Phew - I feel like it's been a long time since I sat down with some good strong coffee and just caught up here. There's lots of news in the soccer world as the WPS season kick-off is just weeks away!  March 29th, to be exact.  (I should probably think about taking a day or two [...]

Force midfielder Maggie Doe, right, closes in on NY/NJ Sky Blue striker Natasha Kai during the first half of their friendly on Wednesday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
(photo by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Mother Nature gave them lemons.

Sky Blue FC beat LA Sol 1-0 to win the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) championship game on Saturday, thanks to a goal from Heather O'Reilly (pictured with Natasha Kai and Natasha Kai's tattoos) So WPS has survived its inaugural season (even after launching at the worst possible time, economically speaking) and - crucially -established the [.

What's up with Sky Blue FC, anyway? The sudden resignation of Kelly Lindsey as coach ... along with her assistant ... just seems weird on the face of it. Weird and mean-spirited, as the players are still in the running for a play-off spot, with two games remaining in the regular season.

Lindsey, who took over with the team in last place, guided Sky Blue to a 5-3-3 record and into playoff contention.

Hmmm - the usual internet issues this morning - and an e-mail from FairPoint indicating that my webspace is now available.  Hey FairPoint - it ain't my webspace that's the problem.  Could you maybe help me with the little e-mail issue that I've now contacted you about TWICE?  (Never mind the time spent waiting on [.

In Week 19 of Women's Pro Soccer, the Sky Blue FC (NJ) coach walked out on her team, a red card left the Boston Breakers shorthanded, and the two bottom teams pulled off some dramatic upsets. Of all the surprises in Week 19, the drama in New Jersey drew the most attention.

On Thursday, Sky Blue FC Head Coach Kelly Lindsey abruptly left the team with no explanation at all.

A look back at USA's 1999 World Cup victory with WPS stars Brandi Chastain, Tiffeny Milbrett, Christie Rampone, Kristine Lilly, Briana Scurry and Tony DiCicco. If this video doesn't bring tears of joy to your eyes you must be dead.

United States Women's National Team coach Pia Sundhage has announced the roster for the July 19th (Rochester - 3pm - ESPN) and July 22nd (Charleston - 8pm - FSC) friendlies against Canada. GOALKEEPERS (2): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica) DEFENDERS (7): Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Stephanie Cox (Los Angeles Sol), Lori Chalupny (St.

U.S. captain Christie Rampone underwent emergency abdominal surgery early this morning in Rochester, N.Y., where the USA is preparing to face Canada on Sunday at 3 p.m. live on ESPN and will not be available for that match, or the July 22 clash with Canada in Charleston, S.C. (Live on Fox Soccer Channel at 8 p.

Walking into Carson stadium for the WPS final, I found myself thinking that a win for Sky Blue would be good for the league, and perhaps even good for the Sol. The WPS needs to get rid of the impression that there is one team that is far and away better than the rest. The playoff structure, which guaranteed a place in the finals for the regular season champs, did that by clearing a path to the final for the Sol, as if they deserved a free pass.

In a bit of a rush this morning, as usual. Our black lab Willie came up lame yesterday. He has a chronic shoulder problem which something seems to have exacerbated. This morning he seems a little bit better, but still not himself. He'll be turning 10 this summer, so it's worrisome to see him hurting.

One year and three days after breaking her leg in the final U.S. tuneup game before the Olympics, Abby Wambach scored her 100th international goal in the 1-0 U.S. win over Canada Sunday in Rochester, N.Y.

It was Wambach's first U.S. goal since the injury. Forward Lauren Cheney, 21, who replaced Wambach on the Olympic roster, came into the game in the 63rd minute and set up the historic goal 15 minutes later.

Here's to you, Sky Blue!

Too bad a red card played into the mix and overall I wish the officiating, all year, in the WPS, had not been quite as 'obtrusive' as it's tended to be but that takes nothing away from the Sky Blue story.

Christie Rampone gets my vote for League MVP. (Oh, and in noodling around on the net last night, I saw that Ian Sawyers and Kelly Lindsey are both working at Julie Foudy's Leadership/Soccer Camp.

* This is the last time I'll write on WPS for a while, I swear. Unless SI hires me to do "The Marta Experiment" or something.

