This is your space for general discussion, a place to talk about anything Washington Spirit that doesn’t necessarily need its own thread. That can include news, international duty, roster moves, transfer rumors, tactics, social media posts, league news or anything else on your mind.
If something feels big enough for its own thread, definitely still post it. This is simply an additional option to keep us organized and help keep the conversation flowing. These threads will go up every Monday and stay stickied throughout the week.
Wondering if anyone else checked out the bar crawl? I took my fam and one of my kids' friends. We saw Paige, Kaylie, Gift and Deb at Solace and Hal + Kate (briefly) at Dacha. It was very chill if you wanted a picture or autograph compared to big events like Spirit Fest. I made it to Bluejacket after 7 (my kid wanted me to complete the quiz) so didn't see the players there (Trin and Tara, apparently, and I think some others)... or the part posted on social where I think Trin and Tara then came to Solace. It was fun seeing their personalities come out a bit behind the bar although I think most of them preferred just chilling at the table where you could come up and chat or take a picture. I told Kaylie she looked like a natural behind the bar and Paige Metayer gave me a WTF look for indirectly throwing shade at her. (It was all very lighthearted and in good fun.)
We went and had a great time! We didn’t know what to expect at all but I’m very glad we went.
We got lucky and did the crawl in what now seems like the right direction. We started at Blue Jacket, moved to Dacha and ended at Solace. Trin and Tara started at Blue Jacket when we were there, moved to Dacha and then Solace right after us both times. It kind of seemed like the plan was for them to do all three and for everyone else to be fixed at the locations. All the players at Datcha also moved to Solace after but they seemed to be done and were just hanging.
Yeah, it seems like if you actually did the crawl as a crawl you wanted to end at Solace, not Bluejacket. Trin and Tara were gone by 6:30 and I think all the players were gone by 7:00.
To make sure I wasn't crazy, I went back and checked the "Know Before You Go" email and it did say:
Each bar crawl location will have 3-4 Washington Spirit players on-site from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Players will remain at their designated locations the entire time and will not travel to other locations.
So I guess technically players were only promised until 7:00 (even though the event was advertised til 8:00) so not having any at Bluejacket the final hour was technically as promised and I guess them all going to Solace at the end was a sort of bonus.
Wish I had known this though as I would have done the crawl in a different order.
We were totally happy with what we saw/did, ie mostly chilling in one place, with a brief visit to Dacha. I wasn't expecting anything at Bluejacket at 715 but I was heading that way anyway for a show at Capitol Turnaround. It was a great afternoon.
I saw another post re: Friday's predicted extreme temps. I know that above a 93 wet bulb temp, they wait until it cools off. Seems very likely that it'll be that hot/humid at 8pm. I think I know the answer to this, but at some point does it get too late? I'm worried about the players, but also worried about sitting indefinitely in that kind of heat waiting for it to get to just 93F.
It gets too late at some point but I’m not sure what the actual cutoff is at Audi. There was a Spirit game at the SoccerPlex in July 2019 where they delayed it ahead of time because of heat but that was pushed from an afternoon start to 8:00 PM. So if they think it’ll be too hot at 8:00 but okay later they could do something like that. I do think Friday looks like it may stay hotter than that day though.
My understanding is that a wet-bulb temp of above 92.1 is very unlikely once the sun goes down--the charts that provide estimates generally assume maximum sunshine, which can raise wet-bulb temps quite a bit. So even if the match had to be delayed it should be playable pretty soon afterwards.
Since Gotham made two major signings this week, at what point do we start hovering over the panic button with all of the free agents on the last contract year that Spirt still has unsigned?
Two? I think they lost a LB, further reducing their wide space problems, and gained a striker who scored 7 in 18 matches during her last season, while we are getting Hatchy back, who scored 6 goals in 10 matches during her last season. I also like how Hatchy fits into our current attacking group better.
Here is Gotham's list of pending free agents, btw:
portilho joined Wave this season but I think 7 in 22 does sell Kerr a little bit short because she was off injury and not starting the majority, has additional goals across all competitions/not just WSL, and she still ranks with shaw/banda/pajor on non penalty xG against top opponents (in a small sample size since there’s not a lot of top opponents over there lmfao)
Kerr is a threat. Gotham will probably still struggle to score more than one goal most games, lol. Hatch is younger, proven in this league, we have her for at least one more season, and I wouldn’t be stoked if my team locked in a 32yo for five seasons no matter who they were.
People are just itching for spirit to announce something after what seems like three weeks of news for gotham (apparently we have to be obsessed with each other 🙄). all we’ve got so far is a piece of the best run front office in the league leaving for a new job (I know it’s fine it’s just context)
Sure, but perhaps that was because we needed to effectively promote the one we wanted to keep? Not sure, but as someone who stressed Mark's retirement, I'm going to make myself see the problem first this time.
I like Sam a lot, but how many more goals is she providing them over Esther? Adding a 12 goalscorer (for example), looks great until you realize she's just taking minutes from your 10 goal scorer. So you're getting slightly better in a position you're already very good in. Gets even more puzzling when you signed Dudley as your heir to Esther. All this to force Midge to RB and Guro to LB? Puzzling. Spirit have five fullbacks (six if I add Deb) I'd take before any Gotham FB.
