Our first wedding since our wedding

This was taken by a friend at a coworker's wedding a few weeks ago. It was the first wedding Tony and I had been to since our wedding. She had a snowflake theme and imagine how happy she was when it snowed on her wedding day - it doesn't snow here.

Nederlandse iedereen?

I mean really, you don't even have to understand Dutch...



And just why was My Michael Bradley being interviewed?

That's because he got a hat trick! (3 goals in a game for those that don't know)



I know - he's amazing isn't he.........

Continuation

To help back up my previous post......

The Fed makes lending changes


And in case I wasn't clear earlier this is how I assess the blame:

The government
Pres Bush stood up on a campaign of home ownership about 7 years ago and mandated that everyone should be able to enjoy in the freedom of owning a home. As a result, they gave an open pass to wall street to be as capitalistic as they wish (remember as you read all this I am a capitalist at heart). As more and more people started getting in homes it worked well for the economy as they also had a push to get more minority home borrowers in homes. The irony is they let Wall Street dictate the money boom with no restrictions, regulations or foresight. In the end, foreclosures are at the highest point in a long time and minority home ownership failed to grow. I believe it is still hovering somewhere in the 9% range. When banks started going kaput earlier this year - the government failed to react in a timely manner until the realized just how bad it was going to ripple the economy. One would have thought we learned this lesson once before.....

MBS/Wall Street
In a capitalist society where the leader is a capitalist beacon, if you let the inmates run the asylum - they will - and without a conscious. Wall street with its go ahead pass allowed mid tier (mid tier only in classification between brokers and Wall Street - not size of portfolio) lenders to create creative loan packages that allowed homeowners to get in homes. One of the more famous loan programs were Stated Income and Pay Option arms. Stated Income as defined in the article is where you basically are self employed and you tell the broker I make X - without providing documentation to back it up. Pay Option is where you have 4 types of payments you can make. One being a minimum payment which is below the principal and interest one can afford in a month - resulting in negative amortization. Reason Wall Street allowed these loans??? Higher payments off risk loans due to subprime originations. Allows for greater money to be made in the stock market trading mortgage bonds and portfolios.

Mid tier-lenders
30 fixed mortgage - what's that? A loan program that was the staple of the past, now pushed to the back seat - cause it is actually more expensive....ahem... I mean less affordable.Mid-tier lenders trying to make sure they keep up or out pace the competition pushed various loan programs off to brokers to get people in homes. And since they sell the loan usually within 60 days of funding - let's pump those mortgage loans through like a checker at a grocery store. Who cares if the borrower can't really pay - we have to have X amount of millions originated in loans this year.

Brokers
Acting like junkies needing a fix - who cares about the borrower - these no licensed (now they are in the past year) walk off the street from any other job such as a school janitor were funding your loans. If the loan funds they get paid their $2500 (approx)and the liability falls back to the lender that funded the loan. And to brokers - who really cares about referrals anyway - they had so much low lying fruit they didn't even have to understand how to run a business to be profitable. I could talk for years about this group - but will spare you.......

Consumers
Some of this is their fault - the eyes too big for the pocket book got some of these borrowers in trouble. Others - well they just didn't understand the booklet of crap to sign or that 1.5% interest meant for 6 months then it jacks up to 9% after that with a prepayment penalty lasting up to 2 years before you can refi.

And FYI - I was one of those borrowers on my first loan that had a bad broker. He told me 2 weeks before closing I would pay $500 LESS a MONTH than what came down at closing. AND he failed to tell me that my property taxes were NOT included in the loan. You say - well why did you do the loan then? Hmmmm well I had my cats, plants and now husband in a car after a two day road trip half way across the country to a house we had the movers already lined up to show in a few hours...........luckily, I refied before my lock went up and right before this bust became so bad. Otherwise I might be in the same situation as millions of other people.

Foreclosures on the rise

A report came out today that said foreclosures were up 93% over last year. 93%!!! That's scary. Now I have a beef of this on both accounts. Many people will take the old school approach and say - well it is the borrower's fault - they should have known what they got themselves into before they signed anything.

Well being someone who is in this industry, I can tell you with certainly that that is a load of crap. Have you ever seen the documentation a loan officer puts in front of you to sign - not only for closing but prior to? Do you know how long it would take one to read and understand all the legalese?

Does a borrower understand what basis points are, how much the interest rate truly is for and what it means to have 2% plus prime? What is the prime rate? How can one find that number? What fees are paid to the broker, the lender, why does the appraisal have to be paid for up front and outside of the loan if in fact the rest of the settlement services can be included in the price of the loan? When will the loan reset? How much really does that equate to when it adjusts? Why would I have a prepayment penalty and how much is it? What does negative amortization mean? What is escrow? Impounds? How does Mortgage Insurance benefit me, do I need it and can I get out of it? What is RESPA? What is a kickback? Why is there 200 pages of crap I have to sign?

Is anyone lost yet? And that was basically the layman's terms I used. And really, what happens if a borrower objects to something in the document? It's not as if the bank is going to alter the language for the consumer to satisfy them, more like - if you don't like it then go somewhere else. meanwhile the borrower just wants the house.

SO I don't feel the issue is primarily on the side of the buyer and it is "buyer beware". How the heck is a buyer supposed to beware when the system is setup against the buyer in the first place......

And no the government should not be bailing out all these lenders either. Part of the irresponsiblity that the lender had getting wrapped up in too much greed and not enough fiscal responsibility. They should not be rewarded for bad management.

A step up

There are times in every one's life where they get a leg up in life and feel the climb on the ladder. Today is one of those days. I recently got a title change at work. Now the reality is I didn't get promoted, receive a pay raise, change my job responsibilities or get in charge of actually managing people - although I sort of am by default already. And I really got the title change because my current title and that of the sales guy was the same and the CEO wanted to change mine - fine by me! I'm just being honest here. And there are only 6 people in my company now - so it's not like this is really a big deal.

But it is a big deal to me.

Because once you get a title bump - you get to then try applying for jobs with those kinds of titles. Not that I am going to - but just in case I will need to in the future - I can. It will look much better having that kind of title on my resume attached to the good work I have done - something I think has actually hurt me in my previous job pursuits is my title has not been reflective of all the responsibilities and accomplishments I have done. So what is my new title you ask? now that I have strung you along......

Director of Operations

Yes - Director baby! That's one step below a VP!!!!
:)

Because I just can't let it go......

Sooo you've read my gripe posts about the Women's National Team and the WC from this fall. I wanted to share one more thing with you because well, there just is too much irony in it for me. They were selling this and a hoody to fans as one of their promo pieces during the WC. And really.....I couldn't help feeling the need to send this to the WNT members (especially Lilly and Wambach) with a forged signature of Hope Solo on the back. But that would be a little too mean on my part.



BTW - they did hire a new coach Pia Sundhage from Sweden. Her contract goes through this summer's Olympics since there is no major competition until 2011.

Then and now....

As most people age - friends sometimes travel their own ways and many you lose touch with. Ironically one of my oldest and dearest friends still likes to talk to me. :) Some of you know the story - some don't, but I will recount it here because it is sort of appropriate. In third grade a new girl with brown hair walked into my classroom the first day of school. I remember telling her that day - we're going to be friends. It wasn't a question - would you be my friend? It was simply a statement of how things were going to be. (Doesn't sound like me at all does it?)

And ironically while her and I are in many ways polar opposites, it has been those opposites that has held us together. I have been lucky enough through the many moves that both her and I have done across the country to still remain friends. And I can't believe we have been friends for over 20 years. In fact, I was lucky enough that she came to see me a month ago while visiting in Seattle (not to mention be my matron of honor and a rock for me during my wedding 6 months ago). To give you a quick then and now stroll down memory lane take a peek...

High School Graduation.....only 12 and a half years ago...but who's counting???
Here we were still kids - living at home.......dreaming of the great adventurous days ahead of us..



