I may be in the minority here and no one likes a throwaway season, but this just needs to be a "play the kids and evaluate" year. I think they could have potentially withstood one or two absences, but Weaver, Soph, Payne, AND Muller is simply too much, even without the Gale component. See what you have with Turner, Castellanos, and Linnehan. Make Liv demonstrate she can be a core piece. Give Tordin minutes.
There might be some concern that this gives Gale an excuse if/when things bottom out, but I don't really see any competent GM staking their reputation on a coach they didn't hire. Make some adds in the summer and try to follow that Orlando 22-23 model. There's not really any doubt here with Soph out- This is a full on rebuild. Kind of excited in a weird way.
I won't go so far as "excited"; I think we're going to see some ugly beatings in return for our ticket costs.
But "intrigued"? Yep, I'll go that far.
It's going to be a field problem where your company has to fight a delaying action against a two-company-sized OPFOR - what you learn is whether your officer(s) have the cunning and imagination to play out a losing hand cleverly. How effectively can they use terrain, tactics, and techniques to offset a stronger opponent, and pounce on whatever weaknesses are evident? You know how it's going to go; the real value is in seeing how well the going plays out.
That's kind of where I'm at, lord knows I've watched my other clubs rebuild enough times that it's just part of the life cycle of a team. We're still recovering from having clung to some established pieces for so long that it'll take time to figure out the new identity, and it's a little naive to assume being perpetual contenders. I do think it's the opposite for Gale, I figure having Sophia around is more of an excuse than not having her, since now he'll be more exposed, which isn't a bad thing at all, it only further highlights the question of "can he cut it or does he need to be gone".
Idol not entirely agree with of the responses to Kleib post. I think our roster (preinjury) was pretty solid. yes we lost our all world striker and three key players to injury. But we have many other solid, pieces. Under good coaching they may be able to pull together and outperform everyone's expectations. We may even see some accelerate their growth or reach their potential withing a framework where it's all hands on deck. There is however the dark cloud of RG over our heads and whether he has the capacity to bring that level of individual and team play from thos roster. So for me failure would be solely on RG because I see a good amount of talent on the roster.
there's not a lot of teams that could survive losing 3 of their 5 best players for the whole season. And that's before you get into the talent gap at the Thorns. I'm not sure it is a solid roster. Outside of Hina and Sam, I think there are question marks about pretty much every player
Completely agree. Time to find out what they can do. It might be ugly for a while, but eventually they'll find their way. I mean, look at the Blazers, who now have the best record they've had this late in a season in 5 years.
I agree congratulations to Soph and Michael. It is a bummer that we won’t see her for at least a year, but I am pleased for them and know that besides being a generational soccer talent, I think she will be a great mommy.
And yes this is a year to give the rest of the team a chance to show what they have.
It's almost a relief tbh. Like we're gonna be bad bad and there's gonna be so many reasons for it that it's just kinda whatever lol. And Gale will have nothing to hide behind. I do think he could be given 6 months just because he has that excuse, though. Last summer it was "I didn't get a preseason!" Tough task for any coach with this roster, though. No choice but to play the kids because that's all we have!
Roster is still v thin. Can we make it to summer with 2.5 FB's? (One that's not even announced yet lol.) If we do a 3 back, it also opens up to Spaanstra as a wingback, but she's not a defender/FB. Seems like we'd also need to sign another CB for that. 4-5 F's dep on how you play/classify Spaanstra? Very very thin. 1 injury pulls us under league minimum. Lots of minutes on everyone's legs in the first 6 months!
Give him the whole year for all I care. If there's one thing I know about sports execs --especially new ones-- is that they don't have a high tolerance for losing unless they played a significant role in building the losing roster. And you're right: He has nothing to mask the deficiencies now, so in some ways it's actually going to be easier for Agoos to evaluate without the Soph bailout factor involved.
Not saying they shouldn't work to improve the roster until season, just that they shouldn't get desperate right away.
Yeah I mean I don't really care or expect to hear about a new coach anytime soon either. But yeah, Agoos made it clear in his first availability that he'll be constantly evaluating staff. I don't think he's gonna sit around while they bomb, even if there's plenty of reasons for it. Considering Norris was canned after 4L/1D to start last season, I'll be curious to see what happens when it inevitably goes of the rails for Gale. Because it's a throwaway year (esp to start) basically, it'd be better to just rip the bandaid off and either have Lowden step up, or find an outside interim while they publicly search. Play the kids. That way come summer, they'll have made some inroads with the coaching availabilities overseas. Staying flat-footed and then starting that in summer seems like a waste of an already rough season that they should take advantage of to do a full retool.
