Hamm's mates trade in Sox caps

ATHENS -- Maybe the expression "Red Sox Nation" should be changed to "Red Sox Planet."

In one of the first news conferences held with arriving United States Olympians, four members of the women's soccer team spent more than a little time yesterday discussing the Nomar Garciaparra trade.

And not just about its effect on Mia Hamm, their teammate and Garciaparra's wife. But about its effect on their chances for a gold medal.

Who knew Garciaparra's move to the Chicago Cubs had global impact?

As Asian and South American reporters scratched their heads -- the question of "Who's Nomar?" bouncing around their brains -- US soccer player Abby Wambach announced to the puzzled throng: "All of us threw our Boston Red Sox caps out, and we now have Cubs hats! That's right; it's true."

To listen to her teammates tell the tale, Hamm even has been acting as a corporate and motivational psychologist for the sensitive Garciaparra, counseling him that the move to Chicago is just part of the business of pro sports.

Despite the couple's jarring uprooting from Boston, where they had bought a home during the offseason, Wambach said Hamm has maintained a steely-eyed concentration on the field and shown no signs of being distracted from the goal of Olympic gold.

"I haven't noticed one thing from her because she's very focused on what we have to do," Wambach said. "She's right on page and as confident as I've ever seen her."

Even Heather O'Reilly, a 19-year-old forward playing in her first Olympics, weighed in on the Nomar factor. In O'Reilly's analysis: What's good for Nomar, is good for Mia, is good for the team.

"We're big fans of Nomar both as a person and as a baseball player," O'Reilly said.

But, apparently, ex-fans of the Red Sox. The entire squad, Wambach said, has traded its "red hats for blue hats."

For the international reporting contingent, this translation was necessary: "blue," as in Chicago Cubs blue.