Brandi's Game

C and R are still on cloud nine after hanging out back stage with the world class athletes that came out to support soccer great Brandi Chastain in her retirement game. You know, think about it, how many pro athletes careers end with them standing at a podium in the off season, tears in their eyes and a sob in their voice as they announce they are retiring from a sport they love and that has defined them from early childhood? What a horrible way to go. Brandi, on the other hand, had the right idea, to be surrounded by those who love her, cheered on by her legions of fans, playing the sport she loves in the field that feels like home, in a big party-like atmosphere, and raising money for her new charity. At one point, she said it was like being at a wedding! Just think if Minnesota would arrange a game like this for Brett Favre, have him throw for 568 yards and 6 touchdowns, then he would retire quietly, happy to go.

BTW, Brandi played for both sides, so she could play with her all friends, ala the great Pele at his retirement soccer game in NYC, and if you don’t know Pele is, how can you call yourself a soccer fan? Go Google it, we’ll wait.

C and R asked a few of the players if there was any plan to “let” Brandi score, as it was her retirement game, and everyone one of them said, “NO way!” or words to that affect. Fierce competitors, one and all, but geez, even C and R know you let the hometown favorite score. We mean, come on, when Brandi, who normally plays defender, was placed in the forward spot, you have to let her score!

She had a shot on goal when she played for the red team, she shot wide right, but football great Brent Jones was there to bang it in. Unfortunately, he was offside, as he was for most of the game. Brandi went over to plead her case to the line judge to no avail. We kept laughing when Brent would run past the defenders with his hand up for the ball, like he would for the 49ers. Problem is, you can run past the defense in football, but not in futbol, or American soccer. He was offside most every play!

Finally, when Brandi switched teams and the forward line featured the great Mia Hamm and her, the defense, which included Brandi’s brother, let her shoot. Unfortunately, it kept going to the goalie. Finally, someone clued in the goalie and she let it go, and a Brandi shot found the back of the net with a few minutes to spare.

It was cute at the end of regulation, the game was declared a tie and penalty shots were called for. You’ll recall, Brandi made the famous penalty kick in the Women’s World Cup in 1999 to win it for the US and took off her shirt to show off her sports bra. Everyone made their kick in this game, although Brazil’s Sissi missed, so Brandi demanded a rekick, and since it was Brandi’s party, she got a rekick. Before Brandi’s penalty shot, she hugged the goalie, and probably whispered, “let this one go in, too.” Left footed, she kicked the shot, the goalie dove over the ball without touching it and it found the back of the net.

Then more speeches and Brandi became the first woman athlete to have her number retired at Mitty, where she played high school soccer, and got her number retired at Santa Clara, where she finished her college career.

Anyway, here are some highlights in a night of highlights as observed by C and R:
Julie Inkster:
Golfing great, 50 years old, never played a lick of soccer in her life, played with her hat on, running away from the ball and trouble to preserve her body!

Brent Jones:
Three championship rings for the 49ers. No shin guards. We told him he is playing with world-class soccer players, and he said he would probably get hammered, but tough guy Brent went out there anyway.

Team’s Strategy:
We listened in and Brandi was starting as a defensive back with her stepson and the coach told them not to get in a fight.

Cindy Parlow:
Scored the game's first goal.

Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett, Tisha Venturini, Tiffany Milbrett, Mia Hamm, Cindy Parlow, all friends from the 1999 World Cup team and Olympic Gold Medal teams, looking as trim and as fit as ever, and could give the rest of the world a run for their money.

Mia Hamm:
C’s hero for years, Multiple Women’s World Cup winner, Multiple Gold Medal Winner, most goals scored for a national team member, men’s or women’s, yes got her autograph thank you very much, saw her make numerous runs at the goal, and they still trust her for the corner kick.

