Women's Professional Soccer 2012 season has been suspended

From my inbox:

Players, Staff, Fans and Friends

In case you haven't heard by now, I wanted to inform you that the Board of Women's Professional Soccer has suspended the 2012 season. Despite the fact that it is with great regret that we have been forced to suspend WPS operations for 2012, it is also with a great deal of relief. It was a unanimous decision that has come after much agonizing thought and methodical contemplation by The Board of Governors. I also wanted to provide you with some information that will show you that this decision was necessary in order to insure the long-term viability of the league. In other words, unlike those who speculate to the contrary--and I am sure there are plenty--this is not the end.

I can confidently say that this decision, made by The Board of Governors of WPS, of which I am a member, was the only viable choice. If we had maintained operations status quo, the various issues with which we are currently battling would have caught up with us within the 2012 season. Consequently, we could have been forced to cease operation entirely by the end of the season.

Several factors contributed to this decision, all of which had an impact in one way or another. One is the continuing litigation with Dan Borislaw (magicJack). The other was the difficulty in acquiring sanctioning this year from USSF. Both issues had a significant financial impact and have drained a substantial amount of time and resources from our efforts in building the 2012 season. This was compounded by other operational issues which could not have been resolved prior to the season. One of the most important advances we have made over the past three years was the ability of a profit distribution from the League office to the teams. This is an essential component in building a sustainable business model. Due to the various issues mentioned above, these funds have now been redirected to other needs, primarily legal costs.

Believe me, the Board of Governors tried extensively to avoid the cessation of operation. Personally, I have faced many hurdles in my six years of involvement with our club. In the past, I would report to my partners at Sky Blue FC that despite losses, which we have incurred each year, the league and Sky Blue FC were improving. Perhaps nothing better illustrates the need to suspend operations than the fact that for the very first time, I would not be able to tell my partners that things were on the upswing for this upcoming year.

The amount of money that caring, committed people have invested (and yes, lost) in WPS is in the tens of millions of dollars. That does not even take into consideration the hours, weeks, months and years that many of us have devoted to every aspect of WPS. That is why I can assure you that we have five committed ownership groups, as well as a plan to continue working to address issues and move forward. Speaking for Sky Blue FC, my two partners and I are very much committed to providing a professional sports league to women in the US. This is important for millions of dedicated girls, now and in the future.

I feel deep regret for every single person who has shared the same emotional commitment: from the players, to the coaching and front office staff, and especially the fans. I sincerely hope that for those players who desire, they can be sustained and ready to resume their careers in 2013.

Finally, I want to emphasize the point that suspending operations is NOT ceasing operations. We will remain in operations and will work on the 2013 season.

I want to wish the very best of luck to the United States Women's National Team in the Summer Olympics. In addition to success, I hope that these Games will generate the same sponsor and fan interest for the 2013 WPS season and beyond.

Suspending the season doesn't mean less work. Rather, the opposite. We have implemented a 90-day action plan for the Board and League office that we have begun to execute. The plan includes detailed action plans related to operations, sponsorship, the player's union, television contracts and resolving our legal issues.

I deeply appreciate the interest and support of all concerned with WPS. Please, check in on our website regularly. We will keep you updated on our progress preparing the 2013 season.

My door is always open, and I invite your input.

Looking forward to the future of WPS,

On behalf of the Sky Blue FC ownership group

Thomas Hofstetter,

thofsetter@skybluesoccer.com

Member, Women's Professional Soccer Board of Governors

Hang on.

Five months before the start of World Cup qualifying, the United States got an exhibition win in Central America under some of the conditions the players will face on the road to the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

Graham Zusi scored his first international goal in the eighth minute, and the Americans beat Panama 1-0 Wednesday night at Panama City for their third straight win. Perez nearly tied it in the 78th but sent a short downward header wide.

“In the first half I think we were the better team,” said midfielder Jermaine Jones, who served as the U.S. captain for the second straight match. “The second half was difficult because we were a man down and Panama pushed hard.” [Yahoo]

NO. YOU CANNOT REPLACE THIS, EVER. GODDAMNIT KLINSMANN

FYI - Current Premiership standings

Team W D L Pts

Manchester City 17 3 2 54

Manchester United 16 3 3 51

Tottenham 14 4 4 46

Chelsea 12 5 5 41

Arsenal 11 3 8 36

Oh come on, they do too

Time called it "football!"

Since the only person who reads this blog didn't get to watch yesterday

I chose this video because I genuinely can't decide if the commentator is speaking English. I mean, I don't think he is but I can understand what he's saying anyway? It's confusing.

[EDITED TO ADD] Okay this isn't even the right game but it's staying. I was so enchanted by this strange new language that it took a while to notice the goals looked kind of unfamiliar.

So that was a little close for comfort! Barca fell all to pieces for a little while there but then got it together with a couple of good attempts on goal, even, in the last few minutes. It was a really rough game. Madrid had eight yellow cards; Barca one (MESSI?). Sergio Ramos didn't serve that red, but Pepe and Coentrao should be playing soccer at the zoo. Also, Mourinho waited by the ref's car after the game to yell at him. Of course.

Never change, Diego

"FABULOUS BOTANICAL FOOTBALL!"

Highlights from yesterday's Barca-Real Madrid game. Real Madrid are just the worst. Talk about sore losers. I think there should be a global movement where people stomp on Pepe's feet everywhere he goes.



Sanchez played beautifully all game.
Check out at 4:47 Casillas making a great save. ("Jungle cat! Jungle cat! He's up then he's down like a jungle cat!" - 3:30ish Ray Hudson) I like Casillas. He's on the wrong team.
Other Ray highlights - Puyol is referred to only as "Captain Tarzan"; Abidal's goal (at 10:10) is "the type of goal that causes your soul to bang on your ribcages to get out!" and "He's onto this like Dracula onto a plate of liver!"

Comments?

Ha

In which Hleb understands he is not the only Hleb

Championfriend!

Arsenal! Thierry Henry!

Funny things at Everton

1. Tim Howard "felt bad" about scoring.

2. Landon Donovan's English Adventure of Epic Broportions, part II

3. Also this because it's great.

PEP LIVES!

Okay, roundup from the Fifa awards. Messi won the Ballon D'Or - first person to win it three consecutive years in a row. He accepted in the award in what looked to my eyes to be a purple velour suit, which I think is the way to go.

Some editor tried to make it up to Xavi by giving him an alluring running-in-the-rain-looking-back-over-his-shoulder shot in the video intro.

Ronaldo (the Brazilian one) (96, 98, 02) and Zidane (98, 00, 03) have both won three times.

Pep won the coach of the year. Mahaha Mourinho!

Neymar won goal of the year. Observe:

Marta's hard work pretending to fall down a lot was ignored, as Japan's Homare Sawa got the women's award. Abby Wombach was a finalist. I can't find any good videos of Sawa other than that one where she destroyed our Women's World Cup Hopes, which shall not be posted.