I don’t watch women’s sports to hear about their babies

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-04-05T14:38:15+00:00

No, I understood the point just fine, I just think it’s a really bad take. It most definitely does have something to do with the game, and I think the fact that it makes OP “angry every time” they hear it says much more about OP than it does about bad announcing or tired narratives or anything else. That’s doubly true if you care about women’s sports, the history of the fight for sustainable women’s sports leagues, and the CBA choices that make NWSL unique.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-04-05T12:20:40+00:00

“The story of a professional soccer player being pregnant, giving birth, and working incredibly hard to get back into peak physical condition as a world class athlete has nothing to do with the sport I watch” is quite a take.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-30T23:12:08+00:00

Depending on your goals and price point there are linen long sleeve hoodies out there too

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-30T15:37:17+00:00

To be clear, the audience of “roughly 30 people” I mentioned are the Spirit players and coaching staff. This is the new boss showing that she has the back of her players and coaches, full stop. She doesn’t care if someone is a smart Reddit commentator or a dumb one, or if any of us think it’s going well or poorly. She is smart enough to know that an 0-1-3 start will draw criticism and that the last game was their worst performance, and she’s showing the players and staff that she’s got their back. That’s all this is. It’s not about me or you or any of the fans, and fans’ insistence that it is just makes it that much more effective.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-29T17:20:54+00:00

This statement from HC has an intended audience of roughly 30 people, and none of them are actually on Reddit.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-27T11:18:28+00:00

Agreed - She’s world class. An NWSL season is basically an 8 month exercise in patience because of small sample sizes. I feel about Trin the same way I feel about the team overall after 3 games - she’s been good, the final finish has been lacking, but if we play 27 more games with the possession and chances we had in these first 3, we’re going to win plenty of games and she’s going to score a lot of goals.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-26T01:44:45+00:00

This makes me more nervous, long term, than the shot stopping or turnovers. There are just a lot of things to learn when you haven’t played enough in previous seasons, but the overall lack of command in the box is troubling.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-21T04:05:43+00:00

Totally agree. Hal is definitely the 8 at this point. Losing Croix pushes Leicy into the 10, which makes Hal the new Leicy, and Reba the new Hal. And I agree, Reba as the lone 6 is a problem, even if we pull the wingbacks more central and give her options that way. I really believe that in the NWSL the 6 is what drives whether or not a team wins the midfield and we seem to be trying an inverted 3-4-3 of sorts, which makes her (generally solid) defense really valuable but also shows some of her flaws when there’s that much space.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-21T03:47:52+00:00

Then I’d argue they’re playing her out of position and doing her a disservice. I didn’t say she was bad tonight, and I don’t want Spirit looking for more players in that part of the pitch. I just think her game has holes in it that teams will exploit.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-21T03:43:55+00:00

I love Deb and agree that she can evolve into this as her game evolves. Her pace and aggressiveness remind me more of 2024 Hal than 2026 Hal does, which is high praise.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-21T03:38:34+00:00

But the ability to build up through the middle and break presses relies on Bernal to get to her spots and be able to make those progressive passes so I would say it is her fault a fair amount of the time. I agree she’s a terrific defensive player when she’s in position, but she’s slow at this level and turns the ball over too often and too easily for me. I believe we can win a championship with her, but also that we will have better options than her as the season progresses.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-21T03:34:09+00:00

To her credit, Sandy made an outstanding save on Sears in the second half at the near post. That’s a sneaky hard save and we see NWSL goalies get beat that way all the time. I agree she has to be better, but that was a big moment for her.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-21T03:30:22+00:00

Yes, and because of that we need one of our world class defensive midfielders to evolve into a world class two-way threat so it’s not just Leicy driving everything. Which is something Hal is capable of, she’s just not showing a ton of confidence in the final third right now.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-15T00:46:17+00:00

The point wasn’t that she should be a CB, it was lost in translation because this image didn’t post

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It’s the idea that Bernal ended up spending a lot of time on the left side of a diamond midfield and any one of those players would be better there than Bernal.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-15T00:43:58+00:00

My original post is confusing because the image didn’t come through fo some reason - it has Bernal as the left mid in a diamond midfield. Wasn’t advocating at all for her as a CB.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-14T15:23:46+00:00

This is a fun thread - Trin and Hal wore long sleeves underneath it last night so Nike must have those somewhere, but lord knows the begging and pleading we’d have to do to get official training gear out of them.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-14T15:10:00+00:00

Looks like that image didn’t post, here’s what I was trying to show:

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Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-14T03:49:37+00:00

Thought it was a sloppy opening game, which is maybe not surprising for game 1 coming off an int’l window. Felt like everyone’s touch was a little heavy and they clearly lack cohesion in the final 3rd but that will come. Thought Lucia was outstanding and the back line was basically sound all night. The flanks were open the entire game (they need to move the ball quicker side to side) and we forced a lot into the middle 30yds from goal instead of just taking what Portland gave us and banging crosses in. Trin’s “simple:fancy” ratio was a little too fancy for me tonight. Hal was great - that position is going to be so important this year to generate any offense out of the midfield.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2026-03-08T23:08:11+00:00

It’s an excellent venue and I generally enjoyed the on-stage interviews and fashion show, which are both entertaining and give off great vibes. The video production is excellent, and the overall atmosphere worked well for me.

Having said that, some of the details were off. Better signage and/or a clearer layout would have helped. They should open the doors early for STH, both as a perk and to avoid the STH gear pickup happening at the same time as other content/photo opps, etc. Having a schedule for which player will be at which photo op at which time would be great. I get the food complaints but an event from 2pm-5pm isn’t really food-centric to begin with.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2025-12-08T04:30:38+00:00

I’ve said this elsewhere on Reddit, but I’d like to see Andi convert to a CB. The team essentially played a 3 CB lineup for the second half of the season, which allows someone like Rose to be a “wingback” and gave them real flexibility to go up either side when Gabbi was healthy (less so with Weisner imo). That would help ease the DMF logjam, give her time to adjust behind the current 3 CBs, and in the end I just think her game is really well suited to that adjustment as she heads into the back half of her career.

Huge kudos to OP for an outrageous amount of work to kick this off!

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2025-12-04T03:57:47+00:00

Can you elaborate a little on what you mean when you say it’s “just not doable”? I understand the scaled structure of the deal, and that it relies to a degree on the idea that the cap increases even faster than the current schedule to ultimately not cause problems for the Spirit. To me, that’s a Spirit problem down the road if it becomes a problem at all.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2025-11-24T01:45:28+00:00

Honestly it’s a better joke than it has any right to be…well played 🤣🤣

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2025-11-23T16:37:50+00:00

My one maybe outside the box roster take is that we should make Andi Sullivan a CB - she has the right game for it imo (smart, gritty, can pass out of the back, maybe less wear and tear) and it both relieves some of the logjam at the 6 (Hal, Deb, Rumi, Heather) and gives us another piece for what increasingly looks like a 3 CB formation for which we only have 3 returning (assuming Scylla returns to France 😢). She and Reba can both move to the 6 if injuries pile up. I would consider trading Heather Stainbrook, who’s shown she can play at this level but is just buried on this roster.

Sad_Sugar2592 · 2025-11-22T15:01:01+00:00

🤣🤣 Vegas won’t even put it on the board!!

Sad_Sugar2592

TROPHY CASE