You know who the real stars were, though? It was the girls who participated in the before-game clinic with the players as coaches. The age groups were approximately 10-18, and these girls were highly skilled and well versed in the fundamentals of soccer. It was cool to see these girls so skilled and so enjoying being out there. C and R hope these girls stick with it and see where soccer can take them, like it did for Brandi.

Brandi said she would like to get into coaching down the road and “give back” to those who have supported her. She certainly has the passion and enthusiasm for the game and the young players. We wish her well in her next endeavor, her life “after soccer”.

Brandi's World

Hey, hope you are planning for the Brandi Chastain retirement party game this Saturday. ‘Member, Brandi wants to “celebrate the end of her professional soccer career with her friends, family, fans, and community. The game will benefit Brandi's new ReachuP! Foundation.”


If you instantly recognize this iconic photo then you need to be at this game! (Bonus points for knowing what just took place prior to the bra-showing!)

The game will be with her BFFs, like, oh, Mia Hamm and Aly Wagnor. C and R will be there, trying to sneak back stage and get pix and autographs and maybe they will shoot a shirt out of  a cannon! Whoo-hoo, now, that’s C’s idea of a fun time!
Details:
Saturday October 2, 2010. Family friendly interactive activities begin at 3 p.m. Game: 6 p.m. Where, at Brandi’s old stomping grounds, Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara University.
See ya there!
PS
Congrats to the FC Gold Pride for winning the WPS Championship!

Women's Professional Soccer

Good News Everyone (to quote my favorite cartoon, Futurama):
Our San Francisco paper had a story about women’s sports. On the front page even. It involved a women’s professional sport, women’s soccer.

Bad News Everyone (As the Professor will say on Futurama when he is about to send his employees on a mission of doom):
The story says the league is in danger of folding, sending all the players to their doom. Bummer.
WPS Championship is Sunday, Sunday, Sunday at 2 PM on TV even. SF Bay Pride, with the world’s best player, Marta, will be in the game. Watch it and support the home team, or any team. Write your sports paper, ESPN, Fox Sports Network which is hosting the game, and say you want to see and hear more Women’s Pro Soccer It’s the least we can do.

Jennifer Azzi on Title IX

-Jennifer Azzi
-Title IX explained that it is not cutting men’s sports but colleges living up to their promise to equal access (to sports, to classes, to a degree) for all college members.
-WNBA
-Cal cutting sports programs
-Jennifer Azzi

What more could you want from a story on Swish Appeal, the women’s sports blog.

How about:
-Jennifer Azzi talking about the WNBA.
-Jennifer Azzi leading a clinic with Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson.

It’s a Jennifer Azzi fest, which is okay with C and R , our favorite ABL player. (google it, we’ll wait… we actually went to Laser games in SJ)

Wait… did we just say Cal cutting sports? Sing with us… One of these things just doesn’t belong here! Jennnefer Azzi fest--happy, cutting sports--sad.

Okay, C and R love to kid anything Cal-related, but we are always saddened to hear that college sports need to be cut for whatever reason, such as budget constraints or colleges not compiling with Title IX. Cal has been in the papers out here because they have more sports programs then most colleges and the University itself is facing huge cutbacks on most everything, not just sports, so….

And C and R are always saddened if it is women or men’s sports that are being cut. Sports programs bring in visibility for a college and the important monetary donations, as well as bring a student body together and benefit the student athlete. It contributes to a well-rounded education for player and fan alike.

Read the article, Jennifer says it better than we ever could.

If a Game Is Not Reported in the Papers, Did It Happen?

Well, the Seattle Storm ran the table and won the WNBA championship, not that you would know it be reading the San Francisco Chronicle. Oh wait, nobody reads papers anymore anyway, do they? C and R can understand the Chron wasn’t interested in the championship series because the home WNBA team wasn’t in it. Oh wait, there is no Bay Area home team. In fact, there is not Northern California home team.