A month ago at my house...(I was showing off my China - anyone surprised? LOL)
Here we have our own homes and she has a kid and I have kitties. Quite the change in 12 years of dependence to independence. We still look fabulous though don't we? Just like fine wine baby...just like fine wine!

Halloween is finally here!

A couple pics - I would post more - but for some reason the pics got stuck transferring from Tony's computer to mine. :(

My good steady costume is always a witch - which I wore to a costume party a couple weeks before. This was before I donned the black lipstick and the hair is actually sprayed blue - although it really looked grey - and you really can't tell at all in this pic - sorry! Sorry it's sideways too - I haven't figured out how to right the pic - Staci - some help?



My House - it really looked better at night as I had an orange porch light and the couldron looked much more intense in the window and the windows 20 feet above. There was a little ghost popping out of the cauldron to the left. A few headstones on the porch to the right - those gray things. A skeleton was sitting in some clothes - minus his head. :) The pumpkin to the right says Trick or Treat and those little black things all over the door.........those are plastic spiders. :) You probably also can't tell but there is a snake hanging off the small tree to the left and the porch to the right. That black thing standing on the green table to the right of the door - that is a fake black cat with a dead sticky mouse below. It really was cooler in person.



And for Halloween - here was my Goldilocks costume. Do you see the baby bear on the apron?

It's really hard to talk trash........

when your team is ALLLLL the way down at the bottom....

NFL Standings



I don't think we have had this bad a start...EVER!!!! Oh the woe!

Tony keeps trying to bring me over to the dark side of being a Broncos fan - BOOOOOOO!!!!!! No donkeys fan here! Give me some horns!!!! :)

How many trick or treaters did YOU get???

This will be the first of at least two posts.

I had 38 trick or treaters!!! I have the last house on the end of a street that those cutie pies have to walk UPHILL just to get to, so I like to decorate it and give them the GOOD candy - cause I want to be that lady!! In fact - I even had one kid tell me last night he remembered me from two years ago!!!! MADE MY NIGHT!!!! And another kid as she was walking away yelled "your house is decorated - that's cool!! Tony just laughed and said - that kid has no idea that she just made your night. LOL - Yes it is true. I remember remembering who the good houses were to go to.

Halloween happens to be one of my favorite holidays. Always has been. I love getting decked out in a costume. I love handing out candy to adorable little kids and seeing all the different creative outfits they go around in. I loved the candy when I was a kid too!!! Probably had something to do with all those cavities I had! And when I got older, I LOVED haunted houses.

Consequently - momma Lori loves Halloween too! Gotta love those apples! So we both are into the decorating the house kind of thing for Halloween. Personally - I am jealous of her mad decorating skills and amount of yard space she has - but it inspires me to be creative. I don't have my Halloween pics up yet - those will come over the next couple of days. But I did have some of my moms - which I would like to share with you.

SO momma Lori always does a cemetery in which she puts names of famous serial killers in history on her tombstones. She names her cemetery Plotters Field. This year her tombstones were even better than last year and to show off her mad skills - take a peek.



Do you see the little cherub has red horns on it!!




I told you she has mad skills!!!! I can't wait to show you my pics!!! One of the things you won't see on my pics though is that i have a fog machine. SO right before I open the door, I hit the fogger button, then open the door, and fog comes rolling out toward the little treaters!!! It's soo cool man! If only my black cat would hang out on the porch while those little kids came by - that would be even cooler!!

A little Kumbayah...

Let's all stand together and hold hands while we sing to the joy of Greg Ryan getting fired for the US WNT!

Now Tony and I disagree a little bit on terminology so I feel the need to discuss it. In reality Ryan simply was told his coaching contract would not be renewed come Dec 31. So really - in my book he isn't fired - his contract is not renewed. Tony of course disagrees and thinks if your contract is not renewed, you are fired. I say getting fired is when they tell you to leave before your contract is up.

But at any rate - I am just so glad he is out....Here is to a brigher future - hopefully!

A Serving of Swiss Please

Now see - this is one of the many reasons I am drawn to him...

Bradley scores to lead U.S. over Switzerland

BASEL, Switzerland -- Michael Bradley stopped the United States' longest losing streak in 13 years and gave the Americans a rare victory in Europe. Bradley scored his first international goal in the 86th minute and the United States beat Switzerland 1-0 Wednesday night in a sloppy game played in rain.

The coach's son knocked in a loose ball from close range after Clint Dempsey deflected a cross into the air from Danny Szetela, who entered two minutes earlier in his national team debut.

"That's soccer sometimes," said Bradley, who made his 13th international appearance. "It's not always beautiful. It's not always that you can play pretty all over the field."

"I think the spirit we have within the team is really good and it shows on a night like tonight," Michael Bradley said. "We come here, and it's a hard game, it's a fast, physical game. They were coming after us, we were coming after them and I think we showed that when it's not coming that easily for us we stick together, fight for one another, and in the end we're able to get a goal."

"It was a fast field and, with the rain, the ball was flying around," the 20-year-old Bradley said. "It was going to be about who would impose himself on the other team. They pressed us and we did the same to them. It's important you learn how to win those types of games."

In the thick of it


The celebration

I am Rooney

LOL - When I read this - I thought of me. For my personal Rooney greatness - scroll to the bottom of my blog. :)

Tony - this is for you honey. Excerpts from a Fox News Article today.....

Aside from hitting the goal trail again - Rooney has also shown flashes of temper, which has threatened to land him in more trouble with referees.

Yet he insists any disciplinary problems are now a thing of the past, even if no-one should expect to see him smiling during Saturday's Wembley encounter with Estonia - at least until England are winning.

"I don't get fed up with people talking about my temperament because I don't think there is a problem," he said.

"If we are not winning I am not smiling, if we are winning I am.

"That tells you how much I want to win the game.

"Losing or drawing a game can cost us the league or a cup. I want to win all the time. If I don't, I am not happy."

Rooney Scores

I bought my China

A big step in the world for a woman. :) I finally bought my wedding china thanks to the donations from people for our wedding. Take a look....

Waterford Ballet Ribbon China


I now feel cool! It has all been rinsed, inspected, packaged so carefully and placed in a safe location until the holidays.

The Beauty of a Blog

I'm still waiting for Greg Ryan to be fired. I am hoping it happens today or tomorrow. I will write a letter to US Soccer - probably will even post it here. I want to wait and see what they do however which will dictate my response.

The other day I tried to post on the US WNT Blog. I got censored. They didn't even put up any of my post. I didn't even swear - I simply had a "negative opinion". I was mad and astounded by that. So what did I do? Yes here it comes........I posted on another person's blog who is a media writer for soccer that I know wouldn't censor me and I also realized - I have my own blog that I can write on and tell the world what I think without getting censored. :) Some days I really do love myself. Throughout this process I a liken it to little Suzie playing on her rec team. When they are 8 and little Suzie loses 10-0 we still serve little Suzie her after game snack, give her a hug and a smile and tell her good job and how proud we are of her anyway (even though she got her ass handed to her).

Yes - when I become a parent -- it will be interesting for all to see how I fare. I know this. That concept is not lost on me. Tony will have to reign me back in a bit and he will ultimately be the good dad and I will probably be the mom in little Suzie's rec world that gives her the snack, tells her I love her (cause that is the truth) and then says nothing about her play - unless she did great and the rest of her team sucks. I have a real problem with that whole - lying bit. If Suzie really did suck why should I tell her that she did great and I was proud of her. I would rather say nothing and we all move past it. I digress on fictional Suzie however.....