I agree with the Lowden / outside interim approach. I think there's a risk of players (especially younger ones) getting into bad habits from bad coaching. There will have to be an unlearning process with the new coach anyway, why keep making it worse? I also think there's a risk of disenchantment if players are played out of position and/or asked to do things they're not good at / contrary to their skillset. I want a head coach for yet another transition year who is neutral / safe, not one who is objectively bad.
Remember, though; Norris was in a "controlled flight into terrain" the last half of 2023 (5-1-6 after June 11). Ken was worse over his last half, too, but that was with similar excuses - missing Hina and Weaver, and Wilson off form.
So I tend to agree with kielbj on this - why saddle some other poor mook with this hot mess? Let Ken ride it into midsummer and look to make some signings when the UEFA season ends and there's some chance to pick up some quality. There's not much on offer until then, anyway, unless the Bhathals have a better scouting combine that I think they do...
Lol fair, but I'm gonna keep this in mind to see how many folks will be singin' the same tune after we lose the first 5 and it's unwatchable. Gale has only won 2 games since August. Was 2-9-1 after the Olympics(!!!) and hasn't won a preseason game yet either. I just don't prefer to watch more of that...I'd rather start looking to the future sooner. Communicate that you're just gonna play the kids while looking forward. Again, that requires more communication and coordination to pull off than is possible from our FO imo...But, like I've said in the past, I'd be fine with him staying on if they were actively starting the search now. If they're caught flat-footed having done no work on this by the summer, I could see a search dragging out all season or into fall at least. Give final-year-of-contract Sam Coffey (and supporters) something to look forward to!
As far as players go...yeah I mean we're not gonna find what we need at this point. If it's already a mess, just wait and get players you actually want, not just desperation signings (which hardly work out well.)
I think 1) the opening months will be "not very good" at the best, and that 2) the griping and rending of garments here will be epic.
I'm uncertain whether the owners will be moved to do anything in response to that, tho. Two reasons:
First, because the median fan isn't as terminally invested in this stuff as we are. They want fun, they want entertainment, they don't follow the roster headlines closely. So I don't see the casual fan bailing or the FO being willing to pull the trigger early unless it's SO bad the gate DOES tank.
Second, the FO certainly have enough evidence that Ken's baseline is sub-replacement quality already - his 2024 was pretty clear, so if they were worried about how crap the squad is likely to look they've had the whole offseason to come up with someone better and didn't.
Are they now? Could be, we won't know until/if they do.
The other thing is that "play the kids" is effectively waving the white flag for the season; I can't see them doing that, either. Giving young players minutes might happen (and I hope it does to some degree)...but if so it will just happen; the FO isn't going to come out and explain it in terms of "yeah, we're hosed this year, so we're just gonna do our best while looking at who our best prospects for 2026 are..."
I think this could well be a replay of 2015; bad season, very minor attempts to unfuck it, and a fire sale after it's over.
"I'm gonna keep this in mind to see how many folks will be singin' the same tune after we lose the first 5 and it's unwatchable"
This was exactly my thought reading the thoughts here about how people are happy with this being a rebuild/evaluate season. Will we all feel that way if we get a bunch of poor performances, which can easily happen when the coach is trying to evaluate players?
Is it bad that I might just walk to the restroom during the national anthem. I really don’t want to stand or take my hat off with our recent behavior globally.
I sympathize, but we should remember that the administration is not the country. If being anti-Trump means being anti-American, we're conceding the fight before it starts.
It's a nice thought and the national anthem at Timbers/Thorns matches are more about the scarf waving support element anyhow, but playing national anthems at pro sporting events is intrinsically nationalistic and is therefore pretty inextricably tied to what the country represents at the time imo.
(Hell, no other country that I know of even plays their national anthem before league matches!)
Agreed, but I'd say "tied to what the country represents" rather than "what the current people in power represent". I support the former, not the latter.
Sure, but the problem is that nearly 50% of the country voted for the current people in power. Whatever you think about the legitimacy of electoral politics, there's a pretty good argument that what the current people in power represent IS in fact what the country and its people currently represent, even if it doesn't necessarily represent Thorns fans or the City of Portland.....which is why I don't think it should be played at all.
Gotta say, I've never understood why the national anthem is played at sporting events that have NOTHING to do with national teams. Why do this for sports but not, say, for concerts, or plays, tennis matches, hydroplane racing, on and on? It's just a weird custom, especially when it's nothing more than playing a recording of a Souza-style band performance. Totally happy to have people sing, and the Star Spangled Banner is a challenging song, but again it's a weird custom.
correction just under 50% percent that voted voted for current admin and that represents about 33 percent of all eligible voters. Far from representing all or even a large percent.
