pieces

I went to Walmart last week (I know…) and noticed something really strange. Not only did they have all the Christmas stuff out already (I was kind of expecting that), but they had absolutely no Halloween stuff. Nothing at all. It was a full week before Halloween. Do they think people don’t wait until the last minute? I know they don’t want leftover inventory, but really, I found it it ridiculous.

In the wake of Grag Ryan’s firing (yay!), is one more article on the silly ending to the US team’s World Cup:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=ford/071023

I’m glad that the US soccer federation was not afraid to make a change with the Olympics being only a year away. It will be interesting to see what changes will be made by the new coach, and also interesting to see who is packed to make those changes. Tony DiCicco? Pia Sundhage? Jillian Ellis? Jerry Smith? And no one is mentioning Anson Dorrance - he did coach the team back in the 80s and early 90s.

And yes, I realize this is post number 2 for October. And yes, I realize that it’s October 29th.

But once again, I am participating in NaBloPoMo, so there will be actual new content soon.

Really.

I just read this article. Now, it’s not the same - Scurry did not make those comments right after she was benched, but four years later. But isn’t her statement “I put myself into that entire game. And I’ve always felt — and I still feel — that if I were playing, we would have won” equivalent to Solo’s? She said, in effect, that the coach made the wrong decision, and she would have made saves the other keeper didn’t.

Interesting that the team - and the media - didn’t have a problem with it then.

Not that I’m saying Solo was right in what she said. I thought her comments about the coach were true, but it did come off as a dig against Scurry. What I want to know is why was she, as a bench player, authorized to speak to the media? That is really uncommon, and a stupid move by US soccer, unless they were looking for the media attention.

What’s lost in all of the coverage, though, is the poor coaching by Greg Ryan. He still needs to be fired before the Olympics. I hope someone notices.