So with the posting thing I realized something after reading other people's posts. The US WNT blog is very much the parent of little Suzie. We have to say nice things because we can't be afraid to say the truth and hurt some one's feelings. God forbid we tell the truth and someone can't deal with honesty. Staci - I know you are laughing at me right now. But the reality is in this country we have had an amazing personality shift over the last 50 years on how we are and are not supposed to deal with things. With our parents - their generation was hell bent on giving all the love and affection to their children that they ceased to feel having parents from post war eras. Eras where there were less emotional attachments due to the increased mortality rates of young children that we predominantly do not see these days due to advances in modern medicine. And in this age we are all about love and coddling. Which don't get me wrong - i think is a good thing.

And as it relates to this group of US WNT individuals - I find it disgusting that the ideology of team and standing up for one another seems to be a trait that has been lost in this progression of our society. You see it much more prevalent in male teams than female ones. I find the team sports dynamic of boys vs girls to be a fascinating topic seeing as I have competing on both sides of the fence. Boys understand team. They understand a collective unit coming together and standing up for that idea. They understand winning. Women in sports settings are more "me oriented". This group of women athletes are professionals. And yet they act like teenagers. What they should have done was stand up to their coach. Because sometimes that is a good thing. They should have stood behind their #1 keeper and said - this is the wrong thing to do for the team and to win. And last I checked - winning is the only goal of the World Cup. Winning is the only goal for a professional sports team. That's why they are called "professionals". It's what they do. It isn't little Suzie on her rec team that we have to coddle as she grows and matures into a woman. These are athletes that have already taken those many steps. And yet the character displayed by the "team leaders" and essentially all of the team is what has me appalled and disgusted. Telling your teammate you aren't even allowed to go with your team to the game. You aren't even allowed to sit in the locker room or the bench. I guess that flight home would be a lot of fun too.

To shun a teammate like that in the manner that they did makes me sick. Lilly and Wambach - you should be ashamed of yourselves. Your stock has dropped with me. And if I were Hope Solo - I would have done what everyone probably would think would be considered a poor sport. But I have had my moments in this life where it was me against the world. No one else was standing up for me and I could either let the world shit on me - or I could stand up to injustice. I chose to stand alone on my own and that is what allows me to sleep at night. It allows me to be proud of my strenght for standing up for myself when I truly believe i have been wronged. Don't Tread on Me.

As soon as my team had banished me to the hotel because "I" was the "distraction". I would have booked a plane ticket home on the next available flight. I would have folded and left all of my US Soccer gear in my hotel room. I would have called my agent and had him working on a contract for an initial one year deal in a Sweden or German league. I would have then called my mom and had a really good cry. Followed by a call to my brother. I then would have turned off my phone. My ipod would be turned on as I sat in the airport in China watching the 3rd place match and waiting for my flight. I would have smiled to the people who looked at me and kept giving me their support as they realized who I was. I would have been done playing for my country. Playing for your country is about pride. It isn't about money - it is strictly about pride and passion. I would from that point forward never play for the US WNT again until I had an apology from every one of my teammates and only after the coach had been fired. I would go pursue a professional career of my own liking. I would not have returned calls and emails from my teammates once they realized I left. As soon as I got back to Cali - I would have packed my shit and gone home for a couple weeks to figure out my next steps.

You may think this is bad behavior - well I don't agree with something. A year ago the US MNT team stood up on a marketing campaign for THEIR World Cup of Don't Tread on Me. And here we have an instance of an actual US NT player that was Tread On. And yet she is the asshole here? I don't think so. Hope Solo - I am proud that you stood up for yourself, sad that you got left out in the cold and are an emotional wreck because of all this. I wish you wouldn't have apologized. It's much harder to take a stand against people you care for but who are in the wrong, then to just take the abuse. But in the end I will never let anyone Tread On Me even if I have to take the walk alone.

The US WNT marketing campaign was The Greatest Team You Never Heard Of. Well ladies, you are definitely a team we all have heard of now, and not because you were great - you yourselves proved that you were not the Greatest Team, nor did you act like a team. If your play had been inspiring, most of this would all wash away - but you all let yourselves down on that field and in that locker room regardless of poor coaching. And that is not something to be proud of.

The Train Wreck of the US WNT

I have waited for a while to write this story as I wanted to wait and see a mixture of both public opinion and to see what the media wrote and allow all parties to weigh in on comments. I have now read and heard to my hearts content and have decided to post some of the most pertinent stories and videos for you to recap. Pull up a chair though - because this will take you a spell to get through.

Foc Soccer = http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/7271586
ESPN = http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3038644&name=chang_jen
The Hope Video = http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3039111&categoryId=2378529
US Soccer Postgame = http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_2555913.html
Left out to Dry = http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=468135&cc=5901

The Abby Decision
I have already spoken of this earlier in my blog so I will simply recap here. The decision to:
Wait for Wambach to get out of the locker room for 10 minutes to put her back in was poor. I cannot remember the last time a coach waited that duration of time before making a decision to sub for an injury.
Put her back in after she came off with a gash on her head that needed stitches with a possible concussion was irresponsible of her health being complicated further by the fact she was a target player in the air.

Substitutions
There is something to be said for having the best crop of players your country can offer. And while maybe not plentiful, you still know you have a solid crew of athletes that can get the job done. You have to have trust and faith in those players and when the time calls for it - go to your bench and give them the opportunity to prove you right and prove themselves capable. And beyond that - sometimes fresh legs are the best thing to help a squad late in a game. In the instance of Wambach, there were two clear cut opportunities that she could have and should have been subbed - effectively making her get an additional hour’s worth of rest so that by the time the semifinal came around - she would have been able to perform well. As is - she never was even a factor in the semifinal - and each game the tournament went on her legs looked heavier and heavier. Another reason she wasn’t a factor was due to Scurry’s goal kicks - I address that later. I would have loved to see Natasha Kai play more than 5 minutes in the World Cup. I hope her confidence is not shaken in all this as well.

The actual substitutions are also a bit of a wonder. I think Diccio said it best in the semi when he said making those defensive substitutions instead of attacking ones when you are down by two goals is telling your team that you don’t have any faith in them. He could have done better the whole tournament with his choices of subs and the timing of them.

The Giggles
Apparently at one point during the game the camera crew panned over to the bench and Coach Ryan was caught giggling as if we were up 3-0 in the game. I don’t think there has ever been a game where I have played or coached where I was losing that I had a case of the giggles and the fact he did during a World Cup semifinal match when we were down 3-0 makes me ill.

The Game Plan
The biggest thing I want to know was what was the game plan? From comments I heard in various articles it was said that each of the groups of players would basically split up in practice and go practice on their own - thereby never really getting the opportunity to gel and transition together. That is poor coaching. It is one thing if you do a balance of that - but for that to be your standard practice is just wrong. And tactically I thought there was a whole lot of nothing going on out there. I have seen NCAA women’s games that were more exciting. How is it that the best of our best came out for 10 halves of soccer and were only able to put on a good showing for two of them? I find that so subpar that I am actually going to write US Soccer about it - urged on by Jamie Trecker.

The Own Goal
One of the things that has really pissed me off about Ryan’s Comments was it is extremely clear to me that he blames Leslie Osbourne for losing the Brazil game. All he wanted to focus on was the own goal that was scored first and then the red card. He thought Scurry played great - I am wondering what he was smoking. He kept bashing on that own goal without saying Osbourne’s name like it was she alone who lost the game for the US. And the reality was he couldn’t even come to grips with the fact that when you defend - it is safety first - especially if you aren’t 100% confident in the keeper behind you. Sure she made a mistake and sure Brianna called her off but it was clear Osbourne did not have faith in Scurry and Ryan was the catalyst to that situation.

The Red Card
I guess for me one of the things that I don;t understand is how when the red card was issued which was so blatantly poor officiating - that Boxx just took it. And that the US squad just look at the referee like - you just stole my ball - ho sad. I would have been up in that referee’s face. Sure John Terry and others are being punished by the FA for actually grabbing the referee in the send off of Mikel against United - but they were right in their justification to confront the referee - and that was just a league match. This is the World Cup. I felt like the US players basically just bent over and said - ok I guess I’ll take it in the ass.

