WPS Update
It's exactly half way through the inaugural season with 35 of the scheduled 70 games completed.
Player of the Week
It stands to reason that if you score the only goal in three WPS games last weekend that you'd win the Player of the Week award.
Saint Louis forward Eniola Aluko duly took the honor after scoring her third goal of the season to lead Athletica to a 1-0 road triumph over the Boston Breakers. The other two games - Washington Freedom-Chicago Red Stars and Sky Blue FC-Sol - ended in scoreless ties.
Here's the goal and game highlights:
Five different Sol players have won the award, BTW. Here's the full list:
Week 1: Aya Miyama (Los Angeles Sol)
Week 2: Marta (Los Angeles Sol)
Week 3: Kelly Smith (Boston Breakers)
Week 4: Aly Wagner (Los Angeles Sol)
Week 5: Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)
Week 6: Sonia Bompastor (Washington Freedom)
Week 7: Lori Chalupny (Saint Louis Athletica)
Week 8: Christine Sinclair (FC Gold Pride)
Week 9: Jillian Loyden (Saint Louis Athletica)
Week 10: Shannon Boxx (Los Angeles Sol)
Week 11: Camille Abily (Los Angeles Sol)
Week 12: Eniola Aluko (Saint Louis Athletica)
Yanks Shooting Blanks
Where are the American strikers anyway? Last weekend's goal by the English international means foreign players have now scored seven more goals in WPS than U.S. players. And no American has more than two.
Top scorers:
6 Camille Abily (Sol and France)
5 Kelly Smith (Boston Breakers and England)
4 Christine Sinclair (FC Gold Pride and Canada), Marta (Sol and Brazil)
3 Eniola Aluko (St. Louis Athletica and England), Sonia Bompastor (Washington Freedom and France), Lisa De Vanna (Washington Freedom and Australia)
BTW, WPS has seen 73 goals scored since the inaugural game, an average of 2.09 goals per game.
Attendance Update
WPS officials claim the league is averaging 5,008 fans per game, not including a pair of doubleheaders with MLS teams. That's about what the league anticipated it would draw.
Miscellanea
All dads get in free Sunday at Home Depot Center when the Sol play FC Gold Pride at 3 p.m. in a game that will also be televised on Fox Soccer Channel. ... Mia Hamm and Joy Fawcett will be honored at half time as part of the WPS' 10th anniversary recognition of the U.S. Women's National Team's iconic 1999 World Cup win at the Rose Bowl. Two other members of that team who play for FC Gold Pride - Brandi Chastain and Tiffeny Milbrett - will join Fawcett (but not the shy Hamm) in signing autographs after the game. ... Expansion team Atlanta will make a "major announcement" Thursday, presumably unveiling the team name and colors.
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About 100 Percent Soccer
Sportswriter Nick Green has written the 100 Percent Soccer column since 2005 for the Daily News, Daily Breeze and other Los Angeles area newspapers. The blog of the same name began in 2007. A native of England, he began writing about soccer in the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat in the stands for one in the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer and is married to a long-suffering soccer widow. Join Nick on FaceBook and follow him on Twitter.
WPS officials claim the league is averaging 5,008 fans per game, not including a pair of doubleheaders with MLS teams. That's about what the league anticipated it would draw.
Nick, you're assuming that the attendance reports are accurate. Besides, take away the crowd for the inaugural match at HDC and you have an average of less than 5,000.
Intuitively, it makes no sense for MLS attendance to be falling off from last year (more so if you take Seattle out of the equation) and for WPS to be reaching its stated average.
I just couldn't get past the American football field not being toned down for that match. I mean, they couldn't remove the stripes and re-apply them afterwards? It's not that expensive to do (I checked)! This is indicative of the respect soccer and WPS in particular is getting. I turned the channel. I can't support a league that doesn't support itself. Invest in some pride (and a few bucks) and I'll invest my time.
It stands to reason that if you score the only goal in three WPS games last weekend that you'd win the Player of the Week award.
Really? So you're saying a goalkeeper can never win this award? Or a defender either? Actually, this seems like it would have been the best week for a goalkeeper or defender to have won. I guess goal scoring counts for everything.
Nick replies: Actually, I was being sarcastic, which obviously didn't come across. I'm not a fan of these awards precisely because it's strikers who score who invariably win them. The contributions of other players in defensive positions often go unnoticed.
Hey Nick, been a big fan of your Pasadena Star News articles and don't miss a single one. I didn't like your last article so much though. What I got from it was that there's "too much soccer" going on. I haven't heard that one before. Yeah, the die hard fans who go to every home game might get a little busy going to an extra couple games for the next few weeks, but personally, I welcome more soccer! The more the merrier! I don't see people complaining about 4 baseball games from the same time per week. Make it 7-8 games including the dodgers and the angels.
Personally, I watch every game I possibly can. I follow the MLS religiously, watch the USL when i get the chance, and treat myself to the beauty of soccer with La Liga, EPL, Serie A, and the Bundesliga. Yeah, I see the gap in quality between our leagues and those abroad, but I enjoy watching both just the same. I know I speak for many soccer fans out there when I say the more games, the merrier.
Nick replies: Well, I'm a little concerned the over-exposure could ultimately end up hurting the sport. I'm also hoping I make it through the season without getting divorced since I go to virtually all the local games and watch everything else on television. And don't get me started on the number of games in a baseball season.
Haven't seen an attendance figure close to 5000 for any game except the inaugural game..... where are these figures coming from? They can't make it on these numbers...