Women's professional volleyball is a thing now in the USA
Well, calling it professional is probably overstating as I very much doubt the athletes are not also holding other jobs right now. But, as it turns out, there is a seven-team league competing. Participant cities include: Atlanta, Orlando, San Diego, Omaha, Las Vegas, Columbus and Grand Rapids.
Volleyball is a successful pro sport in other countries, it just isn't in the US. So far, at least. We'll see.
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Following Sports on Mastodon
Since I refuse to engage with Twitter when able, I'm enjoying Mastodon for my Women's World Cup coverage conversation. My top advice is to follow the hashtags for the sporting event(s) you care about. This means that posts using that hashtag, by anyone, will appear in my timeline as if I was following that user.
So I'm following #WWC, #WWC2023, and #FIFAWWC and getting a nice and manageable amount of posts about the Women's World Cup game right now.
The other thing I did was for posting. I installed an app called Espanso (props to Adam Gessaman for the recommendation.) The reason being I can now type a shortened string and have it put in the above hashtags to ensure my post reaches other people interested in the topic. The hashtag usage is critical for Mastodon given it's search limitations.
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Women's World Cup is On and Streaming It
So last night the World Cup began again, this time in Australia and New Zealand. As a result the wife and I agreed to sign up for a streaming solution which would guarantee our ability to watch it. It airs on Fox and Fox Sports 1, which is the one network we don't have completely covered from viewing, because 99% of what it airs is stuff we don't need. But, this is that one percent of content we wanted. So, off I go to figure out our best option.
After investigating the options I decided I would try Hulu Live, since we already had Hulu as part of our Disney+ bundle - easy, right? Wrong.
It is literally impossible for me to sign up for Hulu Live currently.
I even waited in queue and chatted with a customer service agent who was also flummoxed as to why I didn't have it as an option. I suspect I would have had to cancel my subscription altogether and then maybe it would have worked, but as it turns out - their loss ended up saving me money.
I discovered Sling has a promotion going on now where the first month is half price. And, as luck would have it, a month is what we need for the World Cup.
So, for the next month, we have a Sling subscription!
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Megan Rapinoe to retire after 2023 Season
Not entirely surprising, but still sad to see her finally go. She's played less and less for the Reign, either because of time with the international squad, or just to preserve herself for the upcoming World Cup.
She's been with the Reign since the launch of NWSL and has been a mainstay for the US Women's team. She's had a fantastic career and will go down as one of the most important female soccer players in US history for her role in getting the women's team equal pay.
Her partner, WNBA great Sue Bird, retired after last season. I hope they enjoy a long and happy life together. Until then, I'll be cheering her on for the Reign and during the World Cup.
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NWSL kicks off their first-ever free agency period
The NWSL (National Women's Soccer League) is one of the most tragically underrated sports leagues in the country. It is filled with world class talent playing the beautiful game. And it's overlooked because it's soccer and more-so, that it's being played by women. The NWSL, which is the latest iteration of the country's top-tier women's soccer league, started ten years ago and this year they will give players who qualify free-agency to control their team and destination.
To many US sports fans, this entire thing seems weird. US soccer is a weird combination of American sports structures (single-entity) and the structure which dominates the rest of the world, where the teams are fully independent organizations. I won't delve too deep into it this morning, but I felt it was definitely worth highlighting that the NWSL has crossed this milestone.
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A great team photo for the Reign last night. I just love Jess Fishlock's (far right) huge grin. The player hunched next to her is Kim Little who has recently returned to the team on loan. She was a member of the original squad and those two played together originally. Jess looks like her best friend has returned.
Reign went on to win 2-0 last night.
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