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Union

Here's a roundup of reaction to the Union's high altitude shellacking by Colorado Rapids from Goal.com, The Denver Post, Philly.com, MLS.com (1) and (2). Our recap is, of course, the best.

Local

Philadelphia has moved to the top of the table in the public voting for host cities for the 2018/2022 World Cup bids.

Women's Professional Soccer held its final Sunday. Now we all sit around and wonder if the league will play another game.

I'm on the record very clearly on WPS: I hope the league makes it ... but I've said all along that it's going to be a mighty struggle.

It certainly has been so far, with two clubs folding over the last few months, a dreadfully bad sign.

A couple bits of information came my way in the wake of Tonya Antonucci's resignation as WPS commissioner. First, the league office being funded by national sponsorships was intended to be a feature, not a bug, as I might have implied. When I said:

Apparently the owners thought that 11% of the total budget was too much for a central office that couldn't keep teams in the field and was running at break-even while the teams themselves were floundering.

Union

Goal.com's head-to-head preview of tonight's San Jose game has the San Jose guy predicting a 2–0 victory for the Earthquakes. The Union guy predicts a 1–1 draw. CBSSports.com has another preview. As always, our preview is better.

Brad Knighton isn't sure if he'll get the start tonight against San Jose: "No, I mean you take every day as it is.

Women's Professional Soccer commissioner Tonya Antonucci will step down at the end of the month. Today's announcement came less than 24 hours after the league wrapped up a shaky regular season.

The Woman's Professional Soccer is in big trouble. The two year-old league is in danger of extinction after two of its franchises have folded in the past six months. The fate of the WPS looks grim as CEO Tonya Antonucci seems to lose control of the organization. With few sponsorships and poor match attendance, there is only so much longer the WPS can survive.

From an actual reporter on the ground, and not just bloggers and fans who let the hurt blind them to simple explanations, we get this from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Tom Timmerman.

The different fates for the men's and women's teams happened because of different decisions by their leagues.

The financial mess in St. Louis has claimed its first victim. It was announced that St. Louis Athletica of the WPS will fold, becoming the second club to fold this year in the league. Jeff Cooper, one of the financial backers in St. Louis, broke the news to the team.

A financial crisis that impacts both the Athletica and the USSF D-2 side A.

The financial mess in St. Louis has claimed its first victim. It was announced that St. Louis Athletica of the WPS will fold, becoming the second club to fold this year in the league. Jeff Cooper, one of the financial backers in St. Louis, broke the news to the team.

A financial crisis that impacts both the Athletica and the USSF D-2 side A.

Just 14 months after the league launched with the WPS Inaugural Match in March 2009, Women's Professional Soccer now has its first brand-new stadium. The expansion Atlanta Beat will open KSU Soccer Stadium this Sunday against Sky Blue FC in a nationally-televised game on Fox Soccer Channel at 7pm ET.

by DAN LAULETTA

One week shy of 11 years since Columbus Crew Stadium ushered in a pivotal era in the history of American soccer, a smaller stadium opening in Atlanta has the potential to carry the same significance for women's soccer here that Columbus Crew Stadium did for soccer in general at the end of the last century.

In an ESPN.com article about UCONN star Maya Moore, LZ Granderson provides some interesting detail about salaries in the WNBA. Because fans often look at the WNBA for purposes of comparing MLS TV and attendance, we thought the salary numbers would also provide an interesting point of analysis. Here is the passage from Granderson's article: "The salary range for WNBA rookies drafted 1-4 is $44,064 in the first year and taps out at $56,182 in the fourth year of their contracts.

If you haven't heard today's news, click here.

And yes, the sun has indeed set on the Sol despite a press release from the Women's Premier Soccer League that just arrived in my inbox that insists:

"Yet, it still may not be too late to save the franchise. If another investor group jumped into the fray within the next week, scheduling for the Sol for the upcoming season could be easily worked out in time.

The day the Women's United Soccer Association died, I called Tom Stone, the ever-quotable head coach of the Atlanta Beat, who was grappling with the fresh reality that he was out of a job.