American citizens pay more attention when Lady Gaga burps on television than when New Jersey's Sky Blue FC wins the WPS championship.

U.S. Women's National Team head coach Pia Sundhage has named a 21-player roster to face Japan on May 20 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas (7:30 p.m. CT) and on May 23 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah (4 p.m. MT).

The roster to face Japan is chock-full of veterans, including team captain Christie Rampone, co-captain Lori Chalupny, and outside back Heather Mitts, as well as midfielders Carli Lloyd, Shannon Boxx, Angela Hucles, Heather O'Reilly and Lindsay Tarpley.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CHRISTA MANN

Play continued in Week Nine of Women's Pro Soccer despite the glaring absences of both Canadian and U.

I've been reading what I can find about the coaching mess at Sky Blue FC ... and finding little of actual substance on the subject. Overall, the management does itself no favors by dissing Kelly Lindsey in their public comments. They come off looking very small, indeed. Yet, at the same time, her behavior (abruptly quitting her job with only a couple of games left in the season) is puzzling and awfully dramatic and abrupt.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CHRISTA MANN

The First Round of the WPS playoffs were in full effect Saturday as the favored Washington Freedom fell to the underdog Sky Blue FC (NJ).

The LA Sol were always supposed to be there. Featuring the world's best female player, Marta, and playing at the best venue in the league, the Home Depot Center, they dominated the WPS regular season, losing only once before they clinched a place in the playoffs as early as June 27th. By July 26th, they'd also clinched the regular season title and the right to go straight to the final that they'll host in Los Angeles this Saturday.

Sol 0 Sky Blue FC 1

A team that barely got into the playoffs has just beaten the dominant team of the regular season.

The Sol never got their attack in sync today; frankly there was more urgency in the line outside the women's restroom at half time.

FC Sky Blue outplayed them in virtually every facet of the game, especially with a defense marshaled by central defender Jen Buczkowski alongside player-coach Christie Rampone.

Women's Professional Soccer had plenty of positives in its first year. Attendance was within estimates, though maybe tilted toward the low end of the range. Ratings were pretty good. The league got a little bit of media attention despite a lack of cooperation from wire services.
Best of all, the quality of play was terrific.

The best of the best in Women's Pro Soccer will compete against Umea IK in Sunday's WPS All-Star Game.

Umeå is the top team in Damallsvenskan (Swedish premier division) and has won seven Swedish championships in the last four seasons (2005-2008). In 2007 and 2008 Umeå finished runner-up in the UEFA Women's Cup with Marta on its roster for the five years before she joined the WPS.

I've got this weird mental block - I always have to remind myself whether it's CHRISTIE Rampone, or CHRISTINE Rampone. (It's Christie.)
Embarrassing, right? I wonder how people like, say, FIFA deal with it. Turns out they have a very simple way of making sure they don't make that mistake.

Well, it's time to consider nominations for CONCACAF Player of the Year again. I was reminded of this courtesy of Nick Green's coverage of the FIFA Women's Player of the Year finalists.
In a nutshell, FIFA blew it. Three of FIFA's nominees would technically be eligible for my award - Marta, Kelly Smith, and Cristiane.

Sky Blue FC 0 Sol 2

A double strike by Brazilian star Marta two minutes apart gave the Carson-based Women's Professional Soccer team its first road victory in New Jersey this afternoon pushing its league-leading record to 2-0.

"I was very happy with our performance today," said Sol Coach Abner Rogers.

The United States Women's National Team beat Canada 4-0 on Monday night in a friendly at BMO Field in Toronto. Shannon Boxx opened the scoring for the USA in the third minute, with Christie Rampone making it 2-0 in first half stoppage time. Lindsay Tarpley scored in the 78th minute and Lauren Cheney finished off the US offense in the 81st.

The regular-season countdown is now at four games. This is not a bad time to regularly repeat the "must-win" motto as the Chicago Red Stars stand on the outside of the Women's Professional Soccer playoff race.
Chicago (4-7-5) stays out on the road to take on Sky Blue FC (5-6-4) at 3:30 p.m.

In case you are one of the 6 peple who missed it, here's Pat Buchanan making a fool of himself on Rachel Maddow ... time to retire this tired old horse, I'm thinking. He bites.