Yeah, I'd prefer not to have the anthem played, but the anthem and the flag represent American philosophical ideals. Or I like to think they do, anyway, in spite of how they're viewed by some.
BTW I totally supported players kneeling for the anthem - that showed respect while drawing attention to the need to do better to make the ideals real.
Agree. She’s been a wonderful Thorn and a great representative for the game. Very happy for her and her husband.
It’s a tad surprising considering her goal orientation towards being the best women’s player in the world, but life is about so much more than your career.
Now it is up to Argoos and company to show if they are capable of rebuilding a roster.
The timing makes sense in that WWC is still 2 years away. My concern, as a Thorns fan, is that I don't want her to exit Portland for Denver and support of family in time for the 2026 season.
That's what I am guessing will happen. We probably won't see her in a Thorns kit again. It makes sense for her to move to Denver where she is closer to family and her husband in AZ. Good for her, setting her future that way she wants it.
The new training center will have · "Dedicated rooms for player’s families". I think that can be interpreted as a playroom for children. Thorns will be an attractive team for mothers!
Fwiw, Taylor Vincent just said that Thorns DO get that int'l spot back for the season while Muller is out on SEI....so after Torpey we should have 1 left. Not that we couldn't just buy one for 50k like Utah just did, but still nice to know...
Thorns new training facility will have: "Dedicated rooms for player’s families" I think that can be interpreted as playrooms & maybe even a day care. The Thorns will be a very attractive team for mothers.
It’s really awesome that players have felt supported by the club in that aspect. And they are definitely growing that commitment to support moms by having dedicated spaces for the kids.
Dagny's comments about the difficulties of infant care being part of the reason she left the league, really hit home. Like to think things are better now, as player-moms are relatively plentiful, or at least more common.
the point being you don't need superstars to compete. A well organized team of quality players that are coordinated in attack and defense can perform well. Nobody would say North Carolina was loaded with talent last year yet they made a good run. Nottingham in the PL. No top notch stars, not sure they have any or only very few national team players, yet are near the top. Many of our players though not starters on USWNT, have been invited to camps and participated or have played for WNT at youth levels or are NT players from other countries. That really is not that bad. Depth??? Well organized well, this is where we may struggle if Gale can't execute.
Congratulations on the great new adventure. Also gorgeously timed to the World Cup schedule. Getting the work/life balance is hard and especially so for two young professionals. This looks very well thought out. Wouldn't surprise me if a couple more NT players try to pull this off.
To paraphrase my post in the other thread, a huge congratulations to her, super exciting and all the best wishes, being a parent has been the single greatest joy and defining factor in my life (also stress and source of exhaustion but details). The biggest takeaway for me is the Thorns can’t define themselves by one superstar, and as lucky as we’ve been to watch Soph play, at the end of the day doesn’t matter if it’s life circumstances, injury, health, or whatever else, sometimes you have to play the hand you’re dealt and adjust. If nothing else, now Gale has one less advantage to hide behind, I expect lacking Wilson will leave him pretty exposed, I’d love for him to show some major development and be able to make due without her, I haven’t been impressed this far but it’s trial by fire now, let’s see what he’s got, and if it’s not much let’s move on fast.
She posted an IG story with it a few days ago also, and I thought it was interesting. Seems like they could’ve sent her literally any of the kits since it was an Ally ad. I wonder if she’s softened to the club again.
It was rumored (or maybe even reported atp?) that she was part of the other bid (with Lillard) that went for the Portland WNBA team. I heard it in a podcast and thought it was interesting, but it was after the Bhathals had already been awarded it. At the time I had wondered if she was planning a move back eventually (I think she still owns property near the stadium.) I wonder if she’s since been in contact with the the Bhathals at all to join their WNBA ownership group, or, hell maybe something with the Thorns.
She goes back over a decade here. I’m sure she’s still connected. And her connection with the league is here; if Ally is gonna do a commercial for the league featuring Heath what other kit would make sense?
I kind of get the hard feelings. But only kind of; it was a business decision, nobody in their right mind thought Racing would be stupid enough to pick her (and it WAS stupid; utterly wasted picks her and Press both…), and it was by an owner who sold up years ago.
Hopefully Heath can now reminisce fondly on her old club without having to hold a grudge about how it ended.
