soccer

AmWoSo (W-League, WPSL) Power Rankings: July 10 — Playoffs??!!

Posted on by Beau Dure

By this time next week, we may know all our playoff teams. Instead of an “Also considered” this week, we’re going to look at the playoff races.

The big results this week: New England’s (controversial?) win over Boston, Atlanta’s draw at VSI Tampa.

1. Pali Blues (12-0-1, W-League Western; Last Week: 1) – roster
5-0 and 2-0 over the visiting Colorado teams. Last up in regular season: Sunday showdown with Seattle.

2. Chicago Red Stars (9-2-0, WPSL Elite; LW: 3) – roster
Slight struggle to beat Philadelphia 1-0. Remaining schedule is tough: Home vs. Western New York, then at New England and at New York.

3. Boston Breakers (9-3-0, WPSL Elite; LW: 2) – roster
Took care of business against Chesapeake 3-1 and seemed to be in control the next day against New England before conceding two very late goals and losing 2-1. Reminder: One of their losses (to Western New York) is on a technicality over player registration.

4. Western New York Flash (7-1-3, WPSL Elite; LW: 4) – roster
Beat Chesapeake 4-0. They haven’t played a pro team since June 13; Chicago and Boston await in their last two.

5. New York Fury (7-3-1, WPSL Elite; LW: 5) – roster
Practically clinched a playoff spot with 4-0 win over New England.

6. Seattle Sounders Women (8-2-1, W-League Western; LW: 6) – roster
No trouble with Victoria in home finale. The last week features a five-day, three-game California swing ending at Pali.

7. D.C. United Women (10-0-1, W-League Atlantic; LW: 7) – roster
Trounced Dayton 4-1 to clinch home field in the divisional playoffs.

8. New England Mutiny (4-5-2, WPSL Elite; LW: 9) – roster
The 4-0 loss at New York was deflating, but with two late goals vs. Boston, the Mutiny became the first amateur team to beat the pros in the Elite.

9. Ottawa Fury (10-1-0, W-League Central; LW: 10) – roster
3-2 over Laval; 1-0 over Toronto. Clinched first place in Central even though they have bye to Final Four as hosts.

10. Atlanta Silverbacks (8-0-3, W-League Southeast; LW: 8) – roster
Draw on Florida road trip leaves team needing a result this weekend in Charlotte.

11. Charlotte Lady Eagles (8-1-2, W-League Southeast; LW: 12) – roster
Held off Central SC Cobras 2-1 to set up showdown with Silverbacks.

12. Long Island Rough Riders (7-3-0, W-League Northeast; LW: NR) – roster
After two 1-0 wins over New York, the Rough Riders left a little less doubt in the teams’ third meeting of the season, winning 6-2 on Sunday.

Read on for the playoff picture:

Continue reading →

5
soccer

Sauerbrunn’s sendoff, Sullivan’s smashing debut and a JoLi party

Posted on by Beau Dure

Scenes from D.C. United Women’s home regular-season finale at the Maryland SoccerPlex, in which DCU beat Dayton 4-1 and clinched home field for the W-League East playoffs:

1. Becky Sauerbrunn, the one-time “iron woman” of WPS who had played every minute for the Plex-residing Washington Freedom through 2009 and 2010, played her fourth and final game with D.C. United Women this season. She seemed to be cursed in her previous games. DCU Women needed a late goal to beat Dayton 3-2 in May, and Virginia Beach handed DCU its only tie in June. This time, DCU dominated the first half but only got one goal to show for it, then went in level at 1-1 when Dayton scrambled in an equalizer in stoppage time. But the curse was broken in a big way.

Here, she talks about her season, prospects for pro women’s soccer going forward, MLS involvement in women’s soccer, and Lauren Cheney’s non-British pregame music selection. Seriously — no Knights of Cydonia?

