Save The WPS

Time for a pop quiz:

1-      Do you love good competition?

2-     Do you enjoy watching a group of people extraordinarily good at what they do?

3-     Do you want to support American athletic leagues?

4-     Do you enjoy breathing oxygen?

5-     Do you respect people dedicating their lives to becoming the best in the world at their profession?

6-     Do you have eyes and ears?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions it is a scientific fact that you should love Women’s Professional Soccer.  Ok, so full disclosure, I guess I added a couple of questions in there that don’t completely have to do with women’s soccer.  But for the most part, this is a fair test.  Because let’s be honest…at a WPS game you get to witness good competition, with extraordinary athletes, in an American league, while breathing oxygen, respecting the athletes on the field for their hard work, and you do all this by watching and listening with your eyes and ears.  See?  It all connects in the end.

Women’s Professional Soccer is unfortunately in a very tough situation right now.  They need to find a 6^th team for the league or it could mean the end of WPS.  We have an extremely underrated and under publicized league and it needs to be saved.  I am not a business professor, I am not a CEO of a company (unless you consider my bathtub moonshine business from 2009-2010), I am not a figure of authority or a leader of an athletic league.  I am simply a fan of the game who has been watching and loving this sport and idolizing the women who play it since I can remember.  So to be short; no, I do not have the solution to this problem.  I have a hard enough time coming up with solutions to questions like “Should I wear pants or not while I write today?” and “Red or white wine with lunch?”  So I don’t think I’m equipped to say much on this complicated matter.  And I do not envy the people trying to come up with the solution.  But if they have any questions on wine or the epic pants/no pants question I do hope they reach out to me for some lively conversation.

It boggles my mind how we can have the best league in the entire world in this country and be struggling to find a 6^th team.  The domestic talent is there, the international talent is there, the passion from the fans is there.  What is missing?  If I were to ask 10 of my friends who are not die hard soccer fans what the WPS is, most of them probably wouldn’t know it by the abbreviation. If I were to ask them what the MLS is they would know it is Major League Soccer.  That’s what is missing.  Many, many brilliant TV shows have gone off the air after a few seasons because although critics can’t stop raving over a show, it doesn’t get the ratings it needs to stay afloat.  Don’t let the WPS become Arrested Development.  (If you do not know this show I order you to watch it on Netflix now.  Well, as soon as you’re done reading this.)  The WPS is just that; critically acclaimed but not enough viewers…yet.

In men’s soccer when you look at an international level we definitely jumped on the train a little late.  While we were eating hotdogs watching guys run around in circles and swat at a ball at baseball games, the rest of the world was playing soccer.  But when you look at the women’s side, we have an edge.  We have the number one ranked international team in the world, and we have the best professional league for talent in the world as well.  If we throw away the opportunity to continue that legacy here; it would be a sad day.  

Not only do we have American heroes from the Women’s World Cup like Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan and Lauren Cheney.  But we also have international players like Kelly Smith, Christine Sinclair and many more.  On top of that we have young players who are making moves and proving they are forces to be reckoned with also, like Brittany Bock, Meghan Klingenburg, Christen Press and Casey Noguiera to only name a few out of many.  The talent is there.  There is no disputing that.  But unfortunately it’s not that simple.

So please, Women’s Professional Soccer, put your brilliant little heads together and find a way to make this 6^th team happen in the time frame you have been given.  Maybe we can get together a ‘Super Committee’ of sorts, but one that won’t fail us miserably.  We already had one super committee fail us this week, we can’t take another.  How about instead of Super Committee we gather a ‘Marvelous Task Force’?  Yes, I like that.  So I put my trust in you, Marvelous Task Force.  I believe in the MTF (See, I shortened Marvelous Task Force to make it quicker to read and also quicker for me to type so I don’t have to keep typing Marvelous Task Force)  Right, I believe in the MTF and I have faith that they will pull through with a solution. 

This league is a powerful force of athletes who are not only talented and skilled but also smart and excellent role models.  So unless you want your 13 year old to stop trying to become the next Abby Wambach because her dreams were dashed by this league folding and instead focus her attention on becoming the next Snooki; I suggest you start backing the WPS and women’s soccer in this country.

Also take a look....


http://www.womentalksports.com/savewps
Check out this site for sure. Great organization helping to put the word out there.  They have exerpts of this blog entry plus a way for anyone to get involved and have their voice heard on this subject.


http://www.change.org/petitions/us-soccer-to-sanction-the-wps-for-the-2012-season
Another way to help...a petition you MUST sign which was started by an awesome dedicated fan!



http://www.change.org/petitions/us-soccer-for-womens-professional-soccer-sanction-the-league-to-be-division-one-under-ussf
And yet....another way to help! Another petition! SIGN!