Remebering Paper

This is a paper I wrote for my EN-100 class last semester. Since I posted the other paper, I figured I would post this one for no particular reason. I apologize in advance for the length; it was 12 pages typed, double spaced. Consider that your warning :)

On July 10, 1999, the sports world saw something which had never happened before. That day 90,185 people packed the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, while another 40 million Americans watched the United States beat China in the Women’s World Cup final in penalty kicks. Investors thought winning the World Cup would bring enough attention to women’s soccer to start a professional league in the United States. The Women’s United Soccer Association was formed in 2000. Eight teams consisted of three players consistently with the US National Team, those on the bubble of the National Team, other domestic players, and up to four international players per team. The league began play in 2001. The league only lasted three seasons before being suspended after the 2003 season crushing the dreams of young girls to play professional soccer one day. Five years later, the hopes and dreams of young girls were restored with the creation of the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS).

Seven teams would play twenty regular season games and the top four teams would make the play-offs. The rosters were proportioned the same way. Three National Team players were allocated to each team, an international draft was held with no more than four on each team. The rest of the domestic and a few international players were drafted either through the college draft or the general draft. The quality of soccer was top notch, and with the exception of one team, Los Angeles Sol, the standings were tight all season. Play-off time came and it was Los Angeles Sol clinching the championship game at home, followed by St. Louis Athletica earning the right to host the Super Semi-Final with a second place finish, then the third place Washington Freedom would host fourth place Sky Blue FC in the first round match. Sky Blue FC beat the Freedom 2-1 in the first round sending them to St. Louis on August 19, 2009. That night 5,064 people attended the Semi-Final game in St. Louis, and my parents and I were three of those in attendance.

As we were pulling up to Anheuser-Busch Center, also called Soccer Park, I was nervous about the semi-final game, more so than usual. I had a nightmare two nights before in which Sky Blue had beaten the Athletica 11-0. The Athletica’s goalkeeper, Hope Solo, had received a red card in the first minute and had to leave the game. The ejection meant the Athletica had to play with ten players, use one out of three subs in order to bring in the backup keeper, and worst of all play without their starting goalkeeper who, in my opinion, is the best female goalkeeper in the world.
I could not stop thinking about the dream while I was waiting for my dad to pick the tickets up from the will-call. I saw Laclede’s Army, St. Louis Athletica’s supporters group, tailgating in the parking lot, and I walked over to them. I went up to the president, Elizabeth White, and she offered me a free Red Bull. I took it hoping it would calm my nerves, but it did not really help.

After what seemed like forever, my dad came back with the tickets and we walked inside the stadium. As we handed them our tickets, we each received a free towel which had “Go Green!” written on it. I purchased a program for $1 from the person selling them. They list the season’s statistics for the Athletica, the league standings, some of the league leaders in certain statistics, and the rosters for each team. Also on the inside is an autograph card for players to sign after games. While walking in I could see the green and white Athletica flags waving in the wind on top of the bleachers and the boards on the field showing the sponsors of the WPS. Most people there were wearing green and white, but there was also a lot of orange and light blue which surprised me since Sky Blue FC’s home field is Yurcak Field on the campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. The game was being broadcasted nationally, so there was a lot of camera equipment being set up on the field. The merchandise booth had re-located closer to the main concourse bleachers probably because of the broadcast. I walked over to it and looked at all of the WPS merchandise for sale. I told my dad I wanted an Athletica bag because it was only $11 and similar bags are more expensive at Sports Authority. I told him if he got a different team’s bag, I would be mad. He said, “We’ll see.”

We decided to go and sit down by the concession stand on the other side of the stadium because they had open seating before the game started. We got some food and watched the players leave the locker rooms to go and warm up. We decided to go and sit down before it got too crowded. Our seats were on the center line in the front row, right where the teams walk to get to the field. As we were walking towards our seats, I stopped dead in my tracks because I saw the coach of the United States Women’s National Team, Pia Sundhage. She was not dressed up or wearing anything with a United States Soccer logo which would point her out. She was wearing a nice shirt and khaki pants. I pointed her out to my parents and they both thought it was cool she attended the game. I debated on getting her autograph because I was very nervous. We continued to walk to our seats and I stopped again. My parents looked at me and I told them to go sit down and I would join them shortly. I pulled out my autograph card, turned to Pia and asked, “Pia, may I please have your autograph?”
She turned to the person with her and gave her a little smile. She turned back towards me and with a smile said, “Absolutely!”

