More below the jump:
On Sunday, the Atlanta Silverbacks absolutely embarrassed the Ottawa Fury in the USL W-League Championship, winning 6-1. Yes, this was a championship game. Somebody failed to tell Ottawa that. Somebody also failed to alert the fans in Seattle. The stands on the camera side looked to have a few dozen people, surely some of which were family members of players.
Also on Sunday, the Orange County Waves defeated the Chicago Red Stars 2-1 to win the 2011 WPSL title. The big question is what the future holds for these two teams, which could both be professional next year. But will they be in WPS, WPSL or somewhere else?
If you missed it yesterday, Karina LeBlanc is now a member of magicJack. Goalkeeper Brett Maron and forward Johanna Rasmussen have mutually terminated their contracts with magicJack. Our Game Magazine reports that Rasmussen will sign with Kristianstads DFF in Sweden.
Japanese defender Aya Sameshima, fresh off a Women’s World Cup championship, is something of a rock star these days. She has had Japanese TV stations following her in Boston, Florida and Rochester. Media love her. On Tuesday, she was honored by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
Lisa Eisenmenger has a lengthy interview with Philadelphia Independence owner David Halstead about expansion. There is still no evidence to suggest that MLS has any interest in WPS on a serious or league-wide level. For more on expansion, check out Beau Dure’s piece on espnW.
There is a lot of buzz about this article in which Independence Head Coach Paul Riley blames U.S. Head Coach Pia Sundhage for killing Amy Rodriguez’s confidence. “Missing eight chances, that’s what Amy Rodriguez does well,” doesn’t exactly help Rodriguez’s confidence, but there’s something to be said about the lack of cooperation between the U.S. women and WPS. If you couldn’t tell from all the scheduling issues this year, there is a lot of room for improvement. They just started actually tweeting at each other.
Philadelphia will play its playoff game at PPL Park, but the team is set to return to Widener University in 2012. I’ll repeat what I said a year ago: It makes the most sense economically.
Sticking with the Philadelphia theme, here is another good interview with Riley and Halstead.
Mia Hamm has a great video explaining the roots and purpose of FC Barcelona.
FAU is now receiving 100 percent of proceeds from magicJack games and Athletic Director Craig Angelos said the university is making $30,000 per game off of magicJack. It is a curious move from magicJack owner Dan Borislow, but Borislow always speaks highly of FAU as hosts. Giving the university all the revenue generated could be a way of getting on FAU’s good side and having leverage to get a permanent soccer stadium built.
The New York Daily News has a very in-depth article about how the USWNT lacks diversity. To echo what one commenter writes: Why hasn’t Tina Ellertson gotten another look from Pia Sundhage? She’s the best marking back in WPS.
U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo has inked an endorsement deal with Gatorade.
