Closing in on Allocation

By: Billy | September 9th, 2008

We’re less than a week away from finding out where the core players of the new WPS are headed and who will be the backbone of the team we’re all going to go crazy go nuts bonkers for when it starts in April (right? right?). I’ve had a lot of time to think about this whole allocation business (what with the news about the league trickling out so slowly and my Atlanta Braves having such a dismal season), so here is how I see it:

Philosophy
If this was a draft and I was solely responsible for making the first pick, my criteria would be several fold. Other than the obvious aspect of how talented the player is, I would start with a younger player. Lilly, Rampone, Markgraf and the like are great and are going to be valuable additions to whichever team they’re placed on, but I want a player that I can build a franchise around and someone who’ll be around awhile. I also would look for versatility. I think that the standard “offense sells tickets, defense wins championships” motto is probably closer to true than not, but I think that starting out I’d rather have a team that was pretty good and scored a lot of goals/played pretty soccer than a team that went undefeated with all 1-0 wins, simply because I feel like this first season will be crucial for getting butts in the seats. That being said, if a player can improve the defense while adding a significant offensive threat, all the better. I also think that geographical history might be nice, but the really strong hometown stories are probably going to be the biggest benefit in terms of drawing crowds.

Wish List
Can you guess who my number one pick would be? If you guess the Ginger Princess, the talented Lori Chalupny you’d be right. She has emerged as one of the most solid players on the WNT, if not the world, and I think she’ll provide a great backbone for whichever team she’s allocated to. She can defend like a pitbull and then still score with deadly accuracy and play make like an attacking midfielder. I was lucky enough to see her play for three years at UNC and have seen her pick the team up on her back and lead it to victory more times than I can count. She’ll be WPS MVP one day, I’m sure of it.

Other than Lori, I think Hope Solo will be in very high demand. Goalkeeping is so important and she’ll be measurably better than most of the other keepers in the WPS, especially after all the teams are added. After keeper I would look for a combo forward/midfielder like Heather O’Reilly or Lindsay Tarpley. They’re both very fast and very skilled and have shown that they can hold their own up top or can move back to the midfield depending on the situation. Are we destined for Washington Wombat part two?

Expectations
As for who I think has the greatest chance of being allocated, there are only a few that seem likely. Unlike Heather to Sky Blue or Lori to St. Louis (alas, there’s been much made of her St. Louis roots over the years and Lori loves her some St. Louis), there aren’t really any hometown heroes coming from D.C. However, Abby Wambach played her WUSA soccer in the District and, being as there’s no team in Rochester or Gainesville, it seems like she might be a logical choice to headline the Freedom’s roster. Angela Hucles also has some quasi-D.C. ties, having grown up in Virginia Beach and played her college soccer at UVA (two hours or so is close enough, right?). I’m hoping that they try to give each team a first tier, a second tier and a third tier player to even them out and I think Hucles would be a coup for a third tier player (despite her questionable defensive presence and especially considering her recent goal onslaught). So we’ll see. I think fellow UVA grad Becky Sauerbrunn and Virginian Ali Krieger might be good selections in the draft, but I doubt either will be allocated. I also think it’ll be interesting to see if Christie Welsh makes it onto the Freedom, considering her commitment to the team through the exhibition and W-League years.

In any case, I can’t wait for the allocation so we can start analyzing and planning for April (and deciding which will be the first jersey I get). Of course, to be perfectly honest, I’m really hoping that some of the Tar Heels I know make it to the District so I can get them to play on my kickball team and get them to recruit other Freedom (s? ers? ites? ettes?) to join, because we definitely need some ringers…