picture courtesy of the FC Gold Pride twitter feed cheers David!

Ok. So now we’re looking at Washington, Boston, and Sky Blue to fight for a post-season. Boston are one point behind Washington and Sky Blue are two points behind Boston. Sky Blue have two more games to play while Washington and Boston have just one. I’m getting nervous just typing this.

And the W-League final is set. La Sol affiliates, Pali Blues will play Washington Freedom affiliates, uh, the Washington Freedom.

Boston Breakers vs LA Sol Saturday, 7pm ET. I guess this game is kinda a big deal or something. Or that’s what ESPN tells me. LA are back to full strength and Boston have hopefully recovered from giving up and lying down last weekend (good lord). I dunno if this fledgling league has severe talent disparities between the international stars and the regular recruits or if those regular recruits just need to figure out how to leave their insecurities in the locker room. But before we all break out into a rendition of “I’m So Pretty” from West Side Story, I’m gonna get to this preview: Boston have home-field advantage and likely a coach whose been busting the players’ chops all week. Boston also has a supporters group named after a tv show I used to watch back in the day and who already have a tailgate planned for this event. I think the supporters need to initiate a game of confuse a cat with Karina LeBlanc from the stands to break her streak to give Boston the win.

Washington Freedom vs Satin Louis Athletica Sunday, 6pm ET on Fox Soccer Channel. I’m looking forward to a scrappy battle between two teams at the bottom of the table. Except I’m thinking Washington will dominate this and Saint Louis will just barely gain a point outta Hope Solo’s saves. That is, as long as Solo is not wearing that *%&#)@$ pink jersey. This game is all about Saint Louis. Can they get their sh*t together? Are they really our San Jose Earthquakes? Speaking of…

FC Gold Pride vs New Jersey Sky Blue Sunday, 8pm ET. If there’s one thing I noticed from sitting in the stands last weekend and watching the Lionzzzz on the field, is that Tiffany Millbrett already established herself as the leader on this team which is everything when you are dealing with a depleted squad because of call-ups and injuries. At least the call-ups are back. And Millbrett isn’t going anywhere. So the question is whether Sky Blue can get out of their funk. Such a great offensive team on paper yet they sit barely above Saint Louis in the standings. And just because it’s an away game doesn’t really mean much. I sat in those stands at Buck Shaw and… well… it was a bit too quiet. I don’t know what to tell the Bay Area. Your mens team is terrible yet only 3,000+ showed up on Sunday for a 4-3 thriller. It’s time for the FC Gold Pride marketing department to work overtime because the product on the pitch is excellent.

Saint Louis Athletica vs Los Angeles Sol Saturday, 4pm ET. So the theme of this week is international week! Woo Hoo! Key players are off in Europe where it’s a friendly frenzy. This includes (I think) all the WPS Brazillians since they’ve got games against Germany and Sweden. So the Sol are without their only players in season who’ve scored so far (Marta and Camille Abily). I’m thinking this is finally STL’s opportunity to maybe regain some of their pre-season mojo and eek out a win here. Saint Louis are merely (depending on flights and such) missing Eniola Aluko and this is their home game and I really like the green jerseys. They’re totally gonna win.

Chicago Red Stars vs Boston Breakers Saturday, 8:30pm ET. And this one will be available to watch online at chicagoredstars.com! Boston are doing very well for sure but their success has a lot to do with Kelly Smith who just happens to be over in Europe and perhaps a bit busy celebrating England’s 3-0 win over Norway. She didn’t score any of those goals btw, but Red Star Karen Carney did provide an assist. No word on whether those two will make it back to the States by Saturday. Also missing from the Red Stars this week is Christiane while Alex Scott may or may not be available for the Breakers. So I guess the question is whether the rest of Boston’s overflowing offensive talent will step up to fill Smith’s shoes. We’re looking at you, Amy Rodriguez. As or the Red Stars, Christine’s absence won’t be a terrible blow this early in the season as she still appears to still be recovering from injury. And losing Carney won’t automatically mean the team’s offensive chemistry gels like an eerie Vulcan mind meld (or will it?). Hmmmm, I predict a tie.

FC Gold Pride vs Washington Freedom Sunday, 6pm ET. Fox Soccer Channel. The Bay Area are missing Formiga and Erika while the Freedom are missing Sonia Bompastor. This one’s really a tough call and I think it’s all gonna boil down to whether the Freedom’s “supporting cast” (looking at you, Allie Long) can step up and provide the kind of vision Bompastor seems to be able to produce blindfolded. And then there’s the other thing about Wambach and DeVanna’s inability to score. Seriously ladies – is it the water? As for the Loinzzz, their Brazillian anchors are gone but Osborne’s & Chastain’s experience should slip right in to fill up the void. But I’m gonna predict the Bay Area take this one only because after Chastain found out her famous bra got locked up in a storage facility in New Jersey when the Sports Museum of America filed for bankruptcy, she commented: “thank goodness I have another one.” And THAT’S the kind of attitude that gets you the WIN people.

And to make a longish story short, I will BE AT the Chicago Red Stars home opener and if I’m sober enough, I will update this blog with as many stupid anecdotes and silly pictures I can find. So there’s something to look forward to I guess and if you – person reading this – will also be at Toyota Park (I think I’m going to Saturday’s Fire game too), then please do say hi.

So in the meantime and in anticipation, here’s your picture of the week (which could also double as “caption this…” just what is she saying?)

What the fuck y’all