We’re a year away from the start of the highly anticipated Women’s Professional Soccer League, the successor to the failed Women’s United Soccer Association. In April 2009, the new league will kick off and relaunch nationwide worldwide interest on women’s soccer.

(That’s Mia Hamm’s silhouette on the WPS logo. How cool is that?)

The first women’s U.S. soccer league, the WUSA, folded prematurely in 2003 after a lack of sponsorships and audience. Now, the WPS has to learn from the mistakes of its predecessor, and league Commissioner Tonya Antonucci guarantees that it will. “In order to ensure long-term success, WPS has developed a brand-new business model, focused on shared infrastructure, cost containment and realistic expectations that will maintain profitability for the league and team owners,” she wrote on her blog.

In 1999, after the U.S. won the World Cup title before 90,000 fans at the sold-out Rose Bowl (when Brandi Chastain became famous for taking off her shirt — and was I glad she did), there was just as much potential for a great league as there is now.

The difference, however, is in planning. Today, with assistance from the men’s league (MLS) and investors such as NBA star Steve Nash and former Yahoo! president Jeff Mallett, the WPS will be stronger and steadier, in a pursuit to become "the premier women's soccer league in the world." … continue reading

I have a disclosure to make: “Ace” is not my full name. It's actually “Ace Randy Gal.” I have, however, been known to answer to “Carnage Lady.” And occasionally to “Calendar Gay.”

These monikers are the result of a boring afternoon at work coupled with the The Internet Anagram Server. Put a bunch of word nerds in the same room as an anagram server, and you've got yourself a party! That was eight years or so ago. “Ace” stuck, and the anagram server (plus the less labor-intensive Anagram Genius Server) get revisited from time to time. Recently, I spent some time procrastinating with the servers and had a blast. Because I'm that big a geek. And because I really didn't want to do my work.

I learned that one of my friends is an “Arch Lesbian.” And that an AfterEllen.com staffer could be an “Old Animal.” And that there are no good anagrams for my girlfriend's name. (However, one version of our dog's name comes out to “Destroyer and Might,” which I think he likes.)

But on the celebrity front, the possibilities abound. (For the record, all of the following anagrams come from the Internet Anagram Server, the Anagram Genius Server or the Anagram Genius Archive.)

I began with The L Word, just because.

Kate Moennig, appropriately, is “Token Enigma.” And Erin Daniels is “Ideal Sinner.” (I'm sure my girlfriend thinks so, anyway.) And Jenny Schecter is “Insufferable, dog-killing wack job.” (But that's just commentary, not an anagram.) Mia Kirshner is “Shinier Mark” (but if you misspell “Kirshner” as “Kirschner,” you get “Manic Shirker”!) Jenny Schecter + Sounder = “Jesus! Northern Decency.” Daniela Sea is “A sane ideal.” And, for the record, Bette Porter + Tina Kennard = “Broke, penitent retardant.” … continue reading

This year is a World Cup year in women’s soccer. You know what that means: We get to see Brandi Chastain take her shirt off. I'm sure you remember those photos of her with her ripped abs and her Nike sports bra.

I really would like to go off on a tangent about how freaking stupid all the media coverage was, but I won’t. Let’s talk soccer instead.

The World Cup itself happens in September, but starting in June, the U.S. women play a six-game series leading up to the World Cup. A new video on the U.S. Soccer website offers an introduction to the current women’s team. The video opens with Abby Wambach, wearing a tight hooded sweatshirt and a pair of dog tags. Later we see Briana Scurry talking about her major talent: She's "good with her hands."

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Unfortunately, the video doesn't really include any substantial information about the women, either as soccer players or as people.