I see folks out there in internetland speculating or hoping that Soph could return this season but I hope folks here know that Soph is not playing this year. There's also no way she's rushing back from pregnancy to play the end of the season we're about to have lol. 9mo + at least 5mo to get back fit....not gonna happen. My guess is she's prob 2-3 months along based on USWNT camp timelines. 6 months from now is September. She'll be just getting back to regular fitness likely around preseason next year.
Crystal Dunn had Marcel in May and it took her (a pretty quick!) 156 days (a little over 5 mo) to get back on the field for that screamer against SDW in the playoffs.
Looking forward to your frequent reports about how a woman who is pregnant feels at various points throughout the term, changes in internal chemistry, hormone shifts, "cranky time," and the best times of the day to sing to the lump as it gets bigger, or even whether it's better to leave the singing at the "stomach" to the husband. And, oh yeah, something I've always wondered about: Does the usual monthly period come to a screeching halt, or does it follow a gradual schedule until it's all done until after the birth.
:-D :-D :-D
You've already taught me more than I ever really wanted or need (for sure never needed) to know.
Haha, well since you are asking... yes the monthly cycle stops. The lining that is generally shed monthly is instead built up by the hormone progesterone as a cushion for support and nourishment during the pregnancy. Cycles can take a while to even regulate after birth, and hormones can be wonky 6 months after birth for a lot of people. Some don't even have their period return for a year, which can cause a host of bodily issues. Hence why you have postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, among other mood related issues. But it can affect all kinds of things physically as well, esp for someone looking to get back to pro athlete level fitness. Post-pregnancy can mess with blood sugar levels, alter thyroid function, and just make recovery different than before. Soph has the benefit of being young and healthy (for what we know), but we can never know how her body will react during and after a pregnancy.
I won't be teaching a course anytime soon lol, but I've had plenty of my own personal experience with regard to reproductive endocrinology, and find endocrinology fascinating in general.
Not any sort of chance this season and the next is on a bubble. Fall birth seems a safe bet.
Alex Morgan returned to the field after six months and only Tottenham fans can opine on her playing level at the time. This has 2027 written all over it, to me.
Yeah, there's no chance she's back at some point this season. I don't even think the beginning of 2026 is realistic. Maybe late-summer 2026, and her focus is going to be on getting back to top form for WWC.
Hopefully Torpey comes up aces for us, though our record with Australian NT players is decidedly mixed. I wonder what the "performance-based conditions" are that would change her cost from $10k of transfer funds into $15k of allocation money? The latter is probably cheaper, since allocation money disappears soon (maybe after this season?) and is worth less and less every day. In any case, I'm looking forward to watching her play.
I always wonder about performance conditions. Especially for a defender? Like how specific are they? If Kansas City scores less than 10 goals against us, we’ll give you an extra nickel?
Also kinda weird because isn’t it kinda out of SDW’s hands at this point? It’s like buying a guitar and telling the music store you’ll pay them extra if you write a hit.
Early Ultrasound (6-8 weeks): This ultrasound can confirm pregnancy, check for a heartbeat, and determine the number of fetuses.
Dating Ultrasound (10-14 weeks): This scan helps determine the gestational age of the fetus and assess early development.
Given the timing of the announcement and when folks often share such news, not a bad guess that Soph is about 3 months in. She could be back by the start of the 2026 season, or at least early in the season. If a September delivery, for example, then March is 6 months out.
Sounds about right. Most (80%) miscarriages happen in the first trimester (first 13 weeks), so often people don't announce they're expecting until the second trimester. If that's right, the baby would be due around early September.
I'm happy for her!!!
And ya know what? I think this is a great time for Agoos and the Bhathals to prove they mean business. Let's make some magic happen!
Congrats to Soph!
I may be in the minority here and no one likes a throwaway season, but this just needs to be a "play the kids and evaluate" year. I think they could have potentially withstood one or two absences, but Weaver, Soph, Payne, AND Muller is simply too much, even without the Gale component. See what you have with Turner, Castellanos, and Linnehan. Make Liv demonstrate she can be a core piece. Give Tordin minutes.
There might be some concern that this gives Gale an excuse if/when things bottom out, but I don't really see any competent GM staking their reputation on a coach they didn't hire. Make some adds in the summer and try to follow that Orlando 22-23 model. There's not really any doubt here with Soph out- This is a full on rebuild. Kind of excited in a weird way.
This also allows them to evaluate ways to replace Soph, which honestly, they might have to prepare for anyway.
Same! This is a full-on no excuses, fresh start. I want to see what we can do with Thorns 2.0 (beta).
