The Beijing Olympics are the most-watched U.S. television event of all time. In the numbers available through 16 days of coverage, 211 million viewers tuned in to the Olympics on NBC Universal's broadcast and cable outlets, according to NBC, which quoted Nielsen Media.
That's 2 million more than the 1996 Atlanta Games, the previous all-time record-holder. This is largely due to the fact that NBC broadcast a record 3,600 hours across a variety of broadcast platforms. In addition though, the final day of the Games drew nearly all of China's 1.3 billion people to their televisions. That's a "thought stopping" statistic. In other words, it boggles the mind.
Kudos to our friends and Sky Blue supporters at NBC, Kevin Monaghan (Senior VP, Business Development, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics), Wendy Bass, (VP of Business Affairs), and Michael Cohen, (Executive Producer for MLS broacasts), who orchestrated the men's and women's Olympic soccer broadcasts, which we all enjoyed.
Each of these people--all personally involved and dedicated to soccer--is responsible for important and wonderful contributions not only to the Olympics, but to Sky Blue, and to WPS.
SBS Blogger
In the midst of all the wonderful Olympic happenings, Sky Blue got together with Bobbi Brown Cosmetics for an event in Montclair, NJ. On Thursday evening August 14, about 50 people had a most joyous time. There were literally smiles the whole time. The theme of the event can be summarized by the introductory remarks made by Sky Blue GM and head coach Ian Sawyers. He said that the event exemplified self-concept, and traits being emphasized that evening--confidence, assertiveness, and a positive attitude--are important on and off the field, and in any endeavor in life.
For more information, read this great article by a new Sky Blue supporter, LadyPink.
http://thepinkstandard.blogspot.com/2008/08/beauty-and-team.html
USWNT captain and Point Pleasant, NJ native Christie Rampone talks about her preference for playing for Sky Blue in WPS.
To read the article, click here.
The Daily Record of Morristown had an article on Sunday about minor league teams making their home in Morris County. Part of the story talks about Sky Blue and its time at Drew University as well as future plans for the upcoming professional season.
Congratulations the USWNT what a fantastic accomplishment. Having been privileged to attend every Women's World Cup and Olympic Soccer event since 1991, I think this success story must go down as one of the finest. Overcoming some major obstacles since the last World Cup including: The retirement of some very significant and decorated players, the goalkeeping debacle under Greg Ryan, the subsequent media attention and coaching change, the loss of Kristine Lilly, Cat Whitehill, Leslie Osborne and most significantly Abby Wambach. These are no small hurdles to get over!
The players and coaches deserve a huge amount of praise for not only overcoming a more talented Brazillian team (which we did in the last Olympics!) but also we should consider the process.
The way Abby reacted after her horrific injury both immediately and during her subsequent media interviews, instilled and intensified the belief system for this team. It proved once again that in sports it is possible for character and hard work to overcome almost anything if you believe it can. This is not to say this team is without talent, Carli Lloyd's strike to win the game was world class and Christie Rampone's play at the back was exceptional. However before the games began Abby managed to settle everyone and galvanize their core to the task which her coach Pia Sundhage had set the team. Pia played her part with her joyful sideline exuberance and never gave the players any sign that they could not achieve their dream. She maintained faith in players but never backed away from giving a young player a shot. This factor, I believe was pivotal in how the team rallied around each other, whether they played at a high level or not and thus the sum of the parts became greater than the whole.
Gaining the confidence to go and win is probably the most difficult challenge in sports, you need to be set free, technically, tactically, mentally and physically and I think Abby and Pia played a huge part in setting them free!
Congratulations.
It is great to know that we will have some gold medalists on our Sky Blue pro team. We would have been happy without the gold medal, but obviously, it is much nicer with it! Overall, I think the tournament showed that women's soccer is not dominated by one nation. You can't single out one person; there are so many great players.
I still feel emotionally connected to Formiga, who played for Sky Blue. I think no one plays like her. She plays like a man, and I mean that in a positive way! She played soccer tennis with my kids in the backyard; how can I not feel connected to her? I sincerely hope we will see her in WPS.
While I am happy the US won the gold, I am also happy that Germany won a medal, because they deserved it. They could have equally made it to the final. The US had the easier draw, and Germany had to play Brazil twice.
The fact that I am German makes me root for two teams. My kids are very connected as well; one even cheers more for Germany than the US. I would have been very torn if the two teams played each other. For the WPS, I wanted a USA victory, but as a German, I would hope they would win.
I believe that Pia and her staff put together an exceptional tactical game plan for this Olympic final. Even though the Brazilian's had the majority of the possession, the US did a very good job of taking away the space where the Brazilians would be dangerous.
The US was very patient and smart when to send numbers forward into the attack. They always seemed to have at least four players behind the ball, making it difficult for the Brazilians to go 1 v 1.
I personally think that today's match was one of the more exciting finals that I've seen in a long while. This victory will not only make a stronger case for the quality of the WPS, but with the prospect of five internationals per team, I hope it will bring to all levels-from top to the youth ranks - some of what we in the US lack in certain aspects of the game.
First, an admission. I belong to a family of Brazilian men’s and women’s soccer devotees. My household has long revered and respected the incredibly technical skill and dazzling art of the “Jugo Bonita” style of play.
Before the Olympic final, the sentiment in my household was: Hey, if the USA can beat them, they deserve to win the gold. And thus, with their winning record, their intelligence and fitness, and tremendous goalkeeping, the Americans persevered. Bravo!
Understandably, the mood at Sky Blue today is celebratory. Yes, victory does that. But victory for us comes in many forms. Staffer Natalie Smith said that the energy of the Olympic final staff viewing party (complete with bagels and homebaked cookies) made her feel the joy of working here.
