions!!!!
We won 1-0. REALLY tough game. You guys out-fouled us something like 18 to 9. You guys had many great chances, and we were lucky on the shot which hit the goal post. Printz was in a constant stuggle with our defense- she made some great chances but we shut her down. In the last five or ten minutes you could see the Carolina frustration, and that resulted in a red card for Tiffany (yelling at the ref). I have rooted for you against us last year... I'm glad we finally beat you when you are a shoo-in for the finals, and we are fighting for our lives. One of the largest crowds in Atlanta this year.... I don't know the official attendance.
Surely many of you watched on Fox... I invite comments on the officiating. Both sides got some dubious calls. I hate to see the kind of thing which puts Tiffany out for the next game.
Tiffany showed horrible judgement at the end. Get a red card for dissent in the dying seconds of a loss is not "standing up for her teammates." It is, instead, a stupid mistake that punishes her team by forcing them to play the now-crucial Washington game without her. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I was at the game and I couldn't believe the lack of judgement by Tiffany. She is a player I have respect for and really was sad for her. I am not sad for Carolina now as they will be without her for their next match and will hopefully open up a chance for us to gain more ground on the Courage. Printz is just an a$%. I have never heard a louder cheer at a Beat match for someone getting a yellow card. There was a group of us in our section booing her every tome she touched the ball. I loved how Nonen stood up to her and gace her a piece of her own medicine. Nice to finally beat y'all. It felt good. I would like to thank those who visited us at our tailgate before the game. It was nice chatting with y'all. The Beat may see the Courage again (just wish I would be in the country for it.) WAR BEAT!!!
Birgit I don't know who you are, who thinks Birgit is a #$@& but you don't know Birgit, she is a competitor like any other, are you telling me you wouldn't be frustrated if you put one shot off the post and two just off the frame. THose are shots she normally buries. As for Nonen, she just keeps my impression of Atlanta being a team of thugs. Nothing has changed that. TR, way to go. She was the captain last night and nonen should have gotten a card for throwing Birgit into the field boards. That is ridiculous, and I hope the league tells her so. Nell stood up for her teammate and earned her yellow card. Officiating=SUCKED!!!! The guy in the yellow jersey got too much face time. The first card on TR was BS, she was stationary and Bri leveled her. Birgit should have gotten a card for her dive, but didn't. There were some crappy calls all the way around against both sides, but a lot of the fouls on Carolina were BS. Kara
Oddball I was at the match and there was a lot away from the ball that Carolina was getting away with that you probably didn't see if you were watching the match on television. As for TR - if you already have a card, DO NOT antoganize the ref. She was complaining about a card that was a MUST ISSUE yellow. SHe had no business complaining about that card. Printz is a ruffian. She was lucky not to get a double yellow last night. She was throwing elbows all over the place last night. It isn't my fault that she can't finish. More proof that she belongs in the WWE and not the WUSA. As for that hockey-like meeting with the boards, that was at least as much due to Printz's recklessness as a push from Nonen. The ref was right there and saw the whole thing. Y'all tried to out-rough us and it didn't work. BTW, y'alls coach was lucky to not get kicked out of the match. With about 10 minutes to go, the head ref warned both coaches that he wouldn't take any more. Surprisingly, Stone laid off. The Courage coach did not. Wednesday night. Without TR, y'all have to take on a good Freedom side. We have to take on the Spirit(less). I like our chances to draw within two of y'all. We WILL host a semi AND the Founder's Cup. WAR BEAT!!!
I believe Gebauer said that McDermott used Unni Lehn as the playmaking MF while Hege Riise dropped back a lil' bit. Is that correct? I must've missed that last night as I was doing the PBP. I commented several times about how Riise was a tad bit quiet in the match. And on my second viewing of the match this morning that is when I heard this mentioned (I think I also read it in one of the articles I posted this morning). Anyhoo was this a good idea by Marcia or not?