I nervously dug around my bag looking for a marker for her to use and I pull out a red Expo Dry Erase marker. She signed my paper; I thanked her and walked down to my seat. I was so excited my head was spinning. I showed my parents and I said, “I’m not letting this card out of my sight.”

Everywhere I went I brought it with me. Usually, I would leave it and have my dad keep an eye on it if I went to get food or go to the restroom, but this one did not leave my sight. My dad went back up to the concourse to the concession stand. It was taking him longer than usual, so I just thought the line was really long or he got stuck when the team was coming out onto the field. When he finally came back, he had the bag I wanted. He threw it to me rolled up and my heart sank. I was going to kill him if it had another team’s logo on it besides the Athletica’s. I got very excited and thanked him at least a million times. After he sat back down and things settled, I asked my mom if we could switch seats so I could sit next to my dad. “We like to make fun of the players and it would be harder to do it around you.”

She did not seem too happy about it, but she switched anyway. It was almost time for the game to start and the players had lined up on the field getting ready for the introductions and the national anthem. I was pointing out players to my mom, telling her which ones play on the national team and which ones are just really good. The Athletica wore their all green home kits with grey socks and Sky Blue FC wore their orange kits with white trim and white socks. The players were introduced and as usual, Lori Chalupny got the loudest applause because she grew up in St. Louis and is most people’s favorite player from the Athletica.

Both teams were missing key international players because they had to return to their respective national teams due to the European Championships being held in Finland. St. Louis was missing a key defender, Sara Larsson, who was with the Swedish National Team, and the team’s leading scorer, Eniola Aluko. Sky Blue was missing a key defender, Anita Asante. Both Aluko and Asante were with the English National Team.

The game got underway and St. Louis came out flat in the first half. Four minutes in Hope Solo made an amazing save which most keepers would not have been able to stop. My dad and I could not stop talking about her save until she made another amazing save in the fifteenth minute. The saves Hope Solo made have quieted many people who have doubted her as the best female keeper. Throughout the game we could tell the people behind us were Sky Blue fans because they would scream very loud and obnoxiously whenever Sky Blue would do something good. It was obvious from the start, missing Aluko would be a problem for the Athletica. Eni is a very fast player and makes many runs behind the defense to score goals. Because of her speed, she is usually the Athletica player called in an offside position the most. The first time there was an offside call; I turned to my dad and said, “Well, Eni wasn’t the first person offside today.”

He laughed and agreed with me. Not too much longer, Sky Blue scored. In the thirtieth minute Keeley Dowling shot and scored against Hope Solo to put Sky Blue up 1-0 on the Athletica. My heart dropped as soon as the ball went in the net. I was almost in tears because there had only been very few come from behind victories by teams all season, and we were missing our leading scorer. It seemed like forever until halftime came and I went up to the concession stand with my parents. I walked back down to my seat and I saw a blonde, curly haired little girl wearing a light blue Sky Blue FC Christie Rampone jersey standing in my spot. I had instantly recognized her as Rylie Rampone, the three year-old daughter of Sky Blue FC’s captain and coach, Christie Rampone. Since she was so little I did not say anything and I sat in my dad’s seat. She was trying to get the attention of Sky Blue player Natasha Kai as she was stretching to get ready to sub in at the start of the second half. When my parents got back, I told them who she was, and then Rylie got called back to her seat. Not long after she ran up and down the stairs of the bleachers saying, “I can do whatever I want!”

At halftime, the Athletica staff tries to get the crowd cheering and either throws little white and green squishy Athletica soccer balls or t-shirts. My dad had just happened to catch one this time and he gave it to me. I asked him if I could give it to Rylie because she would like it more than me. He had said it was up to me, but he had no problem with it. As soon as they got Rylie settled I turned to her and asked, “Hey Rylie. Do you want this ball?”

She kind of looked at me and then she took it. She instantly thanked me for it and asked, “What’s your name?”

“My name’s Maire,” I said.

“Do you want to play with me?”

I could not say no to this cute little girl, besides, how often do you get to meet a child of a Women’s National Team, let alone a member of the 1999 Women’s World Cup and 2008 Gold Medal squad?

