Personal Reflections on Two Years of WPS Work

You know, I treasure my time here writing columns for a site as esteemed as Bleacher Report. I began my career here on this site writing articles on the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I really made it big writing articles on Women's Professional Soccer.

During my two years writing on the league, I covered 2009 as the beat writer for the Los Angeles Sol. The Sol were a wonderful thing, in my view, but they could not find any investors wanting to purchase the club. So they folded.

This year, as well as last year, I posted the WPS Power Rankings, ranking clubs based on performance and their record. I even covered at the tail end of the season FC Gold Pride, who won the 2010 championship.

However, the news came this week that the Pride have closed operations. I did not think that this would be my first and very last trip to Hayward. The Lionesses of the East Bay had walked into the sunset.

Because of this, I have made this decision. I am officially leaving the WPS section of Bleacher Report and focusing my attention to Major League Soccer full-time.

You know, it's never a nice feeling to end covering a league that you still owe a lot to for getting your name out there. But the time finally came for me to say: it's time for a new challenge.

I have to criticize why WPS is contracting yet again. The sustainability of this league is now called into question. Because of these circumstances, I don't think there will be another team from Los Angeles joining WPS any time soon. It's not gonna happen.

People do not want to come to these matches. That's never the case when it comes to watching MLS. When I am covering the games at Victoria Street, I see packed houses. I see raucous crowds, I see an enthusiasm for the Beautiful Game.

At a college town like Hayward, all I see is a quiet crowd of a few thousand supporting the club. It's not a sellout, and the enthusiasm and passion seems to be lacking. And this is the championship game we are talking about here!

Seriously, this is probably going to make the W-League the dominant women's league in North America yet again. The W-League. Of the United Soccer Leagues.

Now, my coverage of the Pali Blues is not going to go away. They're still around, and you will see coverage of them in action later next summer.

But what you won't see from me is any more coverage of the WPS. What good is it to follow a league that I can't see becoming sustainable for the long haul in terms of operations?

Los Angeles Sol...dead. St. Louis Athletica...dead. FC Gold Pride...dead. And the Chicago Red Stars could be next. This is just unacceptable.

Seriously. How many more teams is this league going to lose due to poor ticket sales, poor marketing, poor selection or target markets, poor everything?

I am convinced while WPS was a great idea, people still aren't interested. They just aren't.

Even with the promotions. Even with the grassroots approach. This is some of the best women's football, and nobody wants to watch it! And that is a shame.

If this league is somehow, in some way, able to make it to 10 years with all the additions and substractions, somebody in the Vatican put Anne-Marie Eileraas on the fast track to sainthood because with the way things are going now, this league may not have a prayer when all is said and done.

On the flip side, you will see a new brand of Power Rankings next year: the MLS Power Rankings. Oh yes, this will be a fun way to see who is on a roll, and who isn't. And this is from a league that WPS can learn a thing or two in keeping its teams secure for the long haul.