Damn, I felt really bad for Carolina at the end. They let the thugs get under their skin. I sooooooooo wanted Carolina to kick their asses. (with goals, that is, not literally, the way it almost ended up. sigh...) Prinz let her frustration at not being able to finish really get to her. She should have converted at least ONE of those and I'm sure she knows it. The 1st call against TR was soooooo bogus! In the replay you can see she was going parallel to the goal and Scurry just clocked HER right in the face. However, she should NOT have let her emotions get away from her in the waning moments of the game. It did absolutely no good and hurt them for the next game. The slam into the boards on Prinz should have been called, but she was stupid to fall down like that after she got shoved. It was an obvious, deliberate shove, but... sheesh, did she think anyone would buy that?? And that friggin' Tom Stone is such a pompous ass. I'm so sick of hearing his big mouth all through the game. Even McDermott got sick of it at the end and you could hear her yelling at the ref to "stop talking to Tommy and PLAY! Play the game!!" The funny thing is, I like most of the players on the Beat. Really. I will never like Hooper, however. The sins of the past will never go away in my mind... I just don't like them as a team. It really IS that thug mentality, which I feel Stone breeds. Win at all costs, take no prisoners... It's the difference between teams like Philly and Carolina, who win with class and are at the top, and them, who thug their way through. And no, it's certainly not every game, just "when they have to". I think every team does that now and again, and yes, you DO want to play hard, but when being a thug is part of team mentality that's drilled into you by the coach and something you're proud of, that's when I don't like it. But hey, that's just one woman's opinion. Mine. Norma
I'm curious...is there a leader pecking order? I mean you'd think the way TR went nuts near the end of the game...a teammate like Riise or Fotop would rush over to her to try to restrain her in hopes of making sure she didn't get booked.
Tiff is the captain, she wears the armband. She's the one that is supposed to be the onfield liason with the refs. While it is sometimes appropriate for a captain to "take one for the team." This was not the situation. If we are lucky, the team will rally together and this will make them more focused. If we are not, this will be the beginning of the end. Wednesday's game against Washington should be the perfect "gut check." Now we find out what the team is made of. The final result on the scoreboard is less important than the way they play. As a team, or selfishly. Confident or desperate. Go Courage.
I don't think Nonen, at 5'6 was that much stronger than Prinz who is 5'10. It was obviously played up by Prinz and therefore I don't feel that bad for her. My goodness, she's 4 inches taller and I'm sure she knows how to take a hit. Crying about it is not a good way to get sympathy from me. Let's see... Carolina had 19 fouls, 4 yellow cards and 1 ejection. Atlanta had 9 fouls and 1 yellow card. Who are the thugs!?! Carolina wins with class, but they sure don't loose with it. TR might not have deserved the first yellow but I don't think many people blame the ref for the ejection. She lost her temper and whatever she wants to claim about "sticking up for teammates" doesn't seem to fit. She LOST her cool, along with Prinz with her yellow. I've been impressed with Carolina this year, the progress they've made and the great soccer they've been playing. But they won't be a good team in my mind until they learn to loose with grace. I really don't think Atlanta THUGED their way through this game- we won, and with more class than Carolina had during the game.
As I said, they let the Beat get under their skin this time. They got very frustrated and let their emotions get to them. Especially Prinz. I think she was very frustrated with HERSELF and just let loose. They all seemed frustrated and desperate not to lose. I also said EVERY team does this now and again, but Stone makes it the team motto! I don't think I've ever seen them like this before. Norma
Team Thug Atlanta and Class in the same sentence, now there is a contradiction in terms, kinda like military intelligence. hehehe, Oh well, Atlanta got lucky and beat us last night. whoop-de-doo. Carolina will whoop atlanta again and again, like the red-headed step-child they are. Go Courage, all the way to Founders II, i will be there, will you. K~
Just to address this one issue: There is NOTHING in the FIFA laws that gives the captain any special rights at all. The only thing the captains do under FIFA is take the opening coin flip. After that they have no duties different than any other player. NO player or coach has ANY right to question the refs calls or in any way show up the ref. FIFA is very clear that any questioning of the calls or confrontation with the ref should result in a yellow card. The fact that the referees are too gutless to enforce most of the laws on first occurrence is what causes games to get out of control and what makes for the stupid displays like we see all the time in the men's game where a ref will make a call and then be surrounded by players yelling at him/her. Fortunately the women's game has much less of this stupid, childish behavior but TR went WAY over the edge and, if the ref understood German Prinz did too. Of course if the ref had had the guts to pull a few cards for arguing and excessive rough play early on the game would never have gotten out of hand and TR might have kept her cool. The referees need to step up and display some guts or the Women's game may drop to the juvenile delinquent level of most of the men's game.