I won't go so far as "excited"; I think we're going to see some ugly beatings in return for our ticket costs.
But "intrigued"? Yep, I'll go that far.
It's going to be a field problem where your company has to fight a delaying action against a two-company-sized OPFOR - what you learn is whether your officer(s) have the cunning and imagination to play out a losing hand cleverly. How effectively can they use terrain, tactics, and techniques to offset a stronger opponent, and pounce on whatever weaknesses are evident? You know how it's going to go; the real value is in seeing how well the going plays out.
It could be real ugly...but it won't be dull.
That's kind of where I'm at, lord knows I've watched my other clubs rebuild enough times that it's just part of the life cycle of a team. We're still recovering from having clung to some established pieces for so long that it'll take time to figure out the new identity, and it's a little naive to assume being perpetual contenders. I do think it's the opposite for Gale, I figure having Sophia around is more of an excuse than not having her, since now he'll be more exposed, which isn't a bad thing at all, it only further highlights the question of "can he cut it or does he need to be gone".
I'm not sure I trust RG to get the "See what you have" component right, even though I agree with your take entirely.
Idol not entirely agree with of the responses to Kleib post. I think our roster (preinjury) was pretty solid. yes we lost our all world striker and three key players to injury. But we have many other solid, pieces. Under good coaching they may be able to pull together and outperform everyone's expectations. We may even see some accelerate their growth or reach their potential withing a framework where it's all hands on deck. There is however the dark cloud of RG over our heads and whether he has the capacity to bring that level of individual and team play from thos roster. So for me failure would be solely on RG because I see a good amount of talent on the roster.
"Good coaching."
Yeah, pretty much. Also am feeling like Thorns are substituting for the fish in this image.
https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/aDWrNmd_460s.jpg
Predoomed?
there's not a lot of teams that could survive losing 3 of their 5 best players for the whole season. And that's before you get into the talent gap at the Thorns. I'm not sure it is a solid roster. Outside of Hina and Sam, I think there are question marks about pretty much every player
Completely agree. Time to find out what they can do. It might be ugly for a while, but eventually they'll find their way. I mean, look at the Blazers, who now have the best record they've had this late in a season in 5 years.
I agree congratulations to Soph and Michael. It is a bummer that we won’t see her for at least a year, but I am pleased for them and know that besides being a generational soccer talent, I think she will be a great mommy.
And yes this is a year to give the rest of the team a chance to show what they have.
Go Thorns and best wishes to the Wilsons!
It's almost a relief tbh. Like we're gonna be bad bad and there's gonna be so many reasons for it that it's just kinda whatever lol. And Gale will have nothing to hide behind. I do think he could be given 6 months just because he has that excuse, though. Last summer it was "I didn't get a preseason!" Tough task for any coach with this roster, though. No choice but to play the kids because that's all we have!
Roster is still v thin. Can we make it to summer with 2.5 FB's? (One that's not even announced yet lol.) If we do a 3 back, it also opens up to Spaanstra as a wingback, but she's not a defender/FB. Seems like we'd also need to sign another CB for that. 4-5 F's dep on how you play/classify Spaanstra? Very very thin. 1 injury pulls us under league minimum. Lots of minutes on everyone's legs in the first 6 months!
Give him the whole year for all I care. If there's one thing I know about sports execs --especially new ones-- is that they don't have a high tolerance for losing unless they played a significant role in building the losing roster. And you're right: He has nothing to mask the deficiencies now, so in some ways it's actually going to be easier for Agoos to evaluate without the Soph bailout factor involved.
Not saying they shouldn't work to improve the roster until season, just that they shouldn't get desperate right away.
Yeah I mean I don't really care or expect to hear about a new coach anytime soon either. But yeah, Agoos made it clear in his first availability that he'll be constantly evaluating staff. I don't think he's gonna sit around while they bomb, even if there's plenty of reasons for it. Considering Norris was canned after 4L/1D to start last season, I'll be curious to see what happens when it inevitably goes of the rails for Gale. Because it's a throwaway year (esp to start) basically, it'd be better to just rip the bandaid off and either have Lowden step up, or find an outside interim while they publicly search. Play the kids. That way come summer, they'll have made some inroads with the coaching availabilities overseas. Staying flat-footed and then starting that in summer seems like a waste of an already rough season that they should take advantage of to do a full retool.
I agree with the Lowden / outside interim approach. I think there's a risk of players (especially younger ones) getting into bad habits from bad coaching. There will have to be an unlearning process with the new coach anyway, why keep making it worse? I also think there's a risk of disenchantment if players are played out of position and/or asked to do things they're not good at / contrary to their skillset. I want a head coach for yet another transition year who is neutral / safe, not one who is objectively bad.
