Because as things stand now, there's some serious fixing needing to be done. At this rate, the Charge are on pace to give up 63 goals this year (9 goals/3 games, 18 games remaining). So who do you sit next weekend and what do you do differently to ensure a travesty of a game like yesterday doesn't happen again? Can it be avoided, especially when you've got the FCII runners-up on deck? The team was changed far too much in the off-season, IMO. Scasna has turned out to be a non-factor and, worse, injury-prone. Maybe we should have gone after Dominguez instead. I'm sure we could trade Scasna for a 2004 2nd-rounder (if there is a fourth season), and get Lihong back in the fold. We need her back, folks. Arrington at this point seems to be the only draftee that has panned out. The only one. Any hopes about McVeigh as a viable option in the backline were answered emphatically yesterday. Another problem is, inherent with a small team as we have now, is that you've got to keep the ball on the ground. You have a better chance, IMO, of getting quality chances than by just lobbing it up in the air and a taller opponent harmlessly head the ball away. I worry that this loss, as utterly demoralizing a setback as I've seen in a long time in any sport, will affect the crowds for future games. I wonder, too, how many first-timers took advantage of the Charge's 100% money-back guarantee. To see the lead evaporate once is understandable; twice is less so. But four times? Paul
Paul: I think Adam Z. has the right attitude regarding the Charge. Treat it as an entertainment product on weekends and enjoy it while it lasts. Don't worry about what you can't control. The word is pretty much out among the media and the customers that the Charge is a lame-duck franchise that is being operated by WUSA as a ward of the league. Don't underestimate the effect of the turmoil on the team's performance. Many thought that the Charge would be in LA by now, but Anschutz has held off on the investment for another year. By this time next year, we may see WUSA in a completely different form, with different investors and different cities, perhaps a different name (WMLS perhaps?) Phil Anschutz appears to be WUSA's only hope, and he appears to be willing to listen. Even Foudy and Brandi understand this, and they have definitely changed their tunes regarding "WMLS".
I think that you will both be okay in both the short and long terms. Quite frankly, I think it's actually rather healthy to obsess about something as inconsequential on the grand scale of life as a women's soccer team playing in an 11,000-seater stadium in the suburbs of the only really big city in this country-- not to mention the Northeast Corridor-- without an MLS team. If the team can hold together and rally, they will not only improve their record but bring in a lot of Philadelphia sports fans who appreciate that type of attidude and style of play. All we are saying is give peace (and Philadelphia) a chance...