Tuesday 10: Feelings/Emotions During the Women's World Cup Final

We felt like this more or less.

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Spoiler Alert: It's not a happy ending.

We felt like this, more or less:

Japan's goal may well have
looked like this during the first half.

-- 1st minute: Frustration (Unable to find parking at the packed-out bar.)

-- 18th minute: Still Frustration (Are these goals regulation size? Are we sure they're working?)

-- 29th minute: Amazement (Even though that went off the crossbar, it only strengthened our desire to send Jozy to Abby Wambach Camp next summer.)

-- 46th minute: Hot and Bothered (What? We have a thing for pink headbands.)

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

-- 70th minute: Euphoria (Rapinoe's pass. Oh. My. God. There are no words.)

-- 80th minute: Deflation

-- 103rd minute: Euphoria Again [Morephoria?] (YESS! WAMBACH IS A BEAST! WE'RE GOING TO WIN! I HOPE I DIDN'T JUST JINX IT!).

-- 116th minute: 困ったな, or 'Shit, did that just happen? (Now how do you say 'worst case scenario' in Japanese?)

-- FT: Disbelief/Shock/Numbness.

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In A Loss, A Future Victory For American Soccer

Hey look, its another generation of youth captivated by a women's team. I'm sure that won't pay dividends for the future of American soccer...

The word "destiny" got thrown around pretty casually in the run up to this Women's World Cup Final. Granted it was by a lot of media types looking to make Sunday's match as hyperbolic as possible; most American soccer fans held back only hoping for the best while fearing the worst (hey it's in our nature).

"Destiny" is one of those words that should never be used in sports, or really, anywhere. Unless you've got a signed letter from God (or the gods) leave the "D-word" packed up. Sports have a funny (no depressing) way of playing out.

I took the loss hard. Probably harder than the men's loss to Ghana in 2010. This was a final after all. I'll be the first to admit... tears were shed... lots of them. Beers, naturally, followed tears.

Reflecting on this U.S. Women's National Team run to the WWC Final the casual observer would almost have assumed that a victory was assured. A dramatic victory versus Brazil and an inspired performance against France got them this far. Japan... good wins, but another speed bump to our third title.

For as much as grit and determination got the Lady Nats to the final, Japan happened to have just a little bit more. Just like the U.S., outmatched and outplayed for large stretches of their wins in the quarterfinals and semi-finals, so was Japan, but down twice, they fought back, and won on penalties that made Nike's "Pressure Makes Us" campaign seem quite silly (the ad ran following the conclusion of the match making it all the more salt-in-the-wound).

The magic ran out at the wrong time. All the right players played their roles. Alex Morgan clinically finished to amp up the hype machine on her future USMNT career. Abby Wambach finished another fine header effort to lead the Lady Nats. Hope Solo was solid and stopped yet another PK. The rest of the supporting cast: Megan Rapinoe, Lauren Cheney, Carli Lloyd, captain Christine Rampone, et al all performed admirably.

The difference became in full-time as it were in penalties, Japan finished when it counted, while the U.S. did not. The penalty misses and saves were representative of the countless missed opportunities during regular and extra time.

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I was interviewed during the match by a local news crew about what a victory would mean for women's soccer in the United States. I said that this squad would be able to escape the ghosts of the 1999ers and final forge a new identity for themselves. That hopefully this event would take even a small percentage of casuals and make them into new fans.

What I failed to mention (and in thinking now the interview probably won't run because the women losts) was that irrespective of whether these American ladies won or lost doesn't change the incredible journey they brought us all on.

Hope Solo is still the best goal keeper in women's soccer.

Abby Wambach is still the best header of the ball in the game (honestly, men or women) and a damn good finisher.

Alex Morgan has the potential to become and electric force for the USWNT for the next two or three World Cups; an exciting prospect that should have U.S. fans drooling at the prospects of the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada (road trip, anyone?)