2. The DCU roster got even better this week with the addition of U.S. Under-17 player Andi Sullivan. The Bethesda SC player just finished her season in the ECNL, and to put it mildly, she didn’t seem intimidated facing older opposition in the W-League. She created several chances down the right wing, including one for herself when she sliced into the middle and ripped a shot just wide, and she scored from a holding midfield slot later in the game.

3. DCU teammates Joanna Lohman and Lianne Sanderson are continuing their work with JoLi Academy, with plans to return to India in January. Sanderson scored the game’s first goal. Here, Lohman talks about the Academy and her “shot” during the game.

Dayton — starting a murderous five-day, four-game swing through the sauna of Northern Virginia — defended well through the first half and managed to scramble the ball into the goal on one of its few chances. But once a team like DCU gets rolling, it’s very hard to stop.

Atlanta had drawn with VSI Tampa Flames earlier in the evening, which meant DCU’s win clinched home field for the Eastern playoffs.

The results also saved the W-League from an absurd situation.

In the current W-League playoff format, the three division winners in the East make the playoffs. The division winner with the best record is the top seed. The wild-card team is the team that finished second in the division with the top seed. So it could be in a second-place team’s best interest to make sure the first-place team has the best record.

This hypothetical problem so nearly became reality. Had Atlanta run the table — not that winning at Charlotte next weekend will be easy — the Silverbacks would’ve finished up their season this coming Saturday around 7:30 p.m. with 32 points. DCU has 31. So Virginia Beach, the second-place team behind DCU in the Atlantic, would have to hope DCU won its final game or at least drew and earned a tie-breaking edge.

The problem with that? DCU’s finale is at 8 p.m. Saturday … at Virginia Beach. So if Atlanta had won out, Virginia Beach would have entered its season finale at home knowing that a win or possibly even a draw would eliminate it from the playoffs. Lose, and the Piranhas would be in.

Crisis averted, but clearly, this playoff format can’t stand next year.

Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about that. Virginia Beach can focus on keeping second place and a playoff spot — the Piranhas’ Sunday game with third-place Fredericksburg has been postponed. And DCU can prep for the playoffs.

1
soccer

AmWoSo (W-League, WPSL) Power Rankings: July 3

Posted on by Beau Dure

Not much action this week outside the top three. The big results were in the Boston-Chicago game and on Seattle’s road swing through Colorado.

1. Pali Blues (10-0-1, W-League Western; Last Week: 1) – roster
Survived challenge from Vancouver, winning 2-1. Colorado teams visit this week.

2. Boston Breakers (8-2-0, WPSL Elite; LW: 3) – roster
Won the big showdown with Chicago 1-0.

3. Chicago Red Stars (8-2-0, WPSL Elite; LW: 2) – roster
Lost at Boston.

4. Western New York Flash (6-1-3, WPSL Elite; LW: 4) – roster
In the midst of a long break.

5. New York Fury (6-3-1, WPSL Elite; LW: 5) – roster
Squeaked past ASA Chesapeake Charge 1-0.

6. Seattle Sounders Women (7-2-1, W-League Western; LW: 6) – roster
Split games on Colorado trip, losing 1-0 to Rapids and beating Rush 4-1.

7. D.C. United Women (9-0-1, W-League Atlantic; LW: 7) – roster
Clinched division title and remained in lead for home-field with wins over Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg.

8. Atlanta Silverbacks (7-0-2, W-League Southeast; LW: 8) – roster
Idle. Must make the grueling two-game, two-day Florida swing this week.

9. New England Mutiny (3-4-2, WPSL Elite; LW: 9) – roster
Idle last week; must make its playoff charge this week.

10. Ottawa Fury (8-1-0, W-League Central; LW: 12) – roster
Avenged sole loss with 3-0 win over Hamilton.

11. Colorado Rush (5-3-1, W-League Western; LW: 10) – roster
Lost to Sounders 4-1.

12. Charlotte Lady Eagles (7-1-2, W-League Southeast; LW: 11) – roster
Idle

ALSO CONSIDERED (alphabetical order)

Beach Futbol Club (3-1-0, WPSL Pacific South) – roster
Idle — will finish six-game regular season with two games Saturday and Sunday.

