Sports Then and Now

FIFA announced its short list for the 2009 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Award from its headquarters in Zurich on Friday with five of the 10 players in contention for the award having played in WPS during the Inaugural Season. Nominees who played in WPS, all of them selected as WPS All-Stars, include (country/2009 team):

Sonia Bompastor FRA/Washington Freedom – Led the league in assists (6) while tallying four goals and was selected as WPS Player of the Month for May. Her slashing, exciting play at defensive midfield helped the Freedom bounce back from a slow start to finish third in the 2009 WPS Regular Season.

Cristiane BRA/Chicago Red Stars – The only player in WPS to notch a hat trick this season, her incredible long-range strike against FC Gold Pride in early July was one of the goals of the year this season in WPS. Finished with seven goals, fourth-best in WPS. Read the rest of this entry →

Suzanne Lenglen won 12 Grand Slam titles.

She was called ‘La Divine.’  Some say in the 1920s Suzanne Lenglen was a bigger name in sports than that of Babe Ruth.

Between 1919 and 1926, at a time when three and not four tennis majors were played, she won twelve Grand Slam titles, on three different surfaces, and an Olympic Gold medal (Antwerp). Notably in seven of 81 singles titles she did not lose a game!

She was dominant in a way that only a handful of male stars have been since the open era of tennis.  More than that, she imposed her personality on the sport, and the entertainment world of the day.  We recognize such a personality in contemporary terms, in modern English, we might call her a diva. Read the rest of this entry →

Daniel Snyder has spent a decade alienating fans of the Washington Redskins while not producing a consistent winner.

Growing up in Southern Virginia, the two closest “big” cities were Richmond and Washington D.C. They were not only the largest cities, but also the closest places with “big time” sports.

As a kid we went to Richmond numerous times each year to see the Richmond Braves (Triple-A team for the Atlanta Braves). With the Redskins being the closest NFL team, you couldn’t go far in the fall without seeing someone sporting the maroon and gold of the Skins. It has been 14 years since I have lived in the area, but I was home last weekend and learned that things have changed a lot (and not for the better) in relation to the sports teams in these two historic cities.
Trouble in D.C.
For generations, there have been very few fan bases in sports that could be considered more loyal than the Washington Redskins. Even when the franchise was enduring a span of 13 straight years without a winning record in the 1950s and 1960s, the stadium was full and there was a waiting list decades long for tickets.
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