Who'd a thunk? I woke up at about 4:30 this morning to the sound of teeming rain -- and wondered how our young plants are keeping themselves from sliding down the hill. Really. As the light returns, I see that everything looks pretty much intact out there -- albeit waterlogged.

Not so intact are the egos of the Red Sox this morning, I'm thinking, as they blew a 10-1 lead and lost to the Orioles.

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Read Naomi Wolf's thorough and absolutely horrific article about the sexual perversity perpetrated by the Bushies in Iraq and elsewhere. I do not understand why Obama is rationalizing and temporizing about releasing the photos and really going after these sadomasochistic pricks.

The activities of these dudes so speaks to the fruits of the kind of self-righteousness and repression that is so often the hallmark of Bible thumping fundamentalism.

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Morning everybody! It's looking like a good reading day here in New Hampshire, although it's early yet!

The Bookeaters had an excellent meeting at the Exeter Inn last night, where we broke bread and discussed The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage. We all loved (and most of us read) the book, and I would highly recommend it as a portrait, not only of a marriage but of a period of time.

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Okay so I do, I really do want to be rooting for Obama but what's with this latest appointment? GE's defender on environmental issues, Ignacia Moreno, has been hired to do the legal stuff for EPA? How did Obama explained this decision, I'm wondering. It kind of gives me a weird feeling in my stomach.

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Yup, it's Mother's Day. Hope yours is a good one, whether you're celebrating someone or being celebrated yourself. The universe has been kind enough to send sun, a steady breeze, and cooler temperatures hopefully making relatively pain free outdoor work a possibility for the hordes of mothers in New Hampshire who will be out there tending gardens and planting, perhaps, Mother's Day flowers.

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Yup - it's a busy day in Canterbury, with lots of computer work on tap, as well as some growing grass to catch up with, a bike to get to the bike shop, maybe even a little bit of exercise (other than mowing) and reading to squeeze in along the way. (Hah!)

Here's the WPS preview for the weekend - with some interesting match-ups, starting with FC Gold Pride and the Daniela-less (and MacNeill-less) Athletica tonight at 8PM ET.

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Nice bit here from Dave giving Dick a dose of his own medicine.

Pia has announced the USWNT roster for an upcoming friendly vs. Japan ... 5/20 and 5/23 ... meaning that 17 US players won't be with thier WPS teams for a bit - but for the most part won't miss any matches. I was interested to see that, while the Breakers lose 4 players, one of them isn't Lil.

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Wow - what a race! I've watched the video twice and still can't quite track how it happened. Red Sox, Phillies and Celtics all won their respective games yesterday ... and the Breakers came back after a disappointing and lackluster performance against the Red Stars to beat Marta and her LA Sol at Hahvard!

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First - I watched a snippet of Maddow in which she interviewed Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson about Cheney, et al. He's the former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell. One of the most interesting (to me) points he made with Maddow was to note what a fearful person Dick Cheney is. I've always seen him as fear mongering - but seeing him as himself fearful was fascinating.

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Healing is painful.

Coming out from under the shadow cast by the past 8 years (and the even larger shadow cast by the long ascendency of the rabid religious right) is going to take time. A long, painful, and ultimately freeing process in which the stories that emerge, both large and small, are heartbreaking and infuriating.

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With lots of the WPS internationals overseas for friendlies, this should be an interesting stretch for the WPS. Here's a quick preview from Melissa ... and note, the Breakers-Red Stars game will be available for on-line viewing. Cool! 8:30 PM ET ...

The English nationals are tearing up the pitch, defeating Norway 3-0 in the run-up to Euro 2009.

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Yup, after all was said and done for week 4 on the WPS, who should top the power rankings but our own Breakers. Rightly so, I'd add, IMVVHO! Next up for the Breakers, the hungry Chicago Red Stars, who played Sky Blue to a 0-0 draw in the televised game yesterday. The LA Sol beat FC Gold Pride 1-0 on the strength of Marta's third goal of the season.

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In what sounded like a wild and wooly second half, Christine Latham and Kristin Luckinbill were major contributers in a decisive 3-1 win for the Boston Breakers.

The Breakers scored first, on a PK by Kelly Smith in the 54th minute after Scurry fouled Hucles in the box. Lori Lindsey equalized soon after, and Abby had a chance to give the Freedom their first lead of the new season on a second PK (after a handball).

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... but that didn't dampen the spirits of the nearly 5,000 Breakers fans who trooped to Cambridge to see their Boston Blues defeat the St. Louis Athletica 2-0 in their home opener at Harvard Stadium. Here are the Week 3 WPS Power Rankings by Jo-Ryan Salazar. (I'll track these through the season on my WPS page.

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It's Breakers Game Day. Freezing, and quite possibly wet - but hey, we're hardy folk right?

Before embarking on this new chapter in Breakers' history - a pause to remember good times past. Maren? Dagney? We miss you!

No sound with this video - but that kinda makes it all the more resonant, doesn't it?

