After Atalanta

I was pleased to see (well, pleased in that, I'm-not-quite-sure-how-I-feel-about-this way) that ESPN online had a column about the WPS. I have not gone back into the ESPN archives to view their previous coverage (I don't even know if there is any). But this article focused on the event of the week. It's not a convincing win, a great shootout, or an amazing goal. It's Abby Wambach's yellow-carded challenge/foul on Athletica star Daniela that resulted in torn ligaments and a broken tibia. Should Wambach receive further disciplinary action? Most people think no; though the issue remains under review by WPS peeps. It raises issues of whether Wambach plays "too tough." But Wambach herself was on the receiving end of a challenge that resulted in two broken bones in her leg and took her out of the last World Cup. And she gets a lot of physical play against her. Some argue she takes falls and plays up these moments of physical contact. But you cannot deny that she...

I have gotten notice of quite a few articles about women's hockey lately so I thought I would do a round-up. The other day I linked to this article about Canadian hockey moms: mothers who play hockey, most who have taken it up later in life after watching and supporting their children for years and years. And though it is nice and possibly inspiring, unfortunately* it spent about three paragraphs on the mothers before launching into a lengthy discussion of the overall decline in Canadian boys who play hockey. It did end by noting the huge rise in the numbers of girls playing though and the hope that the increase would bring a little more respect to the women's game. And according to a Toronto paper , the women's game is gaining respect. Most of the article focuses on the national team and veteran member Hayley Wickenheiser who comments not just on the (lack of) depth in women's ice hockey but also on the denial of women's ski jumping in the 2010 Olympic games and th...

I witnessed a very strange hockey game last weekend. I went to a recreational women's league game and saw a level of aggression that I rarely see in women's hockey--I certainly didn't see it two nights prior at the Harvard-UNH match-up which, though they are not classic rivals, is certainly an anticipated match-up every season. Anyway, there was heavy shoving that fell just short of hitting and "dialogue" and flipping off the ref from the very first period. The ref, who admittedly was not that good, was giving out double penalties to members of both teams. It was bizarre and seemed to be a little contagious though certainly most of the women on the ice tried to stay out of the whole mess. Lest you think I am suggesting that women are not or should not be aggressive--I am not. But I was struggling, as I sat there watching this all, with the level of aggression that should be allowed or tolerated/condoned. This is an issue women's hockey has always had to negoti...