Like about 14,000 other people I went to my home ground to see two strangers fight over a piece of butt-ugly kitsch. I had no idea what sort of attire was appropriate for watching two teams I don’t particularly like, so it’s fortunate that someone else thought of this. It’s a roll of Kansas-City-blue paper towel with “Blue For A Day” spray-painted on one side and this on the other:
1. I need to confess something; I’m really not all “A.C.E.S.” if the “any city except Seattle” is Kansas City. I respect the hell out of them but I don’t particularly like them as a team and as individuals let’s just say that if I had been in Zerboni’s boots I’d have stepped all over Shea Groom, too. Well, except not in the middle of a match and season that I desperately needed to win. But it’s the thought that counts.
2. Speaking of Zerboni; I thought that it was interesting that the players voted her “Best Newcomer” over players like Ayo or Sanderson even though she was the only player sent off this season, for a really stupid, pointless foul, in a critical match (that we were chasing and would have lost except for The Goal) in a critical point in the season AND got herself a two-match suspension to boot.
Not saying that Z-bone couldn’t be the “best newcomer” with that on her scoresheet, but, still…interesting insight into the Thorns locker room.
3. Speaking of the Thorns…that “Coach Parsons” rumor…how about that?
Parsons seems like a decent enough choice. He improved the Spirit in his two seasons, especially in the back (in 2014 their defense was a dumpster fire – small dumpster, not a Boston- or Houston-size dumpster, sort of a 6-yard-drop-box-fire at -7gd and 43 conceded) and, let’s face it, his attack was was Dunn and Nairn; 20 of their 31 goals between the two.
He also seems, like Riley and CPC before him, like a coach who comes in with a game plan and isn’t good about adjusting to, well, Laura Harvey’s Seattle. They own him; the Spirit has only one win over Seattle in the past two seasons along with two semifinal beatdowns.
His record as a GM seems fairly decent (tho Spirit fans seem to lambaste him over passing on Kim Little’s rights…). He definitely seems to have a better nose for the draft than Riley did. In 2014 he drafted Dunn (#1 pick + Crystal Dunn = Not rocket science) and traded for Tiff Weimer, both of whom are still with the team. His third and fourth rounds picks (Menchel and Fisher) and his other trades (Cuellar and Taylor) are not.
In 2015 he did well; Oyster, Dydasco, and Church – all of his three draft picks – are all doing well with the Spirit (and have a lot do with the improved defense…) as is Perez, one of his trades. His other trades didn’t work out so well; Angell, Cross, and DeVanna are not with the team. Ordega, tho, was another of his 2015 signings and is a player that I’ve always liked as a sort of Dikesque backline-crasher.
Hopefully he can sort through the roster mess. Hopefully he can figure out a way to unkink the attack. But after CPC and Riley I’m neither optimistic nor pessimistic, just watchful.
Oh, the Championship match. Right, right.
4. I thought that as a match it was fun for a neutral if only just to watch Andonovski vs. Harvey. I remember reading somewhere that every sporting event is a wordless argument on how that particular game should be played and this one sure was.
Andonovski played lock-down on Seattle’s midfield (especially Little, Fishlock, and Rapinoe) and pretty much dared the Reign’s forwards to try and have a go at him and Mathias and Yanez responded by having a meek little outing that wouldn’t have frightened a U-6 defense.
The goal, though, came from a succession of individual little moves; Fletcher’s injury that forced Harvey to sub in Elli Reed, Reed’s lack of situational awareness, Heather O’Reilly switching sides to match up with Reed, Holiday seeing that and threading the pass through Reed who misplayed it criminally, O’Reilly seeing A-Rod suddenly unmarked and whipping in a pinpoint cross, and A-Rod’s defenders suddenly ballwatching so she could rise and head it home. You could argue that Solo contributed, too, by not seeing A-Rod until too late and being caught going to her left. But it really wasn’t in the “run of play”; both teams locked their opponents down and generated very few decent chances.
For Seattle? Good defending, nothing going forward other than Rapinoe cracked a great shot from distance that had Barnhart beat but went off the wrong side of the post. Other than that, tho, as she became increasingly frustrated by KC’s defense (more of which in a bit…) the “Bad ’Pinoe” came out; flopping, whining, hacking…that, as much as anything, turned be against the Reign as the match wore on.
5. Have I mentioned lately that I love ’Becca Moros?
I love Becca Moros. She’s so tough, I wish we still had her. She was a little beast out there last night, and she tackled and harassed and generally frustrated Rapinoe all evening. Hell, she frustrated every Seattle player who tried to take her on, and did I mention I loves me some ’Becca Moros and wish we still had her?
6. I’ve seen madame referee Koroleva in the center circle before and remarked to someone before the kickoff that we’d see some rough play and we damn sure did. But missing the Fletcher penalty on Tymrak was really unacceptable; very, very poor moment for her. Other than that I thought that, other than her usual tolerance for rough play, she called a fair match. The problem for Seattle was that to lock their midfield down KC had to go in pretty hard and had Koroleva whistled them early and started warning them Seattle might have had some more joy from Little and Fishlock.
7. Overall I was very disappointed in the lack of effort the NWSL put into this event. No real attempt to make it look special or exciting, no championship bling; hell, the concourse merch stand wasn’t even open. Everyone got some sort of cheesy little rubber wristband and a single page program at the gate and that was pretty much it. Oh, other than the “official superfruit” people outside the 18th Street entrance…no “2015NWSL Championship” T-shirts? No headbands? No pom-poms? No Abby-Wambach-head-on-a-stick? Nothing?
That’s kinda sad, NWSL. You need all the buzz, all the excitement, all the snap, crackle, and pop you can manage. That was your Big Casino and you made it look smaller than it needed to be.
8. So…FCKC defends its title? Fine and good…except that it reminds me how much I dislike the whole “playoff” idea. Which is hugely hypocritical, yeah, yeah, I know, because if it wasn’t for the playoffs we wouldn’t have that lovely red star over the Thorns’ crest. But, still…the whole point of a sports season is to let record determine quality. Just as we were not the top of the league in 2013 FCKC wasn’t in 2014 and this year…except last night and one night last year. Somehow that just doesn’t seem right.
So. I understand “playoffs”. I like winning them. But I still have a kind of queasiness about them that last night’s result really brings home.
9. She’s a great ‘keeper. But being a great ‘keeper doesn’t mean that you can’t also be kind of a dope. And to call Providence Park “OUR championship field” on Twitter is trolling the Thorns fans you know will be standing behind you for 45 minutes.
I didn’t know about this before the match but now I do? I’m glad I scored one of those “Blue For A Day” scarves. “A.G.E.S.”, Hopey. Just sayin’.
10. Next time, maybe we can host an NWSL championship because our team is in it, eh, Merritt?
That’s all I have. I’ll be back next week with some more coach speculation and some thoughts about the Thorns roster.
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