FC Dallas (8-0-0, WPSL Big Sky South) – roster
Stunner – lost 4-2 at Oklahoma Football Club.

Laval Comets (5-2-2, W-League Central) – roster
Lost 1-0 to Quebec

Long Island Rough Riders (7-3-0, W-League Northeast) – roster
Won 6-0 over New Jersey Rangers. (Not Wildcats.)

New Jersey Wildcats (5-2-2, W-League Northeast) – roster
Won 3-1 over New York. Will likely have to catch Rough Riders and win division to make playoffs. Won’t play again until playing three in four days July 11-14.

San Diego SeaLions (5-0-0, WPSL Pacific South) – roster
Idle — will face Beach FC on Sunday with division at stake.

Toronto Lady Lynx (5-3-1, W-League Central) – roster
Idle

Virginia Beach Piranhas (4-2-3, W-League Atlantic) – roster
Idle

GAMES TO WATCH (times Eastern and possibly incorrect)

Tuesday, July 3
WPSL Elite: New England Mutiny at New York Fury; 7 p.m.; Hofstra Univ.

Saturday, July 7
WPSL Elite: Boston Breakers at New England Mutiny; 6 p.m.; East Longmeadow, Mass.

Sunday, July 8
W-League Atlantic: Virginia Beach Piranhas at Fredericksburg Impact, 5 p.m.; Fredericksburg, Va. (possible playoff berth on the line)

0
soccer

The elephant in the women’s soccer room: NCAA

Posted on by Beau Dure

NY Fury coach Paul Riley, who led the Philadelphia Independence to two runner-up finishes in WPS, has a few thoughts about the future of the game, and it differs a bit from the Peter Wilt plan — more money, more months in the season:

The money issue is really just a question of what owners are willing to put on the table. If it’s $1.5 million per team, great. If it’s closer to the $300,000 at the low end of Wilt’s range, then that’s what it is.

The more interesting question here is the length of the season. Riley may be overstating things a bit — is Marta really going to get nine months of playing time this season between a 22-game Swedish season and the chronically undersupported Brazilian women’s team? But he’s right that these condensed summer seasons aren’t leaving much time to develop teams … or players.

Riley, like many others in the women’s soccer community, want everyone to get together and talk about it. USSF. USL. WPSL.

NCAA?

When it comes to length of the season, college soccer is the problem. A lot of this country’s top players are still in school. And the NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, has pushed its season earlier and earlier into August while cutting the spring season.

That’s a problem — primarily for college players. They could get a compressed four-month college season and perhaps two months to play with a W-League or WPSL team in the summer. That’s a lot of downtime, then a lot of games in a short time — a good recipe for injuries.

Is it a problem for a future elite league? Directly, maybe not. For leagues below Division I — including the regular WPSL and W-League — it’s a problem because college players can’t play for pro teams. The WPSL Elite experiment of having amateur (college players allowed) and pro (NCAA? Stay away!) teams is intriguing. But that means the season’s length is beholden to colleges who won’t release their players until exams are complete and will demand their return in early August.

(This is a problem for men’s soccer, too. Suppose a PDL team made the U.S. Open Cup semifinals in August. Who could play?)

So I’ll toss out a trial balloon here, based on far less research and information than Peter’s plan:

1. Have a national league for full-time pros that splits its season between the fall and spring. Set the championship for late April.

2. Also enter those pro teams in summer regional leagues like the W-League or WPSL. (The leagues could still come together for a national playoff at the end of summer.) With national team call-ups, the pro teams would likely be weakened and would need to call in other players.