While playing, I talked to the teenage girls watching her and they said they were the daughters of the assistant coach for Sky Blue FC. Myself and Rylie played catch for a few minutes and I could tell she was having a lot of fun. Then the players started to come back out to get ready for the second half. As each of the national team players from both teams walked down, Rylie called out to each of them. The players all looked intense and focused for the second half, but as soon as they saw Rylie’s innocent face and smile, their faces melted. It amazed me how one three year-old could wipe any intensity from these professional athlete’s faces with just one smile.

The game continued on, and I talked to the assistant coaches daughters for a little bit, and watched the rest of the game. Tina Ellertson had a close shot towards the end of the game off of a corner kick. It went just wide to the left of the goal post; otherwise she would have beaten the goalkeeper, Jeni Branam, and tied the game. I turned to my dad and said, “Right Tina, right! She should have listened to Hope.”

He started laughing because at one of the games we went to earlier in the season Hope Solo yelled at Tina to go to her right almost the whole game. This has become a running joke between us. The Athletica played better in the second half, but it was not enough. The Athletica lost 1-0 and Sky Blue would be the ones making the trip to Los Angeles to play the Sol for the championship on Saturday. I was disappointed, but not as upset as I thought I would be. I stood up and cheered for the Athletica as they thanked the crowed for the support. At that moment, I realized how proud I was of them for proving the so-called “soccer experts” wrong by making it as far as they did after starting out in the bottom of the standings.

As soon as the game ended, I stood up at the gate to get to the field and patiently waited for players to come down the line and sign autographs. It was nothing new to me as I had done this after almost every game this season. As I was waiting patiently, I heard my name being called. I turn around and saw Teresa and Annie Fuhrman. They are going into the eighth and fifth grades respectively, and they belong to my parish. I called the both of them over to stand by me and get autographs. “Stay right by me if you want lots of autographs. I know how to get players to come over to me first. If you call them by their nicknames, they will usually come right over to you since they know that you are a serious fan of the National Team.”

So they stayed and we talked about the game and I told them about Rylie and knowing some of the players personally. “Well, I did a clinic with Lori Chalupny last November, and I talk to Jillian Loyden after the games, so she knows who I am now,” I explained.

They both thought it was amazing how I knew them. Rylie was out playing on the field after the game and I called out to her. She saw me and came running over to me. She asked me, “Can I sign your paper?”

I handed her my autograph card and silver Sharpie and she scribbled a little bit on the it acting like she was signing her name. I told her thank you and she ran back to continue playing. As players came down the line, I got my autograph card signed and they each got their shoes signed. Teresa had the Sky Blue players sign one shoe and the Athletica players sign the other. I saw Heather O’Reilly standing around looking where she should start signing first. I could hear people yelling on both sides of me, “Heather! Heather! Over here! O’Reilly! Number nine!”

I looked right at her and yelled, “HAO!”

Heather O’Reilly looked right at me and jogged over with a smile on her face. Her full name is Heather Ann O’Reilly, so people call her HAO for short. She signed my paper and signed Teresa and Annie’s shoes. As she was signing those I said, “Good game tonight, HAO. Good luck against LA on Saturday.”
She replied, “Thanks.”
I had a serious look on my face and said, “HAO, I used to hate you when I was younger.”

Her smile wiped from her face and she looked at me with a shocked and confused look and asked, “Why didn’t you like me?”

Truthfully I told her, “Well, you wear the number nine and that was Mia’s number. I felt like you stole it from her and it should have been retired.”

Heather looked at me and has a slight smile on her face now, but before she could say anything I finished, “But that was before I knew numbers weren’t retired like they are in baseball or hockey.”

She laughed and said “Yeah, I understand. But are we cool now?”

I said “Of course we are. You’re one of my favorite players now.”

Still smiling she said, “Okay good, and thanks.”

She then continued down the line signing autographs. After getting many of the Sky Blue FC players, except for the one I really wanted, Christie Rampone, the Athletica players made their way down the line. I saw Jillian Loyden, the Athletica’s backup goalie, getting ready to go back to the locker room. I called out to her and she smiled and came over to me. “Hey, how’s it going?”

I said, “Hey Jillian. I’m pretty good and yourself?”

“It’s been better, but not bad.”

“Yeah, it was a tough game tonight.”

“Yeah, but we can’t win them all. Are you going to be here for the All-Star Game?”

“Yeah I bought tickets last month.”