Ryan’s Bad Comments
“We weren’t prepared for wet and rainy training sessions in China, cause of sunny California you know (their training ground).”

I find this to be sickening that he actually admitted this. The fact that England went to China a whole month ahead of time to acclimate to the Chinese climate and the field conditions and we went two weeks ahead is appalling. The fact that he admitted he did not properly prepare his players for the weather elements of the match is beyond confusing to me.

“I am very proud of the effort that they put in tonight. To say that, this game is one game, and its over now, and were moving on to prepare for our game against Norway, another very important match for our team. “

The effort - I thought totally sucked - and if it was their best effort then they sucked as soccer players and athletes. Are you for real???? This is one game?? This is the MOST IMPORTANT GAME OF YOUR CAREER DUDE!!!!! This is the World Cup! This is the most important game of some of these girls careers. How can you throw it away like it is just some league game.
From Tony Diccio, “Ryan said going in to this tournament that the goal was to get to the semifinal. I think the goal should always be to win the prize in a situation like this. “(Especially when you are ranked #1 by FIFA and are the favorites to win the tournament)

I’m not always a Diciccio fan but he nailed it on the head. And the fact that Ryan had set the bar so low is beyond me. Every tournament I go into with my youth teams always has the same goal (at least said to the players anyway) and that is to win the tournament.

As to the coach - well my take is he will be canned by next Friday - hopefully before. Enough time to play the third place game, fly home, unpack his bags and he will get the call. And if he doesn't - Mr Gulati is a moron. Ryan can't even own up to any of his decisions on being wrong which shows a totall lack of character that highlights his ignorance and arrogance. I mean he flat out said after Abby's head injury that if he had a second chance he would do the same thing again. Unbelievable. I really wish they would stop promoting the Women's assistant coaches to head coaches.

Hope Solo’s Comments
On a side note apparently that game where Scurry played against Brazil back in June - the reason Hope wasn't playing was because she was at her father's funeral - who she had dedicated her tournament and her play this World Cup to him.
Sure she said some things that pissed people off - but you know what, I want everyone to step back for a minute and reflect on something. As a kid - what is something you wanted to badly if you were an athlete? To be the best in your sport. To get paid to be the best and to be able to represent your country by being the best. it is something that every day you think about. Every time you get a knock in practice or a game and you have to play through it. Every time you start to wonder why you put yourself through what you are doing - it’s because you love it and you want it so badly. And the idea that she had worked her but off for 20 years to get to this point. To play well, top be determined and focused and winning, and to have someone not only tell you that - well not today -_ it don’t think you can do it and I don’t have trust in faith in you to take us to the final and then to see your team play awful and the keeper who replaced you not do well when you felt you could have done better - that your World Cup hopes are over and who knows if you will ever have an opportunity to have this moment again and be so close to achieve the ultimate pinnacle of your career - is so heartbreaking that most people truly can’t fathom it while sitting in their houses thinking about their 8-5 jobs cause they were never talented enough to get here.

And for someone to tell a US citizen that they don’t have anything to say or they can’t speak their mind - who are you kidding???? Someone who has been wronged? I find the most irony in this since it was only one year ago that the US men stood up and campaigned on the idea of Don’t Tread on Me. Well you know what Greg Rya and US Soccer - Hope Solo basically told you to not Tread on Her. Good for her. I’m glad someone had some balls to speak up. And I am sure in that moment her father would have said - stand up for yourself Hope.

Professionalism
Some people said it was unprofessional - well to be fair, I haven’t exactly seen professional athletes go through the business school and know what a learning curve on professionalism is. They usually also get to defer most things to a press agent or someone else to do the talking for them. Some people said she called out a teammate. Well here is my take on that. I don’t think in this situation you can separate the two. You can’t critisize the coaching decision and not critisize the play of the keeper - because it is one and the same. And really - all she said is that she thought she could do better. We train these athletes to have confidence in themselves - not to be humble - so why do we expect her to say or feel anything different than confidence?
Her World Cup hops are gone. They are done. By the time she has the opportunity to go to another World Cup - she will be 30 years old. It could still happen - but most likely she will be a back up by that time and the rest of the world is clearly catching up to the speed of play and technical and tactical way of playing the game. next time won’t be so easy.

Her benching of the third game
She has now been benched for the third game because of this - I am not surprised. And really - I don’t think she cares. I mean do you really care at this point about playing in the third place match when you could have been playing in the final? Sometimes you realize when you are ok sacrificing some things for the greater good of your sanity. And honestly - i have never felt better as a person when I have taken the higher ground and not said my peace on something that really chaps my ass. It only eats me up inside that I didn’t say what I wanted to say. There is an article above that talks about Solo being left out in the cold by her teammates - i think the writer is correct. I think her teammates should have stood beside her long before this and in the end - where were they? None of them had the guts to stand up for what they felt was right - and that lacks character in my opinion.

This is the best quote from that article “So this is what happens when a woman speaks out? When she tells it like it is? When she speaks from the heart, uncensored instead of all those generic, fill-in-the-blank responses every other American athlete regurgitates and we roll our eyes at when controversy strikes?”

Brianna Scurry’s No Comments - the US press agent
It is probably best she didn’t comment - but the fact the US press agent made sure she didn’t and tried to stop Solo from doing so was poor management. I think the USSF should have seen there was a greater issue here and made sure there was a sports psychologist on hand to help diffuse the situation and help the players deal with this emotional roller coaster. There was not.

Scurry’s World Cup greatness
Ys she was a great keeper but her time has passed. That is what happens in athletics. And one thing that really bugs me about all this is that this was Hope Solo’s chance to show she was in the same category as Brianna Scurry was - well she doesn’t have that same opportunity now to earn her star. And one thing that I didn't realize about Scurry until Heather Mitts said it pregame was that Scurry's kicks were a concern because Hope can kick to half field whereas Scurry's land in the attacking section of the neutral third for Brazil. So explain to me how her cat like reflexes help us when she can't get the ball 15 more yards up the field against a team like Brazil who can run and dribble like the wind????? I still don’t understand. And because of this - Abby Wambach never got ahold of the ball.

Show Some Passion - The overall play on the field
I guess when I look at all of this there is one thing that still pops out in my head as being a former player I have dealt with this situation. Even if you don’t like the coach or think they are inept - as a player, you have a responsibility to go and and perform to your highest level possible. I felt like the onus is still on the players of the US squad to do that - and they failed in my opinion. I don’t feel that Ryan in his most poor moments should have been able to castrate the play of the women - so I feel like a good chunk of this is on them. They have been playing the better part of 20 years in this sport - they should know how to get it done.

My US World Cup Player of the Tournament
The US player of the tournament for me was Lori Chalupny. She was the central midfielder and she was all over the place getting involved and disrupting as much as she could. She was steady, consistent, worked hard and was a solid presence for us. Her touch and passing was good and she scored when the US needed her to do so. I look forward to seeing her more on the field. Unfortunately - not much has been said or highlighted about her by anyone this tournament which I think is a shame. She was one of the few bright stars on this team that played well.

Sunil Galti - I hope you get your head out of your ass and fix this - because if you want to help a women’s league thrive here in another year - you sure have your work cut out for you by what the world has seen of the highest level of play our US women have to offer - and that does not bode well for a league that will try to tell everyone there is a great product.

Up on my Soapbox

I was going to leave it alone. I really was. I felt it best to try and move on....and well I just can't. And really - the idea of me not sharing my opinion - would probably be shocking to most of you anyway.

In the beginning, the Women's National Team Coach (Greg Ryan) appeared to be quiet and media shy. Well now I am wondering if he was media dumb. I have a fondness for when a coach talks to the media. It says a lot about a coach. It doesn't need to be all the time but a little bit is necessary IMO. In fact, I also feel that if you are not a media savvy individual because most coaches aren't - that is fine, but then have someone else who is stand up and say the things you want them to say and communicate to the masses.

