Right you are, Millie-fan. Although the statement is accurate with all things being equal, it is not a very fair statement as it pertained to Millie when she was with the Power, because all things weren't equal. The Power lacked greatly. All over the field. Back to the WNT: For me it comes down to this: Millie chose for personal reasons she did not want to play on a team that probably would've cut her anyway. From my position it was a win-win because for whatever reason April was afraid to cut her. Perhaps she felt bad, especially because she must've known Millie was a bit disenfranchised, and didn't want to release her to cause even more pain. Who knows. It doesn't matter. Millie is gone. All things must come to an end. The Nats. move on.
No she didn't enjoy it. She always complained that it wasn't enough. Excuse me but Mia never told kids following her to ******** off. Nor did she ever tell the media to either. When she has 1000 kids screaming her name she has to unfortunately tell some of them only one auto. That is not telling them to ******** off. That this never happened is not Mia's fault. But it is to some extent Millie's. I'm sorry but fans don't like whiners. It's a turn off. As a fan of the team it made me cringe everytime I read another quote about how she wished some people would retire or about she hasn't gotten her due. Imagine what the casual fan thought when they read those statments. One of Mia's biggest attractions was always her humility. To hear her speak of herself you get the feeling she would rather be hanging out in the background watching someone else take the spotlight. I don't understand what you mean with this statement. Could you please clarify?
<---- Kristin Luckenbill say "HI!!!" to everyone and she wishes Millie the best in her endeavours!!! When I was at the 2001 WUSA All-Star Gala in Portland six years ago, I had her sign LoTheLurker's 57th birthday card. I asked her if she could make it out to "Lorraine". She looked at me like "WTF you think I'm gonna spell out Lorraine?!?!? I will spell out 'Lo' and that's it and she better like it. If not tell her to shove it where the sun don't shine". So she signed in "Happy Birthday Lo" and shoved it back to me and I ran outside the Multonomah Athletic Club crying like a girl until some homeless man with Hepatitis C gave me a shiny new quarter and then I was happy again. But ever since then, this 42 year old effeminine male has always been afraid of Muriel Gladys Hamm. Errr wait...there was that one time at RFK during the 2000 WUSA season when I blew chunder.......
My how time flies. ---- Somehow folks have gotten off track. Millie is no longer on the national team because she's no longer good enough. Athletes age, some faster than others. For players whose games are dependant on speed or strength, the decline is usually faster.
M9fanatic: I never said Mia did. I said that Millie didn't in reference to the fact that a lot of pro athletes do. You make it sound like every single time someone stuck a microphone or tape recorder in her face all she did was complain about the '91ers. She made comments like that in late 1999 after the World Cup when she had such a great tournament and no one congratulating her. The thing with Tiffeny is that if she was going to be as big as Mia she wanted to do it by being her own self and she's different from everyone else. If you know the first thing about Tiff is that she's not going to do something pretending to be some Mia replicate. I agree it is a bit of a turnoff but I think I only heard her say things like that 2 or 3 times. I meant that you can't blame Millie for not being as big as she is. She can't do all the marketing herself. Her job was to go out and play and do well. For most of her career she did that and everyone treated her like dirt. The only time she got endorsements or attention was when Mia was injured or after Nike dropped her contract for not performing well with the Freedom [Bad year for them, they didn't gel well and Mia was going through the same thing Millie went through in 2002 and 2003-lack of team success and a very painful meniscus knee injury] and then her demanding more money for it.
I've heard her do that on three occasions. Mia can cuss like a sailor. There are players still on the national team that are no longer good enough. FearM9 is not his real screen name. His real screen name is IFearM9. Don't worry, many of us have wondered the same thing. Please avoid using long words like "comprehend" when addressing M9fanatic.
Disclaimer: Hamm-star has a reputation for bad mouthing any player that poses even a small threat to Mia. Wrong, I think that is what you're looking at.
