Irene Visits Stratford Road

Although we were very lucky, a big tree fell down in front of the home of our neighbors Allan and Melanie. It's tragic to lose another big, beautiful, leafy tree, but lucky that it fell away from, rather than on top of, their house! Too bad it didn't fall 20 feet to the right! (There is an enormous, half constructed, cinder block house next to where the tree fell.)

The B103, A New Discovery

U.S. WNT Voted USOC Team of the Month for July

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team has been named the United States Olympic Committee Team of the Month for July.

The U.S. team captured the imagination and hearts of a nation with its dramatic run to the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup final that took place on July 17 in Frankfurt, Germany. The U.S. team reached the final with two emotional knock-out round wins, first defeating Brazil in penalty kicks in the quarterfinal after equalizing through an Abby Wambach header in the final minutes of overtime despite playing almost an hour down a player. The U.S. went on to beat France in the semifinal with two late goals. Even though the U.S. fell to Japan in penalty kicks in the championship game, the team's performance in the match and throughout the tournament earned it a legion of fans across the country and the world.

Every month, each National Governing Body may nominate one female, one male and one team per discipline. A voting panel selects the winners from the pool of nominees, with online fan voting via Twitter accounts for 10 percent of the total vote.

Swimmers Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.) and Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) were selected as the U.S. Olympic Committee's Athletes of the Month for July as both came off multiple gold medal performances at the 2011 FINA World Championships.

TEAM
1. U.S. Women's National Soccer Team
2. Women's Swimming 4x100m Relay Team
3. USA Softball Women's National Team

US WNT Will Play in September!

From ussoccer.com:
U.S. Women's National Team to Visit Kansas City and Portland in September for First Matches Following FIFA Women's World Cup

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team will return to the field for the first time since the conclusion of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup when it faces Canada in Kansas City, Kan., and Portland, Ore., during friendly matches in September.

USA to Play Canada on Sept. 17 at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park on FOX Soccer at 6PM
and on Sept. 22 at JELD-WEN Field on ESPN2 at 8 PM.

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and the US Women's National Team

If you ask me what I did this summer (2011), an honest answer would have to be that I became obsessed with the Soccer Women's World Cup. The World Cup is a series of international soccer games between countries that takes place every four years. I remember enjoying the Men's World Cup games last year, but my involvement with the men's teams in no way compares to the depth of my admiration of and love for the women's teams. I love the power, strength and committment of these players. They are beautiful, smart, strong and interesting women who love soccer, as I do, and who are great at playing the game (unlike me.) The tournament was broadcast by ESPN, and while some might have complaints, I enjoyed the coverage, the commentaries, the interviews and the replays. I especially enjoyed the stories of the teams: Japan was unable to practice on fields after the tsunami, and the players could only run to prepare for the tournament, for example. These stories brought the players to life for me. Now, as a devoted and avid fan, I feel as though I know some of them.

My favorite team is the US team. I also fell in love with the Japanese team and, ironically, these two teams played in the final. In the end, if the US was not to win, I'm happy that Japan was the team it lost to. I also felt the nature of the Japan win was random, as any soccer fan knows, because to win in PKs does not mean the stronger or better team won, at all.

In this article, I will try to upload some video highlights of goals, the most exciting and spectacular momemts for me.