3. The pro teams would establish firm roots with youth programs. That would also give them extra players to call in for summer play — we might need an NCAA/amateurism expert to weigh in, but MLS academy kids have been able to compete in MLS reserve league games without sacrificing their college eligibility. So we could see someone like Morgan Andrews “play up” with these teams for the summer. (Current college players, no — they would play for summer-only teams in these regional leagues.)

The other side of the coin — get the NCAA to back off a bit. Beef up the spring season and let them start the fall season a couple of weeks later.

That’s the balloon. Take your shots …

2
mma

The contrarian take on Silva-Sonnen

Posted on by Beau Dure

A lot is riding on the upcoming UFC pay-per-view with Anderson Silva defending his middleweight title once again against Chael Sonnen, who grounded-and-pounded Silva for four-and-a-half rounds the first time they faced off before Silva pulled off the miracle comeback two years ago.

For the UFC, it’s a chance to continue its comeback from a disappointing string of injury-riddled pay-per-view cards. The last two big ones — Jon Jones-Rashad Evans (UFC 145, April), Junior dos Santos-Frank Mir and other heavyweights (UFC 146, May) — have done well. (We’ll give the UFC a pass on UFC 147 in Brazil, which turned into a finale of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil with a Rich Franklin-Wanderlei Silva bout on top. That one really wasn’t about the U.S. market. The current wave of UFC growth is overseas, and they know it.)

Silva-Sonnen is the standout fight of the UFC’s overloaded year, in which it’s pumping out fight cards by the dozen for the Fox networks along with its now-standard steady flow of pay-per-view cards. The storylines are obvious. The fighters hate each other. Sonnen won’t stop talking about how he dominated Silva for all but the last few seconds of their last fight. Silva is one of the greatest fighters of all time.

So why am I not interested?

1. The first fight was dull aside from the shock value. Sonnen takedown. Silva stuck on his back. Repeat. The only interesting thing about it was the man on his back was Anderson Silva … the man who had the aura of invincibility.

2. Age. The combined age of the guys in this fight is 72. Experience can be a good thing in this sport — the complexities of martial arts can take years to master — but the 35-year-old Sonnen is still bringing essentially the same wrestling-intensive skillset he’s always had. The 37-year-old Silva might have lost a step despite his wonderful bounce-back from the first Sonnen fight, a highlight-reel KO of dangerous opponent Vitor Belfort.

3. Chael Sonnen, middleweight champion? Sonnen has had a slow climb up the middleweight ladder. He was 1-2 in his first stint in the UFC, departing after his third career loss to the ubiquitous Jeremy Horn. Some solid results in BodogFight brought him into WEC, where he lost a title fight to Paulo Filho. He got a quick rematch and won one of the oddest fights in MMA history — Filho missed weight and acted as if he were hearing voices. He moved into the UFC and immediately lost to Demian Maia.

Sonnen rebounded with a couple of wins and plowed through Nate Marquardt to earn the title shot. He looked far stronger than Marquardt, a prelude to how he would treat Silva.

Then came the scandal. Sonnen’s postfight drug test showed a 16:1 testosterone-epitestosterone ratio. The limit, depending on the overseeing body, is either 4:1 or 6:1.  There’s no need to rehash the whole case, but the end result is this: Sonnen served a suspension  and returned with a strong win over Brian Stann and a less convincing win (I’m not convinced at all, frankly) over Michael Bisping. He’ll fight Silva under a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone use, but he’ll be tested extensively, and his ratio still needs to be under 6:1.

So if Silva is the old Silva, he shouldn’t have any problem with Sonnen. The champion supposedly had a rib injury the first time they fought, and he’ll be better prepared to fend off Sonnen’s takedowns. No one doubts Silva would win if the fight remains standing. And if Sonnen derived any additional strength from testing off the charts in the first fight, he’ll have less of an advantage this time around. It’s possible, maybe even likely, that Silva is about to deliver an epic beatdown that ought to make Sonnen shut up for once.

