THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

                                       God bless America

When I was in elementary school my older brother played both football, and futbol, so naturally the first sport I picked up was soccer. From the 5th grade through 8th, I starred on both offense and defense for my school's team. We were the Eagles and I wore the number 7 as a striker, and fullback. 

During the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, there were two things that I have enjoyed from the moment I saw it. I love all sports and when The Greatest, Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch I watched in joy, admiration, and disbelief. The other fond memory from the Games of the XXVI Olympiad was the victory by the US Women's Soccer team in the first ever women's soccer event. 

That is when the world watched as Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Brandi Chastain, and Carla Overbeck captured the gold as well as the hearts and minds of fans everywhere. 

Fast forward to the present day and the US Women's Soccer team is as dominant as ever, even after a tough FIFA Women's World Cup loss. I don't want to get into it too much, however I still believe that Hope Solo should have started and played in the semi-final defeat against Brazil. Nevertheless with the 2008 Summer Olympics on the horizon, the North and South American rivals squared off this week in San Diego with the red, white, and blue emerging victorious in a 1-0 hard fought win. Tasha Kai scored the winning goal, however the team lost Abby Wambach, the leading goal scorer and star with a broken leg.  Subsequently Wambach will miss the opportunity to compete when the Games begin in 3 weeks. 

With a fractured tibia and fibula she had surgery yesterday to have a titanium rod placed into her leg. This is a tough loss for the country and national team, however if one team can rally behind their fallen star its this one. 

Team USA is still considered one of the top teams in the world as they will vie for Olympic gold in Beijing come 8/8/08.