Em's Journal

Food for thought- ATTN: Women's soccer fans
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/sports/soccer/25goalie.html?ref=sports

I remember when this whole thing went down. It really and truly sucked and continues to suck. I'm extremely bothered by some of the implications of this article, but I'll get into that later.

As many of you know, I was a goalie for 14 years. I started at the age of 4 and played until I was 18. I was a goalie the whole time, believe it or not. I tried it once and fell in love. At one point, I was in the Olympic Development Program and went to ID camp (where they scout you). I was on the Massachusetts state team, thus making me the number one ranked goalie in the state. That is misleading, however, because I was only number one because I was ranked higher than the other goalie on the team- and I made the team, whereas others had not. However, keep in mind that in order to truly be number 1, everyone in the state would have had to try out. This was right before I stopped growing for good- which put me out of the running for Division 1 soccer in college (this happened at 14- you can already know as a keeper by then), which was sad, but a good turn, because it led me to choose my college on other merits- and Smith was the best thing that ever happened to me. ANYWAY- point being, I ate, slept, and breathed soccer. I was lucky enough to grow up in the height of women's soccer dream team- Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Tiffany Milbrett, Brandi Chastain, Michelle Akers, Kristine Lilly, Brianna Scurry, and Joy Fawcett. I remember when the fab 5 retired together after a victory against Brazil- the younger players were so respectful. Abby Wambach, the future of the sport, scoring the winning goal in Athens, but taking none of the spotlight. She, and the other young players, repeatedly said, this isn't about us- this is about the women who got us here. They deserve this win, and we will get it for them. Do not focus on us. These trailblazing women, particularly Hamm, the face of the sport, were more than an inspiration to young players like me. However, out of those women, Brianna Scurry was the most important to me. She was the goalie- the glue of the time, often underpraised and taken for granted. She always let others take the credit, because she knows what sportsmanship is- it's letting your team take your glory, because you are part of the team. Everyone always talks about the winning kick from Brandi Chastain, where she fatefully took her shirt off (don't even get me started on that- for crying out loud, it was a sports bra- get over it!). Nobody talks about the winning save- saving a penalty kick is a lot harder than scoring one. It wins games. She won that championship.

If it weren't for her, Hope Solo wouldn't have a career. Should Hope Solo have played? Yes- she was the hot keeper, it made sense to put her in. That's irrelevant. You never throw a teammate under the bus. It is SO unsportsmanly. The utter disregard for Scurry's experience and accomplishments, the direct attack on her, is unforgiveable- what a stark contrast between Wambach in 2004 and Solo now. I don't care if her teammates are shunning her- wouldn't you? Wouldn't you be afraid that you would be the next person she blames the next loss on? As a goalie, I would NEVER say that I know I would have made saves that the other didn't- LET ALONE TO THE PRESS. You can't know that until you are in the game. That's just the way it is.

One thing that particularly bothers me is the gender blame indicated in this article. Yes, perhaps a male sports star could have gotten away with those comments. But does that make it right? OF COURSE NOT. The answer is not to lower the level of sportmanship for one gender- it's to raise it for the other.

The stuff with her father... I understand she was hurting, but I still don't see the direct connection between throwing a teammate under the bus and grieving for your father's death. I would be more apt to accept this if she did not still stand by what she had said- that she should have been played, that she would have made those saves.

Her apologies are non-apologies- they are excuses. She only apologized for the personal attack on Scurry, but not the rest- which in my opinion, was still an attack on Scurry. No respect.

I feel like I need to say this again- If it weren't for Scurry, the Olympian, world cup winner, and WUSA founder, Solo would have nowhere to play. She would graduate college, and there would be no avenues for her pursue women's soccer. She owes Scurry a debt. I'm not saying she has to thank her every day- but to disrespect her... unacceptable.

I know they need to move on. They need to forgive her so that they can work as a team to succeed. Nonetheless, I won't be crying any tears or feeling any sympathy for Solo.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Closer- HA!

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