NWSL Season is Over?

PLANTING SPINACH, CA, -- If you didn't know (and you probably didn't), the NWSL Challenge Cup Final was today.  Apparently, the NWSL website knows but didn't know the match was already over an hour ago as its headline still is "Houston Dash, Chicago Red Stars Square off in NWSL Challenge Cup Championship".  It header has scores but starts from June 27 (unlike the MLS which shows the day's matches first).  Because all 8 teams (Orlando Pride had to withdraw due to positive COVID-19 tests) automatically qualified for the Quartefinals after Group Play (it was used to seed the teams 1-8), the Final saw #4 Houston Dash play #6 Chicago Red Stars.  HOU got an early PK and a stoppage time goal to win 2-0.  As the first pro team to league to finish, there is still no word if the Challenge Cup ends the 2020 season or not.  The bubble in Salt Lake City (or Sandy, UT where Rio Tinto Stadium is located) was successful and players will be excited to see their families again but, what then?

Since I've been on the topic of nicknames lately (ugh, Charlotte FC and Washington FT), I forgot to mention one of the cool ones as NWSL's expansion Louisville team announced on July 8 they would be Louisville FC (actually, the owner is USL Championship's Lou team, which is already named Louisville City FC -- so the women have one up on the men already)!  Just kidding, it's Racing Louisville FC with great crest and awesome purple hues (lavender and midnight violet) and a nod to the horse racing culture being the city hosts Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby.  I want a jersey!

Washington FT. Edmonton FT. Kraken!

Some musings.  So the NFL Washington Redskins finally got rid of their nickname not because it's the sensible thing to do but because now every fan has to buy new merchandise and advertisers finally became woke.  With no name in place (it'll take time to get the right copyrights as every rich fan is probably buying all the potential nickname site domains), the team will proceed as "Washington Football Team." Sound familiar?  Charlotte? Austin? Orlando City? NYC? Los Angeles? Toronto? Welcome, NFL, to the world of boring soccer nicknames.   Will there be chants of "Wash, Wash, Wash, F-T" in the stands (6 feet apart, of course)? 

Up north, the CFL Edmonton Eskimos also dropped their nickname they've had for more than 100 years and are now the Edmonton Football Team.  Or EE Football Team.  Which since this is community owned (no corporate owner), does that second E stand for... Eskimo?  So 2020 is the year of the rebranding.  Washington's was a "retiring" of the name and Edmonton's was a "dropping" of the name.  No word on the MLB's Cleveland Indians or Atlanta Braves yet.

Now to a great nickname but not necessarily when said out loud.  Release the Kraken is cool, the logo (especially the Space Needle anchor) is cool, the font and color scheme is cool.  The Kraken sounds great.  "Seattle Kraken", not so much, too much XFL 1 or inaugural MLS.  Maybe the Emerald City Kraken or even just Emerald Kraken rolls off the tongue better.  It was noted that this is just the 4th NHL team nickname without the plural "s" (Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning).  MLS has had more than their fair share:  Clash, Mutiny, Fire, Galaxy, Burn, Wiz, Fusion, Crew, Dynamo, Revolution, Union, maybe Republic, and not to mention three Uniteds.

MLS has changed the Knockout Bracket once again (previous change July 16).  They switched the two bottom quadrants so 2A2C1D3B will now face 1C3A1F2E and 1A3C2B2F will now face 1B3D1E2D in the semifinals (or match #46 winner faces #48 instead of #46v#47 and #45v#47 instead of #45v#48).  This is why it's just important to get your picked team into the Quarters or Semis and not necessarily which side of the bracket.  You'll get 4 points per Quarterfinal team, 6 points per Semifinal team, 8 points per finalist, and 12 points for the winner.

Finally, this is like the World Cup!  Despite winning the U.S. Open Cup and Campeones Cup, ATL head coach Frank de Boer is out the door after 0 goals and 0 points in the tournament (mind you, they won their first 2 matches before the pandemic).  So what about LA's Guillermo Barros Schelotto?  Well, let's see if a healthy Jonathan Dos Santos and Chicharito was the difference or not.  It's the last Get Out of Jail card.