But what if he doesn’t? What if age has really robbed Silva of his legendary explosiveness? What if the UFC ends up with a middleweight champion with a 28-11-1 record who wouldn’t have gotten this rematch without his big mouth and a massive favor from the judges to beat Michael Bisping? A champion who sneers at any reporter who dares to ask real questions or do any real reporting about his testosterone use?

To me, it looks like pro wrestling. We’re about to see the heel get his come-uppance. Or not. (And a lot of people actually like the heel, who is indeed a witty guy and, oddly enough, a pretty good TV analyst.)

There’s a reason I’ve used first person through all this. I know this is just me. The typical MMA fan is far more interested in the storylines than I am. This card is going to get a ton of media coverage. I’d be stunned if the pay-per-view numbers weren’t the biggest of what’s already a pretty good year.

But the date I’ve circled is Aug. 11. Ben Henderson. Frankie Edgar. Lightweight title rematch. Two great guys. Two great fighters. Bring it.

0
soccer

AmWoSo (W-League, WPSL) Power Rankings: June 25

Posted on by Beau Dure

We got upsets. And we’ve got teams in the W-League Western fighting for those two playoff spots.

In the East, the strange thing about the format is that the second-place team from the top seed’s division will advance. That means the Charlotte Lady Eagles and Virginia Beach Piranhas might have actually hurt themselves by getting draws with leaders Atlanta and D.C. United, who are battling for that top spot.

The Central is still a logjam, but four teams plus Ottawa will make it. Ottawa’s hosting the Final Four.

1. Pali Blues (9-0-1, W-League Western; Last Week: 1) – roster
Took the biggest win of the W-League season: 2-0 at Seattle, though Sounders lacked U.S. stars. Followed up with 4-0 win at Victoria. Then finally lost perfect record with 0-0 draw at Vancouver. Last four games are at home, and a playoff berth is all but assured.

2. Chicago Red Stars (8-1-0, WPSL Elite; LW: 2) – roster
No trouble on the Mid-Atlantic road swing — 3-1 at Chesapeake, 4-1 at Philadelphia after conceding early lead.

3. Boston Breakers (7-2-0, WPSL Elite; LW: 3) – roster
Took care of business with two home wins — 4-2 over feisty New England, 2-0 over New York.

4. Western New York Flash (6-1-3, WPSL Elite; LW: 4) – roster
Beat Philadelphia 2-0; held to 3-3 draw at New England.

5. New York Fury (5-3-1, WPSL Elite; LW: 5) – roster
Lost 2-0 at Boston.

6. Seattle Sounders Women (6-1-1, W-League Western; LW: 6) – roster
Lost 0-2 vs. Pali without national team stars. Got them back and demolished Santa Clarita 4-0 with two goals from Sydney Leroux and one from Alex Morgan. Will need to hold off Colorado Rush for playoff berth.

7. D.C. United Women (7-0-1, W-League Atlantic; LW: 7) – roster
Won 5-0 vs. Fredericksburg, knocking the Impact out of consideration for the rankings. Drew 1-1 vs. Virginia Beach Piranhas in a game that could be described as “physical.” Still nearly clinched first place in Atlantic.

8. Atlanta Silverbacks (7-0-2, W-League Southeast; LW: 8) – roster
Beat Charlotte 1-0 to take control of division; held 2-2 the next day at Central SC. Tied with Charlotte atop division, with a game in hand.

9. New England Mutiny (3-4-2, WPSL Elite; LW: 9) – roster
The class of the WPSL Elite’s amateur teams broke through with 3-3 draw vs. Western New York, with Morgan Andrews and Kate Haworth clearly ready for top-level league soccer. Lost 4-2 vs. Boston.

10. Colorado Rush (5-2-1, W-League Western; LW: 11) – roster
Made strong claim for playoff contention — won 2-1 in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Park showdown with Colorado Rapids Women; beat LA Strikers 2-1. California swing July 4-8 will be crucial.

