Hope Solo Book Club: "SOLO: A Memoir of Hope"

Rather than clog up other threads, we might as well get a new one started for Hope's book.

http://espn.go.com/espnw/8262799/hope-solo-writes-personal-struggles-new-book

In it, she writes about how U.S. coach Pia Sundhage asked her to delay publication of the book, threatening to not play her in the Olympics if it came out prior to the Games.

Here's an excerpt about the 2007 World Cup:

http://espn.go.com/espnw/more-sport...per-hope-solo-details-benching-2007-world-cup

Don't forget there is also a Young Readers' Edition.

I'm waiting for the book-on-tape edition myself, narrated by the author no less.

Good for Pia to tell her to keep the book for after the Olympics. Frankly, that decision should have been a no brainer for Solo & her agent. But whatevs. As I said elsewhere, here's my initial reaction to the one excerpt I read:

Solo says she isn't getting any d@mn fillings and you're being mean to her for even liking that Hamm got the fillings.

Oh, and Hamm yelled at her in practice so the '99ers suck and Solo is going to make it sound like all the 'younger' players didn't like them.

(Please note, my views of Solo off the field do not take away my ability to appreciate her very excellent abilities on the field)

I'll pass...

and this is why....I get so tired of overly dramatic athletes portraying every day life as a "struggle".

Though I will admit the "conceived on a conjugal visit while my dad's in jail" is a different angle.

You post is more enjoyable if I imagine this guy saying it.

struggle with what? I don't mean to offend and I feel bad what she had to go through with her father but at least she had her mother and her brother for support. Some children don't have either and grow up in the projects and orphanages. Hope is like the number one goalkeeper in the United States and that's not good enough for her? She is way too dramatic for my liking.

And those children have even bigger struggles than she had. But that doesn't lessen the fact that growing up as a female athlete with a dad who spent a large part of her youth in jail was indeed a struggle. Some children in Africa starve to death and never see their first birthdays. But that doesn't lessen the suffering of a child receiving chemo to survive cancer. Struggling isn't an all-or-none word.

Let's face it: Hope is a flake. And I firmly believe the lack of a strong father figure in her early life may have had a lot to do with it. No offense to those on this board who were raised by single mothers and turned out just fine, but I've seen the opposite happen with far more frequency.

hope a flake? what does that mean?
did you have dinner plans and she didn't show up?

the second part is a little off color in many ways, i'll have to disagree with Hope's problems going back to her father's involvement in her youth.

Which leads me to the main problem I have with Hope, she doesn't take responsibility for herself and thought process you mentioned above enables this too often with too many people.

There comes a time to become an adult.

It's funny, because your statements have proven my point. Here's one definition of "flake" in the Urban Dictionary:
A useless, shady, deceitful person who is so unreliable and selfish they cause you much anger and frustration. A Flake's only agenda is what they want to do. They have a weak character, often the products of bad parenting/spoiling kids. A Flake will make plans, never attend, and give no reason for their absence, even after they spent hours calling, texting, or emailing you. Flakes try to manipulate everybody, and sometimes are not the idiots they appear to be. A Flake often has little to no real friends due to their erratic behavior. You can never rely on a Flake. When questioned about their behavior, a Flake just gives up on the relationship and moves on to another person. Flakes can't get by in the real world and often act immature beyond their years, causing them to be labeled as "useless" human beings.

That's pretty harsh, but it basically sums up what I mean. I can excuse her tirade directed at Ryan, because his decision in 2007 was one of the most boneheaded choices in the history of soccer. But Solo even hung her own team mates out to dry with her commentary after the Canada game this year.

As far as your second point, I'm not sure what you mean, by "off color" as I used no profanity in my statement. And research has shown everything I've said to be true:

http://library.wcsu.edu/dspace/bitstream/0/527/1/Final Thesis.pdf

http://insightnews.com/health/8148-growing-up-without-a-father-the-impact-on-girls-and-women

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3724-absent-fathers-linked-to-teenage-pregnancies.html

When this damage is done there is no repair, even after one has become an adult. By making this diagnosis, one does not become an "enabler" as you tried to say. It just gives one a better understanding of why a person is incapable of acting the way you'd like them to.

Hope Solo will be on tonights edition of "Piers Morgan Tonight" which is on CNN -
9:00 pm ET-10:00 pm ET - repeats 12:00 am ET-1:00 am ET and 3:00 am ET -
4:00 am ET. If you miss any of the showings - http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/
- should have video of the interview up sometime on Wednesday.

A woman with daddy issues... We know what's up next after the book tour is done.

Thrace has a review out on it:

http://thrace-.tumblr.com/post/29408778026/solo-a-memoir-of-hope-hope-solo-with-ann

Excellent review. Very interesting. Definitely want to read this more now.

