Curt Johnson named general manager of Denver's NWSL team
DENVER (AP) — Former North Carolina Courage executive Curt Johnson was named Thursday as the general manager of the National Women's Soccer League expansion team in Denver.
Johnson stepped down as chief soccer officer and general manager of the Courage in December. He will oversee all of the soccer operations for the new Denver club, which will kick off next year.
'He brings championship-level experience, a collaborative spirit, and a clear passion for growing the game," Denver controlling owner Rob Cohen said in a statement on Thursday. "He's been a part of building some of the most successful organizations in our sport, and we're thrilled to have him shaping the future of our club.'
As chief soccer officer for the Courage from 2017-24, Johnson oversaw a club that won two NWSL championships and three NWSL Shields. He previously worked with North Carolina FC and with Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer.
Johnson has a tight timeline. Denver was named the NWSL's 16th team in December and will kickoff next spring. The team will play in a temporary home for two seasons before moving to a new 14,500-seat purpose-built stadium in 2028.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
41 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Golf is not like team sports. It was never meant to have a finish line to the season
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Instead of outrage and grave concern that Rory McIlroy chose to sit out the first FedEx Cup playoff event — without dropping a single spot in the rankings — let it be a reminder that golf is not like other sports. These are not the 'playoffs.' That's for team sports. This is golf, which has never had a defining finish to its year and never will. The FedEx Cup attempted to create a finish line until the tour tried to promote it as so much more. What it did was create an incentive for the best players to compete after the majors were over. That part has worked beautifully, and it still does, with or without McIlroy. Perhaps one reason McIlroy's absence got so much attention was no one had skipped a postseason event (barring injury) since Webb Simpson five years ago. Simpson pulled out of the BMW Championship at No. 3 in the FedEx Cup, saying he wanted to be fresh for the FedEx Cup finale at East Lake. McIlroy had said in June he has earned the right to do whatever he wants, and that includes skipping a $20 million tournament (for the third time this year), and sitting out the first round of what the PGA Tour calls its 'playoffs.' He remains at No. 2. But he certainly wasn't the first to do that. Tiger Woods was a no-show for the first playoff event in 2007, and he still went on to win the FedEx Cup. Phil Mickelson skipped the BMW Championship that year when it was the third of four postseason events. Sergio Garcia? He missed seven postseason events when he was eligible (and presumably healthy), one year taking time off in Switzerland and Spain because he wanted a break. McIlroy finished up nine holes of practice at Caves Valley on Monday afternoon as some of the players who advanced to the second stage were still on their way to the BMW Championship after a steamy week in Memphis, Tennessee. Given the heat, he's probably fresher than most. He first raised the question last year when he was No. 3 in the FedEx Cup, finished next-to-last in Memphis and wondered what he was doing there. He only dropped to No. 5. It changed nothing. So it was no surprise McIlroy sat this one out. Scottie Scheffler could have easily done the same. The TPC Southwind is where he last missed a cut (in 2022, when the postseason opener had 125-man field and a 36-hole cut). The FedEx St. Jude Classic also gave him a sponsor exemption when he was 17, and he has never missed it as a PGA Tour member. His choice. But playoffs? Jim Mora and his infamous 'Playoffs?' interview comes to mind this time of the year. The FedEx Cup might be a lot easier to understand — and appreciate — if the PGA Tour had just stuck to the right language when this season-ending bonanza first was unveiled. It was at East Lake in 2006 during the Tour Championship — remember, that was the year Woods and Mickelson both decided to skip the PGA Tour's finale — when former Commissioner Tim Finchem laid out the details of the FedEx Cup. He said golf was the only major sport where the regular season was more compelling than the finish (he apparently didn't think much of tennis). And so Finchem introduced a concept referred to as a championship series of four tournaments. He used that phrase — 'championship series' — 20 times in a lengthy news conference. The eight times he mentioned 'playoffs' was comparison with other sports, and how the championship series would be 'our version of the playoff system." And then some marketing genius leaned on 'playoffs,' the word was painted onto a grassy hill at Westchester Country Club, the term stuck and it still doesn't make sense. That especially was the case when it began with 144 players, leading Jim Furyk to do the math. 'In football, there's 32 teams in the NFL and if I'm correct, 12 teams go to the playoffs,' he said in 2007. 'This year, 125 guys also keep their tour card and 144 people are going to the Playoffs. So that's roughly 110% of the league.' Golf is not like other sports. The concept is fine. The PGA Tour's version of the playoffs is working because it provides three weeks of its best players competing for a trophy that is slowly gaining in stature. It's not one of the four majors. It's probably still a notch below The Players Championship. The PGA Tour has tweaked the format five times, seeking a solution that doesn't exist. The most recent format — 'starting strokes' — was the most controversial, with the No. 1 player starting at 10-under par before the Tour Championship began. Not even Scheffler liked that. But it at least rewarded the players who performed the best throughout the year. Now the 30 players who emerge from the BMW Championship this week will all start from scratch at East Lake, and the low score wins. The 'season-long champion" could be someone who wins for the first time all year. How is the FedEx Cup trophy any different from the old Tour Championship trophy? The money is better. And unlike the last Tour Championship before the FedEx Cup began, at least everyone will show up. ___
San Francisco Chronicle
41 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
US budget deficit up 20% year-over-year despite record Trump tariff income