“I didn’t realize they were on sale yet.”

“Yeah, I got mine the first day that I could. Are you going to be there?”

“No I have to be back in New Jersey before then, but I wish I could.”

“Oh yeah, your college season is starting back up. I didn’t realize it was that soon.”

“Yeah it is, but I wish I could be there. Don’t you leave for college real soon?”

“Yeah I do tomorrow. I have to leave at 5:30 in the morning.”

“Wow, that’s early. Good luck and have fun at the All-Star Game.”

“Thanks, good luck with your college season.”

“Thanks! I better see you next season.”

“Oh I’ll be there, don’t worry.”

Then Jillian took off for the locker room. I got a few more Athletica autographs, including Tina Ellertson and her eight year-old daughter, Mackenzie. Then I saw Lori Chalupny right by me. She was concentrating on signing autographs for everybody who wanted one. To this day, it still amazes me how she is able to sign so many autographs since she broke her hand on June 28, against Sky Blue FC in a tackle with her US teammate, Heather O’Reilly. She was a couple people down when I said to her, “Good game Lori!”

She looked up and realized I was the one who had said something. “Oh hey, thanks! How’s it going?”

“It could be better, but I move into my dorm tomorrow morning.”

“Oh yeah, I remember you saying something about that. Good luck and have fun in college!”

“Thanks. How’s your hand doing by the way?”

“Well, it’s finally starting to get better.”

“That’s good. Landing on it all the time like you do doesn’t help much. At least it’ll have time to heal now.”

“Yeah, silver lining I guess. Thanks for coming and good luck with everything.”

She signed my autograph sheet and continued down the line. Teresa and Annie were amazed I had no problem talking to the players like I do, and how they know so much about me. It was then I realized many people getting autographs just get whatever they want signed and barely ever say one word to the players, many do not even thank the players. I always tell each player they had a good game, regardless if they win or lose, I congratulate the players on the winning team regardless of which side they play for, and thank each player for the autograph. Just about every player will thank you for coming out to the game and supporting the team. They all know this league could be gone in a split second, as it has happened before, so I can tell how thankful for the support.

As people were leaving to go home and players were going to the locker rooms, I looked over and saw Christie Rampone talking to some people. I told Teresa and Annie I would be back and I pretty much ran over to where Christie was standing. I waited until she was done talking and asked, “Pearcie, can you sign this please?”

When she heard me call her Pearcie she looked at me and figured I could not have been much older than ten when she got married; changing her name from Pearce to Rampone. She realized I must have been an avid follower of the Women’s National Team since a very young age. Upon the realization about my age, she cracked a smile and said, “Of course I can.”

“Thank you so much. Rylie is so adorable. She was sitting behind us tonight.”

“Aw, thank you. I hope she was well-behaved.”

“She was. I didn’t even realize she was there until I came back after halftime and saw her standing on our seats trying to get Tash’s attention.”

“Oh I’m so sorry about that.”

“She was fine. I gave her a little ball that they throw out at halftime.”

“I hope she said thank you.”

“She said it right away.”

“Thank you. It’s nice to hear that.”

“I played catch with her during halftime, she asked me my name and we tossed the ball around on the bleachers for a few minutes.”

“That’s so nice of you to play with her. I bet she enjoyed it.”

“Yes she did. Thank you for the autograph.”

“Thank you for being nice to my daughter and giving her the ball.”

“No problem. I’m sure she’ll get more use out of it than I ever would have.”

“Good luck, and thanks again.”

I had gotten all of the autographs I wanted that night except for Hope Solo’s, but I already have a couple of hers so it was not too important. I walk back up to my parents and tell them we can leave now. They point out Christie Rampone, and I told them I had already gotten her autograph. Then something went off in my head, and I handed my dad the camera, went over to Christie and asked if I could get a picture with her. “Of course you can. It’s no problem.”

My dad got the picture of the two of us, I thanked her, and then we started to leave. I stopped them as soon as I saw Hope Solo still signing autographs for people and went down to where she was. My parents were a little bit annoyed since they were exhausted and we had to be up early in the morning, but they just told me to hurry up. Hope was signing as many as she could, but before she came over to the group of us standing there; she was told she had to go back to the locker room for the team meeting. Then I went up to where my parents were standing and we returned home to pack up the van for the next morning’s adventure. That was one of the greatest nights of my life, and it is something I will never forget.