As best as I can tell, she was never a pariah with the players, just a very big subset of the fans. Competitive professional athletes in team sports are generally agnostic about their teammates personal opinions and activities as long as they help them win. Obviously with the Courage being in its fourth consecutive championship game as well as having won the last three Shields, her presence has been a problem with her club teammates - many of whom are "out and proud". I, personally, find some of her past public statements distasteful, but week in and week out I watch her interact with those with far more right to be put out, offended, hurt, or harmed and I see nothing but comradeship and professionalism. They don't all necessarily hang out with her, but she is sure as hell respected on the field by teammates and opponents alike.
To be fair, Harris put Hinkle on blast in a short Twitter thread not too long ago, and I thought I saw several other USWNTers like those Tweets, so there's certainly some friction from other players. How pervasive, IDK, especially since Harris is one of the more outspoken personalities to begin with. = = = = = Anyway, the First XI and Second XI have been announced: http://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/article/2019-nwsl-best-xi-and-second-xi-announced Pretty highly suggests that Bledsoe will be the GotY and Balcer will be the RotY. Considering that a lot of the media & fan discussion about DotY was between Short & Hinkle, but Hinkle isn't even on the Second XI, I'm guessing it's gonna be Short - but that fact that Hinkle isn't anywhere to be seen here may mean someone's snuck in...
That's the most ridiculous best XI ever. And the most ridiculous choice of all is Rose Lavelle. She played a grand total of 6 games this year and scored one goal. And she's on the first XI? Second worse choice: Rapinoe on the second XI? She also appeared in only six games.
And Jess Fishlock's tweet in all the uproar over the League's Best XI teams had her picking Hinkle. It would be interesting to see how the player's votes for the the league and union lists line up.
Sydney Leroux agrees: There is no doubt that these players are some of the best in the world but this is an absolute disservice to the NWSL players who played the entire season. Without them, there is no NWSL. https://t.co/viJesz0DCg— Sydney Leroux (@sydneyleroux) October 25, 2019 The only USWNT player that I personally think should be on the Best XI seeing that she had a standout season despite being away for WWC play would be Julie Ertz who made a significant difference when with Chicago. But I think there's a good argument for Press and Sauerbrunn, too. In addition to Lavelle and Rapinoe, I think Heath and Horan didn't have amazing enough seasons to make the Best XI this year, maybe Second Best XI. The real head scratcher is there's no Debinha in and no Williams in either team (and they were second in the assists and goals category for the league, respectively). The sad thing is that the Best XI is determined mostly by people in the industry themselves.
Yes, you get the feeling that Lavelle and Rapinoe were chosen for their performance in the WWC, but it was no NWSL, so they shouldn't be in the best XI for that specific tournament. To me, the biggest head scratcher is no Nagasato in the best XI, since she's #1 in the league in the assist category. But I admit Debinha too (arguably one of the best NC players this season) doesn't even deserve a second best XI's place. I know there are a boatload and excellent MFs in the league, but seriously... I hope no-one take offense, but you get the feeling that non-US players were crippled in this vote and that a player from USWNT, despite just playing a few games in the league, had more chances of making these best XI teams than an excellent player from overseas who actually left her mark on this league.
I actually like Jess Fishlock's' picks... a lot. My only question is, who is "Lulu?" I’m just going to put my NWSL team of the year out here - based on the ACTUAL NWSL season. As I think that’s been lost somewhere. Feel free to do the same peeps. Murphy Short BeckyS Lulu Hinkle Ertz Debinha Yuki Hamilton Kerr Press— Jessica Fishlock MBE (@JessFishlock) October 24, 2019
Oh, yeah; I don't disagree that Hinkle has been one of the best D's in the league. From a competition standpoint, I agree with your earlier comments that other players in the league should and do recognize her skill as a player. I was more trying to provide more nuance to your statement about her place in the NT (and maybe league?) culture. That is, people can still highly respect your talent on the field while also not wanting you as a person on their team. To your second point, it does make everyone wonder exactly how all the different subdivisions of voters lined up... You have to imagine that the player votes in both cases can't be too different - unless the league really mixed up their bookkeeping. I can entirely understand if the fan vote got heavily skewed by the influx of WWC fans, so if the voting was close with the combination of the other three categories, then that could explain things. Though how it could be close enough on other categories to include Lavelle+Rapinoe while ignoring Hinkle+Debhina still would be odd. I wonder if owners voted for PR, or if the media vote itself was skewed somehow. I notice that the "NWSL Media" Twitter account has said *nothing* directly since Oct11, and none of the RTs they've done since then have touched the official NWSL awards. Apparently, neither Meg Linehan nor Caitlin Murray got media ballots, which strikes me as incredibly odd.
Lavelle's six games must have been dynamite games. She must have scored about 15 goals in those games. Oh.
Balcer is the rookie of the year. No surprise there -- but surprisingly DiBiasi edged out Staab, both of Washington, for second place. Staab should have been a close second to Balcer. DiBiasi started the season with a bang, but faded -- IMO.
For all the deserved crap the Best and Second XI selections have gotten, the other 3 awards have been the right choices.
Just saw on NWSL website that Becky Sauerbrunn got DOTY for NWSL - I was hoping for Casey Short - oh, well, nothing against Becky.
I am so tired of Casey Short not getting respect. Kept off the World Cup team for an old has-been, and now doesn't win Defensive Player of the Year even though she keeps winning Defensive Player monthly, consistently. Unbelievable!
Plenty against Becky. Not as egregious as Kelly O'Hara's 242 minutes played being good enough to be a top 8 defender, but still only playing 14 of 24 games shouldn't qualify someone for "defender of the year". Missing over 40% of the season should be a limiting factor. Frankly, I'd have been fine with either Short or Hinkle. I think Short was better over the course of the season, but Hinkle's form the last two months of the regular season was incredible.
I’m very appreciative of this, and please know that even being considered for this award is an honor. Lu, Abby, Jae, and especially Casey all have better claims to this award than I. I must acknowledge that and the quality they brought to their teams and to this NWSL season. https://t.co/myMv4sCkj2— Becky Sauerbrunn (@beckysauerbrunn) October 30, 2019
Exactly the classy response I've come to expect from Becky and quite similar to her response to winning the award in 2015.
Typically, Sauerbrunn's comment is modest -- but I agree with her. First, she only played 14 games out of 24. Secondly, Utah had an excellent defense without her --as well as with her. Either Short or Hinkle should have been defender of the year in my opinion.
Given that the Defender of the Month was Short for each and every month, I'm not sure when Sauerbrunn (or anyone else) was better.
After the laughable First and Second XI teams were released, it's clear NWSL "awards" are not worth the paper they are printed on. Not merit based, simply a popularity contest. Useless. Therefore Short shouldn't feel too bad-- although to narrowly miss the World Cup roster, her club team get demolished in the league final, then to get disrespected by this vote is a triple whammy that can't feel great. Glad Becky acknowledged what everyone is thinking in her post.
Except that these awards do matter in some contexts. Many players have bonuses based on such awards. It's easier to get personal sponsorship deals when you can call yourself an NWSL Best XI or Defender of the Year. Appearance fees for appearances and player camps are higher. In the long run, these sorts of things are used to build resumes for various honors or Halls of Fame. Eventually the league will get this sorted out and these things will have some weight, there'll be no asterisks for 2019. This will be a lost opportunity for some of the rank and file players. Monetarily and reputationally.