There’s a very particular sense of exhaustion that creeps into your body when you watch the Chicago Red Stars play the Portland Thorns. It can come in many tiny forms, whether it’s the knot in your shoulder when you see nine or so gloved hands shoot in the air in Chicago’s penalty box, or the weight under your eyes when the ball dings against the Portland crossbar in stoppage time, but the result at the final whistle usually feels about the same.
Blowouts are easier to compartmentalize, but the Red Stars don’t tend to get blown out by the Thorns.