November 22, 2008 - It's that time of year again. Time to vote for your favorites of 2008. If you're a soccer fan, you'll want to take part in the on-line voting for U.S. Soccer's "Best of" awards honoring standout performances on and off the field during the year. Female Athlete of the Year: With the finalists announced for [. Click to continue reading...

First off, get well wishes to HollyCornblog who is recovering from a bad ankle sprain sustained in a nasty fall at work.  Keep it iced and raised ... and, as we like to say to Willie (and to Ruby - but with much less effect), "Heel!" [sic] Between HollyCornblog and Hope Solo, things have been a [... Click to continue reading...

Another Halloween has gone by with no trick or treaters on this hill (and now we have a hefty basket of chocolate to work our way through).  It's November and we're at four days and counting.  As the sun rises, for the last time in Daylight Saving mode, let's see what's going on out there [...] Click to continue reading...

October 30, 2008 - A 10-name shortlist for the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year award has been published, including Arsenal's Kelly Smith and Brazil's Marta, who is aiming to win the award for the third year running. Other female nominees include Canadian Christine Sinclair, Birgit Prinz of Germany and Americans Hope Solo and Shannon [. Click to continue reading...

As the Senate gets ready to vote on a new bill to stave off economic disaster, and Sarah prepares (feverishly) to debate, and George Will joins the ranks of those who see her as unqualified to serve ... and some (unfortunately) find themselves feeling sorry for the lipsticked pitbull ... my thoughts turn (feverishly) to [. Click to continue reading...

 So Rachel Maddow's new show premiered last night and while I didn't see the whole thing (had a meeting) and didn't see Boltgirl there (not yet, that is), what I saw I liked a lot (not surprisingly).  Way to go Rachel! Ariana Huffington has written about Sarah Palin as the Trojan Moose who distracts the electorate [. Click to continue reading...

Call it change. Call it luck. Call it redemption. Call it bravery. Call it what you will - it's gold and it's real and it stays! The USWNT defeated Brazil 1-0 yesterday in extra time after putting on a gritty performance on the pitch on a wet, humid, Beijing night. [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Congratulations to the Golden USWNT . Click to continue reading...

August 21, 2008 - USA soccer clinched the gold medal today in Beijing, as Carli Lloyd scored the game-winner in 1-0 overtime thriller against Brazil. By most accounts goalkeeper Hope Solo, who made six saves to earn the shutout victory, was the star of the game but let's not forget the other 17 members of the [. 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...

The USWNT kicks off against Japan tomorrow morning at 5AM ET and will (hopefully) field a team with its heads screwed on more securely than on Wednesday! I like to think that Wednesday's game was a collective test, to see whether "Boom Ball" really doesn't work. Lesson learned, guys? Gayle Bryan has written about [. 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...

A while back, the USWNT went through some major convulsions around the comments Hope Solo made after she was benched during the 2007 World Cup match against Brazil. She watched her team not only lose, but get humiliated - this, after having shut out the last three teams she'd faced. After the game, she said she thought the coach was wrong to bench her, and that she thought she could have made Click to continue reading...

Sports Illustrated has come out with a more in-depth article than I've seen to date on Hope Solo, Briana Scurry, and the USWNT's World Cup Loss to Brazil. Basically, though, my response to this piece is, "Yada, yada, yada." Not articulate enough for you? Okay - well I still find the explication unsatisfying and demonizing [. 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.

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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...

Tickets go on sale for the USA's first qualifying match for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Sunday, beginning at 10 a.m. Central. The U.S. will host Barbados on Sunday, June 15 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The second leg will be played on June 22.

For more information, check out the US Soccer site here. Click to continue reading...

VILA REAL DE SAN ANTONIO, Portugal - The US Women's National Team captured their second consecutive Algarve Cup title when defeated Denmark 2-1 today at Municipal Stadium.

The clubs approached the 50th minute on level terms until Abby Wambach and Natasha Kai collaborated on a nice one-two pass that Wambach chipped in for the go-ahead goal. Click to continue reading...

- The middle section of Ian Plenderleith's MLS News Review for USSoccerplayas.com revisits the MLS-to-Portland issue and, to be direct about it, brings out the wet blanket. I'm not criticizing - the man is entitled to his opinion and, odds are, he's not engorged with soccer-lust for an MLS team in his hometown - [...] 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...

Based on my reading, U.S. Women's 'keeper Hope Solo's post-game outburst draws only the rare condemnation and that's mainly in the comments. It seems all right-thinking people understand that Solo got the shaft, that U.S. coach Greg Ryan is a second-order dolt (scroll down) and a first-order tool, and that a very petty cabal [...] 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...

So, Hope Solo is pissed, and "The Greatest Team You've Never Heard Of" is playing in the consolation game after, for lack of a better or more accurate phrase, getting its ass handed to them by Brazil Thursday.

In a week where Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy has received quite a bit of attention for absolutely melting down in anger at a post-game press conference, it's only fair that ESPN would enjoy Solo's post-game rant on head coach Greg Ryan's decision to pull her for the semifinals in favor of the more experienced Brianna Scurry. Click to continue reading...

Wowwwwww. I don't even know where to start. Hope Solo's not happy, and she's definitely not hiding it. "It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that. Um... There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves, and the fact of the matter is it's not [...] Click to continue reading...

70 minutes in - Hope Solo not in net, Boxx ejected, no momentum, and Bri Scurry not the keeper Ryan expected when he chose her over Solo to man the nets against Brazil in the WWC Semifinal match-up. Hell of a way to go out and you got to almost jump on board and agree with the [...] Click to continue reading...

- Fans of Austria's National Football team are so ashamed of the squads recent run of eight straight losses that they've called for a withdrawal of the side from the 2008 European Championship, despite the free invite as hosts. More than 4000 people have added their names to a petition at www.rueckgrat.cc since it was launched a week ago today. The petitioners have made it clear that they are not blaming players nor coaches of the team, but feel that their participation in the tournament would be an insult to the sport. Click to continue reading...