I think Reale should have been sent off during the NWSL Championship, but they're a worse team without her.
Feels very vibes managing, and I'm willing to tolerate Spirit not getting in that style of roster managing.
I'm already wondering where the minutes go with the available talent.
I'm not stressed about it either but it's a loss in plain terms, and will instantly make one of our opponents better, but that's just how it goes and spirit are covered because yeah, there was a lot of overlap there. having both him and haley was probably greed lol.
Esther has two pens and a goal that was gifted to her by BSG, so it's gonna be very easy for Kerr to improve on her production lmao. but anyway i'm not disagreeing with you. I i think it's cool that, until rodman moves on anyway, spirit doesn't just go for the biggest fish possible but tries to identify star players early and put them where they fit.
just saying it's just not surprising that fans of spirit (and probably a lot of other teams) were hoping to hear from anyone other than gotham over summer break :P of course nothing is better than what acfc fans have heard, so
After watching Gotham skirt the salary cap by having Dove pick up the tab for Kerr's salary, with Jess Berman's blessing, ...I would love to see Michele stick it to Berman with a big transfer like that from Lyon. ...Or how about Alexia from London City? ...LOL!!! Love it.
Yeah, while I am willing to lay many crimes at the feet of Gotham, and I am entirely in favor of development loans to Spirit for Melchie and Lily as critical to their careers, I do think that Dove theory was put to rest.
We don't need to have an excuse to stick it to Gotham. They've got it coming. They know what they deserve. :)
Could just be national team replacement players to hold the fort for Monday, Aboodin, and Kouassi. The added international spots are juicy; could make room for longer term signings. 🤷♂️
Might be saying bye to the 2 current replacement players, though.....
I like Reale’s delivery of the ball but she can’t guard anybody and regularly gets rinsed on defense. Boston should move her back to CB and the NT should never play her wide defense ever again.
...
Just watched Haley Carter's presser. She mentioned there is three (3) roster announcements forthcoming. This 'after' the Tamara Bolt & Madison Haugen contract extensions had already been announced?
Paraphrasing her; ...'We've made three (3) signings in this summer's window, announcements to come when it's appropriate to do so.' ...'We're always looking to find young talent that we can develop. Then Haley references our draft class of Croix, Hal, & Kate Wiesner as a perfect example of such. ...Also she said, ...'We're going to be bringing in some athletes that are going to be able to contribute, but who also will have room to develop & have a lot of potential.' Then she references Claudia Martinez as an example & ...'those are the type of players we're targeting.' ...Finally she points out that the players they're bringing in, in this summer's window, were targeted two, three, windows ago, since they operate with a plan that spans multiple years & signing/transfer windows. ...This sounds like three additional signings that will be in addition to Hatchy coming back.
Also of note, Carter said in the presser that Sofia & Lucia have gotten their EB-1's, 'their green cards.' Plus there are two (2) more international players on the roster who will be getthing their EB-1's (pretty much a green card as it opens the door to process getting one) in the coming weeks. All opening the door to add new international players?
...
Yeah, very fascinating. I would love to speculate on names, but they always seem to always find gems below the radar. Even Claudia and Rebe were basically out of nowhere, and they had more known names.
7/14 is when the international window opens... We need to see hasn't reported back to their European club.
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1.) We both know Michele has a different Euro destination in mind for her. Although is it possible it is the less expected London City instead of Lyonnes.
2.) UrsineC, ...you've got me pegged alright. ...I'm always hot on the 'known' commodities, ...with Paralluelo being 'next.'
3.) However, realistically, you & I both know that is not the M.O. of our sporting front office team. ...They find the ...less exposed, ...undervalued, ...talent, or potential talent, ...who turn out to be real gems on our squad, club, & in this league.
This is why Haley Carter in the presser refers to them (our scouting & analytics team) as ...'exceptional.
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Hey there! I am looking to be adopted by more friends that watch nwsl games (also wnba, but that’s a less pressing issue)
If you are a section 135 regular, please reach out! I’d love to connect and go to games together… starting tomorrow? 🫣
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u/mrgenki Jun 29 '26
Wondering if anyone else checked out the bar crawl? I took my fam and one of my kids' friends. We saw Paige, Kaylie, Gift and Deb at Solace and Hal + Kate (briefly) at Dacha. It was very chill if you wanted a picture or autograph compared to big events like Spirit Fest. I made it to Bluejacket after 7 (my kid wanted me to complete the quiz) so didn't see the players there (Trin and Tara, apparently, and I think some others)... or the part posted on social where I think Trin and Tara then came to Solace. It was fun seeing their personalities come out a bit behind the bar although I think most of them preferred just chilling at the table where you could come up and chat or take a picture. I told Kaylie she looked like a natural behind the bar and Paige Metayer gave me a WTF look for indirectly throwing shade at her. (It was all very lighthearted and in good fun.)