This was just days after his team finished second in the WUSA in 2003 and shortly before the Women's World Cup, which had been moved to the United States from China because of the SARS outbreak.

Other WPS All-Star blog posts on Soccer Science:
WPS All-Star Weekend Begins
WPS All-Star Weekend II: WPS Awards Ceremony through Kick-Off

We've just finished editing the videos from the WPS Awards Celebration and thought it would be nice to post links to all of them here so you can see the acceptance speeches.

WPS stars, execs and staff have all arrived in St. Louis for the WPS All-Star game this weekend. Thought I'd drop a note to share the events of the weekend. (Karina LeBlanc is my inspiration for posting something she blogged late last night after the All-Star Awards Dinner. Check out www.

Women's Professional Soccer Commissioner Tonya Antonucci and Atlanta Team Owner Fitz Johnson today officially unveiled the Atlanta Beat as the ninth Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) franchise at a ceremony at downtown Atlanta's Metro Chamber of Commerce with Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin in attendance.

So Abby Wambach and Kia MacNeill have garnered one match suspensions as Tonya Antonucci (WPS Commissioner) made the call (after the WPS Disciplinary Committee had decided differently). Let the controversy roil and the debating continue. It probably isn't a bad thing for WPS to have everyone kinda riled at this point in the young season.

Women's Professional Soccer commissioner Tonya Antonucci has opted to review the Daniela incident after the league's Disciplinary Committee opted not to act. Under WPS rules, the commissioner can step in and assess penalties. The commissioner decision is expected by the end of the day Thursday.

*In another sign Women's Professional Soccer is more concerned with surviving than expanding, Commissioner Tonya Antonucci announced this morning she will leave the post she has held for three years at season's end.

The financially-strapped WPS has recently laid off an unspecified number of employees and ended national marketing efforts.

With J Hutcherson -- Credit Women's Professional Soccer commissioner Tonya Antonucci for doing what her Major League Soccer counterpart failed to do and publicly asking US Soccer about the quality of the officials assigned to her League's games. As part of the announcement that she was using commissioner discretion in the aftermath of Sunday's Freedom - Athletica game, Antonucci also "directed that the circumstances of this match be brought to the attention of the US.

Women's Professional Soccer commissioner Tonya Antonucci has decided to suspend Washington Freedom forward Abby Wambach for the "reckless" tackle that lead to Saint Louis Athletica midfielder Daniela's injury on Sunday. Antonucci also suspended Athletica defender Kia McNeil for "persistent egregious conduct toward an opposing player.

The big news in American soccer circles is the announced extension of collective bargaining talks between MLS & the Players Union. Talks have been extended until February 12, 2010. Training camps will go forward as planned. MLS released this statement from Commissioner Don Garber. "While we still have areas of disagreement, the talks have been constructive and both parties believe it makes sense to continue to work hard to reach agreement.

Admittedly, a rather light subject, but since Twitter is all the rage right now it seemed silly to ignore it. Hence, today's column.

Here's a list of selected soccer tweeters. It's not mean to be definitive, but by all means add folks who you follow (or yourself) in the comments section below:

Galaxy & MLS:

*Striker Edson Buddle: EdsonBuddle

*Forward Bryan Jordan: BJ6

*Radio play by play voice Joe Tutino: joetutino

*Fan group Angel City Brigade: ACBrigade

*Don Garber: thesoccerdon

*Jimmy Conrad: JimmyConrad

Chivas USA (past and present)

*Sacha Kljestan: SachaKljestan

*Brad Guzan: bguzan

Sol & WPS

*Midfielder Aly Wagner: alywagner

*GM Charlie Naimo: LASolGM

*WPS Commish Tonya Antonucci: wpscommissioner

*Sol: LosAngelesSol

*Sol Midfielder Manya Makoski: Makoski22

U.

The Kansas City Wizards have announced that Philadelphia based Global Spectrum will operate their new home. The firm currently operates more than 90 venues, including stadiums in the MLB and NFL. In addition to running soccer stadium operations, the firm will also be responsible for booking non-soccer events and handling marketing operations.