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The Breakers' home opener is this Saturday (4/11-7PM) against the Athletica at Harvard Stadiuim. Both teams have an opening day loss to rectify. It'll be fun to see Hope Solo and Lori Chalupny in town ... and just awesome to get the season rolling. A big plus of April soccer in Boston is that we get to wear all of our winter Breakers gear, too.

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The Chicago Red Stars beat the St. Louis Athletica in front of @5,000 fans at their season opener. Lindsay Tarpley tallied the goal in the 78th minute for the Red Stars in this defensive battle.

Much as I hate the MatchTracker feature for the USWNT (only because I hate it that so few of their games are televised) .

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Man oh man oh man - here's Glenn Beck making fun of Obama's Aunt - and a bunch of other people, too. This is why I've been staying away from the news in favor of b-ball and soccer. What a hateful, useless tool! Isn't this the dude who was recently weeping about how much he loves [...] Click to continue reading...

Check out MatchTracker starting at 7AM ET to follow the USWNT's opening game of the Algarve Cup.  They start off against Denmark, in a match-up that could prove one of their more difficult of the tournament. "It's not a World Cup year or an Olympic year, so we can try different things and one thing we [. Click to continue reading...

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 [...] Click to continue reading...

Find more videos like this on Women's Professional Soccer
The Chicago Red Stars held their open tryouts last week at the impressive McCook Athletic & Exposition (MAX) center. We had a great turnout both in terms of numbers and quality. Players came from across the area, the country and the world. Click to continue reading...

I'm loving the warmer temps here in NH, as the sun rises on this February Sunday! Have you heard of Jennifer Figge?  She just completed the amazing feat of swimming from the Cape Verde Islands to Trinidad ... at the age of 56.  (And I can't even get myself to exercise for 15 minutes these days!)  [. Click to continue reading...

There's quite a bit on the soccer news front, as you may have guessed from the headline this morning.  The WPS has held its combines on the East and West coasts, and is gearing up for its draft on Friday, January 16th.  (That's this Friday, folks!)  Here's some nice video from the West Coast combine [. Click to continue reading...

WPS announced each team's home openers this week and if i'm reading it right, your Chicago Red Stars could be featured on national television via Fox Soccer Channel for each of its first three games.
Game 1: Chicago at St. Louis Athletica, Sunday, April 5 at Ralph Korte Stadium on the lovely campus of Southern Illinois - Edwardsville. Click to continue reading...

Turns out that one of the few, most notable, soccer writers in the country was in Chicago this weekend for a couple big events.SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Beau Dure from USA Today visits the Chicago Red Stars office", url: "http://www.amandavandervort.com/blog/2008/10/beau-dure-from-usa-today-visits-the-chicago-red-stars-office/" }); Click to continue reading...

The last two weeks have been super-busy here at Chicago Red Stars. From soccer tournaments to viewing parties, here's a look at what's been going on since I started on July 1st. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "My First Two Weeks At The Chicago Red Stars, Women's Professional Soccer Team", url: "http://www. Click to continue reading...

CHICAGO (July 8, 2008) –Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) announced today the details of its player selection process leading into the kickoff of its inaugural season in April 2009. The Chicago Red Stars and all other WPS teams will build their rosters through an allocation of U.S. Women's National Team stars, a draft of international players, combines, additional League drafts and local team tryouts. Click to continue reading...

Take a deep breath before you say my new job title, it's a doozie. But thankfully it's also a dream. Soccer exec. masterminds Peter Wilt and Marcia McDermott created a position for me in their their WPS franchise that fits my interests, background, personality and skills like a glove. Here's the press release that went out yesterday. Click to continue reading...

i was right....yesterday was much better than Monday! Late morning thunderstorms challenged the logistics of our planned outdoor name and logo unveiling, but Amber Simons and Alyse LaHue led a hard working group of interns and staff to improvise in short order and turn an outdoor unveiling into a covered extravaganza with confetti cannon, Chicago flags, Chicago musis and a hundred or so stakeholders. Click to continue reading...

Chicago WPS used this 50-second video to introduce the logo today at Toyota Park Stadium. The ceremony was complete with a huge banner and fireworks! Visit www.chicagoredstars.com for more information. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Chicago Women's Pro Soccer Announces Team Name - Chicago RED STARS (50-second video)", url: "http://www. Click to continue reading...

The final week of fan balloting went to Chicago Red Stars ensuring the homage to the City of Chicago municipal flag the top spot in the advisory Name the Team Sweepstakes. It was the Red Stars' seventh weekly honor and allowed them to finish with 5,080 voting points (45.1%), well ahead of runner up Chicago Wind (3,844 points and 30. Click to continue reading...

Shortly after sunrise today, i'm taking my morning walk along the secluded Lake Michigan beach near my Wisconsin home. While following a set of deer tracks a shiny object got my attention in the water. About 50 yards offshore there was a red object bouncing in the waves. i stopped and watched as the waves brought it closer to shore. Click to continue reading...