Because ultimately, for a fan and spectator - one of the most frustrating things is when we don't understand what you do and why you do it. More people are forgiving and understanding when they feel they have an idea of what is going on vs being shut out - regardless of whether we agree with your vision. Now that the WC is on, 2 years later Ryan has started to talk to the press. Due to his actions, his aura and his words, I am far from being impressed. In fact, I am now wondering about his ability to think clearly. Anf for once, I am in the same position as the sportswriters and analysts.

I have copied a link to an article for you to read. Couple those with the previous comments I have made on my blog about Wambach and her head injury and the substitute situation and here are my thoughts:

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/7266516

I am not a fan of Julie Foudy as an announcer- but I do agree with many of her sentiments both in this story and as the world cup has gone on.

Ryan - ARE YOU STUPID?!?!?!?!?

As a coach, I think it is irresponsible to not consider your player's feelings and how those may impact the team as a whole. Because ultimately you may need them to step in at some point and do great things. You have to find a balance to delicately manuever tricky situations.

So my bit is - Solo has been his chosen keeper for quite some time now. She has proven herself to be solid and in the WC, she has had one mistake - early on. So what is the problem? And if it is an injury then he should just say so - and we all would think - oh this makes sense. If he had an issue with the player because she said soemthing he didn't like - well I understand that and understand not announcing that sort of thing to the media. So it makes me think he either is eccentric or something happened between the last game and now. He then further exacerbates the situation by saying he isn't sure who would be the keeper for the final if they win. So now you have a confidence issue with not just your keepers but your whole team unit as it is important they trust the person behind them.

I'm not saying that Scurry is not a great keeper - she is, but why do you go with a keeper for 4 games only to toss her aside for a semi? And even if the US does win - that doesn't necessarily mean that Scurry got it done. Maybe Solo could have gotten it done as well - I guess we won't know. Either way my opinion of him as a coach is quickly going down the drain. I find his whatever attitude to be surprising as well - probably more so because of his sideline demeanor than anything else. And if he loses and loses his job - maybe he will take a different stance. We shall see. We shall see.

A Little Sugar & Spice

We'll start with the spice.

My beloved Michael Bradley while continuing to be on his game in Holland scored another goal for his team in the latest Eredivisie League.....but it wasn't enough to secure the win as Herenveen lost 2-3. A sad day but they are still sitting in the middle of the table with a lot of games to go. Don't worry MB - I didn't score in my game tonight (but I had two last week!) and we tied a team everyone in the league hates. All that effort for....no goals darnit!

The Sugar
The WNT won again on Sunday morning defeating #12 England in 12 minutes of the second half by a score of 3-0. And while England played better possession the US was able to pull their game together enough to get the win done. Still not a great showing by the US - I know you are saying...but they won 3-0 - what's the problem? Well it could have been anybody's game is the problem. Lucky for the US England couldn't capitalize on anything in the box and their star player was sitting deeper in the midfield than normal for most of the match. Greg Ryan still didn't manage his substitutes well enough IMO and should have made two changes immediately once they went up by 3 in the 70th minute.

The US will be up Thursday morning in a semifinal matchup against Brazil and the FIFA Player of the Year Marta. It will be an interesting matchup as Brazil is an agressive team with a lot of flair. While the US has been able to hold them at bay in previous matches - sometimes looking by the hair of their chinny chin chin. We shall see what happens Thursday as Brazil may just take this one. Otherwise if the Americans advance - they will be facing the former WC champions Germany or Norway - depending on if there is an upset. Good luck to the women regardless - cause if you can't be good - be lucky !

My Love Affair Continues...

Bradley elevates his game during a busy summer

To see the highlight video click here

By Nicolino Di Benedetto, STATS Writer
Most 20-year-olds use the summer to relax on a beach and hang out with friends, one last chance for a relatively carefree existence before heading back to school and being forced to deal with the daunting pressures of life after college.
Michael Bradley is not one of those 20-year-olds.

While others his age will soon go into interviews armed with a fresh degree and hoping to land a job, Bradley's intentions are a little different: His goal is gold. Instead of an office, he wants to do his work in the middle of a Beijing field. Instead of a piece of paper, he wants a medal.

And if he keeps playing soccer the way he's been doing it the past few months, he just may get that shot.In a sport where goal scorers and dazzling playmakers get all the publicity, Bradley is gaining recognition for doing the dirty work. And the United States national team couldn't be happier.

"I am going to try to impose myself on the game," said Bradley. "Really be in the backbone of the team from the center of the field."

At 6-foot-1, he is a tough, imposing central midfielder looking to steal the ball from opponents and transition his team into the offensive. He's also the son of coach Bob Bradley, creating the first father-son combination in the U.S. team's history. But if you think nepotism has opened up this opportunity for Michael, forget it. His place on the team is all about his level of play and nothing to do with favored treatment.

ESPN soccer analyst Eric Wynalda, who praised the younger Bradley throughout the U.S.' 4-2 loss to Brazil in a friendly at Soldier Field on Sept. 9, feels any criticism the Bradleys get about nepotism is plain and simple ignorance. "Then they haven't been watching the games," Wynalda said. "On a couple of occasions he has been the best player on the field and he was the best American on the field against Brazil.

"When you look at the players who have developed over the past few years, Michael is one of the best. Over the last couple of games, I am impressed. His fight, his grit and his tactical awareness are fun to watch." Bradley has played nine games for the team in 2007, five while helping the U.S. to the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup title in June. He followed that up by providing leadership and a strong midfield presence in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in July, scoring the overtime goal against Uruguay that advanced the team to the quarterfinals before a disappointing loss to Austria.

Against Brazil, Bradley was the youngest player on the field and found himself mixing it up with two of the best playmakers in the game - Ronaldinho and Kaka. Unfortunately for the young New Jersey native, he committed a foul to set up a stoppage-time penalty kick for the five-time World Cup champions.

"One of the things I learned at a young age is how to compete," said Bradley, who comes from a sports rich family that includes uncle Scott, a former catcher for the New York Yankees and the current baseball coach at Princeton. "How fun it is to just go out and compete. I think that carries over to a game like this.

"What more can you ask for? It's 45,000 people, playing against Brazil and you're playing for the national team." Bradley's competitive edge has been seen on the field all summer, starting with his breakthrough Gold Cup. The basis for that performance was some advice his father gave him before the tournament. "I needed a good attitude, to work hard in training and to earn everyone's respect," Bradley said. "The rest would go from there."

And so it has.

This is not the first time the Bradley duo has been together in a professional environment. Bob, the all-time winningest coach in MLS history, made his son a fourth-round selection for New York in the 2004 MLS draft. The younger Bradley would spend two years with the club before being transferred to SC Heerenveen of the Dutch Eredivisie.

Prior to that, Michael found himself on the practice field with some strong Chicago Fire squads when Bob coached the MLS side from 1998-2002, winning an MLS Cup as an expansion club and two U.S. Open Cup titles. "When you would see him training with us in Chicago, you could see he had a mind for the game," said U.S. forward Josh Wolff, who played under the elder Bradley in each of his five seasons with the Fire. "It's great to see him grow and mature, but, at the end of the day, he's a heck of a soccer player. He's got a lot of upside."

Michael grew up admiring the strong Milan teams of the 1990s and identified himself with Demitrio Albertini, a deep-lying midfielder whose job it was to win balls, intercept passes and start the offense. "He wasn't always the best player, the most well known or got the best recognition, but he did as well as anyone," Bradley said. "He was the engine and the heart of the team. He would win tackles and get the ball in a real simple way to the next guy." "When you look at really good and successful teams, they have guys that work for the team and that can go unnoticed."

Bob noted another Italian example, eying the relationship between Milan's superstar defender and captain Paolo Maldini and his father, Cesare, who coached his son on the Italy Under-21 team and the 1998 World Cup squad after he captained the Rossoneri in the 1960s.

