Some WWF and some WTF moments in the BYU vs New Mexico match. These girls could whip Vinny Jones anytime. And Julie Foudy had to spin the indefensible. "Ponytail whiplash" like "tennis elbow " could become a recognizable sports injury.

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Lambert makes Patrick Viera and Roy Keane look like choir boys compared to her
Got this video above from a buddy in my inbox this morning, "BYU # 21 is a babe."
But that really isn't what we should be focused on at all. It's the crazy, violent play of Elizabeth Lambert that may catch your eye. Click to continue reading...

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.

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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.

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Watching the MLS Allstar pre-game, I found it amazing that the analysts, paid by MLS I assume, are speculating about why Beckham got into the altercation with the Galaxy fan last week.

Rob Stone starts it off asking John Harkes "whats gotten into Beckham that he is showing such thin skin?", and Harkes goes on to say that Beckham started off on a bad foot by wanting to stay at AC Milan and shouldn't be surprised at the negative reception from some L.

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New Jersey's Sky Blue FC announced the official firing of Head Coach/General Manager Ian Sawyers on Thursday afternoon.

According to the SBFC CEO and President Thomas Hofstetter, "The dissagreements between the coach, team, and management made it impossible to move forward successfully."

Hofstetter goes on to say that the club "needs to maintain the goals, and the atmosphere that is most conducive for [the] team, and be able to focus on building the league.

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New Jersey's Sky Blue FC announced the official firing of Head Coach/General Manager Ian Sawyers on Thursday afternoon.

According to the SBFC CEO and President Thomas Hofstetter, "The dissagreements between the coach, team, and management made it impossible to move forward successfully."

Hofstetter goes on to say that the club "needs to maintain the goals, and the atmosphere that is most conducive for [the] team, and be able to focus on building the league.

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Well, there is big news on the WPS front with the firing of Ian Sawyers as the FC sky blue coach. Should be interesting to watch Sunday's game as FC sky blue versus the Breakers is the match being televised on Fox soccer Channel at 6 PM.

I think I remember that Mr. Sawyers has had a reputation as a hothead.

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Her Story: I know what you're thinking. How does Julie Foudy miss out on the top three? Well, again, that's just how darn good the WNT has been over the last two decades. Foudy grew up in California and she would go on to serve as the WNT's Co-Captain from 1991-2000 and Captain from 2000-2004.

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Maybe the photo gives you a clue as to whom I'm picking to win the Gold Medal match. The only remaining question is whether or not the US will score a goal. Game time is 8:00 am and it's being broadcast live on USA Network channel.

The player pictured is Formiga, I'll point you to From A Left Wing and Jennifer Doyle's commentary on Brazil's decisive 4-1 win over the World Cup champion German squad in the semifinal Monday.

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In the run-up to the Oly's it's interestting to read the thoughtful analysis being posted about the whole Solo-Scurry-Ryan episode at the 2007 Women's World Cup. Following on the heels of the SI piece by Grant Wahl, we have commentary from: Sideline Views - in which Andrea Canales cites Anson Dorrance and the way he [. Click to continue reading...

ESPN and ABC's dreams have come true. Sunday's Euro 2008 final between Germany and Spain is a far better proposition for the Disney owned TV networks than Turkey against Russia would have been. With plenty of German Americans living in the United States as well as a massive hispanic population, TV ratings should be high. Click to continue reading...

Tommy Smyth is an execrable piece of humanity. After the Turkey - Germany match, he condescendingly dismissed Turkey's performance as "No one will remember who played the semi-finals, it only matters who won, and Germany won." He then went into a paean on how Lahm scored a goal which strikers would be well advised to watch.

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At the start of the Euro 2008 tournament, ESPN pundits were asked who was going to be their star of the tournament. Pundit Julie Foudy picked Thierry Henry. Her choice showed how clueless she is about the sport. I'm still scratching my head why ESPN selected Foudy as a member of their Euro 2008 broadcasting team. Click to continue reading...

Its a pretty empty studio at halftime for the last round of matches. Rece Davis with Julie Foudy. Its a relief not to hear or look at that gnome Tommy Smyth who pound for pound is the most obnoxious and annoying sports pundit. His buffoonish attempts at humour are usually swatted away by Derek Rae with , "I won't go there.

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Ruud! Ruud was just interviewed on ESPN about the Dutch team via a remote feed. Galaxy players train in the background. It's not a profound interview - he gets asked about his look back in the day and ruud jokingly calls it "porn star".
He also talks about the Galaxy this season, mentions difficulties of travel, altitude, heat and playing on turf. Click to continue reading...

I really have no idea why ESPN hired Julie Foudy to cover mens soccer, womans soccer I can understand but seriously..... Click to continue reading...

Euro 2008 is finally here after the standard mega sports event buildup.  And for ESPN, today is the beginning of their broadcast of the entire tournmanet for the first time.  The network has been rolling the ads for weeks and made a big addition to its on-air talent with Andy Gray.  Now, at last, the coverage itself is the focus. Click to continue reading...

March 04, 2008 - Ian Sawyers, who guided the CyberRays to the inaugural Women's United Soccer Association championship in 2001, has been named coach and general manager of the New Jersey team that will play in the new women's professional league next year. "I always wanted to get back into the professional game if I had [. Click to continue reading...

I've been browsing youtube & google video for soccer commercials featuring women - esp those featuring freestyle or just play. I noticed that the few Nike ads featuring women (USNWT) almost never show actual play. This is curious - given the much loved the Nike Joga Bonito ads - which, along with fifastreet ads, form their own viral video kingdom. Click to continue reading...

I put "sister" in scare quotes, because I can hardly imagine anyone with a lot of respect and love for their sister coming up with an idea like Hollywood United Girls Soccer - HUGS. When I heard that Hollywood United - a team of Hollywood musicians, actors, and retired soccer players - many of the latter with international caps - had a sister team, I thought "cool! Click to continue reading...

Dear Amy,
I wrote yesterday that without Julie Foudy on the field, the national team is missing some personality. What I didn't mention is that the TV broadcasts are much better with her in the box.
Some guy in Tampa agrees with me. I do enjoy Foudy's commentary. The example the guy from Tampa uses is a good one, but Foudy had several other observations, among them:
* That the U. Click to continue reading...

Dear Tonya,
I watched the women's national team game against Norway this past weekend. I haven't paid much attention to them since 2004, and I feel bad about that.
The 2004 Olympics was the first women's soccer world championship that I didn't cover since 1996. I watched on TV as the old ladies got their final gold medal and was thrilled for them. Click to continue reading...