About Christine Brennan: Girls And Women In Sports
by Christine Brennan (Blog Entry | USA Today - February 9)
One of my favorite quotes from the past dozen years in sports comes from the then-10-year-old daughter of quarterback Doug Flutie. While watching a 1999 Gatorade commercial featuring two sports stars, Alexa Flutie turned to her father and asked, "Who's the guy with Mia?" more details | go to article

Rising Soccer Stars Romping Into Hearts Of Fans
by Christine Brennan (Profile/Interview | USA Today - August 18)
They grew up painting their faces for the 1999 Women's World Cup soccer tournament and taping Mia Hamm posters to their bedroom walls. For years, they have been trying to become their role models' rightful heirs, only to be told they're not there yet, and perhaps never will be. more details | go to article

FIFA's World Cup Timing Doing Women's Soccer A Disservice
by Christine Brennan (Commentary | USA Today - September 6)
Let's say you run a major international sport that hosts a quadrennial event, and, eight years ago, you hit the jackpot and staged the most popular women's-only sporting event ever held on earth. more details | go to article

Beckham Or Not, U.S. Soccer Interest Near Nil
by Christine Brennan (Commentary | USA Today - August 23)
Our summer of Bonds, Vick and Donaghy is also, happily enough, our summer of Beckham. Soccer's Savior arrived just in the nick of time to give us something to focus on that doesn't involve performance-enhancing drugs, dogfighting or gambling. more details | go to article

Athletes Unanimous: Motherhood Is A Workout
by Christine Brennan (Analysis | USA Today - May 9)
Not long after giving birth to twin girls March 27, Mia Hamm did something she's done many times in her illustrious soccer career: She decided to lean on her good friends Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain for advice. more details | go to article

Few Second Shots For U.S. World Cuppers
by Christine Brennan (Commentary | USA Today - June 15)
The honest coach rips his players. The players return the favor by doing some finger-pointing of their own. The sports talk radio Monday Morning Midfielders can't believe what they just watched. The casual sports fan asks the most salient question of all, "We waited four years for this?" more details | go to article

Labor Dispute Hinders U.S. Soccer's Gains
by Christine Brennan (Analysis | USA Today - January 20)
For those of you who thought that the most ill-advised labor dispute in the history of sports was the National Hockey League's lockout of its players, here's one for you: It is entirely possible that, due to a nasty labor brouhaha in the ranks of U.S. men's soccer, the USA will field a team of minor leaguers in place of its national team to try to qualify for next year's World Cup, the single most important event in soccer, and, some might say, in all of sports. more details | go to article

Gold Medal Game Right Place For Curtain Call
by Christine Brennan (Analysis | USA Today - August 24)
From a U.S. perspective, things were looking bleak. No Julie Foudy, no Brandi Chastain. They were both out of the game, Foudy with a turned ankle, Chastain having been replaced after playing the first 51 minutes. Some of the youngsters were now in the game, and, with just 3½ minutes remaining, Germany scored to tie it. Of all the luck. more details | go to article

Mia, Friends Already Have Done Their Job
by Christine Brennan (Commentary | USA Today - August 6)
You hear there's going to be a news conference featuring the U.S. Olympic women's soccer team, and you're thinking you've seen this before. You know exactly who is showing up: Mia, Brandi, Foudy, Lilly and Fawcett, or some permutation thereof. more details | go to article