11. Charlotte Lady Eagles (7-1-2, W-League Southeast; LW: 12) – roster
Lost 0-1 at Atlanta.

12. Ottawa Fury (7-1-0, W-League Central; LW: NR) – roster
Beat former division leader Laval 2-1, routed London 10-0 and took full command of Central with 1-0 win at Toronto.

ALSO CONSIDERED (alphabetical order)

Beach Futbol Club (3-1-0, WPSL Pacific South) – roster
Beat LA Vikings 6-0.

FC Dallas (8-0-0, WPSL Big Sky South) – roster
Beat Tulsa Spirit 3-0.

Laval Comets (5-1-2, W-League Central) – roster
Lost 1-2 at Ottawa Fury. Beat Hamilton 1-0 to remain firmly in playoff positions.

Long Island Rough Riders (6-3-0, W-League Northeast) – roster
Won 1-0 at North Jersey Valkyries. Lost 2-1 at New Jersey Wildcats, failing to put away division rival.

New Jersey Wildcats (4-2-2, W-League Northeast) – roster
Stayed in race with big 2-1 win over Long Island. Still four points back with four points to play, and second place almost certainly won’t do it.

San Diego SeaLions (5-0-0, WPSL Pacific South) – roster
Won 1-0 at Ajax America. Just one more game listed on schedule — a July 8 visit from Beach FC.

Santa Clarita Blue Heat (3-4-2, W-League Western; LW: 10) – roster
Won 4-2 at Victoria Highlanders, then lost 0-2 at resurgent Vancouver, then crushed by star-laden Seattle team 4-0. Last five are at home, so playoffs aren’t out of question.

Toronto Lady Lynx (5-3-1, W-League Central) – roster
Won 1-0 at London Gryphons; lost 1-0 vs. Ottawa.

Virginia Beach Piranhas (4-2-3, W-League Atlantic) – roster
New to the rankings after winning 1-0 vs. Northern Virginia Majestics and drawing 1-1 at runaway leaders D.C. United Women.

GAMES TO WATCH (times Eastern and possibly incorrect)

Saturday, June 30
WPSL Elite: Chicago Red Stars at Boston Breakers, 6 p.m.;  Somerville, Mass.
W-League Western: Seattle Sounders Women at Colorado Rapids Women, 6:30 p.m.; Commerce City, Colo.

Sunday, July 1
W-League Western: Seattle Sounders Women at Colorado Rush, 3 p.m.; Highlands Ranch, Colo.

0
cycling

A quick look at the Lance Armstrong impasse

Posted on by Beau Dure

Cyclingnews has a solid overview, complete with some exclusive information, of the Lance Armstrong case, along with links to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s charges and Armstrong’s response.

One item Cyclingnews raises through an anonymous source — the charges are not based on testimony from the grand jury investigation that ended with no charges being filed.

Most of the USADA charges are based on testimony from as-yet-unnamed witnesses who were involved with Armstrong’s team. The Armstrong response aggressively asks for the names, last known addresses and contact information of these witnesses — perhaps not the best PR strategy when the USADA complaint already describes “the use of fear, intimidation and coercion to attempt to enforce a code of silence (or omerta)” among Armstrong’s cycling teams.

The Armstrong response is more effective in questioning two specific items in USADA’s charges — a 2001 EPO test in Switzerland (which, by itself, would fall outside a statute of limitations, anyway) and data from 2009 and 2010. Armstrong took a bunch of tests in those years and posted the results. It’ll be curious to see if USADA sees something in those results that Armstrong and company did not.

Pundits are going to be tempted to jump to conclusions before this case plays out. That’s not a good idea. This one’s going to be complicated.

