And while we’re on the subject of Texas, Clarissa Wedemeyer (also known as That U-17  Who Missed a Crucial PK But We Still Feel Really Bad For Her) decided to forgo Stanford and become a Longhorn instead.

AHAHA. Yes. I totally played the same “Easy Piano” score back when I was in elementary school. Another thing I have in common with Carrie Dew.

O rly, Nike?

…

…

Dear Nike,

No love,

rhythm bandits

P.S. I’ve been wanting to use that .gif since FOREVER. Thanks for giving me an opportunity.

Miserable weather, but at least we got to see the players up close. If you can, I highly recommend watching scrimmages with the players. They say the darndest things.

That’s all I’m going to say. I think I need a shower.

The Beat are newer at this workhorse game than Boston and Philly are, so while this is a good roster, we have to be realistic about the drawbacks of these players having not been given a fair chance before. But with the World Cup this year, they are going to have a chance to develop a real team here. There is a lot of very real potential on this roster. All the disrespect for this year’s Beat is horribly misplaced.

Yes, Atlanta has Carli Lloyd. And Heather Mitts. Probably the two most maligned USWNT regulars as of late. And it’s true: I think that the World Cup won’t be long enough to keep Lloyd (in particular) away from the Beat roster as much as I’d like.

But even if Galanis attempts to build a team around Her Most Serene Incompetence, what I like best about Atlanta this year is that they’re serious about giving untested youth a chance. Shocking how some Beat fans think it’s a good idea when somebody else is doing it, but when their own team does it, they go into conniptions. If the league fails next year (which is a very real possibility), at least one team should step up and do what even Philadelphia did not dare to do — build a team with a lot of young players fresh out of college.

Yes, it might be just because they’re being cheap. But really, it’s sickening to see so many people writing these kids off.

Call me starry-eyed, but these girls are fighters, who are hungry to prove themselves because they must know that the pundits, even their own team’s fans, think that they’re hopeless.

These are the U.S. players who want this league to survive, even if a certain Canadian believes that the U.S. doesn’t care about WPS. Mitts and Lloyd might not care, but the likes of the practically unknown U-23s (well, they are known to me, but not to most pundits) DO care about how they fare in WPS.

Atlanta is a team that everyone has written off. They are the underdogs and always have been, it seems — but this year is different.

Dear person(s) who actually typed that into a search engine: I have just the thing for you

To those people who stumbled upon this web page in search of Lisa DeVanna’s inflatable penis, I highly recommend this Cross-Conference podcast to you. The reviews say it is SO very funny and I think you will appreciate it.

LOL

Reasons why this swipe is ridiculous:

1. Not that Heifetz would know this, but as a USWNT fan and women’s soccer fan in general, I have seen Japan play. And more than just twice during the Olympics (which I should have, because guess who played them twice in Beijing? Oh, I don’t know, the UNITED STATES maybe?). Oh yes, and I watched them play against England in 2007, and New Zealand, Norway, China, and Germany in 2008. Not to mention several times at the U-20 level (thanks Chile 2008 and Germany 2010).
2. So. Just because I’m not a mindless cheerleader does not mean I’ve never seen one of the USA’s opponents. IN TOURNAMENTS. Also, you’d think a “big win”, no matter who the opponent was, should be a blowout. Japan IS that good — squeaking a win past them is not encouraging for a team who is so self-assured that it never changes its starting lineup roster even when it’s broken.
3. Actually, I take that back. Sure it’s a big win, for a TEAM THAT NEVER CHANGES ITS ROSTER.
4. Which probably suggests that this tweet was borne out of somebody’s hurt feelings. Or else they would have just, I don’t know, IGNORED it like they do to everybody else’s more supportive tweets.

With that said, here’s some news for Heifetz and the USWNT (and whoever else believes that tripe about the win over Japan being “big”) from High Expectations Asian Father:

He disapproves.

Anyway, there is also good news for people who think the @ussoccer_wnt account isn’t active enough: now that we know that the account actually reads the tweets sent its way, you should never give up tweeting @ them!

I spy four WPS players in this video. The constant camera cutting makes me epileptic.

Popular, you're gonna be popu-oo-lar

For more on Megan Jesolva’s younger sister, click here.

Dave Chesler: give the fans what they want, put Jordan Jesolva in the U-20 player pool!