Meanwhile, as momentum to hit the August deadline for healthcare reform seems to be waning, Obama, being a practical sort, gives signs of backing away from that deadline.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CHRISTA MANN

The First Round of the WPS playoffs were in full effect Saturday as the favored Washington Freedom fell to the underdog Sky Blue FC (NJ).

So FSC showed the Freedom-Sky Blue game after all, if a couple of days late. I'm just happy some of the other local sports Foxes, like Fox Sports Chocolate City* and Fox Sports Fuhgeddaboutit.
Very well-played game, which makes a grand total of one for the Skys all year. And right on schedule comes the phrase that makes me swear never to cheer for an underdog ever again.

By CHRISTA MANN

The playoffs continue in Women's Pro Soccer as SKy Blue FC (NJ) takes on the St. Louis Athletica in today's Playoff Semifinal. The winner of this match-up will go on to face the L.A. Sol in Saturday's WPS Championship.

The Athletica finished second in the regular season which was enough to automatically qualify for today's semifinal.

Briefly:
*Read the details about how defender Christie Rampone became the third Sky Blue FC coach this season. They face the Sol Saturday in the WPS Championship at Home Depot Center.

*Both the Rose Bowl and L.A. Memorial Coliseum (among 32 stadiums) remain in contention to host games if the U.

And woulda thunk it, eh? After struggling mightily during the season and only sneaking into the title playoff on the final day, Sky Blue FC made good on a Heather O'Reilly goal to top Los Angeles in the first WPS championship final. Player/coach Christie Rampone helped turn things around as the champs beat the league's top three in order to lift the prize.

We were at the first game of the WPS season as well as the last (and many inbetween). And what a season' it's been.

Sky Blue FC completed its storybook rise from bottomfeeder to league champion with a dramatic, 1-0 victory over a valiant, 10-woman Los Angeles Sol side, whose remarkable season ended in bitter disappointment at their home park.

Not many surprises here.

The WPS awards were handed out Saturday night ahead of Sunday's WPS All-Star game in St. Louis.

The six award winners:

*Golden Boot Award - Marta (Sol)
*Defender of the Year - Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers)
*Coach of the Year - Abner Rogers (Sol)
*Goalkeeper of the Year - Hope Solo (Saint Louis Athletica)
*Sportswoman of the Year - Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC)
* Player of the Year Award - Marta (Sol)

Quotable:

"Each player in the league has it as their goal to try for an award like this," said Marta on being named WPS MVP.

The United States Soccer Federation has released the finalists for their 2009 Athlete of the Year Awards: Male Athlete of the Year: Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Oguchi Onyewu Female Athlete of the Year: Shannon Boxx, Heather O'Reilly, Christie Rampone, Hope Solo, Abby Wambach Young Male Athlete of the Year: Marlon Duran, Luis Gil, Jared Jeffrey, Brian Perk, Tyler Polak Young Female Athlete of the Year: Tobin Heath, Christine Nairn, Sydney Leroux,.

Chicago vying for second straight home victory
Only a few weeks have passed since the Chicago Red Stars hosted Sky Blue FC. Both Women's Professional Soccer teams are back at it again this Sunday for a 5 p.m. rematch at Toyota Park (televised on Fox Soccer Channel).
The Red Stars (2-0-2) erupted with their best offensive production against the Boston Breakers a couple weeks ago.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By CHRISTA MANN

Play continued in Week Nine of Women's Pro Soccer despite the glaring absences of both Canadian and U.

U.S. Women's National Team coach Pia Sundhage named her 18-woman roster for the Olympic tournament in Beijing (ASN, June 23, 2009).

Nine players on the roster were members of the U.S. team that won the gold medal four years ago in Athens, Greece, including team co-captains Christie Rampone and Kate Markgraf.

In Week 19 of Women's Pro Soccer, the Sky Blue FC (NJ) coach walked out on her team, a red card left the Boston Breakers shorthanded, and the two bottom teams pulled off some dramatic upsets. Of all the surprises in Week 19, the drama in New Jersey drew the most attention.

On Thursday, Sky Blue FC Head Coach Kelly Lindsey abruptly left the team with no explanation at all.