No more tears, girls, because women’s professional soccer is back! A new league is coming in April of THIS year and the very first game is actually at the end of March in L.A. Female soccer players and fans have been without a professional league since 2003 when the Women’s United Soccer Association’s (WUSA) operations were suspended. Players and fans across the globe have been waiting for a new league to pick up where the WUSA left off. Well, the wait is almost over. Please welcome Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS).

Following the logos of the WNBA and NBA, the WPS created a logo that’s both symbolic and familiar. Mia Hamm’s silhouette (a pioneer of women’s soccer) lies within the logo, not only to honor her contribution to the sport, but as an inspiration to all female players.

As of now the league will feature seven teams including the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, Washington D.C. and St. Louis. Atlanta and Philadelphia plan to join the WPS in 2010.

America is finally catching up with the rest of the world when it comes to supporting professional soccer so the WPS feels hopeful for the future. Even the MLS has lent a helping hand to get WPS off and running. They’ve offered their expertise on how they have maintained the MLS franchises. So their guidance through this whole process has shown a support and eagerness to keep soccer alive for both men and women players. Thanks guys!

The WPS will be a premier league comprised of the highest level talent from all parts of the globe. Since the WUSA, there has not been any other professional platform for female soccer players in the U.S., which is considered a female soccer superpower. Having this league is much more than a women’s soccer franchise. It will also act as an emblematic representation of opportunity for women around the world.

The countdown begins now and April is just around the corner. The WPS has been drafting players nationally and internationally, as well as hosting try-outs. So keep playing girls, there is a future for women’s soccer.

Key Players by Franchise:
Bay Area FC Gold Pride – Formiga, Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osbourne, Christine Sinclair
Boston Breakers – Kristine Lily, Kelly Smith, Angela Hucles, Heather Mitts
Chicago Red Stars – Lindsay Tarpley, Carli Lloyd, Cristiane, Kate Markgraf
Los Angeles Sol – Marta, Shannon Boxx, Han Duan, Stephanie Cox
New Jersey/New York Sky Blue FC – Christie Rampone, Heather O’Reilly, Sarah Walsh, Natasha Kai
Washington Freedom – Abby Wambach, Kat Whitehill, Homare Sawa, Briana Scurry
St. Louis Athletica – Lori Chalupny, Hope Solo, Daniela, Enoila Aluko

Find more information on the new league, the teams and their players at the WPS homepage.

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Yeah, yeah, there was a game. Yeah, yeah, it was set as Kobe vs. LeBron. Yeah, yeah, there was even the talk in L.A. of Shaq and Kobe bursting into the chorus of “Reunited.” But when the weekend ended, no one cared about the game or the score or Kobe or Lebron; it was all about Shaq. And what made it that much more shocking was it had nothing to do with basketball, nothing to do with Kobe, nothing to do with the plight or fate of the Phoenix Suns. Forget the song, it was all about the dance for ShaqaWockeeZ.

JabbaWockeeZ, the male dance crew that won the first season of America’s Best Dance Crew, flanked Shaq in his unusual introduction to Sunday night’s All-Star game of East versus West. (By the way, if you were wondering, the West won 146-119 and none other than Shaq and Kobe were named co-MVPs.) If JabbaWockeeZ was looking to make a trade, they might want to acquire Shaq in a permanent dance team role as Shaq came out a dancin’ machine, white mask and all, to claim the show.

Surrounded by the rest of the JabbaWockeeZ squad, Shaq jabbed and wockied with the best of them – despite appearing twice the size of any other individual. He came out in full warm-up attire but managed to turn his pants into a cape, however momentary, before skipping down the stairs onto the court once the music died out. Supposedly there was some sort of game to follow.

Of course, only those most familiar with Shaqnanigans could recover from the dance show to put on the game show…which meant Kobe, Shaq, and Phil. The players on the East squad would be doomed to relive the era of the Laker three-peat. And so it went. But no one seems to care. It’s all about the ShaqaWockeeZ.

Should you be interested in the actual basketball of All-Star Weekend, the rest of the weekend’s dancing was good but didn’t compare to the unprecedented Shaq attack. Highlights from the weekend included…
•    The Miami Heat’s Daequan Cook won the Three Point Shootout in OT.
•    5’9” Nate Robinson leaped over Superman Dwight Howard to take the Slam Dunk Contest (wearing all green and now being called “Krypto-Nate”).
•    Bulls guard Derrick Rose became the first rookie to win the Skills Challenge.
•    Shaq and Kobe, former Lakers teammates, shared MVP honors.
•    Kobe Bryant led the tallies with 27 points; LeBron James led the East with 20 points.
•    The West outscored the East in every quarter but the second (where there was only a two point discrepancy, the smallest of any quarter).

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