"Its a thin line between..." That was a phrase often repeated in our presentations. A thin line between ambition and greed. Between corruption and appropriate compensation. Between cheating and trying to win. Between attempting equality and reward for success. This thin line we consistently live on. But who draws that line? Which coun...
Sorry had to move my blog, now that I've gone global and wouldn't quite always relate to WPS, here's the link:
http://windycoastway.blogspot.com/2009/09/losin…
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Added by Natalie Smith on September 22, 2009 at 10:40am —
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I seemed to struggle with this one more than the others. Which is strange because quite a bit actually happened this weekend. More importantly, last night I saw
Edie Carey and on a whim, we decided to stay for
Raining Jane. I HIGHLY recommend both!
I went to DC this weekend to help Louise Waxler, the Director of Operations of the Washington Freedom, with the
Kicks Ag…
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Added by Natalie Smith on April 24, 2009 at 9:46am —
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There is so much I could write about… Let me tell you, nothing prepares you. Nothing. When it became “game time” my whole personality changed. I’m in general a very goofy person, tending to let others lead. But on game day, I don’t know who that person was. I was making decisions, directing people left and right, coordinating one thing after another, meeting some very important people without pause…
I was even wearing heels!
It didn’t go perfectly, and I’ll say I’m the first person to foc…
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Added by Natalie Smith on April 7, 2009 at 7:30pm —
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Flashing…Lights (Lights) Flashing Lights (Lights)
I had the privilege of experiencing the PUMA kit launch for myself last week. Quite the experience! I mean I’ve met Steven Spielberg, that
guy on the O.C. and one time even bumped into (luckily not literally or she would’ve easily broken in half) Lindsay Lohan and her “gal-pal” Samantha Ronson at around 3am down in AC. But these sad versions of brushing with fame, will never prepare a pers…
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Added by Natalie Smith on March 2, 2009 at 7:30am —
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As I watch Michael Bradley score twice for the US with his father as the head coach, I'm beginning to think "keeping it in the family" is a great idea. Maybe there's another team with
family connections... ;-) So, it’s been a long time, I know. Things have gotten busy. That may actually be an understatement! Lots has happened in the WPS, and I hope you’ve been keeping up in the news, so I won’t have to recap. So let me ju…
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Added by Natalie Smith on February 11, 2009 at 6:00pm —
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Or,
“why Americans play soccer in the summer”
I’m sad to go, as I sit in Heathrow waiting for my flight back to the States looking quite foolish in my Newcastle United sweatshirt bought more for appreciation of my time in Newcastle and a small childhood crush on Michael Owen, than an feats of the club itself. However, all holidays must come to an end, and I’m anxious to get back into the office to prepare for our home opener. Here are a few snippets for you, you can put to your ima…
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Added by Natalie Smith on January 7, 2009 at 3:30pm —
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As I took the 6 hour drive back to
Meadville for Christmas, I pondered how to tie the little tidbits into one theme. But could that not be a theme in itself? Different. A word that can be both negative and positive, all in how you use it. All the teams will prove this league is different. The teams are different. The players are different from each other. Even the staffs are not one homogeneous machine. I heard this common analog…
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Added by Natalie Smith on December 24, 2008 at 3:30pm —
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I want to start this blog with a little nostalgia, because during the holidays that’s what one should do: be nostalgic. And in a giving mood. Thus my blog begins with a date.
It was last year, I had made plans to have dinner with my ex.
(I know, bad idea…) I am, in general, a complete fashion disaster. So I came in the Sky Blue offices, or should I say house, because that’s what it was back then, and lamented my problem to
Katie. She immediately…
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Added by Natalie Smith on December 9, 2008 at 6:30am —
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"Cause your hot n your cold/
Your yes n ur no/
Your in n your out/
Your up n your down/"
My life has lately reflected a
Katy Perry song, a friend rightly guessed would become her next big single. But why, you ask?
Collegiate Soccer:
Hot – Rutgers! Even in their Sweet 16 game, they only lost to Stanford
1-0. I was on hand last week for t…
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Added by Natalie Smith on November 24, 2008 at 10:18pm —
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I’m like a kid in a candy store! It’s tournament time, baby!
I'm always about connections. The human connections, the community connections, and if you ask my U15 girls, the passing connections. So here are my top 10
"I <3 NJ" Soccer connections. Are you ready for the rundown??
