This has been sweet. But with the MNT in WC qualifying and MLS in their season, the little "victory lap" tour and an announcement extending Pia's contract (hopefully soon) will keep the WNT only briefly in the news until they fade away, essentially to be unheard of until WC 2011 (Peace Cup, Algrave, etc, excepted).
One supposes A-Rod, Cheney, and Heath will be soon returning to school for their college seasons (speaking of which, Ryan's Michigan squad got plastered in his first game as head coach by ND 7-0 and I trust Erica Walsh's Nittany Lion charges will spank them just as bad). The US will need to begin looking for and grooming fast tough tenacious and skilled backline players to (eventually) replace Nana, Mitts, and Christy and complement Chalups who will surely become under Pia one of the premier left backs in all of soccer. And focus will shift soon enough to WPS and their struggles to make a viable pro option here. Maybe I'll see about a ticket package down in DC (esp if my daughter ends up back there on her return from Africa next year).
Expectations for USWNT will be off the scale. Never again, perhaps, will this precise combination of players, circumstances, and history come together like it did in Bejing. It's been quite a 10 months and (as Hope said) a storybook ending for this group.
It's also been an unbelievable time to be a WNT fan. But since that's surely my primary interest in soccer, I suspect I won't be chiming in (OK you can all stop cheering now) on your blog as often here for a while AC, so thanks to you for the articles and links and opportunity to pontificate (I do go on, eh?) and thanks Coach, Joe, MC, Meredith (who I missed in this Olympic run), papabear, and so many others pro and con for putting up with me, even that limey writer I dissed so bad so long ago...I felt bad about that AC, you so deftly coaxed him into giving up what detail he had on that story and then I insulted him mightly...oh well.
Good writing will always, I hope, find an outlet, even in this electronic age. Keep the faith, you and l.b.
Love it - perfect words by all of them under the spot light - sometimes hard to do - ask Hope! ;)
ReplyDeleteNeed some time to work through the previous post but I will! :)
This has been sweet. But with the MNT in WC qualifying and MLS in their season, the little "victory lap" tour and an announcement extending Pia's contract (hopefully soon) will keep the WNT only briefly in the news until they fade away, essentially to be unheard of until WC 2011 (Peace Cup, Algrave, etc, excepted).
ReplyDeleteOne supposes A-Rod, Cheney, and Heath will be soon returning to school for their college seasons (speaking of which, Ryan's Michigan squad got plastered in his first game as head coach by ND 7-0 and I trust Erica Walsh's Nittany Lion charges will spank them just as bad). The US will need to begin looking for and grooming fast tough tenacious and skilled backline players to (eventually) replace Nana, Mitts, and Christy and complement Chalups who will surely become under Pia one of the premier left backs in all of soccer. And focus will shift soon enough to WPS and their struggles to make a viable pro option here. Maybe I'll see about a ticket package down in DC (esp if my daughter ends up back there on her return from Africa next year).
Expectations for USWNT will be off the scale. Never again, perhaps, will this precise combination of players, circumstances, and history come together like it did in Bejing. It's been quite a 10 months and (as Hope said) a storybook ending for this group.
It's also been an unbelievable time to be a WNT fan. But since that's surely my primary interest in soccer, I suspect I won't be chiming in (OK you can all stop cheering now) on your blog as often here for a while AC, so thanks to you for the articles and links and opportunity to pontificate (I do go on, eh?) and thanks Coach, Joe, MC, Meredith (who I missed in this Olympic run), papabear, and so many others pro and con for putting up with me, even that limey writer I dissed so bad so long ago...I felt bad about that AC, you so deftly coaxed him into giving up what detail he had on that story and then I insulted him mightly...oh well.
Good writing will always, I hope, find an outlet, even in this electronic age. Keep the faith, you and l.b.
Later,
ghost
Say it ain't so Ghost! lol
ReplyDeleteThings will definitely slow down after a wild 11 month ride - but A.C. would get all - you know - teary eyed if we didn't drop in on occasion!
;)
Sniffle! But, but, the WPS is getting going. . . and youth World Cups like the first ever U17 World Cup for girls . . .
ReplyDeleteWe'll miss you!
lol A.C.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping your sniffles have subsided & your eyes are all dried up!
:)