The Argument for Joy: A Report From The NWSL Championship Final

When I made plans to go to Portland to cover this year’s NWSL Championship, I was very much hoping I’d have the opportunity to watch the Chicago Red Stars play a soccer game there. And while a minor point in a much larger conversation, the postponement of Chicago’s eventual defeat honestly gave me very little time to switch gears before heading west. However, teams involved be damned, the final in Portland presented the opportunity for a watershed moment in women’s club soccer in America, and I wanted to be there. But I’m not sure I fully knew what that meant until I arrived.

I didn’t have a rooting interest in this match, outside of wanting friends to be happy, and the result on the field…