Women's Professional Soccer Escapes Extinction

For the past few months, we've been following the sad saga of one of the most destructive owners in professional sports, Dan Borislow, and his ongoing legal (and email) fight against one of the most beleaguered professional sports organizations in the world, Women's Professional Soccer.

WPS's status in Division I—the highest level of soccer sanctioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation—was threatened back in October, when the league terminated Borislow's team, the Boca Raton-based magicJack. The USSF's generally requires leagues to host a minimum of eight teams to qualify for the top tier. In 2011, WPS had just six teams, but successfully applied for a waiver from the federation to remain in Division I. This year, with just five teams to its name (likely smaller than your local Small Fry field), the league somehow pulled it off again:

U.S. Soccer's board of directors agreed Monday evening to continue its sanction of the WPS with Division 1 status, its highest for a professional league, despite it only having five teams for 2012. Finalization of the decision hinges on WPS owners agreeing to certain disclosed terms stipulated by U.S. Soccer.

Breathe easy, women's soccer fans: So long as the remaining owners get their shit together, there will be WPS next year. It might not be on any television channel you can find, but it will be played.

U.S. Soccer renews WPS' top-tier status [espnW]