"When you look at the Maldinis, you see how Cesare told and taught Paolo how to be a man and a professional on and off the field," he said. "At the end of the day, that is what it comes down to if you want to succeed in anything. That crosses all sports and life in general."

Just to drive that point home, Michael scored his first career goal for Heerenveen in a 5-2 rout of Excelsior on Saturday. He has moved into the starting lineup this season following a summer which saw him jump into the spotlight. The only question that remains is, how long will he be able to ride this momentum of improvement?

If it's another few months, his graduation may take the form of inclusion on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.

And that beats going to an office anyday.

And this Daisy couldn't agree more!!!!

And the Women Move On

Good news for the US WNT as they previously beat Sweden 2-0 and won last night against Nigeria 1-0. Congrats to them as they move on to a quarterfinal!

However..........I am not feeling confident that the #1 favorites to win the tournament look exactly like they can win. I almost don't think they will make it out of a quarterfinal. Why am I bashing on them you say? They won two games and tied one - that's good right? Well sort of. But if you saw their play.....not so good. Out of 6 halves of soccer in 7 days - they only had 2 good halves. The rest were not so good. And you could say things like - oh they played in a typhoon or the pitch wasn't all that great. Sure....sure.....but these are professionals. And when I mean professionals - our women have been in residency camp for two years. What does that mean you say? It means that our women have been living either together or centralized in SoCal and training about 4-5 days a week together every week for the past two years. They have traveled to other countries and played as well. The men when they go into residency camp.....do so for like a week or two weeks before a world cup - because they play for club teams - our women primarily do not. So that should give you some perspective.

Coach Ryan also has not done a stellar job IMO either and has looked scared, hesitant, uncertain, indecisive and frustrated at times. I would like to see him chew some body's a$$. Or better yet - SUB someone then.

Last night he makes a questionable first sub at about 75 minutes for an outside midfielder. Then he finally takes off the central back in like the 80th minute or something who is sitting on a yellow card (they can accumulate through the tournament and after X amount (it's usually 3 for the men but I kept hearing 2) they serve a suspension. He keeps his star player (Wambach) in (whose legs looked heavy and tired and looked like she was dragging) and instead subs the Captain out with a few minutes to go. But then what proceeded to occur is what really pisses me off on all levels.

So we are up 1-0 and in the last 5 minutes of the game we do what some other teams do but what I think is the (one of) worst form of sportsmanship and a bad coaching decision. Wambach at this point had hit the ground about 5 times in the first half and about 3 times already in the second half. Now when you hit the turf - it take a small toll on your body and you could hurt something in the process but it sure doesn't feel good. So they "posses" the ball by way of dribbling to the corner and just sitting on it basically waiting to either get hacked or have the ball kicked out. Which at that point - we get the kick or the throw and it becomes ground hog day for the rest of the match - in the corner and hang out because we are so bored with this game kind of mentality. This kind of crap doesn't happen in American sports. So as a result - the other thing they did - was have Wambach be one of the two players that played this Mickey Mouse game in the corner. Well guess what happened - she hit the ground about 4 more times in 7 minutes doing this. Meanwhile the crowd of course was booing and deservedly so.

Now think about it from this perspective. Nigeria is sitting on the third game they are about to lose. They have nothing to be excited about and now on a national stage they are being jerked around by the best team on the planet. So you say, what would I do? Cause I know that is what you are thinking.

Well........I've been in this situation before - both sides of the ball.

I would try to break her leg.

Yes I really said that. And I mean it. It is one of the few times my competitive nature turns on its head and says - we are no longer playing a sporting match. And if I have nothing to lose or feel it is worth it.....well it's like Star Wars........anger turns to hate....hate leads to the dark side........this scenario happens very quickly on the pitch. And if you think I am mean - well Julie Foudy was saying the same thing during the game so it isn't just me.

And why is the star player in the middle of that???? Bad coaching. Even if I was another player on the field - I would have said - Wambach, get your butt out of there and I'll take it for the team. Because Abby only has so much playing ability in her for a span of 2 weeks when she is constantly hitting the turf like she is, has a broken toe, 11 stitches in her head - and that is all we know of. She is a targeted player and well you need to protect those players when you can - not throw them in the firing line.

Tony says - well some teams see that as possessing the ball. Sure you can look at it that way - but I think it is a chump way to end a game - especially in the World Cup and personally - I thought it showed a lack of class.

My two cents for the day...

The Bloodied & Broken in the Quest for the Title

My previous post talked about Abby Wambach and the blood and the stitches. I felt it necessary to include a visual and a few words of relevant note:



This is what it means to be a competitor...

CHENGDU, China (AP) - Abby Wambach's bloody head has been stitched, and her toe needs to be numbed before games.

Don't worry about her, she insists. What really matters is if she and her American teammates fail against Sweden in the Women's World Cup.
"The toe is not an issue," she said. "Toe, head, whatever. I don't really care. I'll play with a broken bone."

For Full Story

What I wanted to be when I grew up

I don't talk much about what I wanted as a kid - my goals or dreams. Never really had the inclination to say I wanted to be a teacher or doctor. Never felt I had a clue or a calling. The only thing I really ever wanted was something I never attained and knew in my teens I would never attain it (thanks for moving away from the soccer capital of the country mom).

I wanted be on the Women's National Team.



I wanted to score a goal in the World Cup and do the airplane and scream at the crowd. I wanted to put my finger to my lips and do the shhhh to the booers. I of course never got there however. Instead, I am relegated to having the high and low feelings as shown below by Wambach.....in my local area women's league. And of course when someone tells me to take it easy - I give them a screw you look. Because really - this game has never been about let's jsut go out and have fun. For me it is my deepest sense of competition. My deepest sense of feeling the burning desire to win and be the best I can be. To amaze myself and be the perfect player. Not that that happens or all the time as I am very hard on myself as a player - I expect to be perfect. I of course am not.



So I wanted to give a little love to the WNT since I gave so much love to the MNT (ok so I really gave all my love to Michael Bradley but moving on).

The US women kicked off their opening day World Cup match yesterday in China going against a tough North Korean team. In the end the result was a 2-2 DRAW (which means tie for us Americans). Here is a quick recap from my coaching perspective - cause you know I am so quality there too. LOL Anyway......

The US women were physical and that is probably the what I was happiest about the most. They were scrappy and came to play. See pic below.



Unfortunately so did the North Koreans. The NK's were quick, had a great first touch, were creative in the attack and their passing was almost impeccable. They were able to penetrate our defensive third and create several series in teh box likening that to a ping pong game. They scored both their goals during a time when Wambach (our leading goal scorer) was out for a period of ten minutes due to a head injury. Now since it is my blog I am going to digress for a moment and get on a soap box.

Wambach comes out because her head is darn near pouring blood. In these situations - even if it calls for stitches, usually what happens is the trainer cleans it up a bit, slaps some magic goo on the spot to stop the bleeding or at least clot it so it has no where to go and cleans off the jersey, and sends them back out on the pitch. In this instance, blood was trickling down her head so bad they had to walk off the pitch and then she was out for 10 minutes with no word on what was going on. This effectively put the team down to 10 men against a pretty good NK side. Now as a coach what would your inclination be:

A. Do a quick substitute after 5 minutes when you have heard nothing from the trainers cause they aren't even on the field. (They were still ahead at this point BTW)

B. Stay down to 10 men and hope for the best until you get word she can go back on (or not and then make a sub) since this is the World Cup.

C. Do an immediate substitution because: the player had a head injury with bleeding and the possibility of a concussion is highly likely coupled with the fact the player who is your leading scorer and biggest player on the field and is the target player on all set pieces to win balls out of the air with her HEAD could further complicate a concussion or her health and jeopardize her ability to play in all proceeding matches.

Take your time...........I don't think you really need to be a coach to figure out what I think as a coach. As a player - I would have done the same thing as Abby - Coach, I'm good to go - put me back out there!