Quote: PortlandPilot15 Hamm-star: You criticize Tiff for leaving her team for selfish reasons. Because she didn't get the publicity, etc... If you were just as good as Mia, scored as many goals and more IMPORTANT goals, you'd be upset too. If she was on the national team as long as Mia she'd have just as many goals. [99 goals in 199 games isn't exactly crap ya know] At 31 years old soccer may be your job but how do you get motivated to do your job when you go from being the best to sitting on the bench without an explanation. All she was doing was sticking up for herself by leaving the team and showing people that she didn't want to take their crap anymore. Just because she's not as angelic as Mia doesn't mean shes a beyeotch who doesn't care about her team. No wonder she is sore when she has an idea [Mia Hamm secrets video] and people take it and give it and all the glory to Mia, again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PP15 Let me clearify one point with you. i am not argueing Millie's worth on the pitch through her career. Millie was an intigral part of the teams success. My issue with Millie is I think that no matter who the coach is, (unless clive charles is reserected) Millie will never be satisfied. I do not think that anyone can argue she has always had an enormous chip on her shoulder. As for the video's well it is all about spin isn't it? you said Quote: The reason she may not feel so great about the '91ers [SI article here folks] is that in one of her first training sessions back in 1991 was Anson humiliated her in front of the whole team and instead of sticking up for their teammate, they laughed at her. What a way to be accepted into the team, eh? Well if she is that sensitive that she is going to hold a grudge over an incident that occured when she first joined the nats then she is very fragile emotionally to begin with. do you suppose that Heather O' hates Mia and Lil because they played a prank on her? every one of those women have made fun of each other and been made fun of. millie was not the first and she will not be the last.
In the case of Millie and the Power I have to agree with PP15 and Milbrett. Millie suffered the same situation that Mia did in the sense that no matter how good or talented or how hard you work, You are going to have a very difficult time putting the ball in the back of the net if you have no one to play it through to you, and no one to work with. Mia was alone pretty much in season 1. In season 2 some of those holes got filled and is season 3 the final peice of the puzzle was brought in. for millie it was kind of the reverse. In season 1. She had Gro espeseth. And other players with whom she could work the ball forward. at the end of season 1> Gro retired sadly and a worthy replacement was never found. Whalan was injured and unable to go. so the Power really took some significant hits personel wise and they floundered when nothing was really done to bring in players who could help. In my opinion welsh was the first player signed for 2003 that i really thought Hey!...I think the Power have got something here. They needed strength and height up top and they got it from welsh. Peerman could have been potentialy cultivated but I never saw anyone on the coaching staff make that great an effort to do so. I thought peerman might have made an excellent defensive mid or holding mid. But all in all what happened with the Power did not have as much to do with Millie as it had to do with inadiquete coaching and vision.
My point wasn't the comparison of on field woes for both Mia and Millie... I think we're petty much all in agreement that both teams had issues at one point. My point is everyone is blaming Millie's NT issues (her decline in the past year) with April and her knee. She clearly had issues in season two, the suckage of her team not withstanding. All I'm saying is her decline clearly can't be blamed on just Ape or her knee. It had been coming. Mia demanded more money and was dropped? When did that happen?
Im assuming she is referring to the SI for Women Millie article in which there was a blurb that Mrs. Garciappara hadn't renewed her contract with Nike. I believe it was this same article in which a Nike spokesperson said that Millie was gonna be the new face of women's soccer for Nike. Either tonight or tomorrow I'm gonna go to my storage unit and hunt down that damn magazine.