0
sports culture

Title IX-related questions

Posted on by Beau Dure

I pride myself on being less cynical than the typical journalist. And I’m certainly not someone to rain on the parade of Title IX’s 40th anniversary. Griping about an anniversary commemoration is like showing up at a July 4 fireworks display to gripe about drone attacks or Guantanamo or all the Native Americans who died when Columbus came over here. Time and place. Time and place. And besides, I think we’d agree that Title IX, like the Declaration of Independence, is generally a Good Thing.

That said, this sort of celebration brings out a few groups of people:

  1. People who have legitimate concerns over Title IX enforcement.
  2. People who twist those concerns into spurious self-defeating arguments and defenses of every penny spent on football.
  3. Title IX advocates who understand some of these concerns.
  4. Title IX advocates who ignore these concerns and won’t rest until every college and high school has a women’s modern pentathlon team, no matter how many men’s sports are cut to reach that point.

(All right, I’m exaggerating slightly on groups 2 and 4. Slightly.)

I’m in no mood to write an essay. I did that 15 months ago, and I either got it right at the time or haven’t made enough intellectual progress to think of anything better.

But I’m hoping the following list of questions — to which I’m willing to listen to answers — will spur some reflection among groups 2 and 4 to ease them into groups 1 and 3. Maybe they’ll even find some middle ground and become group 13. OK, 31.

Questions:

– Shouldn’t we be more concerned with mostly male Georgia Tech adding more female students than majority-female North Carolina adding more female student-athletes to a staggeringly successful women’s sports program?

– Who’s going to speak up for traditional nonrevenue sports against plans like this while football programs bleed athletic departments dry? (Yes, they quite often do.)

– Why do we see NCAA numbers showing how few programs make money while the Business of College Sports blog ranks programs as if they were Forbes billionaires wondering which building should be rebuilt in marble?

– If you’re trying to meet the desires and aptitudes of the underrepresented gender in your student body (one of the prongs of the three-pronged Title IX test), wouldn’t a JV soccer team be better than a varsity equestrian team?

– Why is Title IX all about sports, anyway? What about us musicians? We draw bigger crowds than some sports teams. We travel a bit.

– And what about scientists? Your daughter has a better chance at a career in medicine or engineering than she does at a college soccer scholarship. Shouldn’t she be pursuing it?

– Why should college scholarship opportunities play any role in determining what counts as a sport? I can tell you right now that 95 percent of the kids in my local U8 boys soccer league have no shot whatsoever at a college scholarship. Should they quit?

– Why does the third-string tight end for the football team need a scholarship while the starting left midfielder doesn’t?

– Why are colleges adding sports such as rowing in which nearly 90% of all intercollegiate athletes had no experience before entering college? (See the study.)

– Women’s wrestling is a valid Olympic sport in which the USA is pretty good, and adding it requires little to no new equipment for a school that already has a wrestling program. Why aren’t colleges adding that rather than cutting their men’s wrestling programs?

– Why are schools so good at adding rowing and bowling but so bad at the very basics of meeting all female students’ needs? (Case in point: sexual harassment)

– College biathlon. When’s it gonna happen?

– Can’t some sports be identified as Olympic development and protected in some partnership with the USOC?

– Does anyone have patience to let sports grow? For example: When I was at Duke, women’s basketball rarely drew in the hundreds. Now they draw in the thousands.

– Why do we tolerate the corrupt college football bowl system?

Maybe that’ll get the conversation started so that we really will preserve all that’s good about Title IX and not end up with a bunch of lawsuits and a ton of program cuts blamed (rightly or wrongly) on the law’s enforcement.

2
mma, olympic sports, soccer, track and field

TV viewing for the next two weeks

Posted on by Beau Dure

How am I supposed to get any work done?

