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kielbj's avatar

Time for my weekly dose of vaguely frustrated enthusiasm:

No matter how poor the Thorns look, the Reign, Spirit, Wave, and the rest of the league show an equal level of seemingly disqualifying issues on a weekly basis. I promise. I’ve watched a TON of non-thorns NWSL this year; much more than in years past. Every team has flaws that we would look at as season-enders if we were all fans of that team. Just this week alone, the Spirit should have lost to the Current at home and avoided it by the skin of their teeth. The Wave lost to ACFC at home. The Reign had a woman advantage for 50 minutes in Houston and couldn’t get three points. I PROMISE that there is not one other NWSL team that has consistently looked better than Portland.

The main issue with this team is that they SHOULD be better. That’s what’s frustrating. They should be 5-10 points clear, and they’re not. They’re not because of the ownership situation. They’re not because of subpar coaching. They’re not because their talent isn’t playing to the potential.

And yet, it’s still a very fun team to watch:

- Morgan Weaver has been outstanding. Like, shockingly good. She’s expanded her skillset in ways that I really didn’t expect after watching her for three years.

- Sam Coffey is an absolute joy of both soccer player and human. Rapidly becoming one of my favorite Thorns of all time.

- Sophia Smith is freakin awesome. Pro athletes of her caliber RARELY come through Portland, and we shouldn’t take it for granted

Bring on the Spirit Friday, and let’s hope we see a repeat of last year (minus the last game shield collapse)!

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DebbiMc's avatar

Sounds like Arin Wright is going to be OK. Red Stars released a statement that the initial tests were negative. Best possible outcome after such a scary collision.

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