Times up. Freaking C for crying out loud. There is no way she did not get stitches after that game and who knows what the state of her head was as well.

One of the things Tony and I talked about was what does Coach Ryan think of his bench? I mean if he is hesitant to go to his bench and only did so in the waning minutes of the game - which he subbed a different attacker out - does he not think he has options that can attack and cover?? That's a scary prospect. Or was it that he got caught up in a WC match and froze. When I say froze - I have seen Tony do this - sorry honey. A change needs to be made or should be made and the coach gets caught up thinking - do I sub out my best who is not playing their best for a second choice whose best may be the same(ish) as my best not at their best?? Coach Athena says - hell yeah sub em out! You gotta make adjustments on the fly and have faith in the gourp of chickas you picked!!!

Speaking of the coach. Today I will go down to the local Best Buy and pick up a wireless game controller...cause he clearly thought he could control everything that was going on out on the pitch. At least the U20 Men's coach was more composed at their WC. Come on Ryan - you gotta let the ladies figure it out on the pitch themselves - they have trained for this day in and day out under your leadership - they should know what to do and when to do it. I felt like I was watching a rec coach out there.

As to the play of our women - to be honest - I thought they looked a little sluggish. They looked like either the heat and humidity were getting to them pretty early on in the game - or they just weren't match fit enough. If they weren't match fit - then they should have been training in the Midwest this summer to acclimate to the weather conditions they were going to face in China. Their first touch was pretty heavy, they lost their team shape too many times to count and had problems getting organized. Their counter attacks were slow and did not have numbers pushing forward. The defense was not marking well and there were a lot of bad passes and misread runs.

But look at the hops on this girl!



Ladies...I wish you the best of luck against Sweden - you're going to need it.

We got Brazilled

Ah yes, some of you were wondering if I would post about the Brazil vs US game from Sunday. Who am I kidding - almost nobody reads this site. But since my Michael Bradley was playing - did you really expect me not to post? Just be thankful I can only get the Erevidisie Highlights instead of the full matches or else I would give you weekly commentary there as well.

So I decided to do a couple of things. First I wanted to give praise to my favorite FOOTBALLER (that was for some of you) by some pics - do you feel the need for me to share yet? ;)

Photo Gallery 1 - Tackling Kaka...I mean tackling the ball. :)



Why you picking on the little guy? Oh that's right - cuz he's got mad skillz!!!



Oh - did Bradley just dump the best player in the world to the pitch?!?!? Atta boy!




Ok so there was my short love affair with Michael Bradley. In reality - HE WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!!! I had an earlier post where I said he will take a year or two to mature and develop - but crap. If he starts playing like he did on Sunday - that year estimate just went down to like 6 months. It is clear the Dutch system is doing well by him as he is becoming one of the best central midfielders the US has ever had. Ok yes I know I am jumping the gun as some of you may think because he had ONE great game. But the talent and the knowledge base is there. i think he learned from the Sweden game and when Pablo comes back - i think the duo will pair well together.

All in all while the sports writers praised him gloriously, they still gave him like a semi low score - which i think they were scoring based on the play of the individual Brazilians talent not on how the US paired against each other. In my book - he had a 9.5. He had one bad pass and he made an error in judgement in the 85 minute. But you know what? He worked his a$$ off for that whole game and he was at least one of a couple that was trying to stop the darn play when he pulled down the Brazilian. So I don't really fault him for that. he knew when he messed up to - so it all comes back to learning lessons. I still can't believe this kid is 20. I can't wait to see how he plays in the next World Cup. Because we are going to need a player like him by that time.

But in the end it was 4-2 Brazil. Now the rest of us sometimes like to play the what if game and well IF the referee hadn't done his bit it could have been 2-2 or 3-2 US. So realistically this is the score of the game IMO...

Brazil - 2
US - 2
Referee - 3

Moment of Realization

Yesterday I found out that some of my former coworkers lost their jobs last week due to market attrition in the mortgage industry. One of them was my former boss. As I sat there thinking about the current market I am in and my past situation at that company, I realized soemthing. Last week would have been the day I lost my job too if I was still there. Reason I say that is because some of the top dogs there had a problem with me, and if they let my former boss go - there was no way they would have kept me. I found myself thankful that I am still employed although in the mortgage market as 36,000 people have lost their jobs in my industry since Jan1. And that number will be over 45,000 before the end of the year. I hope that all of you are able to land on your feet and yoru families do not experience hardship as a result of all this.

Au revoir mes amis!

Rams drop season opener

maybe I should rephrase that to say Jackson drops two in season opener... Anywho Rams lost to the Panthers on opening day of the season. For the first time in like 6 years I am NOT in a football pool - weird feeling actually.

They take on the 49ers next - this should be a W!

GAME 1

Crossfire 2-0 Doosvedonya

Our little chickas pulled out the W today after having only 12 girls and one of our strikers going down with inury after about 20 minutes - taking us down to 11 at that point. But they got it done and worked real hard. They actually looked great in the first half and then the second half showed signs of fatigue. But we are proud regardless!

Next week we are already down to a starting 11 so we'll see how good that goes! But a good start to our season.

On the mend

Last night I played in my first indoor game since before the wedding. On the last indoor game, one of the biznatches on the other team got pissed off I kept skinning her with my fabulous skills so she clipped me as I was turning on the boards and then shoved me with her forearm. I of course go body slamming into the boards and ended up bouncing off only to hold my left arm out and land on it. My elbow got severely jacked and I did a # on it as it took 6 weeks to heal and I couldn't bend it much for a week.

Ironically my first game back was against those purple biznatches (every team in the arena hates them btw). This time however since I am on the mend and working my way back to good fitness I tried to chill out a bit (I can be a rowdy player - never would have guessed that would you)and play mostly defense so I didn't have to run as much.

One of the weird things that has happened post surgery is my first touch. A first touch for the non soccer people who read this is how good you control the ball when you first receive it and setting yourself up for your second touch (if you take a second touch). You thought we all just went out and kicked a ball around and hoped for good things to happen didn't you? :) Anywho my first touch skills have come back. When I mean come back, I don't mean they have come back pre surgery - I mean they have come back from where I was at about 10 years ago. It's like I have had a break through or something. I feel like I have reconnected with my inner self in this manner. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't like I had a bad touch before, but it really felt more like........I had aged. I can't cut the ball really just yet because that might do a number on my ankle at the moment - but my first touch and my turns have been really good. I've been surprising myself. And while I have a pain in my heel, I feel in some ways like I have an extra bounce in my step.

And ironically last night I developed defensive skills I don't know if I ever had. I was never a defender in my former life but out of no where I must have saved like 8 goals and help set up a few for our team. I quickly became a marked woman and the other team wasn't passing the ball much to the players I was marking. I love those moments. I have found that my passing needs a smidge of work of course since I have been out for 3 months but I'm actually doing pretty good there too. It doesn't hurt to strike a ball with either my right or left foot and really the only pain I have is two parts: the compacting of the running and the push off with your foot. But really it feels like growing pains that i just have to work through and after a day or two my foot feels better than before I played. In the end, the purple chick who had pushed me in the earlier game, made a point to come over and waited to shake my hand for the good game when she could have just skipped me. I was a little surprised. I wasn't planning on shaking her hand. LOL

I got to play in an outdoor game last week with my co-ed team and did pretty good there too. I still can't sprint but that is ok. I was able to set some things up and distribute the ball pretty well so those are good starts. I am hoping to find myself another competitive outdoor women's team to play on since my old one conflicts with my co-ed team. Hopefully that will give me the balance I need to keep heading in the right direction.