Okay, newspaper readership is dwindling, and the mainstream interest in the WNBA isn’t there, but it is one of the few professional women’s leagues and the finals should have gotten at least an article in the middle of the paper. C and R had to read about the championship game on the last page, in a three-sentence blurb. How can the WNBA build interest with sports fans if the game is not reported? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Seattle went undefeated at home, went undefeated in the playoffs, set all kinda records and Lauren Jackson, the league’s MVP was the finals MVP. The other team in the finals was the Atlanta Dream, an expansion team that lost 30 games two years ago and found themselves battling it out in the finals in its third year of existence. Last year’s first round draft pick for the Dream, Angel McCourty, played out of her head, and twins, yes twins are helping the Dream cause. Although the Dream went down 0 for 3, they fought hard each game and each game was exciting and went down to the wire and was won by less then 5 points. SOoooo many angles the news writers could have hit this one from. But no, back page blurb instead.



In other women’s basketball news, the US National Team lost to Australia. Again, didn’t get it from the local papers, had to read about it online. Jayne Appel, former Stanford Women’s Basketball Player is on the team, but no, the papers ignore this game, too.

Oh, BTW, The Seattle Storm became the first all-female ownership group to win a professional sports title.

What does it take to get coverage around here?

WNBA Finals Set for Sunday

Well, the WNBA finals are set. It’s the Seattle Storm vs. The Atlanta Dream. No, that’s not a typo by C, it is the third year expansion team, the Dream, in the WNBA finals. Yes, the very same team that two years ago lost a record 30 games. And this year they were led by last year’s number one draft pick, Angel McCoughtry. She dropped 42 points on the NY Liberty to complete the sweep and sweep them into the finals.

Which team is C and R rooting for now that there are no Stanford Alums left? Well, it’s hard to root against Seattle’s trio of Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird and Swin Cash, and boy did C and R hate to see Taurasi with the Phoenix Merc go down. Wish that could have been the finals.

Anyhoo, the best of five series starts Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, on a real network channel, ABC, at 12 noon PST for you Stanford fans. C and R will be watching on C’s fancy HD TV.

A Perfect Storm of a Schedule

The Stanford Women’s Basketball Team finally announced their schedule. (And what took them so long? Everyone else has had theirs out for weeks?)

So let’s just take a peeky weeky at December 30^th. Oh, it UConn, coming West to face us! UConn will enter this season with a 78 game winning streak, 10 short of the men’s record for consecutive victories D-1 basketball. Just 10 games away from tying the record. Stanford will be game number 11. They have to beat Stanford to get the record. Yes, way.

Stanford was the last team to beat them. Stanford held them to just 12 first half points in the title game last season. UConn barely beat them 53-47 in that game. Stanford star scorer Jayne Appel, who averages about 10 points a game and was playing with a broken foot, went scoreless. She scores seven points…. Wait, sorry, was day dreaming again….

As I was saying…this is a perfect storm, UConn coming west to play us at home is a big game. Stanford being the last team to beat them makes for a big game. Stanford actually having the tools and players to beat UConn, coupled with them losing Tina Charles, makes for a big game. But to get the most sacred record in all of basketball, not just the “women’s” record, but the UCLA men’s record, UConn has to beat Stanford… well….we’re just out of our heads here!!! And you should be, too!

So, you know C and R are set for tickets, thank you very much, courtesy of R, who has been a season ticket holder for twenty bazillion years, through all the dark days and not so very good seasons, and C just showed up when Candice Wiggins joined the team so she has known nothing but perfection. Wait, what was my point? Oh yeah, if you don’t have tickets yet, here is a sweet deal. You can get a five pack. It includes the UConn game and four others of your choice. C and R recommend Rutgers, Xavier, UCLA and Cal. You remember Xavier, don’t you? That was the team Stanford played in the NCAA tournament regional finals and were tied in the closing seconds and Xavier missed not one, but two, two lay ups and with 4.4 seconds Jeannette Pohlen dashed the length of the court for a scoop in! Yes, that cardiac game will be rematched at Stanford. Get the five pack, now!

See ya on the court.