More Video of USWNT Celebrations

From Martynnny, via JordanCornblog.

The Golden Girls

Some videos on the USWNT's gold medal performance, with interviews with Pia, Christie, Kate, Hope, and Carli:





All stolen gleefully from Sideline Views.

For more videos and interviews, check out the team's blog: USWNT Blog

Golden!

Goal!

The USWNT won a hard-fought gold medal this morning, defeating hated Brazil 1-0 in overtime. Carli Lloyd scored the winner in the 96th minute. Christie Rampone was my MOTM; on USSoccer they selected Hope Solo, and I can live with that. She made a point blank reaction save on Marta in the 72nd minute that was amazing. Even watching the game as a spectator was exhausting. So I'm too tired to recap fully. Read these excellent recaps/liveblogs:

Boltgirl on the Loose, here, and here.

(from which I learned that after the 4-0 loss at the 2007 World Cup, the Brazilian players videotaped the US players crying in the hotel lobby. Stay classy, pretty losers. I'm going to start calling Brazil the Anna Kournikova of soccer.)


Andrea Canales at Sideline Views.

Jere Longman, NYTimes

Beau Dure, USAToady


Natasha Kai became the first Hawaiian athlete to win a gold medal. She ripped off her shirt to celebrate, showing the world her sports bra (yawn) and her tattoos (awesome).

How sweet it is!

Bonus video of the USWNTs of basketball and soccer meeting. Watch Tobin Heath make Kara Lawson look tall! See their ball skills. Watch Diana Taurasi tear it up in soccer tennis.

USSoccer Photo Gallery

Yahoo Photo Gallery

Cute soccer mom pics:

Rylie Cate, daughter of United States' Christie Rampone, jumps from the podium in joy after her mom's team won the gold over Brazil in the women's soccer final at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008.
(AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
United States' Christie Rampone, left, carries her daughter Rylie Cate and United States' Kate Markgraf carries her son Keegan on their shoulders as they are all smiles with teammate Carli Lloyd, center, during the medal ceremony for the women's soccer gold medal match at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008. The US won the gold medal by beating Brazil.
(AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Poor, poor Brazil, the greatest team that's never won anything.

Waaaaaahhhhhhhh! (Hey, Cristiane, there's NO CRYING IN BASEBALL)

Final note, a shoutout to Greg Ryan: She would have made those saves, you moron.

What Happened in China in 2007?

Sounds like the only player on the USWNT who acquitted herself well in the L'Affaire Ryan/Solo/Scurry was Carli Lloyd, a smart Jersey girl. The Sports Illustrated article below (and Andrea Canales take, after that) lays out more of what really happened behind the scenes when Hope Solo was banned from the team after saying, hey, I would have made those saves. (She couldn't be charged with slander, because It. Was. The. Truth.)

I blame Greg Ryan, but clearly the rest of the team had a warped idea of "team". I mean, isn't the reason you stick together as a team that you want to win? I never understood them all going along with Greg Ryan's moronic bootball tactics. I guess there wasn't anyone on the team that understood that it was not the beautiful game they were playing. And they thought it was more important to be nice to each other than to win. Hey, put in the old goalie that can't kick the ball and hasn't played in a competitive game in six months. Take out the hot kid with two clean sheets under her belt. It's OK, we're a team! Dumb. I'm so disappointed in the juvenile attitudes of these athletes. Maybe with age will come wisdom.


SI.com: Hard Return
Her World Cup outburst violated the team-first ethos of women's sports and made her an outcast. Now Hope Solo is the U.S. goalie once again, bound for Beijing—and still trying to figure it all out

Sideline Views (Andrea Canales): The Feminine Mystique

P.S., Kristine Lilly is due on July 19th.