Remember, though; Norris was in a "controlled flight into terrain" the last half of 2023 (5-1-6 after June 11). Ken was worse over his last half, too, but that was with similar excuses - missing Hina and Weaver, and Wilson off form.
So I tend to agree with kielbj on this - why saddle some other poor mook with this hot mess? Let Ken ride it into midsummer and look to make some signings when the UEFA season ends and there's some chance to pick up some quality. There's not much on offer until then, anyway, unless the Bhathals have a better scouting combine that I think they do...
Lol fair, but I'm gonna keep this in mind to see how many folks will be singin' the same tune after we lose the first 5 and it's unwatchable. Gale has only won 2 games since August. Was 2-9-1 after the Olympics(!!!) and hasn't won a preseason game yet either. I just don't prefer to watch more of that...I'd rather start looking to the future sooner. Communicate that you're just gonna play the kids while looking forward. Again, that requires more communication and coordination to pull off than is possible from our FO imo...But, like I've said in the past, I'd be fine with him staying on if they were actively starting the search now. If they're caught flat-footed having done no work on this by the summer, I could see a search dragging out all season or into fall at least. Give final-year-of-contract Sam Coffey (and supporters) something to look forward to!
As far as players go...yeah I mean we're not gonna find what we need at this point. If it's already a mess, just wait and get players you actually want, not just desperation signings (which hardly work out well.)
I think 1) the opening months will be "not very good" at the best, and that 2) the griping and rending of garments here will be epic.
I'm uncertain whether the owners will be moved to do anything in response to that, tho. Two reasons:
First, because the median fan isn't as terminally invested in this stuff as we are. They want fun, they want entertainment, they don't follow the roster headlines closely. So I don't see the casual fan bailing or the FO being willing to pull the trigger early unless it's SO bad the gate DOES tank.
Second, the FO certainly have enough evidence that Ken's baseline is sub-replacement quality already - his 2024 was pretty clear, so if they were worried about how crap the squad is likely to look they've had the whole offseason to come up with someone better and didn't.
Are they now? Could be, we won't know until/if they do.
The other thing is that "play the kids" is effectively waving the white flag for the season; I can't see them doing that, either. Giving young players minutes might happen (and I hope it does to some degree)...but if so it will just happen; the FO isn't going to come out and explain it in terms of "yeah, we're hosed this year, so we're just gonna do our best while looking at who our best prospects for 2026 are..."
I think this could well be a replay of 2015; bad season, very minor attempts to unfuck it, and a fire sale after it's over.
"I'm gonna keep this in mind to see how many folks will be singin' the same tune after we lose the first 5 and it's unwatchable"
This was exactly my thought reading the thoughts here about how people are happy with this being a rebuild/evaluate season. Will we all feel that way if we get a bunch of poor performances, which can easily happen when the coach is trying to evaluate players?
https://youtu.be/_OzbmriDgQc
Hot Cheesy Poutine > Hot Cheezy Putin. Love it!
For all the Canada-ribbing and Canada-grousing we've done here over the years, it's time to say it clearly "We're with Canada on this."
Is it bad that I might just walk to the restroom during the national anthem. I really don’t want to stand or take my hat off with our recent behavior globally.
I sympathize, but we should remember that the administration is not the country. If being anti-Trump means being anti-American, we're conceding the fight before it starts.
It's a nice thought and the national anthem at Timbers/Thorns matches are more about the scarf waving support element anyhow, but playing national anthems at pro sporting events is intrinsically nationalistic and is therefore pretty inextricably tied to what the country represents at the time imo.
(Hell, no other country that I know of even plays their national anthem before league matches!)
Agreed, but I'd say "tied to what the country represents" rather than "what the current people in power represent". I support the former, not the latter.
Sure, but the problem is that nearly 50% of the country voted for the current people in power. Whatever you think about the legitimacy of electoral politics, there's a pretty good argument that what the current people in power represent IS in fact what the country and its people currently represent, even if it doesn't necessarily represent Thorns fans or the City of Portland.....which is why I don't think it should be played at all.
Gotta say, I've never understood why the national anthem is played at sporting events that have NOTHING to do with national teams. Why do this for sports but not, say, for concerts, or plays, tennis matches, hydroplane racing, on and on? It's just a weird custom, especially when it's nothing more than playing a recording of a Souza-style band performance. Totally happy to have people sing, and the Star Spangled Banner is a challenging song, but again it's a weird custom.
correction just under 50% percent that voted voted for current admin and that represents about 33 percent of all eligible voters. Far from representing all or even a large percent.