(All times Eastern)

Thursday, June 21
2:30 p.m.: Soccer, Euro 2012 quarterfinal, Czech Republic-Portugal (ESPN)
10 p.m.: Olympic trials, diving (NBC Sports Network)

Friday, June 22
2:30 p.m.: Soccer, Euro 2012 quarterfinal, Germany-Greece (ESPN)
5 p.m.: UFC, prelims (Facebook)
6 p.m.: UFC, prelims (Fuel)
8 p.m.: Bellator, light heavyweight quarterfinals (MTV2)
9 p.m.: UFC, Maynard-Guida (FX)
9 p.m.: Olympic trials, track and field (NBC Sports Network)
11 p.m.: Olympic trials, diving (NBC Sports Network)

Saturday, June 23
1:30 p.m.: Field hockey, U.S. women vs. Argentina (NBC Sports Network)
2:30 p.m.: Soccer, Euro 2012 quarterfinal, Spain-France (ESPN)
4 p.m.: Olympic trials, diving (NBC)
5 p.m.: Soccer, U.S. women’s soccer special (ESPN)
7 p.m.: UFC, prelims (Facebook)
8 p.m.: UFC, prelims (FX)
8 p.m.: Olympic trials, track and field (NBC)
10 p.m.: UFC 147, Silva-Franklin II (pay-per-view)

Sunday, June 24
2:30 p.m.: Soccer, Euro 2012 quarterfinal, England-Italy (ESPN)
3 p.m.: Olympic trials, diving (NBC)
5 p.m.: Soccer, MLS, Portland-Seattle (ESPN)
7 p.m.: Olympic trials, track and field (NBC)
7 p.m.: Soccer, MLS, New York-D.C. United (NBC Sports Network)

Monday, June 25
8 p.m.: Olympic trials, swimming (NBC)
9 p.m.: Olympic trials, track and field (NBC Sports Network)

Tuesday, June 26
7:30 p.m.: Soccer, U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals (various online streams)
8 p.m.: Olympic trials, swimming (NBC)

Wednesday, June 27
2:30 p.m.: Soccer, Euro 2012 semifinal (ESPN)
8 p.m.: Olympic trials, swimming (NBC)

Thursday, June 28
2:30 p.m.: Soccer, Euro 2012 semifinal (ESPN)
5:30 p.m.: Olympic trials, gymnastics (NBC Sports Network)
8 p.m.: Olympic trials, swimming (NBC)
9 p.m.: Olympic trials, track and field (NBC Sports Network)

Friday, June 29
6 p.m.: Olympic trials, track and field (NBC Sports Network)
8 p.m.: Soccer, MLS, Sporting KC-Chicago (NBC Sports Network)
8 p.m.: Olympic trials, swimming (NBC)
9 p.m.: Olympic trials, gymnastics (NBC)

Saturday, June 30
2 p.m.: Soccer, U.S. women vs. Canada (NBC)
4 p.m.: Olympic trials, gymnastics (NBC)
8 p.m.: Olympic trials, swimming (NBC)
9 p.m.: Olympic trials, track and field (NBC)
10 p.m.: Soccer, MLS, San Jose-Los Angeles (ESPN2)

Sunday, July 1
2:30 p.m.: Soccer, Euro 2012 final (ESPN)
7 p.m.: Olympic trials, track and field (NBC)
8 p.m.: Olympic trials, swimming (NBC)
9 p.m.: Olympic trials, gymnastics (NBC)

Monday, July 2
8 p.m.: Olympic trials, swimming (NBC)

Saturday, July 7
7 p.m.: UFC, prelims (Facebook, tentative)
8 p.m.: UFC, prelims (FX, tentative)
10 p.m.: UFC 148, Silva-Sonnen II (pay-per-view)
11 p.m.: Soccer, MLS, Seattle-Colorado (NBC Sports Network)

Sunday, July 8
3 p.m.: Soccer, MLS, Chicago-Los Angeles (ESPN)
6 p.m.: Water polo, U.S. women vs. China (NBC Sports Network)

Have I forgotten anything?

Yes! Tour de France starts June 30. And we’ll have some web streams for women’s soccer, USL and NASL.

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