Putting on a great show
Greetings from league headquarters in sunny San Francisco!
We’re one month into our first season, and what a month it’s been. From an opening-day crowd of nearly 15,000 in L.A. to Sunday’s instant-classic barn-burner between the Washington Freedom and FC Gold Pride, we’ve made an early habit of meeting expectations for world-class action on the pitch.
The Freedom’s 4-3 victory over the Gold Pride, beyond the deluge of goals and dramatic comebacks, was a great example of the extraordinary product we’re putting on the field each and every game. From start to finish, the game was hard-fought, full of crunching on-the ball challenges, fast-paced, and a study in technical and tactical excellence. It was a fantastic experience for the fans (including me sitting in the stands – I didn’t want to turn my head for fear of missing something!). And it had all sorts of subplots: for the Gold Pride, Tiffeny Milbrett’s second goal of the season and the emergence of youngsters Christina DiMartino and Tiffany Weimer; for the Freedom, the long-awaited breakthrough of Abby Wambach, whose two headers from Cat Whitehill assists were twin moments of brilliance. After the game, where the players were doing autographs, you could see the excitement in their faces about the performance they just put on. They knew they’d just put on a great show – and maybe started a new East/West Coast rivalry.
I’ve been so impressed with all the games so far – with the players for competing so hard on every play and every challenge and showing such a high level of skill, and with the coaches for developing such exciting styles of play. The on-field chemistry and 90 minute match fitness is improving at an incredible rate, which hints at amazing things to come.
We’ve also had great reports from across the league on game-day experience, from kid-friendly fan zones to laid-back adult beer gardens close to the action to impeccable sight lines. Last week, I went to Chicago’s home opener and got a real rush from seeing WPS in Toyota Park, a tremendous professional soccer venue. And kudos to the fans – in Chicago and back East in D.C., Boston, and N.J. – for braving the elements to come out and cheer for their side. The competition is getting markedly better each week – we expected there would be a ramp-up, but the quality has already been outstanding. As we move into summer and better weather, I’m thrilled to see more and more opportunities for fans to catch this dynamic product. If you haven’t had the chance yet to get out and see a game, this is truly exciting stuff. If you can’t make it out, find it on Fox Soccer Channel on Sunday nights. You won’t be disappointed.
We’re one month into our first season, and what a month it’s been. From an opening-day crowd of nearly 15,000 in L.A. to Sunday’s instant-classic barn-burner between the Washington Freedom and FC Gold Pride, we’ve made an early habit of meeting expectations for world-class action on the pitch.
The Freedom’s 4-3 victory over the Gold Pride, beyond the deluge of goals and dramatic comebacks, was a great example of the extraordinary product we’re putting on the field each and every game. From start to finish, the game was hard-fought, full of crunching on-the ball challenges, fast-paced, and a study in technical and tactical excellence. It was a fantastic experience for the fans (including me sitting in the stands – I didn’t want to turn my head for fear of missing something!). And it had all sorts of subplots: for the Gold Pride, Tiffeny Milbrett’s second goal of the season and the emergence of youngsters Christina DiMartino and Tiffany Weimer; for the Freedom, the long-awaited breakthrough of Abby Wambach, whose two headers from Cat Whitehill assists were twin moments of brilliance. After the game, where the players were doing autographs, you could see the excitement in their faces about the performance they just put on. They knew they’d just put on a great show – and maybe started a new East/West Coast rivalry.
I’ve been so impressed with all the games so far – with the players for competing so hard on every play and every challenge and showing such a high level of skill, and with the coaches for developing such exciting styles of play. The on-field chemistry and 90 minute match fitness is improving at an incredible rate, which hints at amazing things to come.