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite the U.S. taking in record income from President Donald Trump's tariffs in July — with a 273% increase in customs revenues (or $21 billion) from this time last year — the U.S. budget deficit is still higher, according to Treasury Department data released Tuesday. The government's shortfall has climbed 20% this fiscal year compared to the same period in 2024. Even as Trump talks about America becoming rich because of his import tax hikes, federal spending keeps outpacing the revenues collected by the government. That financial picture might change as companies exhaust their pre-tariff inventories, forcing them to import more goods and generate even more in tax revenues that could whittle away at the deficit without meaningfully reducing it as promised. If tariffs fail to deliver on Trump's pledge to improve the government's balance sheet, the American public could be faced with fewer job options, more inflationary pressures and higher interest rates on mortgages, auto loans and credit cards. The budget deficit is the annual gap between what the U.S. government raises in taxes and what it spends, over time feeding into the overall national debt. A Treasury official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the data said overall increased spending is in part due to a mix of expenditures, including growing interest payments on the public debt and cost-of-living increases to Social Security payouts, among other costs. This comes as the federal government's gross national debt creeps up to the $37 trillion mark. While organizations like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget say that tariff income can be a stream of meaningful revenue — estimated to generate about $1.3 trillion over the course of President Trump's four-year term in office; some economists like Kent Smetters of the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Wharton Budget Model say tariffs are likely to result ' in only modest reductions in federal debt.' In June, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff plan would cut deficits by $2.8 trillion over a 10-year period while shrinking the economy, raising the inflation rate and reducing the purchasing power of households overall. But revenue estimates are also difficult to predict as the president has changed his tariff rates repeatedly and the taxes declared as part of an economic emergency are currently under appeal in a U.S. court. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month on Fox Business Network's 'Mornings with Maria' that the administration is 'laser-focused on bringing this deficit down.' The Trump administration expects to make more trade deals with other nations, including China and other major economies. For instance, on Monday, Trump extended a trade truce with China for another 90 days, which preserves the 30% tariffs he had imposed as a condition for negotiations. The previous deadline was set to expire at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he signed the executive order for the extension, and that 'all other elements of the Agreement will remain the same.' Beijing, at the same time, also announced the extension of the tariff pause, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
San Francisco Chronicle
41 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Jets' Justin Fields says his focus on his faith the past 6 months has helped him shake off criticism
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Justin Fields heard all the criticisms — and occasional kudos — that came his way from fans and media during his first four NFL seasons. The New York Jets quarterback would let it affect him, too. It would even shape his own opinions about his play and abilities. No more. 'I just let people be and let them speak,' Fields said after a joint practice with the Giants on Tuesday. 'That's not going to affect me whatsoever.' But it used to, he acknowledged. 'I would say I just kind of got like this the past six months, to be honest with you,' Fields said. It was a somewhat surprising revelation from Fields, given the ups and downs he has had during his NFL journey since being the 11th overall pick by Chicago out of Ohio State in 2021. He went from the hopeful franchise quarterback of the Bears to out the door after only three seasons, traded to Pittsburgh last year. He started for an injured Russell Wilson and went 4-2 in six games for the Steelers before seeing the bench again in favor of the veteran — who's also now in New York, but with the Giants. During this past offseason, Fields signed a two-year, $40 million deal with the Jets — who immediately labeled him their new starter. Coach Aaron Glenn has regularly praised Fields' confidence and maturity, calling him 'a mature man' Tuesday and adding that 'the outside noise does not bother him.' That, however, has been a process. 'A lot's gone into that, to be honest,' Fields said. "I would say experiences, for sure. But also, I think my relationship with God. I don't play for anybody's approval. You guys are all going to have your opinion and I'm never going to take any of it personal. Like I said, it doesn't matter. Y'all can have an opinion, y'all could say this and that, but at the end of the day, our lives aren't going to change. 'If I say something to y'all right now, the same thing's going to happen. It doesn't really affect life, it doesn't affect the way we live. So, if you look at it from that perspective, the bigger perspective, no matter what anybody says, it doesn't matter at the end of the day. It has zero meaning to me, to anybody, and God controls everything that happens in this world.' While the 26-year-old Fields didn't detail the events that triggered his religious re-awakening, he acknowledged that the Bible has been even more impactful than any playbook. 'Yeah, I mean, me really getting closer to God, like I said, my relationship, me reading the Bible every day,' he said. "And if I'm being real, there are some great lines and great wisdom that I didn't even know of. So I'm low-key addicted to getting in my Bible each and every day just because I learn something new every day and I'm able to apply it in my everyday life. 'But, I mean, I was sleeping on reading the Bible earlier in my life and I wish I would have started earlier. So I encourage y'all to, you know, go read a little bit. Start in Proverbs and move on from there.' 'I know it will,' he said. 'I know it will, for sure.' ___