I was at the game last night and it was the best game this year! Great atmosphere!! I think the foul with TR and Bri probably should not have been called at all. TR was going for the ball and so was Bri and they collided. The foul was probably only called cuz it was a collision with the keeper and refs aren't too leniant on that one! I think Printz deserved all the pushing she got from Nonen. Last night she was all over every defender she faced. I have never agreed with Atlanta being thugs. I have thought that they play physical but never downright dirty for no reason. Last night Carolina was taking cheap shots on players and numerous calls were not made... my dad and I agreed that Printz should have gotten a yellow long before the second half. She got her first yellow for a foul that was probably just a matter it was her millionth dirty play of the night. Printz and Fotopolous constantly tried to throw the defenders down chasing for balls. the midfielders and defense was holding Atlanta on nearly every throw in and for some reason it was never called. TR lost her temper and when the ref gives you one yellow and you keep yelling at his back and in his face you deserve a yellow and I hope this affects the Courage in their next game... payback for their lack of class. Everyone knows Sharlota Nonen doesn't take crap from anyone and if I had Printz hacking at me all night then I would shove her into the boards also... and after the game I heard Nonen talking about things that were said on the field. I respected Carolina this year for being so improved and what a turnaround it was but last night I lost all respect for the players for justhaving no class and being dirty, sore losers.
What was called on that play was offside. TR was in an offside position when the ball was headed forward to her. The Beat players had steped forward leaving her all alone with Scurry. The ref's raised hand indicating an indirect kick was the clue as to what was called.
Nor did I mean to imply special priveleges. The armband is a team hierarchy. Tiffany is the leader of the Courage on the field. She let her rage, understandbly but regretably, get out of hand.
It's funny. The Beat have been outfouled in most of their games this year. I don't know where you are getting this "thug" mentality from unless you are holding on to it from last year. This is the first game against Carolina that we actually brought our game! The Courage didn't outplay us the first two games this year, we played like sh!t and let them have it. The Beat are now in a rhythm and they did not "thug" their way through. TR played nasty the last time they were in Atlanta and should have had a card for her violent plays on Parlow. She was just playing catch-up last night. She deserved the ejection. Way stupid move. What about the take down of Burt (um...our Burt, not yours... BTW, lots of dirty pushing and shoving from your Burt towards the end as well... she was just smarter about it - away from the ref)? That card was deserved as well. Was that not dirty? Burt was pretty beaten up. It was a hard fought game and Prinz lost her composure and hurt her team by not being able to get beyond the physical play (being played by both teams). She is a good player and from what I hear, a nice person. But this is sport and she is our opponent, so we invite and appreciate her unsuccessful attempts against us! I'm sure we will see you again.
Spare me. I really don't care for Tom Stone, but I'll have to defend him. This is professional sports. The object is to "win at all costs." That's what it is all about. When folks are perusing the trophy case, they ain't asking, "Yeah, but did you win with class?" I want the Courage to win. If they have to bruise a few egos and ribs along the way, so be it. I don't condone "dirty" play, but hard nosed "take on prisoners" is great if it works. None of us, but the CyberRays fans, knows what it is like to win the Founders Cup, but I will tell you this from my MLS experience. The 2000 Season was horrible. The Wizards (my team) kept winning by playing the most negative boring, hard to watch style. They'd get a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute, then defend for 80 minutes. Dreadful. But it worked. They had 17 shutouts in 32 games, then 5 more in 7 postseason games including MLS Cup 2000 where they scored in the 11th minute. After 90 minutes, then 6 minutes of stoppage time, you can't imagine how great it was to dance and sing Campeones. Click Here It didn't matter that the team was boring, or that we played the most deplorable style. It only mattered that we won the championship. Go Courage. I want to sing again!