Why Sky Blue FC’s Championship Win is Good News for WPS

By: Daryl | August 24th, 2009

Sky Blue FC beat LA Sol 1-0 to win the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) championship game on Saturday, thanks to a goal from Heather O’Reilly (pictured with Natasha Kai and Natasha Kai’s tattoos)

So WPS has survived its inaugural season (even after launching at the worst possible time, economically speaking) and – crucially -established the one thing every sports league needs to gain new fans: An interesting narrative.

LA Sol were the big team. The Hollywood team. The team that had World Player of the Year Marta. They were expected to win. And every sports league needs a team that’s expected to win, because it gives everyone else someone/something to shoot at.

Sky Blue FC had (from what I understand) good players, but suffered from two things this season. One: They have possibly the worst team name ever. Just saying. And two: They’ve taken the Newcastle United approach to coaching consistency.

Ian Sawyer (aka Mr. Julie Foudy) started the season as both GM and head coach. That didn’t go so well. Sawyer was suspended and then booted out in May. His replacement was former assistant coach Kelly Lindsey, who had a winning record but then abruptly resigned on July 29th, possibly over the suspension of her assistant coach Joe Dorrini.

So Sky Blue moved on to their third coach of the inaugural season, with captain Christie Rampone stepping up to be captain/player/coach, and the team still needing a couple of results to scrape into the playoffs. They did, just about, and then won their next two games to reach the championship game vs the LA Sol. Which they weren’t really expected to win but did anyway.

And here’s how they won it:

Impressive stuff, and an impressive story that should be a boon to WPS.

Of course, there’s the counter-argument that a team in as much disarray as the 2009 version of Sky Blue FC should not be winning a championship, and the fact that they did suggests that the league has some work to do. That may be the case. But this is exactly the sort of drama that MLS could use this season. New York Red Bull for MLS Cup anyone?

For more on the WPS Final, I recommend this post From a Left Wing.

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Category: World Football

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Jennifer Doyle

Oh - it's not at all fair to say the Sol are the Galaxy of the MLS. There's a little of that on the management side, but Marta is not Beckham in this story. She's more like Messi. Or - dare I say it - Maradona. And the other players are also stellar. So, you could only make that comparison if the Galaxy had run away with the regular season.

That said, there is overlap in the ownership - AEG owns half of the Sol. So, if at times the Sol's "brand" feels bloodless - and if they don't have problems crawling into bed with creepy Amway - blame it on AEG & Anschultz.
Jennifer Doyle

Meant to say - that Blue Sky reference is to "Wall Street."

And can I suggest a WPS button for the offside's "categories" under "leagues"? It would be a good way to support the WPS's visibility, as well as that of your bloggers who cover the league.
Jennifer Doyle

Am I missing something - did anyone from The Offside watch the match? The WPS blog seems to die off mid August....

And, I'm sorry, but LA Sol is just as bad as Sky Blue FC in terms of name. (Sky Blue makes me think of Blue Sky Airlines - the ailing company over which Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen stage their battle....)

It was a great game. But not uncontroversial (Faulk's red card). And what what up with the Sol's coaching? I couldn't see a meangingful response to either the fact that they were losing at the half, or the fact that they were down a player.

Interesting detail - when Sol lost Faulk, they played 3-4-2 and managed really well defensively against Sky Blue's attacking. Raises the question as to why they play a 4-4-2 in the first place.

Sigh.
jake poolman

wonderfull result for the sky blues in orange.

I hope that the league comes back next year for 2 reasons.

One that my daughther will have something to strive for and 2nd the level of soccer was excellent for most of the season.
Dustin

The important thing is, will their be a 2nd Season, and will it profit the individual teams? I like the WPS and I want it to stick around, I'm just worried that if it folds, we won't see a women's pro league for the next 20 years.
Oli Davies

The first thing I notice is that O'Reilly on the left wing for Sky Blue's Fc was simply brilliant. Reminded me of a cross between Messi and Ronaldo, just not as good of course.
wob

their shirt is a copy of the Dutch 2004 European Championship shirt
wob

Sky Blue FC looks like the Dutch NT reserve side.
SP

sky blue fc is a terrible name. especially when the team does not seem to wear a sky blue kit in the championship game that they win.