It doesn't change the fact that you can see each one of these amazing women playing week-in-and-week-out in the Women's Professional Soccer league. It doesn't change the fact that, next year, almost the exact same squad will compete in the Olympic games in London, a tournament that is incredibly prestigious in the women's game (as opposed to the men's game where it's seen as a youth tournament).

The millions of casual eyes that turned toward the TVs and filled the bars across American will quietly slink back to, well, whatever they were watching before. America loves a winner until they are the losers.

This women's squad, is, though, anything but losers. In a tournament run marked by the Lady Nats' ability to dig deeper than their opponents, Japan was to claw even deeper. Credit to them.

American need not to abandon their summertime heroes. Right now we a desperate for something positive. The debt crisis, Casey Anthony, I'm sure in a few weeks, shark attacks, dominate the news.

Abby Wambach still headed home one of the most dramatic game winners in all of professional sports. Hope Solo still spread out to deny Brazil. The depth and determination of this team is still undeniable. A loss takes nothing away from the dramatic events and efforts that brought them to this place on Sunday. A loss does not make those moments disappear. 

Where do we go from here? A win, while satisfying, well, incredibly satisfying, would be momentary. Perhaps the WPS would see a bump from casual fans wanting to see their World Cup heroes in person?

They can still do that. They are still heroes. They still exist.

All of those casual fans that filled my American Outlaws chapter bar to capacity give us good measure of the potential for soccer in America and the American soccer landscape. They are out there, waiting to be mesmerized again. The goal is now to let them know that these games happen all the time and these players (both male and female) fight for the honor of their country's colors more often that the lazy days of summer when baseball drags on an football and basketball are hibernating. 

The people that filled bars across the nation and living rooms around the U.S. show that this sport is no longer in the shadows. This Women's World Cup wave was built on the back of the men's journey in 2010, built on the back of all the American soccer journeys stretching back to 1999 and even before to 1994. Every successive generation American soccer is capturing more of their hearts and minds.

Just like the U.S.'s odds for the next Women's World Cup, for the American soccer fan base, the foundation is there. It's up to us, to make sure we're still there, inviting them along for the riding, buying them a beer, each and every time. 

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Women's Soccer... Yup... We're Still Stuck in "That" Place

Abby Wambach's dramatic stoppage-time header, Hope Solo's amazing reflexes, and an incredible 10-women team effort saw the United States Women's National Team triumph over the anti-soccer tactics of Brazil and capture the nation's interest.

Unfortunately, no matter how many heroics these women perform there will be one thing that they can't triumph over.. the blatant sexism that exists in our media. It's nothing new, but just like American soccer bashing, the mainstream sports media just can't seem to get enough of it.

Today's attack on what should be a seminal moment in American soccer history comes from the site, "Tauntr" (which I won't even link to to give them the page views they crave), who's sole mission seems to be make bad jokes that piss off everyone.

"Tauntr is a new brand in sports entertainment that stands for original, edgy, humorous and intelligent multi-media content. Games, videos, animations, images, articles, comics and taunting tools are distributed through platforms such as the web, mobile devices, print, radio, TV, merchandise and live events. Our very unique, rapid content creation company is comprised of professional writers, animators and designers as well as a game development team. Tauntr content is designed to evoke emotion, spur debate and achieve viral activity."

There will be a few of your that tell us that we've played right into their hands with our outrage, but we tend to fall for the trick a lot when the lamestream (yeah Sarah Palin... we stole your word!) sports media trots out their tired attacks on soccer. Being the promoter of American soccer and soccer in America also comes the responsibility of being its defender. An attack on soccer, men's or women's, is worth a sturdy rebuking.

Tauntr in their juvenile "Beavis and Butthead" sense of humor decided to make "propaganda posters" to help promote women's soccer and make even help them get the "right to vote". Very clever. We're still making voting jokes 90 years later.

Here are the posters in reverse order of how they're on the Tauntr website.

