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Proud to be an Olympic athlete
Kristine Lilly is the all-time appearance leader and third all-time leading scorer for the U.S. Women's National Team. The midfielder from Wilton, Conn., was a member of the U.S. teams that won the 1999 World Cup and 1996 Olympic Games. Lilly also played on four national championship teams at the University of North Carolina. Lilly is training for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Check out Lilly's diary every other week on CNNSI.com.
August 15, 2000
Happy Birthday Frank! Today is my goddaughters' father's birthday. Yesterday was Jackson's birthday, and we had a great birthday party to celebrate his 3rd birthday. There were balloons, presents, piņata and two big birthday cookies. It was a great day, and I think the team was more excited for his birthday than he was. Mich and I were in a room signing some soccer balls and we were talking, and she asked me if I had fun at the party. And I was like yeah, it was great and we both agreed that it something we should do more of or something similar. We were saying it was great because all day long we were looking forward to it. At the party people laughed and just enjoyed the simplicity of a child's excitement for toys. Also, us adults enjoyed the excitement of toys. The present Julie and I got Jackson was by far the best, however, I think I enjoyed playing with it more. Dainis claims his present was Jackson's favorite becuase that is the one he took out first, but I told Dainis it was because it was the littlest and he would get bored with it shortly. See this team is even competitive in the gifts we give. So here we are in Annapolis, Maryland which is a great area and has a great downtown. The other night we went over to Carin Gabarra's house, who played on the team from 1986 till 1996. She was recently added to the Hall of Fame and will be inducted at the end of October. When she played on the team she use to play up front, in front of me. I used to catch myself during games just watching her take players on and do amazing things with the ball right in front of the defenders. She was an amazing player, but an even better person. So it was nice to spend the evening with her and her husband, who is Jim Gabarra, who is the new head coach of the WUSA team in D.C. and their two kids. We got to Maryland on Wednesday, and almost everyone's flight was delayed. I spent eight hours in La Guardia airport. It was one of those days where you say "what can you do?" and you just make the best of it. I read the USA TODAY, and read for the first time Time magazine front to back. So it wasn't such a wasteful day. I discovered a magazine O enjoyed. Finally, I arrived in Maryland nine hours later. I was looking forward to this trip for a couple reasons. First, I was rested and ready to train again, and second, because my dear friend Jodi was going to be the nanny for this trip. Actually, Jodi just read what I had written so far to see if her name made it, so I felt obligated to write her in this entry. It has been cool having her around, a lot of the team already knows her and the kids like her too. I think it is interesting when one part of your life meets another and see how they blend. To be honest it has been great and I think Jodi has a new appreciation for mothers. Who saw the game on Sunday on ABC? We played Russia and finally scored some goals. It was a good game for many reasons. For one, we beat Russia. After coming off a loss at the end our trip to Norway, it was nice to come into our first game back and score some goals and win. Also Michelle scored her first goal since the World Cup, and lastly it was Carla's first game back since her knee surgery in May. I was talking to Dr. Hacker after the game, and she asked me what are your three favorite things about the game. I said "The crowd [because they were loud and appreciated our team. When Bri got subbed in towards the end of the game they went nuts and also when Michelle and Carla went in], Michelle on the field and Carla on the field. The presence each of them give to the game is so strong." I told Carla it was great to have her back there and hear her voice. It was great to see her get stuck in. And Mich scoring her goal. There is always a funny thing about Michelle everyday. I am going to share with you the one from the game. Okay, so we were watching game tape from the game vs. Russia and it was at the part of her goal. She hasn't scored a goal in over a year, and after she scored in the game everyone was so excited including her. So she goes to run to the bench to get some love and she wanted to jump on someone or something. As she went over there she jumps, and everyone just steps back and she ends up jumping by herself. Well, when we saw this on the tape we all lost it, and had to rewind it over again to see her. So once again Mich, we laugh with you not at you. The Russia game was another step for our team and everyone got to play. Also on the TV part of the game, Tish was sideline reporter for the first time. Over all i heard she did a good job. It was nice to have her on the field again even though it was as a side line reporter. It was good to see you sister. Well, we have a closed-door game vs. Russia today, and then head to Kansas City for a game vs. Canada on Sunday at 2 p.m. (CST) on ESPN. We have one more break before we are gone for good. We have the week of the 20th off and then return to San Diego on the 27th. From there we head to the Olympics on September 3rd. The Olympic Team was announced this week. It was announced Thursday, and then that night we had a meeting and our coach handed us a sheet that said U.S. Women's Olympic Soccer Team 2000. When she handed this sheet of paper to us she said "not too many people will ever make an Olympic roster." After thinking about it later that night, it made me feel good. It made me feel proud to be an Olympic athlete but more so proud to be on this team. Although I am an Olympic gold medalist, I appreciate what this means and what lies ahead. It makes me realize that to me this is something special and maybe it means different things to different people, but to me it is something I am grateful for. Maybe there is something that has happened to you and you may think nothing of it, but I think if you look at it a little longer, it can make you feel wonderful.
Appreciate the little things and the big things. We all have worked hard for something. As I end this diary, I want to leave you with 18 names that will be competing for YOU ALL in the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia:
Michelle Akers, Brandi Chastain, Lorrie Fair, Joy Fawcett, Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Shannon MacMillan, Tiffeny Milbrett, Siri Mullinix, Carla Overbeck, Cindy Parlow, Christie Pearce, Briana Scurry, Nikki Serlenga, Danielle Slaton, Kate Sobrero, and Sara Whalen.
I can't go on with also acknowledging the rest of our team. The four alternates are Michelle French, Jenny Branam, Nandy Price and Christie Welsh. Our staff April Heinrichs, John Ellis, Colleen Hacker, Dave Vanole, Nils Krumins, Nestor Battung, Dana Shoenwetter, Gigi Garcia, Chrissy Price, Aaron Heifetz, and last but not least our unique, different, funny, changed, s.k. great equipment manager Dainis Kalnins. Cheer us on, -- Kristine
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