ZOMG! DRAFT!

By: Melissa | October 6th, 2008

Observation #1 about following the WPS General Draft over Twitter. It’s extremely anti-climactic. For example, when I read, “the Washington Freedom are on the clock for the first pick,” I immediately wonder, where’s the clock? And why can’t I hear that stupid bell? I kind of sort of feel my draft experience isn’t completely complete without the ambiance of the room. Also, the coaches and GMs wearing tacky suits. Ralph Lauren they are not for sure. But I digress. Here are the picks…

Round 1
Washington Freedom, Sarah Huffman. Offense. Star of the Freedom’s W-League team.
Bay Area, Jill Oakes. Defense. Three years in the W-League & last season with champions, Pali Blues.
Washington Freedom, Becky Sauerbrunn. Defense. Recent addition to the USWNT player pool.
Boston Breakers, Amy LePeilbet. Defense. Another former Pali Blues player.
Los Angeles, Karina LeBlanc. Goalie. Has her own website, played for Canada in the Olympics.
Chicago Red Stars, Danesha Adams. Offense. Was a U-20 & U-21 USWNT star. Not entirely sure what she’s been up to lately to be honest.
Sky Blue FC, Cori Alexander. Goalie. Played for the W-League Seattle Sounders.

Round 2
Sky Blue FC, Keeley Dowling. Defense. USWNT player pool.
(Red Stars take a timeout to fix this financial crisis before making their second pick – step aside Obama & McCain!)
Chicago Red Stars, Ella Masar. Offense. Univeristy of Illinois & USWNT U-21 star.
Los Angeles, Kendall Fletcher. Defense. Former Sky Blue & Pali Blues player.
Boston Breakers, Nancy Augustyniak Goffi. Defense. Former WUSA player with the Atlanta Beat.
Los Angeles, Christie Welsh. Offense. Formerly with the W-League Washington Freedom. Another former WUSA player.
Bay Area, Kandace Wilson. Defense. Former Pali Blues & Ajax America player.
St. Louis, India Trotter. Defense. Former USWNT & Pali Blues. Is Pali Blues even gonna exist next W-League season? Just asking.

Round 3
St. Louis, Angie Woznuk. Offense. Former University of Portland star & member of the USWNT player pool.
Bay Area, Liz Bogus. Offense. Former Pali Blues. Has excellent last name.
Washington Freedom, Lori Lindsey. Offense. Played for the Washington Freedom in the W-League & in the WUSA.
Boston Breakers, Sue Weber. Defense. 2008 Defender of the year for the W-League Long Island Rough Riders.
(Los Angeles takes a timeout. I wish the Dow took a timeout this morning before it plunged 300 points.)
Los Angeles, Manya Makoski. Offense. Played for Soccer Plus in the WPSL. USWNT player pool.
Chicago Red Stars, Marian Dalmy. Defense. Former Santa Clara University star & on the USWNT roster for the 2007 World Cup.
Sky Blue FC, Kacey White. Offense. Recently played in Sweden. Was an alternate during the Olympics.

Round 4
Sky Blue FC, Jenny Anderson-Hammond. Defense. Formerly with the W-League Chicago Gaels
Chicago Red Stars, Ifeoma Dieke. Defense. Plays for the Scottish National Team & used to play for the WUSA Atlanta Beat.
St. Louis, Joanna Lohman. Offense. Spent time in Sweden & with the USWNT.
(Boston Breakers take a timeout. Luckily they don’t attempt to suspend the Draft as well.)
Boston Breakers, Kristin Luckenbill. Goalie. Formerly with FC Indiana & WUSA’s Carolina Courage.
St. Louis, Amanda Cinalli. Offense. Former star at Notre Dame & with the U-21s.
Bay Area, Tracy Hamm. Offense. Formerly of the WPSL Nighthawks and NO RELATION Y’ALL so don’t even think about it.
Washington Freedom, Emily Janss. Defense. Another former W-League Freedom player.

Ok, I hope I got the facts in the above player blurbs correct because… welcome WPS fans to the meat & potatoes of your 2009 teams! And while doing this quick research, I did discover that many of the players above have held positions all over the field so who knows where on the pitch they’ll wind up playing come April. So does it feel like this shit is actually happening now?