Exhibit C

We'll only half mention what a shitty Photoshop job this is. So eager to make the joke that they don't even try to do it with any creativity. Women's soccer is only an opportunity to see someone take off their shirt. Go to a beach. 

Exhibit B

Sigh. An accomplished coach gets reduced to being compared to a man in the looks department.


Exhibit A

At first this one wasn't so offensive to us. We used the original "Rosie the Riveter" image in our post yesterday explaining our "lust-to-love" affair with the Lady Nats. After seeing the rest of the posters, we realized the entire project was meant to be demeaning, it hit home that this one wasn't even celebrating the women's strength but mocking them that it took until the closing minutes of the match to get the job done.

Fine... Tauntr rolled out a bunch of tired stereotypes about women and soccer. We get that. This is their shtick. We're at the all-star break for baseball and basketball and football are in the off-season and locked out. They're desperate for content.

If they REALLY wanted to ACTUALLY be edgy as they claim in their "about us" they could've made propaganda posters that DID promote the women's game. The Abby Wambach poster would've been epic without the cheeky parenthesis, the Alex Morgan and Hope Solo poster should read "We're more than just a bunch of pretty faces... we'll kick your ass", and if the graphic artist dropped the "who looks like a man" line from the Pia Sundhage poster it might have been a legitimate criticism of the men's team.

Opportunities lost for a quick, cheap joke.

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Who We're Buying A Beer For...

Dunno if he'll give you a beer, but we will!

Oh, man.... we still run this column? You bet! The beer-buying is back and we've got a whole slew of honorees to hand out cold brew too.

Same rules as always as we give thanks and kudos to those helping the great game of soccer in America.


1) MLS Upsets

If there's one thing that gets sports fans interests' up it's seeing the little guy triumph over the giants of the sporting world. David versus Goliath. We've never seen a number sixteen seed take down a number one seed in the NCAA basketball tournament, but when it comes to Major League Soccer and their (often times assinine) playoffs; all bets are off.

We've not even going to get into the "Geography Fail" that the playoffs are, but for suspense and upsets MLS can't be beat.

Exhibit A: New York Red Bulls have all the glitz and glimmer that befits a team based (just outside) in the Big Apple. Two Designated Players in French international Thierry Henry and Mexican international Rafa Marquez, and shinny new stadium, and the financial commitment from a major corporate sponsor. Unstoppable, right?

Enter the San Jose Earthquakes. They Bay Area side slide into the eight and final playoff spot on the back of league-leading scorer Chris Wondolowski. Over two-legs of their first-round playoff match the Earthquakes shook the Red Bulls defense to the core. Down 1-0 at home, San Jose rebounded to bounce out to a 3-0 lead (en route to a 3-2 aggregate win) on New York in Red Bull Arena. Even though Wondo found the score sheet in the second-leg it was USMNTer (probably worthy of another look from Coach Bradley) that was the fuel to the Quakes fire.

The little engine that could.

Exhibit B: The Columbus Crew took all the spoils in the Eastern Conference with 50 points and they've advanced out of group play to the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals, but all that was just window dressing as they fell to the fifth placed Western Conference team, the Colorado Rapids. 2010 is the year the "West Is Best". Despite crawling back to tie the series score 2-2, the Rapids were able to triumph in penalties.

Exhibit C: Last year Real Salt Lake got to player spoiler in the MLS Playoffs leading to their first ever MLS Cup, but this season they had the targets on their backs. FC Dallas, owners of one of the best home forms in 2010, rode that to pull out a 2-1 win a Pizza Hut Park. On the road they were able to use Dax McCarthy's first post-season goal to squeeze out a 3-2 aggregate series win over the defending champions.

Even though Los Angeles went into the 2010 playoffs with the Supporter's Shield owning the league's best points total, the Seattle Sounder we're one of the season's second half's hottest teams. No upset here; just quality soccer.

