OK, U.S. fans ... what's the realistic chance for the U.S. WNT in Beijing?

johncoxon 10
keely 9
bigmick 7
Snoody 6
John 6
foozbear 5
Goalie64 5
majwalrus 5
Paul Watts 5
mani 4

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[vellnueve]

I think they needed to do something besides take a hit off of every corner.

All in all, I thought the US played OK. They need more work before they're among the elite, but they showed that they belonged at this high level.

[Wassie]

I was one of three to correctly predict the USA finish position!

Much better showing than the other predictions I have made!

[g9]

I think they needed to do something besides take a hit off of every corner.

All in all, I thought the US played OK. They need more work before they're among the elite, but they showed that they belonged at this high level.

Agreed on the corners!  A little variety would have helped there, but I also thought the team as a whole took a really long time to get the ball off their sticks in their passing game, and some players consistently had to take a huge wind up for a hit when doing so, thus allowing the other team time to get in and shut down the play. 

[contramowly]

I was one of three to correctly predict the USA finish position!

Much better showing than the other predictions I have made!

WELL, THAT WOULD BE 100% A BULL'S EYE IN CASE THEY REALLY LOST THE FIRST CROSSOVER BUT FIH DECIDED TO CHEAT US ALL
IN A VERY STUPID DECISION IMHO, OUT OF ALL SPORT LOGIC.

Now, to all Yanks and Rebels here, good luck for your final position, and we'll meet at the strokes in minute 86.

 

[TOTC]

Yeah, I can't understand why there are four straight fights for crossover positioning and not a classic "crossover/classification" round.

[vellnueve]

Lack of time, probably.

Just realized that the woman doing the text commentary online is a US national team member who didn't get on the olympic squad.

[RushMan]

Lack of time, probably.

Just realized that the woman doing the text commentary online is a US national team member who didn't get on the olympic squad.

There is online text commentary

Which player would be doing this and where do I find this site ?

[garli]

It's on nbcolympics.com.  you can watch if you have a proxy which will make nbc think you're watching from somewhere in america.

[TOTC]

So, Spain wins 3-2, but it was a very winnable game if a waist-high trap was made, or if the goalkeeper makes one more save, blah, blah, blah.

A creditable performance. I just hope Bodimeade and Walsh stay around and aren't snapped up by Hockey Australia to reverse the Hockeyroos' medal drought at the Olympics.

[contramowly]

the match was all yours, IMHO, but as said at the beginning of the thread you need someone able to score somewhere else than the rainbow.

(so does spaniards)

I missed my predictions on strokes for only 30 seconds. And that is the very first golden goal we scored in all times.

[TOTC]

Post-mortem.

[keely]

It's a good idea to link to the specific article like this:

Aug. 22, 2008 — After The Games, part 2: Analysis of the U.S. team

As your next entries will bump this off the top and people will be frustrated to have to look for it.

I have to say that I strongly disagree with your phrasing of "arbitrary arbitrators" (arbiters?). That implies a lack of caring for the correct result by those making the decisions - regardless of the clever word play that came about.

[Wassie]

I agree with you Keely.

[contramowly]

I also disagree umpiring has something to do with results in this tournament. Umpires do not miss goals and do not score. True, sometimes have the "temptation" to be another defender in the field, and also true, there's quite different criteria and different levels of tolerance between men and women hockey, but I saw no arbitrary umpiring, besides the usual protection to everything having something orange in their gear...

These differences are not umpire's faults but rules'. The problem with rules as they are now, and then,  is leaving so much to human criteria.
But I prefer watching Keely blowing than watch a bloody robot.

As I said before, if US has a finisher striker, a real area killer, would probably ended this games at the final.

[g9]

Have to agree with you there Mowly!  Just can't see blaming the US performance on the umpires, and the rest of your blog, TOTC, seems to offer up some quite plausible reasons for lower-than-hoped-for results.  Better things to come I hope for the US as they learn from these games and grow the team.