Greg Ryan says he did not push Solo or 'put hands on her'

I'm with BrooklynSoccer w/ respect to jackiesdad's "it's b/c her father wasn't around" bs.

I see why no one watches Piers Morgan..

If Greg really did shove her, why didn't she push him back or complain? She complained about everything else..

Edit: She all but confirms that she was "scarred" by her family life..

Yep.

It will be interesting to see if anyone else responds to anything said about them in the book. I'm going to guess they'll ignore it. Ryan can't ignore it--especially the claim the he pushed her. He's a college coach and recruiting kids is hard enough for him w/o parents wondering if he'll mistreat their daughters. In fact, college recruiting being what it is, if he feels he has any way to prove he didn't push her, exploring a defamation suit might be advisable.

It's been clear for a while that Solo has never really liked the '91ers or the '99ers. Whether that's b/c they yelled at her during practices when she screwed up (especially when she was new) or what I don't know. But interviews she's often made it sound like many people on the team didn't necessarily mesh w/ the Golden Generation but I don't believe that -- especially given what others have said in various places.

Greg Ryan has no option, but to say that he didn't do it whether he did or not. I don't know whether Hope's account is accurate, but the reality is that things like what Hope described happen frequently without being reported when they occur without witnesses. Some of these posts are evidence of why they go unreported, quite often people jump to blame the victim. Whether Hope was a victim or not like I said I don't know. What would Hope have to gain by getting into a he said/she said with her coach? Especially if she wanted to be the starting goaltender on the National team. There aren't any other job options. And I've yet to see where Hope said this event by itself was an offense worthy of being reported or Greg Ryan being fired.

No one is blaming anyone. We simply wondered why a woman, who just proclaimed herself a "great role model for young girls" and, who is known for "defending herself", would not fight back or report a physical altercation by a male aggressor. If the incident wasn't that serious, then why even put it in the book?

Because it is her best recollection of what happened? If that's what she remembers why she should leave it out?

I've read the excerpts and I come to the same conclusion I had before the Olympics......Hope Solo is a whack job. There's numerous examples where her credibility is low:

1) Had the pushing incident happened with Ryan, someone like her would have reported it or someone would have witnessed it.
2) She claims that the team was drunk in a 2008 live interview on the "Today" show, but when you watch it on YouTube, no one is slurring their speach, looks incoherent or behaves in any manner that would make you think this was true.
3) Last year she goes out of her way to say what a nice guy Borislow is and now she admits he was anything but.
4) Out of all of the "99'ers", Kristine Lilly sought out the least publicity and was always a class act and perfect teammate. If you have a problem with her, then there's something wrong with you.

How hypocritical it is of her to say that she was mistreated by her teammates in the 2007 meeting, but yet it's okay for her to publicly criticize her coach and Scurry?

I went to B&N today and read a good chunk of Hope Solo's book. She has a LOT to say about her days playing for Greg Ryan. More then even Pia from what I read. I'ts like she wanted to set the record straight. She begins by painting a really bad image of Ryan, even the way his face looks.

If I understood right from reading, she mentions that she went to get up from where she was sitting while Ryan was scolding her for being late and not showing up for team meals so he push her back on her chair saying I'm not done talking to you. Something to that affect. It wasn't that he just came from nowhere to shove her.

I've gotten worse from my college coach. I recall being called a "p_ssy" and punched in the chest for letting 2 goals go in in 10 minutes against North Carolina State one time. Didn't think much of it. Just was embarrassed.

There's two sides to every story.

She also actually talks admirably about Dan Borislow, IMO. How in so many words, he called out the bullsh_t dished out by WPS. Her relationship with Abby Wambach has been a roller-coaster ride as well according to what I read.

Oh yeah, did you know Greg Ryan played the guitar and sang in front of the team? What is it about these coaches and playing guitars and singing. Did April or Tony play an instrument?

For those of us who are regulars here and who love discussing the life and travels of one Hope Solo its an interesting read.

Then why do YOU think she's such a whack-job, Dr. Freud? Genetics? Diet? Do you have a better explanation, since you have no problem calling my post "bs"?

1. Maks apparently slapped and pushed Hope on DWTS and she kept it quiet...so maybe she kept the shove from Greg quiet too.

2. when people are drunk, they drink not to appear drunk. Maybe Hope just meant they were buzz and having a hangover

3. last year, she was still attached to Borislow, so maybe she didn't want to badmouth the boss who treat the national players very well

4. don't know Lily too well to comment.

being mistreated and criticizing others are similar actions?


and...awww...you only read the excerpts and not the whole book