What it is like on the other side

Safeco Field


I would like to write a disclaimer on this post before you read it as some people would view this post as a bragging post when in fact that is not the intention. It is simply to give you an insight into how some people spend their time and money and the level of luxury at something as trivial as a ball game which we got to enjoy for a night. I however do not have that kind of money to do these types of things so I must rely on being the charity case from those that do. Which BTW I am quite fine with. :)

Tony and I both are big into FREE sporting event tickets (especially baseball - we are football and football fans remember) and as a result, we have gone to much more sporting events free than we have paid for. Somehow it is one of the lucky things I have been fortunate to get from my employers when it comes time for raffles or availability.

On Tuesday Tony and I got a special treat. We got to go to the Mariners game at Safeco field. We didn't just get to go though or get free tickets. We got "Diamond Club" passes. For those that don't know what that means, it means my boss plunked down mega moolah for the best seats at the ball park, the best parking, and access into the club for special people where you get good food and alcohol for FREE. Well it isn't really free - he paid for it in his tickets. But to give you an idea of how mucho cool these seats are. He must have paid a minimum of $25K for them and possibly more.

So when you get to the parking garage this is how it goes (I really thought they were kidding when i was first told this until we experienced it):

Parking
- You drive into the parking garage and you wave your little blue parking pass to one of the attendants. He then yells to the next guy a ways down "Diamond Club!" and then tells you to go to the right - Diamond Club gets to park on a special level all by themselves. When you get to the next guy he tells you were you can park and yells again "Diamond Club". You then walk about 100 feet to the stairs or elevator and we of course chose to take the skywalk across - Tony thought that was cool. I believe his comment was - we get to avoid the masses down below. LOL Ironically every other time we have gone to a baseball game we are one of the masses.

Finding the Diamond Club
I feel the need to tell this next part of the story not because I am mean but because I am blonde and stupid sometimes and for the people that know me they will understand I was not being mean but was instead a little dense. We walk into the stadium and now we have no where to go. So I see to the side there is this guy sitting in a wheel chair all decked out in Mariner stuff and he has a couple of those Mariner passes around his neck making him look official. Ok well he also had a headband with two little antennaes sticking off of it and I thought maybe it was just part of his silliness because the guy was handicapped - mentally and physically. So Athena looks at this guy and thinks what you ask???? oh he must be like the Walmart greeter people who help you out when you first come into the store. So as Tony walks off i stop and ask this guy if he works there. I mean he looked official for crying out loud! He looks at me and says something that must have been gibberish because it was not coherent. I ask again if he worked there and does he know how to get to the Diamond Club. he looks at me with the same confused face and says something else I don't comprehend at which point I realize I am not getting the answer out of him that I need. SO I walk on.

I catch up with Tony and he goes, Athena - he doesn't work here - he's a handicapped guy. I of course retorted with I thought he was like the Walmart greeter. And my husband who loves me so much started laughing at me. Unfortunately a few minutes later I saw the same guy being wheeled around and we passed him again and he looked at me and I just tried to act like I didn't see him - I was embarrassed by that point. So after we finally asked someone who really DID work there how to get to the diamond club - we were pointed to an elevator and we went down to the basement.

The Diamond Club
When we got off the elevator there was the Diamond Club - it looked like a restaurant/bar/lounge place. We go inside and you basically get to eat an all you can eat buffet - for FREE. And no tipping either. The bar was free and as we walked up to the bar Tony turns to me and says, "baby I think this is a pay bar." Well I had been told otherwise but I had my purse ready just in case. But nope - no pay bar. SO we got our drinks and food and sat down at a table just as the first pitch was being thrown. The food was pretty decent - lots of ripe fruit and cracker and cheeses. Some gourmet snack food things, desserts, carved turkey, salmon and meatloaf along with mashed potatoes, rolls and pasta & green salads were available. When you have Diamond Club tickets - you literally walk out from inside the Club to your seats.

The Seats
Our seats were 7 rows from the front and we got to sit right behind home plate staring down the line to 3rd base. We were so close to the dugout that I got to take this picture with my phone. It looks a lot further out, but we were 10 feet from the Mariner's dugout.


We also were right where the netting no longer protected though so you had to pay attention to the game. But there were a total of 16 runs scored so it made for fun. The next bit of status you got was you had personal trash bags on the back of the seat in front of you and each one contained a card that you could check off what you wanted to eat or drink and the ladies at the top of the entrance would go fetch these items for you. you could order, hot dogs, nachos, hamburgers, wine, beer, soda and a heck of a lot more. And it just came to you - you didn't even have to leave your seat. They also had some snacky food inside you could go back in for. Alas - my cotton candy was gone before inning 1 was over.

At the end of the night, we were able to move out of there quickly and get back to the garage where we were able to exit quickly and get home. We had a great time, but in the end, unless it was my Rammies, I hardly see how I would ever pay for that kind of experience but I am glad I had the opportunity to do it off someone else's dime. But now you know, what the other side looks like.

More Americans Abroad

Remember the Rock Star Meets Soccer Star post? Well here is a follow up.

Kasey Keller signs with EPL Team Fulham

Congrats to Keller! I wish you the best on the best American made English team out there! :)

UnSweden Please

Ahhh my love of Michael Bradley grows - but he still has some maturing to do. I say give him a year but most likely two and he will be THE brick in the middle for our US National Team. Until then, I will gripe about commentators. :)



An Article I am ok with...

Fox Sports Gets it Right

Boo to the ESPN writer......

Were you even watching the same game?

The Sky is Falling........

To recap what I have been seeing in my industry for the past 4 months, read the article below. It's pretty bad people. The #1 mortgage lender in the nation tapped into an emergency line of credit over $1 Billion. People are losing their jobs in droves.........not a good time right now. Luckily for me I should be ok for at least another 6 months - hopefully 3 years. But aside from that, history will repeat itself and we will overcome these obstacles.

My only hope is that while I am a capitalist, I do believe corporations have an ethical responsibility to consumers and the economy as a whole to understand the ramifications of their actions in pursuit of wealth and prosperity. Too many lenders created too many sketchy loan products in the attempt to get people in a home so they could make thousands per borrower without truly caring about the impact it was going to play out in the near term. One of the things i hate about my industry is they do not care about consumers rights or their understanding and instead try to walk a tight rope too tight to walk. Foreclosure rankings came out yesterday that showed a 93% increase from July 2006 and a substantial increase from the following month as well.

If you are wondering where all these people will land? Go take a look at your local used car sales lot and you should get a glimpse...

The Sky is Falling....

Because I am such a dork

So i am officially a Who's Who Women's edition member. This is a paid membership though so I don't feel "sooo" cool. But I did score some airline tickets out of it so it wasn't all that bad. Because I am such a dork - I have copied my Who's Who bit that you can only get if you are a memeber and of course PAID to be a member. So I decided to share with my peeps here as well. The reality is, the fact I have my name published somewhere as President of a Company - that really feeds my narcissistic side........... :) But seriously - 30 years old and an entrepreneur - that is something to be proud of.

Athena A. Morrissey
President
The Collegiate Soccer Source
Member Since:
October 16, 2006

E-mail Address(es):
info@collegiate-soccer.com

Website(s):
http://www.collegiate-soccer.com

Type of Business:
Sports

Marketing Area:
National

Expertise:
Managing Company, Coaching, Competing

Major Products And Services:
College Soccer Recruitment Services, Matching Service for Students and Colleges

Favorite Business Publication:
Newsweek

Hobbies/Sports:
Coaching Competitive Youth Soccer

Education:
Bachelor of Science in Business, Concentration in Marketing and Finance, North Carolina State University

Affiliations and Awards:
Certified, Consumer Date Industry Association

Charity:
Disabled American Veterans, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Special Olympics

Number of Years in Current Position:
1

What does he/she attribute success to?:
She attributes her success to understanding her target audience and the market.

How did they get involved in profession?:
She became involved in her profession because she played high school sports and saw the need for better recruitment processes.

Highlight of career?:
The highlight of her career was and continues to be feeling successful in helping students find college soccer programs and financial aid.