Month: May 2012

soccer

Boston Breakers statement on WPS

Posted on by Beau Dure

I’ll have more analysis at some point over the weekend, in case my story and analysis at espnW aren’t enough for you.

But I wanted to go ahead and pass this along from my inbox …

May 18, 2012 (NORWOOD, MA) – Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) further announces today that the efforts of all teams over the past six months have regrettably lead to the conclusion that the league cannot continue forward despite the efforts of all teams. MagicJack did everything possible to try and keep the league together and succeed as well. MagicJack helped keep the league alive in 2011. Unfortunately, collectively the ownership could not reconcile their differences about how to run the league and what the appropriate financial model for teams should be for sustainability and jointly made the decision to cease operations.

Boston Breakers’ managing partner, Michael Stoller, stated “Dan Borislow built a terrific team that created a great level of fan support and created a strong attendance boost after the World Cup ended for the league and each team. I know many players on the MagicJack team were very happy and would love to play for Dan again in the future. Unfortunately, collectively we decided that the number of issues we faced as a league, along with the overall economic considerations, were just too much to overcome presently.”

Thoughts?

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soccer

D.C. United Women and Boston Breakers: A W-League/WPSL friendly

Posted on by Beau Dure

The leagues may have a fractious history, but second-year W-League club D.C. United Women welcomed the WPSL Elite League’s Boston Breakers (formerly of the WUSA and WPS) to the Maryland SoccerPlex on Saturday.

Play was a little ragged, as you might expect from one team (D.C.) that barely had time for introductions and another (Boston) that is still very much in early-season form. And as you’d expect, the professional team with a bit more preseason practice and a game under its belt (Boston) had the better of play and won 1–0.

But D.C. United Women had a few good moments as well as some sensational play on defense and in goal.

I caught a few highlights on video and spoke with many of the players.

Crowd wasn’t bad — definitely 1,000, maybe more — on a beautiful night.

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mind games

Chess and cultural amnesia

Posted on by Beau Dure

In some respects, it’s a Golden Age for chess. The Internet makes so many fun things possible, from online play to comprehensive up-to-date databases.

But it’s lacking compelling personalities, and it’s run by mad men.

How America Forgot About Chess – Santiago Wills – Entertainment – The Atlantic.

Game 1 of the World Championships, incidentally: Draw. The U.S. Championships also are underway.

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mma

The Ultimate Fighter Live: Unlucky week for Cruz

Posted on by Beau Dure

The idiosyncrasies of the new TUF format are truly coming home to roost.

Basically, we’re not yet through the first full round of competition. And we’ve completely run out of time to show what’s happening in the house.

The last three weeks are packed. Two quarterfinals May 11. Two more May 18. Then the semifinals May 25. And because it’s live, we don’t know how long the fights will last. They have to allow 15-20 minutes per quarterfinal and devote the entire May 25 episode to the semis.

If we get another Koscheck-Leben blowup or a Junie Browning meltdown, they’ll have to rush right through it. At this point, there’s no point to keeping these guys in the house.

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mma

The Ultimate Fighter Live update: Awkward!

Posted on by Beau Dure

We’ve seen fighters cry. We’ve seen fighters in the shower accused of doing something unclean in there. We’ve seen Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock left alone in a room with a camera crew for what seemed like hours.

Last week, we saw the most awkward scene in the history of The Ultimate Fighter.

Everyone’s surely sick of hearing me talk about touting Ronda Rousey as a future MMA star a few years ago. I never dreamed she would be this successful this quickly. I also never dreamed she would embrace the role of MMA sexpot. Oh, the Octagon Girls still get their share of attention, but Rousey is now the Mae West of MMA.

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