gayle king wants to know if you've been to space

Anyway.

We’re headed straight for an absurd weekend in woso. We have a Cascadia Rivalry, Gotham vs. Angel City, and another bout between Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit. Oh, you thought that was all? Psh. Pshaw. Tuh. We also have the first legs of the UWCL Semifinals. Arsenal face Lyon, and Chelsea will hope that the 976th time is a charm against Barcelona.

Lock in, the woso demands it.

upcoming matches for your eyeballs

today, april 18

This is a bonkers slate of games tbh. Given their positions on the table, Royals and Tsars shouldn’t be all that interesting, but that’s not how the NWSL works. Utah’s reluctance to address stylistic rigidities could put them on a path toward being wrecked by Jameese Joseph and Ludmila the same way Bay were last weekend.

Thanks to both teams’ fall from proverbial grace, the Cascadia Rivalry hasn’t popped off for a minute. Both are rebuilding and have loads of fun young players now, but also have exploitable flaws and inconsistent play. Last week Laura Harvey let a very young Reign squad run, while the Thorns dominated Utah but couldn’t find the finishing to show it. One day they will start Pietra Tordin, and that will be fun.

Angel City finally have a coach but he won’t be around until June. Despite Sam Laity making weird decisions like juggling a midfield with seemingly obvious complementary profiles and not playing Christen Press much, they haven’t lost. Gotham finally found width in their attack and went bonkers on North Carolina as a result. Any scoreline either way would not surprise me.

saturday, april 19

I hate that this match is so early, it has the potential to be an absolute banger. Arsenal making it this far in the Champions League after yeeting Jonas Eidevall midseason is delicious, but Lyon’s potential frontline of Tabitha Chawinga-Melchie Dumornay-Kadidiatou Diani is the most villainous thing in woso.

Rahsing has the lowest pass completion percentage in the league, and the Wavé’s press is already one of the most disruptive in the league (at least in the first half). Courage and Bay is a matchup of two squads with a lot of talent whose coaches have yet to find consistent solutions for putting them together in the most effective ways. Sean Nahas’ dogged commitment to possession has prompted a multi-faceted conversation in woso, but has also led to his team being winless so far this season.

The Current are in pure juggernaut mode and I expect them to do their typical thing, and pounce on the Dash early. But this is a Dash team that will keep scrappin, and could be the team that takes advantage of Vlatko having his team back off in the second half.

However, the big matchup is yet another round between the Pride and Spirit. The last three times these teams have played, a trophy has been awarded afterward. There won’t be a trophy this time, but points, statements, beliefs, grudges and revenge will be on the table.

sunday, april 20

Help.

tuesday, april 22

No idea why this match is happening on a random Tuesday in April but ok. It should be an intriguing one though. Gotham like to squish teams narrow so they can jump them, while Rob Gale’s tactical plans usually lead to several Thorns players spending lots of time near the center circle. This match will either be a transition-fest, or Wrestlemania.

wednesday, april 23

Crystal Palace are at the bottom of the table but frustrated the hell out of Chelsea in an FA Cup quarterfinal. After their first leg tie with Barcelona in the UWCL semifinal, Chelsea will either be euphoric, determined, or wounded. Whatever the emotion, they could take it out on poor Palace.

stuff to read…

2025 nwsl week 4: xG race charts & g+ pass networks

Kendrick Lamar would approve of Week 4 in the NWSL. Every single away team except one went into their opponent’s house and took all three points, which is a might fine contribution to the year of the hater. The one home team that won, Gotham, scored just one goal prior to suddenly and unexpectedly dropping three on the normally defensively stout North Carolina Courage.

Yeah, it was one of those weeks in the NWSL, and I loved it. Here’s what it all looked like according to xG race charts and g+ passing/receiving networks.

look back/look ahead: uswnt musings against brazil, hopes for the future

The USWNT’s split with Brazil was a fascinating snapshot of a team under construction. There’s some wonky but fun roster decisions happening, and Brazil played their role in putting both young and veteran players under pressure. However, it’s important to take a longer view, which is quite easy in this case considering that the USWNT have a handful of matches coming up.

So instead of hyper-focusing on the Brazil games, I’m going to look back on some things I saw, and look ahead to things I would like to see in the upcoming games.

things to know…

Today is the last day to join the EDSBS Charity Bowl. It’s an annual event hosted by some of the best country ass white folks this nation has to offer. Holly Anderson and Spencer Hall are writers I am deeply envious of, as well as good people. The donations support New American Pathways, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that helps refugees.

Each year college football fans exorcise some demons, or gloat, by donating an amount of money that represents some important series of numbers to their alma mater. This year there’s also Protect Trans Kids University, which I highly recommend donating under, even if you, unlike me, like your alma mater.

This is very good reporting from Marisa Ingemi. The quote that sticks out to me is from a ‘league official’ who delivered a clueless response to whether players or people within the league received training on how to use the reporting software: “Training on how to use a tip line? What would that look like?”

Aside from the incompetence of not understanding the value and importance of teaching people how to use a new thing, given this league’s very recent history (and several facets of its present), this sort of attitude simply should not exist in league offices.

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Jun Endo is finally taking a big step toward coming back from war. Rejoice.

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gif time

Why is she like this.