I wasn't sure how to do the pbp threads for this tournament, but thought sticking with weekly might be the easiest. We can switch to a "round one" if the mod wants to change it. June 27 (all times in MDT) 10:30 am NC Courage vs Portland Thorns (CBS, CBS All Access, Twitch for intl viewers) 8:00 pm Chicago vs Washington (CBS All Access, Twitch) June 30 10:30 am Houston vs Utah (CBS All Access, Twitch) 8:00 pm OL Reign vs Sky Blue (CBS All Access, Twitch) July 1 10:30 am Portland vs Chicago (CBS All Access, Twitch) 8:00 pm Washington vs NC Courage (CBS All Access, Twitch) Injury report for the opener (McDonald is out): Confirmation of Thorns news in the injury report for the NWSL Challenge Cup opener between North Carolina Courage and Portland Thorns. pic.twitter.com/BHoSl7GwLX— Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) June 26, 2020
With the entire group of aging National Team forwards out of action for the NWSL (Rapinoe, Morgan, Heath, Press, Lloyd ) it's a great opportunity for a new generation of forwards to shine. Who will that be? Lynn Williams, probably. Balcer and Hamilton, maybe. Hatch, Huerta possibly. Or one of the rookies: Sanchez, Watt, Weaver. I see that Sophia Smith is injured.
I just saw Portland’s starting lineup. WHAT THE HELL!?!? ...on second look, Lussi is a tiger (the Princeton part is a happy coincidence) and l’ve been a fan of Salem since she and Zerboni were together a couple of seasons with the Flash....
Portland Bixby Hubly Sauerbrunn Menges Kling Salem Rodriguez Horan Lussi Sinclair Everett *Bixby over Eckerstrom is surprising, as is Everett over #2 pick Weaver or Charley NCC Labbé Merrick Dahlkemper Erceg Daniels Mewis O'Sullivan Debinha Dunn Williams Hamilton *People tipped Harbison, Mace or even Dunn/Hamilton out of position at RB. Instead it's Merrick!
Both teams are wearing Black Lives Matter shirts for warm-ups (but I can't see it!): WE. OUT. HERE. #NWSL pic.twitter.com/ljKuetCZm9— Alex Vejar (Tortured Poet version) (@AlexMVejar) June 27, 2020
One nice thing about NCC playing the opening match: two of their best players (both highlighted so far in the broadcast) are WOC, which works very well with the fact that everyone is wearing BLM t-shirts. One thing about NWSL hitting CBS is that the reach of broadcast TV casts a much, much wider net than cable & streaming (both pay services) do, so being able to reach that new audience with diverse representation could hopefully encourage young players that might not see it otherwise.
One of the questions I had was "will there be a national anthem, and if so, what will the players do?" Question answered: everyone taking a knee. Every single player. pic.twitter.com/FuS3JcTyF9— John D. Halloran (@JohnDHalloran) June 27, 2020 Also even the referees are wearing Black Lives Matter t-shirts: All players from both clubs are kneeling on the pitch in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. Also, players on the sideline are kneeling. Referees are wearing matching BLM shirts.#NCvPOR | #NWSL pic.twitter.com/4qHW8R458M— The Equalizer (@EqualizerSoccer) June 27, 2020
Which kind of lessens the impact but it is a LOT better than a ban on kneeling. I do wonder if everyone agrees to kneeling or if there will be some "reverse" protests where some do not kneel. I did notice that the match officials stood for the anthem.
Players league-wide had talked about it, and the NWSLPA even had a sub-committee deciding on what actions of protest they were going to take together in a show of solidarity (made along with a joint statement): https://equalizersoccer.com/2020/06...ack-lives-matter-movement-challenge-cup-utah/
I also really like those "team banners" stretched across the away-side seating, including that sponsorship visibility!
Bixby already forced to make the first save of the game! Nasty deflection off of one of her defenders.
Did they? Not everyone is kneeling tho. pic.twitter.com/H9moFAycGM— Alex Vejar (Tortured Poet version) (@AlexMVejar) June 27, 2020
I dislike the fake crowd noise we are hearing. I would rather hear the on field communication. But the Primer League is doing the same kind of crap so I guess it will be universal.
I was watching Serie A before this and they didn't pump fake crowd noise in. But I don't mind the "crowd"; it does help the atmosphere, even if it doesn't really react to on-field happenings.
But kneeled during the moment of silence. And there's this reasoning as well (from a MLS AR): Seeing tweets about refs not taking a knee during anthem:1) nobody tells refs that both teams have a coordinated PR statement & on-field plan2) they were likely caught off guard3) they all kneeled during the moment of silence4) it's ingrained in us to not "be seen"#NWSL— Jonathan Johnson (@AsstRef) June 27, 2020
I'd prefer the on-field communication as well and being able to hear the coaches. But, it does add to the atmosphere (even if its not always exactly "synced" to what's happening on the field.)
Williams tries for glory and completely screws up a very promising attack. Maybe that offensive stupidity is one of the reasons she does not have more caps.
It is quite clear that both teams have had an extremely long layoff. Both the skill level and the team interactions are quite poor. The final touch and passes under pressure are way off and decisions are not even close to good under any kind of pressure.