Perspectives on the beautiful game of soccer; fueled by enormous amounts of coffee
Monday, June 23, 2008
Scurry Era may be over
At least on the national team level - with the Women's Professional League starting up next year, I don't expect Bri to retire from the sport itself, but she could say goodbye to the WNT.
6 comments:
Anonymous
said...
i agree that she should be left off. i love bri and everything she contributed to the sport, but her time is gone. she is not in her prime anymore, and not much of a NT goalkeeper. Nicole Barnhart has been better in 2008 and is a great back-up to Hope..and she got to play at least a single game in every tournament. Good to see that Pia is not making the same mistake and using just ONE GK. I hope Bri continues in the new league, and has a graceful retirement when she decides to hang up the gloves.
I too wish Scurry well as she ends her WNT career. She was a great player for the USWNT for a long time and got put in an untenable position by Mr. Ryan in the WC game v. Brazil. But Solo was the best keeper then and is still the best: she's bigger, as fast but more agressive, better with her feet, better in the air, has a way stronger leg, excellant hands, and takes good charge of the defense in front of her. Barnie is bigger yet, and has made good strides. I think Pia's choices are impeccable.
But I have to say I'm more excited to see Tobin Heath on the squad, since Solo was always a shoein and Pia had more experienced choices than Tobin available in midfield. I think she and Rodriguez are a wonderful fresh breeze through that squad. I think they'll pay big dividends in Beijing on the investment Pia's made in them.
Yes, Heath is an interesting addition to the squad, as is A-Rod. I think it turned out to be a good decision for Amy to take time off from college to focus on the national team and the chance to make the Olympics.
Personally, as great as Scurry was, I hold her in no great esteem. She could have ended the whole Solo controversy by saying publicly that she understood Solo's emotions and harbored no ill will toward her. That would have been the professional and decent thing to do. Instead, she let her "teammate" dangle in the wind, and did nothing to stop the despicable way her teammates treated Solo.
Such decisions say far more about a person than penalty kick saves.
I love this new roster. Sundhage recognizes the need for more speed -- which, in the long run, means no Lilly, Whitehill or Wambach, the co-conspirators and cowards.
I want to retract the comments I made earlier about hoping that the WNT gets trashed in Beijing. Now, I hope it succeeds beyond anyone's expectations. That success will vindicate Sundhage's choices, possibly keep her as the head coach -- and accelerate the international demise of Lilly, Wambach and Whitehill.
Amy Rodriguez is a mustang; Wambach is a plow horse. 'Nuff sed.
6 comments:
i agree that she should be left off. i love bri and everything she contributed to the sport, but her time is gone. she is not in her prime anymore, and not much of a NT goalkeeper. Nicole Barnhart has been better in 2008 and is a great back-up to Hope..and she got to play at least a single game in every tournament. Good to see that Pia is not making the same mistake and using just ONE GK.
I hope Bri continues in the new league, and has a graceful retirement when she decides to hang up the gloves.
Yay for Solo and Barnhart.
Andrea,
We said goodbye a long time ago, and we're at peace with our decision. No hard feelings, ok, but we've moved on.
Go team!
I too wish Scurry well as she ends her WNT career. She was a great player for the USWNT for a long time and got put in an untenable position by Mr. Ryan in the WC game v. Brazil. But Solo was the best keeper then and is still the best: she's bigger, as fast but more agressive, better with her feet, better in the air, has a way stronger leg, excellant hands, and takes good charge of the defense in front of her. Barnie is bigger yet, and has made good strides. I think Pia's choices are impeccable.
But I have to say I'm more excited to see Tobin Heath on the squad, since Solo was always a shoein and Pia had more experienced choices than Tobin available in midfield. I think she and Rodriguez are a wonderful fresh breeze through that squad. I think they'll pay big dividends in Beijing on the investment Pia's made in them.
ghost
Yes, Heath is an interesting addition to the squad, as is A-Rod. I think it turned out to be a good decision for Amy to take time off from college to focus on the national team and the chance to make the Olympics.
Personally, as great as Scurry was, I hold her in no great esteem. She could have ended the whole Solo controversy by saying publicly that she understood Solo's emotions and harbored no ill will toward her. That would have been the professional and decent thing to do. Instead, she let her "teammate" dangle in the wind, and did nothing to stop the despicable way her teammates treated Solo.
Such decisions say far more about a person than penalty kick saves.
I love this new roster. Sundhage recognizes the need for more speed -- which, in the long run, means no Lilly, Whitehill or Wambach, the co-conspirators and cowards.
I want to retract the comments I made earlier about hoping that the
WNT gets trashed in Beijing. Now, I hope it succeeds beyond anyone's expectations. That success will vindicate Sundhage's choices, possibly keep her as the head coach -- and accelerate the international demise of Lilly, Wambach and Whitehill.
Amy Rodriguez is a mustang; Wambach is a plow horse. 'Nuff sed.
Joseph D'Hippolito speaks the truth, Joseph D'Hippolito speaks the truth.
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