10 connections for Sky Blue Soccer and the state of NJ:
1. Rutgers, bouncing back from a shocker against Marquette, will be…
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Added by Natalie Smith on November 11, 2008 at 4:12pm —
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Coaching legend, C. Vivian Stringer: “I would bet that if the players were to vote and say 'who do we give the greatest heart award to, who is the most valuable player, not talking about the points,' there is not a doubt in my mind that it would be Katie Adams,"
Not a bad…
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Added by Natalie Smith on November 3, 2008 at 11:30am —
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Rumors swirled as a group of girls gathered on the field, Sarah Walsh and the Sky Blue team were at the Rockaway
Howl-O-Ween Soccer Tournament??
Okay, not quite, but fate had intervened that day. In this week’s segment, let me introduce you to Sarah Walsh:
While th…
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Added by Natalie Smith on October 28, 2008 at 12:00pm —
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In this blog I’m featuring a group of people NOT from NY/NJ. My apologies, but to put in correct slang:
“I was so stoked to be chillin’ in SoCal wearing my Rainbows. It was mad tight to see the kids of the IE, and the breaks were ridic. Only bad, the plane was soooo budget, and def groddy.”
On to my feature:
It is the greatest rivalry in sports no one has ever heard of……
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Added by Natalie Smith on October 21, 2008 at 8:30am —
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I'm moving past randomness onto something more substantial:
As currently one of the longest running persons getting paid to work at Sky Blue (damn you Pat and your longevity!) So back before WPS had a name or a website, the office was small. And when your office is small you do a lot different things. We've grown ALOT since then and brought in some r…
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Added by Natalie Smith on October 16, 2008 at 10:00pm —
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we've just made a starting 11! Now will that be our starting 11, only preseason will tell. Just some of my thoughts:
1. So happy for Karina to get drafted. Unfortunately, not by NJ where she's been living for 4 years, but such is the life of the draft when you're last pick in the first round. She'll be a rock star in LA and certainly has a friend in LA's GM and her former housemate/coach,
Charlie Naimo. ('nother shout out to t…
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Added by Natalie Smith on October 7, 2008 at 7:00am —
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If one should base success on accents, we will win by far. With the acquisition of negotiating rights to Anita Asante, we've secured yet another to add to our
Arsenal. (yes I know she transferred to Chelsea but what a clever pun!)
Some may have accused me of Anglophilia because of my love for soccer, rugby, a good pub crawl, BBC's version of Pride and Prejudice, Love Actually, Nanny McPhee,...okay, every movie ever made by…
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Added by Natalie Smith on October 3, 2008 at 8:44am —
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I've been quiet lately, mostly because they've been keeping me busy!! I wanted to blog on something today but not the game. To be honest, I spent most of the game, wringing my hands, my leg bouncing, and my hands over my eyes, so the analysis of pure soccer will have to wait.
I'm blogging about "The Happiest Place on Earth": The Sky Blue Soccer offices. I was in a flurry of texts during the game, ranging from my mother watching back in PA hometown to my still-clueless ex who wondered why no one…
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Added by Natalie Smith on August 21, 2008 at 2:06pm —
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What an odd title for a blog post, you might be asking...
Well US vs. Canada is an awkward moment for many here in NJ, as I am sure in many of the cities where Canadians have settled to ply their soccer trade. What am I talking about? In a house of 5 girls (Lord help us!), one of our roommates just happens to play for Canada. Since moving in a year ago, I've tried to cheer on Canada as much as possible. But no offense, I hope you're coming home soon roomie, cause the US better win...
How lucky…
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Added by Natalie Smith on August 13, 2008 at 7:04am —
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Less than 12 hours....
Okay, I don't want to diss the Kiwis cause I have pure love for anyone with such a great accent, but....
Let's put this one away, early, with a lot of goals. What will that require?
1) BETTER PLAY! Ladies, okay we've taken one step toward playing like champions, so now is now time to stall. Keep getting better! Or it will catch up to us in the quarters.
2) More offensive threats, if we're gonna play with two up top, the flank play has to be stronger. Or we have to get…
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Added by Natalie Smith on August 11, 2008 at 8:08pm —
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Another day of completely off-the-cuff, somewhat unrelated, and completely devoid of any claims of being correct in my opinions, I bring you Day 4's comments:
I never expected to actually be awake during the game, but in a twist of fate, there I was lying on my temporary bed, aka the gloriously comfortable couch in our living room... Not going to lie, I was nervous, really nervous. I grew up with the "golden" goals of Shannon "The Cannon" MacMillan and Tiffeny "Millie" Milbrett, the theatrics o…
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Added by Natalie Smith on August 10, 2008 at 7:58pm —
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