Three of four of the first-round MLS Playoff match ups showed that for excitement and underdog-rooting, American soccer is you one-stop-shop. And that's brew-worthy.

Maribel Dominguez (goal scorer
 in the 3rd min) and Co. handled the USWNT cooly.

2) Mexican Women's National Team

Losing sucks. Losing to Mexico really sucks. Having a lose to Mexico throw a huge wrench into your World Cup qualifying plans really, really sucks.

On Saturday night, the United States Women's National Team looked to be in the driver's seat heading into their Gold Cup semi-final against regional rivals, Mexico. The USWNT had outscored their group opponents 18-0, has never lost to the southern neighbors, and owned the world's number one FIFA ranking.

History means nothing when the whistle blows and Mexico took the game to their continental counterparts. The Lady Nats looked very much like their male counterparts giving up a third minute goal and then clawing back for the tying scoring. It only took two minutes for El Tri to find the lead and the final tally of the match to end it, 2-1.

Even though we'd hate to give too much kudos to Mexico we think that this loss, one of the biggest in women's soccer history, will play to the USWNT's advantage. The U.S. team has sat atop the FIFA rankings for years now and never falling lower than number two. We hardly think the loss will drop them further than second-best, but hopefully it gives the side and their coach, Pia Sundhage, some perspective and some drive moving forward.

Last night, the Lady Nats completed part one of their qualifying comeback, defeating Costa Rica in the third place match, 3-0. They'll face Italy in an away-and-home playoff on November 20th and 27th, respectively for one spot in the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany.

Here's to Mexio (hopefully the last time we've got to say that) for, hopefully, setting the America's head on straight and rebooting their World Cup drive.

3) Abby Wambach


Did you see what happened to Wambach in the USWNT match against Mexico? The Lady Nats' star foward went heavy into a challenge near the end of regulation and bashed her skull open.

USSoccer.com's USWNT Blog takes it from here:

U.S. forward Abby Wambach suffered a gash on the left side of her forehead in the waning moments of the USA's semifinal loss last night to Mexico. The team medical staff had to insert several large staples to close the gushing wound, but there wasn't enough time left on the clock for her to get back on. Back at the team hotel, Wambach received 13 stitches on her forehead and leading up above her hairline.

Staples! Are you kidding me??!?!? And this isn't first time that Wambach's been counted among the walking wounded. She played on after getting mashed in a first-round match in the 2007 World Cup against North Korea as well.

We're ready to put Ms. Abby in the Brian McBride Wing of the "American Soccer School of Hard Knocks".

Put a cold beer on the gash. We promise it will feel better.

Photo Credits: MLSSoccer.com, USSoccer.com, LegendsOfBeer.com

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News Watch: Profile of WPS on the Rise

It's easy to forget in all of the hullabaloo over the recent success of the men's national team and the positive growth of Major League Soccer that women's soccer was the initial driving force behind the growth of our American sport.

Nineteen Ninety-Four may have put us on the map as fans, but 1999 put the United States on the map as a world soccer power. The women's national team has inspired girls, and boys, across America in joining and supporting a sport that 30 years ago few colleges had programs for.

From a national team perspective, the women's national team has continued its international dominance and kept the squads' profile high. Since the retirement of Mia Hamm (to become Nomar Garciaparra's babymaker), Amy Wambach has proudly, without losing a step, taken over the mantle as the world's best female player (recently tallying her 100th career international goal).

But a domestic women's league has struggle mightily in the U.S. Many of us remember the former WUSA and its short shelf-life. Even recent news of several of the Women's Professional Soccer (the new incarnation of the WUSA) league teams losing a fair bit of cash (like $2 million each) the league and its teams as a whole are looking a lot more stable and plan to add new corporate sponsors and cities to the league soon.

CBS News did a cool profile on the league and some of its players recently. Here's the segment:


Watch CBS Videos Online

- Dan

Link: Women's Professional Soccer league