Yeah, I'd prefer not to have the anthem played, but the anthem and the flag represent American philosophical ideals. Or I like to think they do, anyway, in spite of how they're viewed by some.
BTW I totally supported players kneeling for the anthem - that showed respect while drawing attention to the need to do better to make the ideals real.
Agree. She’s been a wonderful Thorn and a great representative for the game. Very happy for her and her husband.
It’s a tad surprising considering her goal orientation towards being the best women’s player in the world, but life is about so much more than your career.
Now it is up to Argoos and company to show if they are capable of rebuilding a roster.
The timing makes sense in that WWC is still 2 years away. My concern, as a Thorns fan, is that I don't want her to exit Portland for Denver and support of family in time for the 2026 season.
That's what I am guessing will happen. We probably won't see her in a Thorns kit again. It makes sense for her to move to Denver where she is closer to family and her husband in AZ. Good for her, setting her future that way she wants it.
The new training center will have · "Dedicated rooms for player’s families". I think that can be interpreted as a playroom for children. Thorns will be an attractive team for mothers!
Maybe they'll adopt me?
They'll be fightin' over ya, I tells ya. Fightin'!
Yes, something like this:
"I'm not taking him. YOU take him!"
"Oh no you don't. I'm not taking him. YOU take him!"
Fwiw, Taylor Vincent just said that Thorns DO get that int'l spot back for the season while Muller is out on SEI....so after Torpey we should have 1 left. Not that we couldn't just buy one for 50k like Utah just did, but still nice to know...
Thorns new training facility will have: "Dedicated rooms for player’s families" I think that can be interpreted as playrooms & maybe even a day care. The Thorns will be a very attractive team for mothers.
It’s really awesome that players have felt supported by the club in that aspect. And they are definitely growing that commitment to support moms by having dedicated spaces for the kids.
Dagny's comments about the difficulties of infant care being part of the reason she left the league, really hit home. Like to think things are better now, as player-moms are relatively plentiful, or at least more common.
Who knows, maybe even an assisted living & memory care center!
Happy for both of them! Best wishes to them, and the baby.
the point being you don't need superstars to compete. A well organized team of quality players that are coordinated in attack and defense can perform well. Nobody would say North Carolina was loaded with talent last year yet they made a good run. Nottingham in the PL. No top notch stars, not sure they have any or only very few national team players, yet are near the top. Many of our players though not starters on USWNT, have been invited to camps and participated or have played for WNT at youth levels or are NT players from other countries. That really is not that bad. Depth??? Well organized well, this is where we may struggle if Gale can't execute.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WILSONS!! Nothing but love.
Congratulations on the great new adventure. Also gorgeously timed to the World Cup schedule. Getting the work/life balance is hard and especially so for two young professionals. This looks very well thought out. Wouldn't surprise me if a couple more NT players try to pull this off.
To paraphrase my post in the other thread, a huge congratulations to her, super exciting and all the best wishes, being a parent has been the single greatest joy and defining factor in my life (also stress and source of exhaustion but details). The biggest takeaway for me is the Thorns can’t define themselves by one superstar, and as lucky as we’ve been to watch Soph play, at the end of the day doesn’t matter if it’s life circumstances, injury, health, or whatever else, sometimes you have to play the hand you’re dealt and adjust. If nothing else, now Gale has one less advantage to hide behind, I expect lacking Wilson will leave him pretty exposed, I’d love for him to show some major development and be able to make due without her, I haven’t been impressed this far but it’s trial by fire now, let’s see what he’s got, and if it’s not much let’s move on fast.
This jolted me awake before I realized it wasn’t an announcement 😳
https://www.instagram.com/p/DG3Sjjzyr2p/?img_index=1&igsh=MXZibGM3dDljOTRxaw==
Give her a bullhorn and position her 5-10 feet behind Rob every minute of the season.
She posted an IG story with it a few days ago also, and I thought it was interesting. Seems like they could’ve sent her literally any of the kits since it was an Ally ad. I wonder if she’s softened to the club again.
It was rumored (or maybe even reported atp?) that she was part of the other bid (with Lillard) that went for the Portland WNBA team. I heard it in a podcast and thought it was interesting, but it was after the Bhathals had already been awarded it. At the time I had wondered if she was planning a move back eventually (I think she still owns property near the stadium.) I wonder if she’s since been in contact with the the Bhathals at all to join their WNBA ownership group, or, hell maybe something with the Thorns.