Those of us who labor for the success of Sky Blue and the WPS feel that Olympic victory is inherent on so many levels—from the attention that is showered on the winners, to the excitement and anticipation of the fabulous international players who will bring so much extra to the game played on American fields.
The ingredients are in place for our success. It is our audience though that is the key. If you like what you saw in the Olympics, don’t hesitate. Make us your mission; spread the word; share your passion. Commit to Sky Blue, and to WPS, and give us your support.
So that every golden Olympic moment will translate to a golden WPS moment.
SBS Blogger
Congratulations goes out to the United States Women's National Team for winning the Gold Medal game. The US did what no one really thought would be possible - shut down the Brazil attack. Even the most optimistic US fans had to think that Brazil would score at least once especially after taking apart Germany in the semifinals but that wasn't the case as excellent team defense and a great game from Hope Solo kept Brazil scoreless.
Speaking of Solo, I'm sure that she learned her lesson last year so you won't hear it from her but I would love to hear a couple "I told you so"s slip out. Looks like she was right - maybe she would have made those saves last year. Her reflex save on Marta was tremendous and she was strong in the air too. Carli Lloyd scored the goal but I would give Solo the MVP for the final.
And for Carli, what a great strike for the Jersey girl. We won't know about USWNT allocations for about a month more but how great would it be to have the Gold Medal hero in a Sky Blue WPS professional uniform. Sky Blue will be playing on the same field that she starred on in college so that would be a great story.
On the other side of the field, for Brazil it's more heartbreak finishing second three tournaments in a row including one World Cup and two Olympics. You have to think that they're really wondering what they need to do to win one of these things. Losses in overtime to the US in 2004 and 2008 and then the loss to Germany with Marta missing the tying PK - so close but yet so far. If it's any satisfaction, they're still the most fun team to watch.
Let's hope that the great Olympics tournament can help WPS as it heads towards its first season. The entire US team will definitely be playing in the league next year while you have to think that most of the Brazil players will be here as well with no suitable alternative in their native country. On top of that Brazil coach Jorge Barcellos has been rumored to be linked to a coaching position with a WPS team so everything you saw on the field today could be a part of WPS in a slightly altered form in 2009.
United Soccer Leagues put out a nice note today about former Sky Blue players Tobin Heath and Formiga battling it out in the Gold Medal match tomorrow at the Beijing Olympics - Heath for the United States and Formiga for Brazil. Because of the Pan Am Games, which both Tobin and Formiga participated in, the two didn't spend as much time out on the field as Sky Blue had hoped, but it will still be interesting to see the former teammates battle it out.
In all, there are 10 former W-League players taking the field tomorrow in the final including Heather O'Reilly, Lindsay Tarpley, and Carli Lloyd - players I had the pleasure of dealing with during my time working with the New Jersey Wildcats - a team that Formiga and Tobin Heath also played for as well prior to joining Sky Blue.
Read the entire USL story here.
Tomorrow's game should be a great matchup and the US is going to have to play a strong game to beat Brazil, which was on fire against Germany. The US is definitely in a much better place than a year ago when Brazil rolled to victory in the semifinal of the World Cup. The team is playing much better soccer and Hope Solo will finally get her chance to prove that she was right in what she said last year. Even if she apologized for her outburst last year, I still think she meant every word of it so she needs to make some big saves.
The US has faster backs than Germany so that should give it some hope but it's going to take some great defending to shut down Brazil or it's going to take a bunch of goals to counter Brazil's attacking efforts. Either way, there are some great story lines in the final - Brazil searching for its first championship, the US looking to make up for last year's loss, and of course, Tobin vs. Formiga.
Personally, since I was born in Brazil to American parents and can claim citizenship for both countries, I can get away with routing for either team - no matter who wins, I'll still come out on top. Go United States! Go Brazil! Go Sky Blue!
Despite putting in the third and fourth goals by accident, the United States fully deserved its 4-2 victory over Japan in the semifinals. The game obviously didn't start off that well with Japan scoring first, but two goals in three minutes at the end of the first half put the US in good shape to take the game over in the second half.
Of course the final two goals were accidents - bad crosses that turned into great shots. Unless Heather O'Reilly meant to volley the ball inside the far post from out on the wing, and unless Ang Hucles meant to chip the keeper with side spin from the endline, then the US was definitely the beneficiary of a couple of lucky plays. Those two goals became meaningful when Japan willed the ball into the goal in the closing seconds, but you would have to think that the US would have been playing differently if they were sitting on a one-goal lead.
O'Reilly was solid as always and Hucles has gone from non-existent in the opening games to a solid contributor which makes sense when you consider that she's more accustomed to playing as central midfielder and not a front-runner. Chalupny's shot was perfect - the textbook example of a flank player cutting inside and ripping a shot. She has to be the best left back in all of women's soccer.
While making the final is a great accomplishment for a US team that was written off after the opening-game loss to Norway, the Americans will have to gear up a few more notches in the final against Brazil or risk getting stomped on like last year in the World Cup. Except for the opening 15 minutes or so, the Brazilians were on fire against Germany. They made one of the best teams in the world look foolish and at times it looked as if there was nothing Germany could do to stop Brazil.
The former Sky Blue player Formiga's goal was total class - Cristiane megging the defender in the corner, Marta keeping the ball moving across the box, and Formiga with the finish. The other goals were just as nice - Marta setting up Christiane perfectly off the quick counter attack, Marta single-handedly making the German defense look foolish capped by a perfect toe poke, and Cristiane blowing through and over the entire German defense with one quick run. Germany hadn't allowed a goal in a major tournament since the 2004 Olympics and, like I said, it looked like there was nothing Germany could do to stop Brazil.
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