We’ve also had great reports from across the league on game-day experience, from kid-friendly fan zones to laid-back adult beer gardens close to the action to impeccable sight lines. Last week, I went to Chicago’s home opener and got a real rush from seeing WPS in Toyota Park, a tremendous professional soccer venue. And kudos to the fans – in Chicago and back East in D.C., Boston, and N.J. – for braving the elements to come out and cheer for their side. The competition is getting markedly better each week – we expected there would be a ramp-up, but the quality has already been outstanding. As we move into summer and better weather, I’m thrilled to see more and more opportunities for fans to catch this dynamic product. If you haven’t had the chance yet to get out and see a game, this is truly exciting stuff. If you can’t make it out, find it on Fox Soccer Channel on Sunday nights. You won’t be disappointed.
Tags: commissioner, tonya_antonucci
Add a Comment
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Comment by Craigola on May 2, 2009 at 4:20pm - I rewatched the Gold Pride / Washington game and was really impressed with what an enjoyable game that was. I wish several large chunks of the game could be available on the web to show people when I talk about the sport with them. The highlight reel is good but that was a game where the sustained quality of play over long sequences is the impressive thing - that's the kind of game that can make a fan out of someone. I was thinking how neat it would be to pull up a long sequence on an iPhone although the pictures probably too small on a phone.
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Comment by Kevin F. Yost on April 30, 2009 at 2:46pm - It seems as though women's pro sports in the US is struggling, especially in terms of the WNBA and the National Pro Fastpitch women's pro softball league. Women's pro softball and soccer over the past several years can't seem to coexist. Plus, WPS, and NPF and maybe the two women's ice hockey leagues in Canada should all have a relationship with one another as did the WNBA and the old WUSA.
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Comment by StarCityFan on April 30, 2009 at 11:00am - I third the "more video," as long as I can get it to work (which I couldn't last time).
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Comment by kool-aide on April 30, 2009 at 7:28am
- The games I have been able to see so far have been great. The webcast of the Chicago-Boston game was a welcome (and excellent) addition. Please, please may we have more webcasts? I don't need fancy setups or even announcers. I just want to watch soccer! Thank you for all your hard work to get WPS launched and your continued hard work to keep WPS improving.
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Comment by Sally H on April 30, 2009 at 5:00am -
Yes I agree. The matches have been fantastic and the level of play has been far better than I ever expected. There have also been some wonderful surprises like Tiffany Weimer, Megan Rapinoe and Sonia Bompastor, all of whom I never really knew about before. I also think the inclusion of international players has added to the higher level of play. After all, the dynamic of a match changes when someone like Marta or Kelly Smith are on the ball.
I just wish there were even more international players in the league. Like Fara Williams who is a solid midfielder who can deliver a rocket into goal or Lotta Schelin, a great standout on the Swedish national team. And of course, It would be nice if we had some of the women from the German national team, but unfortunately they are committed to stay in Germany until the 2011 World Cup.
Another big wish item for me is for more live video of the matches. As someone who is really into women's soccer, I would love to be able to watch all three matches played each week. Kudos to the Chicago Red Stars for offering live streaming video of the match last week. We definitely need more of that for there to be a true WPS nirvana. Well, for this obsessed fan anyway.
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Comment by June Zink on April 29, 2009 at 9:19pm
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Even though the ties annoy me. STL/LA the 25th was really great game.to watch. For once I'm glad about living nearer to Saint Louis than Chicago, even though Athletica hasn't gotten their first goal yet there's my faves from the national team as well as 'new' players that are very exciting to watch play.
Of course the players being so nice & showing the apreciation to the fans by staying to sign things ect is a wonderful part of going to the games too. I do wish more of the visiting team had come over though :( maybe they did after I left but I was there awhile and it seemed to me they weren't.
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Comment by StarCityFan on April 29, 2009 at 9:17pm
- I was expecting the same shaky start in the quality of on-field play that we saw when the WUSA got started, but every single team I've seen has surpassed that from the get-go, and then visibly improved ever since. My compliments to the coaches and the players for managing to get such polished performances so quickly.
Photos
See Extraordinary
by Shop WPS Added November 20, 2009 at 5:44pm
Chicago Red Stars Charitable Foundation event at Trader Vic's
by Chicago Red Stars Added November 19, 2009 at 9:31am
Videos
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Added by Izabel
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T-Mac 10 Goal Day
Added by Vincent Buggs
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