She goes back over a decade here. I’m sure she’s still connected. And her connection with the league is here; if Ally is gonna do a commercial for the league featuring Heath what other kit would make sense?
I kind of get the hard feelings. But only kind of; it was a business decision, nobody in their right mind thought Racing would be stupid enough to pick her (and it WAS stupid; utterly wasted picks her and Press both…), and it was by an owner who sold up years ago.
Hopefully Heath can now reminisce fondly on her old club without having to hold a grudge about how it ended.
I see folks out there in internetland speculating or hoping that Soph could return this season but I hope folks here know that Soph is not playing this year. There's also no way she's rushing back from pregnancy to play the end of the season we're about to have lol. 9mo + at least 5mo to get back fit....not gonna happen. My guess is she's prob 2-3 months along based on USWNT camp timelines. 6 months from now is September. She'll be just getting back to regular fitness likely around preseason next year.
Crystal Dunn had Marcel in May and it took her (a pretty quick!) 156 days (a little over 5 mo) to get back on the field for that screamer against SDW in the playoffs.
WIth or without 222s?
Lol even 222's can't help to get your ovaries back to normal ovulating/hormone producing function.
@ABell4,
Looking forward to your frequent reports about how a woman who is pregnant feels at various points throughout the term, changes in internal chemistry, hormone shifts, "cranky time," and the best times of the day to sing to the lump as it gets bigger, or even whether it's better to leave the singing at the "stomach" to the husband. And, oh yeah, something I've always wondered about: Does the usual monthly period come to a screeching halt, or does it follow a gradual schedule until it's all done until after the birth.
:-D :-D :-D
You've already taught me more than I ever really wanted or need (for sure never needed) to know.
;)
Haha, well since you are asking... yes the monthly cycle stops. The lining that is generally shed monthly is instead built up by the hormone progesterone as a cushion for support and nourishment during the pregnancy. Cycles can take a while to even regulate after birth, and hormones can be wonky 6 months after birth for a lot of people. Some don't even have their period return for a year, which can cause a host of bodily issues. Hence why you have postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, among other mood related issues. But it can affect all kinds of things physically as well, esp for someone looking to get back to pro athlete level fitness. Post-pregnancy can mess with blood sugar levels, alter thyroid function, and just make recovery different than before. Soph has the benefit of being young and healthy (for what we know), but we can never know how her body will react during and after a pregnancy.
I won't be teaching a course anytime soon lol, but I've had plenty of my own personal experience with regard to reproductive endocrinology, and find endocrinology fascinating in general.
Not any sort of chance this season and the next is on a bubble. Fall birth seems a safe bet.
Alex Morgan returned to the field after six months and only Tottenham fans can opine on her playing level at the time. This has 2027 written all over it, to me.
Yeah, there's no chance she's back at some point this season. I don't even think the beginning of 2026 is realistic. Maybe late-summer 2026, and her focus is going to be on getting back to top form for WWC.
10k for Torpey seems like a pretty good deal.
https://www.thorns.com/news/thorns-acquire-austrailian-defender-kaitlyn-torpey
Hopefully Torpey comes up aces for us, though our record with Australian NT players is decidedly mixed. I wonder what the "performance-based conditions" are that would change her cost from $10k of transfer funds into $15k of allocation money? The latter is probably cheaper, since allocation money disappears soon (maybe after this season?) and is worth less and less every day. In any case, I'm looking forward to watching her play.
I always wonder about performance conditions. Especially for a defender? Like how specific are they? If Kansas City scores less than 10 goals against us, we’ll give you an extra nickel?
Also kinda weird because isn’t it kinda out of SDW’s hands at this point? It’s like buying a guitar and telling the music store you’ll pay them extra if you write a hit.
Might just be minutes played over the season (maybe addressing concerns about injuries and/or if she plays well enough to contribute on the field)
Lol that's wild.
I'm guessing Coffey is now captain?
Coffey and Arnold.
Ultrasounding off...
Early Ultrasound (6-8 weeks): This ultrasound can confirm pregnancy, check for a heartbeat, and determine the number of fetuses.
Dating Ultrasound (10-14 weeks): This scan helps determine the gestational age of the fetus and assess early development.
Given the timing of the announcement and when folks often share such news, not a bad guess that Soph is about 3 months in. She could be back by the start of the 2026 season, or at least early in the season. If a September delivery, for example, then March is 6 months out.
Sounds about right. Most (80%) miscarriages happen in the first trimester (first 13 weeks), so often people don't announce they're expecting until the second trimester. If that's right, the baby would be due around early September.