Issue #2.1.1 "Favorites Exposed in Russia" (After 16 Matches)

Archive

Tuesday, June 19, 2018 

GERMANY STUNNED AND GROUP H UPSIDE DOWNA record 79 entries vie for 6th pool title; Ilvecchio is in 1st

LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (LAX), CA (smt) --  The host nation A1-Russia opened the World Cup in grand fashion thrashing A2-Saudi Arabia 5-0but it was F2-Mexico who provided the biggest shockwave of the tournament, literally according to seismologists, with a 1-0 win over the defending champions.  F1-Germany is ranked #1 in the world and won all 10 UEFA qualifying matches with a +39 goal differential.  The biggest upset, however, was the smallest-ever qualifying nation of D2-Iceland scoring a game-tying goal against powerhouse D1-Argentina.  Just a few years ago Iceland was ranked in the triple-digits and then the shocking win over England in EUROs two years ago gave them a Gonzaga-like vibe and who wouldn't want to do the Skol Viking Chant?  Lionel Messi also missed a penalty kick that kept the game tied at 1.  The odds-on favorite to win the World Cup, E1-Brazil, struggled against a foul-against-Neymar E2-Swiss team and ended up with a disappointing tie, even though SUI is ranked 6th in the world.  It's much better than their previous two WC matches, a 3-0 loss to Netherlands and a 7-1 thrashing by Germany.  Only G1-Belgium came away with a victory, a convincing one as well 3-0, amongst the top 6 ranked teams in the world. 

In the most anticipated match of the Group Stage, Match # 3 saw the two Iberian peninsula powers, B1-Portugal and B2-Spain, go at it for what seemed like the millionth time and the match didn't disappoint.  From

Classic start and Spain-Portugal an instant classic (6/14-6/15)

For the host nation, A1-Russia got off to a great start in routing poor A2-Saudi Arabia, 5-0 and continued the streak of the host nation not losing in their opening match.  In our LA Galaxy Press Box circles, we refer to this as the "Pando", a rare score just as the rare sight of Pando scoring in the LA Galaxy's 2005 season where Pando Ramirez set a record (that may still exist?) for worst shooting percentage and his only goal was on a penalty kick, that bounced off the post and off the keeper (i.e., really  a miss).  Of course, all was redeemed as he scored the game-winner in overtime of the MLS Cup (where I called it, at the end of regulation, in the bathroom of the restaurant we were watching the game on, to the laughter of those in there... but I knew).  But with the rout, Russia could just hope for one point in the next two matches and pray the goal differential will get them to the next round.

Late goals propelled A4-Uruguay and B4-Iran to 1-0 wins, the latter benefiting on a 90'+5 own goal in a match B3-Morocco should have won.  So in a few days, Morocco loses the 2026 big and their opening match.

In the game everyone was looking forward to, the Iberian Derby, B1-Portugal and B2-Spain played a

Everyone is in 1st Place...

...or everyone is in last place.  Thanks to the first tie by a host nation since 1986, the two draws today means everyone is still waiting to pick up his/her first points.  Were Irish eyes a smilin' when France's Thierry Henry of the infamous Hand of God II 1) Didn't start, 2) cried for a handball in the box on his pass, and 3) had his close direct free kick in extra time easily deflected off play.

We now have 66 entries (unofficially) as the mail-in entry came in.  Here's a list of all the nicknames:

NICKNAME
Abba	Eros2	O Fabuloso
AnybodyButEngland	FC Spermacidals	Popozoo
Baba	Flying Elvi	Princesa
Big Tex	Former MLS Writer	PRKs Kimiano Leenaldo
BigRedMessi	Forza Pazza	Ram58
Bix Pix	Fotografo Calcio	Randito
Chikakaldo	Futbol Fabone Four	Reckin Crew
Chi-Town Mikey's	Ghost of Ireland	Rivas
Coin Tossed	Go Sweden!	RodThunder
Corner Kick Kid	Hobbes	Samersig
Da Fermo	I Hate Vodka	Serrano
Desert17	I Hate Vodka Alot	SirMarcCharles
Dime 23	I Hate Vodka Most	Sisyphus
Doughboy	I R Winner! Part 2	Sisyphus13
Edu	Ish	Sisyphus86
EEChick1400	JP	Soccerbix
Eek	Ladybug	Source
Eggman	LB	Stewart W
El Chileno	LeftyRodriguez	Taz
El Oso	Lionelmessi	The Mighty Mobelfakta
El Ruso	Mireal	Wonderwoman
Eros1	Number 10	Zulupalooza