My WNT article about their upcoming tour is up. As I was writing the article, though, I couldn't help but muse on the what-if scenarios.

What if Greg Ryan hadn't made the goalkeeper switch? What if the USWNT had only lost to Brazil by a goal, and without the team issues that followed Ryan and other team leaders deciding to ostracize Hope Solo? Click to continue reading...

Wow - I read today in the Swedish press that Pia has turned down an invitation from Dubya to visit the White House and be graced by his presence. I didn't actually think I could like him less today than I did on July 28 (just to select a random date).  But after watching his smirking [...] Click to continue reading...

The Phillies won (Mets and Marlins lost) and Beulah has posted her match report! (Sounds like she had a tough time getting it onto her site .. but it's up and a very good read as always!) In other commentary, here's Mark Zeigler on the game ... The rest of the women's soccer world, though, [...]SHARETHIS. Click to continue reading...

I know I promised I wouldn't watch or care about the women's nation team of the US till the team was cleared of the punks.

I was watching the Brasilian women's team, they just happened to be outplaying the US team once again. Hope Solo, remember her, kicked off of the team for talking, she won gold this week for the women's national team. Click to continue reading...

The USA Women got revenge on Brazil, and their own former head coach Greg Ryan for that matter, by returning to China one year after their World Cup semifinal meltdown and winning the Olympic Gold medal 1-0 in Extra Time. Fantastic win! See Olympic Soccer Scoreboard section for more.

~and~

Bruce Arena on why he hired Dave Sarachan as his assistant coach in LA: "I realized that if I was going to take on this challenge I'd need to have a second-in-command who, when I get assassinated, could take over right away. Click to continue reading...

The mainstream media chimes in with a few great articles about Hope's redemption.

I'm still not sure what was up with the fake gold medal Hope pulled out of her bag. Whatever works, I guess. After living up to her comments after last year's Brazil debacle, she could pretty much do whatever she wants. Click to continue reading...

Germany-Japan are underway and Japan is looking goo so far (17th minute). meanwhile, I can't imagine what the USWNT must be feeling right now. Hopefully they are focused and confident. Their making it to the gold medal match is a wonderful accomplishment and, at the very least, has brought the eyes [. Click to continue reading...

The US women have made their way to the Olympic final, with a chance to get revenge for last summer's catastrophe against Brazil. Hopefully, the ghost of Greg Ryan can be vanquished...

With a hiccup against Japan in the opening match aside, the US has looked pretty solid throughout the tournament. Click to continue reading...

Michael Phelps broke Mark Spitz' gold medal record last night -an amazing feat, indeed. I don't know about you, but I find such milestones diminished by the hype ... the marketing ... the hoopla ... the commentary. The events and the raw footage about the events is enough. The look on Michael [.. Click to continue reading...

Round the web I go, where I stop, now you know.

The article's not much, but the attached video of a 14-year-old Chris Seitz? Priceless.

The OC Register profiles another Olympian, ARod.

Ridge smacks down SuperLiga.

Greg Ryan recalls Olympic glory.

Click to continue reading...

The USWNT and Coach Pia Sundhage are settled in China (Qinhuangdao to be exact) training and doing a little touring, as you can see. The WNT Blog is proving to be a very entertaining source of information for USWNT aficionados. Check it out. It's often updated these days, as the team settles in and [. Click to continue reading...

Kudos to Nancy Lieberman who, at age 50, showed her stuff in an appearance for the suspension and injury-depleted Detroit Shock last night. She scored no points, but made a no-look pass that brought the house down! The Shock and the LA Sparks were both seriously understaffed due to suspensions and both lost their games [. Click to continue reading...

In a game featuring lots of possession, lots of tough tackles, and lots to build on, the USWNT prevailed over Brazil, again by a 1-0 score. Unfortunately, they lost stalwart forward Abby Wambach who went down after a first half collision and, as it turns out, broke two bones in her leg. She's [... Click to continue reading...

I was there when Claudio Reyna retired. People might think - wait, he's not retiring until later today - but I'm talking about his first retirement. I was in Hamburg, Germany in 2006 when Reyna announced he was retiring from international competition. I looked around as Reyna told the room his decision and realized something. Click to continue reading...

In the run-up to the Oly's it's interestting to read the thoughtful analysis being posted about the whole Solo-Scurry-Ryan episode at the 2007 Women's World Cup. Following on the heels of the SI piece by Grant Wahl, we have commentary from: Sideline Views - in which Andrea Canales cites Anson Dorrance and the way he [. Click to continue reading...

Here's a nice piece from the Fort Worth Star Telegram about some of the stories to watch at the 2008 Olympics. Then we have the outlook for the Phillies ... which, in typical Phillies' fashion, looks like it's likely to get nerve-wracking! (And BTW, they are on ESPN - or ESPN2 - Wednesday night.) Speaking [. Click to continue reading...

CHICAGO -- Goalkeeper Hope Solo is among 18 players picked for the U.S. Olympic women's soccer roster, nine months after she was kicked off the team at the World Cup.

Briana Scurry, who took over from Solo for last year's World Cup semifinal loss to Brazil, was left off the roster by coach Pia Sundhage, who replaced Greg Ryan following the World Cup debacle.

Click to continue reading...

Hope Solo is returning to China while Briana Scurry is staying home.

Less then a year after coach Greg Ryan set off a goalkeeper firestorm by benching Solo ahead of their World Cup semifinal match against Brazil in favor of Scurry, Hope will finally get her chance to win a big tournament in China. Click to continue reading...

­Gulati shows Ryan the door. The Times lists a number of potential candidates, though it lacks one candidate that OSG likes for the job and I couldn't agree more. Would she clash with the USSF? Absolutely. Would that be a bad thing? Hardly. I loved her commentary in tandem with Foudy when this all blew [...] Click to continue reading...

May as well lead with something needling... - Why are we lucky the Supporters' Shield is a shield as opposed to a cup? Because we'd realize it was empty if it were a cup. At least two pundits made the point today (or yesterday) that more eyes are on the chase for the final playoff spot [...] Click to continue reading...

- Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune has written a great piece about the US Soccer Federation, it's recent history between the players and former US Women's head coach April Heinrichs, and the hiring process of Greg Ryan. Apparently Ryan was the one coach that none of the players wanted. Click on the link to read the rest, it's well worth it. Click to continue reading...

It's hard to believe that Greg Ryan did something as dumb as change his goalkeeper going into the semifinals of the World Cup. Especially considering that the keeper that had started and played every minute of every match in the tournament leading up to that stage was not injured.

Surely a coach with his sort of experience, a .693 winning percentage in 267 college games at Wisconsin, Southern Methodist, and Colorado College, knows that a keeper does more than just make saves. Click to continue reading...

As Ives puts it, Greg Ryan is the worst coach you've never heard of. What more needs to be said? How about that's just a being a bit too English for me? Can I say that? The English seem great at going over the top with their critiques of their national coaches. They're like a bunch of manic depressives swinging wildly from one end of the spectrum to the other when it comes to how they talk about their coach. Click to continue reading...