Karen Stanley

Karen Stanley, an assistant at Notre Dame the past two years, has been hired as coach of the new USC women's soccer team.

One of the first things Karen Stanley did when she moved into her office at USC's Heritage Hall was to hang the poster on the wall behind her desk. Not just any poster. This one had been carefully guarded on its journey across the Pacific. This one, lilac-colored and covered in Chinese characters, is both a reminder and an inspiration. It reminds Stanley of the highlight of her career--not as a soccer player or soccer coach, but as a soccer spectator.

One of the first things Karen Stanley did when she moved into her office at USC's Heritage Hall was to hang the poster on the wall behind her desk. Not just any poster. This one had been carefully guarded on its journey across the Pacific. This one, lilac-colored and covered in Chinese characters, is both a reminder and an inspiration. It reminds Stanley of the highlight of her career--not as a soccer player or soccer coach, but as a soccer spectator.

Karen Stanley, an assistant at Notre Dame the past two years, has been hired as coach of the new USC women's soccer team.

Soccer players who repeatedly hit the ball with their head suffer a mild form of the same mental impairment that afflicts boxers who have received multiple concussions, according to a new report presented Saturday in New York.

Imagine that you're a female scientist in Antarctica and that you're getting a bit cabin feverish after two years on the ice. One of your colleagues, a control freak who knows no biology, insists that you caused the deaths of three male workers who couldn't resist sleeping with you on the night you arrived. (Something to do with germs and different body temperatures.) Now, a new attractive male has arrived. What do you do?

The Arizona Cardinals signed one aging quarterback Monday and got rid of another, signing Boomer Esiason and releasing Dave Krieg. Esiason, who turns 35 next week, had called the Cardinals and lobbied for the job. He spent the last three years with the New York Jets, who had made it clear they wouldn't re-sign him after spending $25 million over five years for Neil O'Donnell. Terms weren't disclosed, but Esiason told the Cardinals he would play for far less than the $2.

Where are the women? This is what I wonder most. As I watch (and watch and watch) these patriot games, these World Cup shoot-'em-ups, I am aware of their many similarities to the Olympics, the same rich pageantry, the same painted faces, the same love for fatherland or motherland. There is only one thing missing. Well, a whole lot of one thing, actually. The women. Next summer in Sweden, the second world championships of women's soccer will be contested.

No doubt, USC football has been unstoppable at the Coliseum this season. OK, that's futbol--as in soccer. In its fourth season, and under its second coach, USC's women's soccer team has hit its stride. By defeating Pepperdine, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon, USC finished its most successful season with a 14-5 record and 5-0 at the Coliseum, although it was not chosen for the NCAA tournament. "It's great playing [at the Coliseum]," said Jim Millinder, USC's coach. "There's so much tradition here.

There was a time when UCLA was a men's soccer power. According to the polls, that time has passed. UCLA, which has advanced to at least the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament in each of the last four years and won the national title in 1990, is ranked 16th by Soccer America. The Bruins lost six senior starters from last season, among them All-Americans Joe-Max Moore and Brad Friedel, both of whom are playing with the U.S. national team.

Quite a fuss has been made about increasing opportunities for women in athletics. Many athletic directors hardly breathe before consulting Title IX, a federal statute that guarantees equal opportunity for male and female athletes. But there has been little discussion about equal opportunities for women in coaching. Although they have made great strides in recent years, women still hold only about a quarter of the total coaching positions at the college level.