One of the things I have always liked about Women's soccer, especially as it was exhibited in the WUSA, is that it was pure sport (see my post in the "5 yr anniversary" thread for more clarification). The players, largely without egos, wanted to be there. Many were talented and could work that stage in any league, but all worked hard to be there, to stay on top, and to push on for good of the team. It was sport in its truest form. It was all team, all the time (with the exception of a few players). Most became solid role models. They all seemed to be friendly with each other, even opponents, yet still wouldn't back down on any one on one. It was not about who was the most popular; it was not (entirely) about who got the most goals or signed the most autographs... it was about pure sport. For the love of the game. Role models were made, some because of who they were and what they did in former lives. You never heard in the media players jealous of others or crying they deserved more attention. They just went out and played. Mia was a fan favorite, and deservedly so. In a former life she went out and performed well, held her own, and made a name for herself. She grew into one of the great American role models. Perhaps she was at the right place at the right time, but when the spot light was on her, she delivered. A role model was born. Millie came along and did much what Mia did, debateably even more so, but she never garnered the attention of Mia, if she was even looking for it, which we all seem to think she was. Perhaps it was because she came after someone had already done it... she was not the first. Perhaps it was because the American viewing public thought Millie wasn't as pretty. Whatever the reason, she, as is any other sports player, is not entitled to it. Role models are made. Attention usually goes to role models. The popular ones. This is beyond anyones control. All you can do it perform. And be yourself. Mia got the attention. Millie got the attention, but less of it. Mia got very little (if none) negative attention -- perhaps because nobody would see it. Millie got some negative attention -- that's what one bad comment does to someone who's in the public eye. The public would be quicker to forgive a bad comment from Mia than Millie (because they held Mia on a higher pedestal. The problem I have with Millie is that, according all the articles I've read (and even posters on BS), she feels she is owed more attention. This is not pure sport. Mia is pure sport. She never asked for it but got it anyway. Yes, I am a Mia fan. But I also used to be a Millie fan... I used to love the excitement she'd bring to a game when with the USWNT she come on as a super sub... you almost knew she'd could score at any moment. Mia is still on the USWNT. Millie is not. Mia is still performing at the highest level. Millie is not. Mia never asked for attention. Millie (seemed to) did.
Portland Pilots 15, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, but all of this Mia/Millie stuff really doesn't matter. Millbrett, who was the best player in the world in 2001, has had her game rapidly decline since then. If the WUSA reformed tomorrow, I'd love to have her on the Carolina Courage. I think she's probably got several very good club years left. I don't think, however, she should be on the national team. Which is a sentiment I feel about several of the other oldtimers still getting called in. Oh, and grey boxes don't mean anything so I don't know if I hurt your feelings or you agree with me. I'm just guessing based on your screenname.
*grumbles* Damn Mineral Production Royalties report of mine won't balance. ------ Well hopefully this won't turn into a "Who Should Be The Next USWNT Coach" hijack ..... OK...Millie has left the door open to return back to the team if there is a coaching change. As we all know now, the main published reason she left is that her and Heinrichs were not on the same level in terms of coaching/playing philosophy. With that being said...what do potential coaching candidates bring to the table in terms of coaching/playing philosophy that would work with Millie? One of the faves is Mr. Chastain. How does he structure his practices at SCU? What is his style of soccer? What about Pia Sundhage? What philosophies and style did she bring to Boston that made her a success? Isn't she credited with the formation of Philly's defense? Was she defensive minded in Boston? Who else am I leaving out?
You didn't hurt my feelings. I was fine with what you said, it's your take on the situation and that doesn't bother me. I appreciate your being considerate of my feelings though. I am going to agree with you on this. The national team needs to go young again and this movement should leave Tiff playing club ball. Much like Cobi Jones' situation, if I'm not mistaken. Foudy's on the cover with a soccer ball on her head. I believe it is April 2002, if that helps. Well addressed and I can agree with that. No disagreement there. I would say Lauren Gregg but I think since she lost the position to April and then moved on to her efforts with the WUSA, I don't find her so eligible.
I think the SIW article that had the Millie article that discussed Nike had Brandi on the cover. Right before the league kicked off.
Try to cut and paste this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5234923/ or this: http://www.nbcolympics.com/soccer/index.html?method=POPUP Re Tiffeny Milbrett: Milbrett sits as U.S. women’s soccer preps Star says she simply can't play for Heinrichs anymore Very interesting.
People consider Millie weak and whiny for bitching about how she was treated by teammates and coaches and/or abadoning ship. That's a reasonable opinion, but it is beside the point. It's her decision and it is her perception. She's burned some bridges, and I have to believe that she's smart enough know that. I am grateful that someone exposed April for the control freak she has become-the problem is, when you bitch about any coach you have had on the NT, it is going to detract from your credibility. And, other players have been able to integrate into the UNC gang...e.g. Foudy & Brandi. I think Millie's chip is multi-dimensional. It comes from an unprivileged existence. She made her way to Portland where she loved her coach like a father, where she was the program's founding player-she then landed on the national team where Mia was the apple of Anson's eye. No slap to Millie's looks, but Mia had the face (to go along with amazing talent) and got more attention because of it. Now Mia deserved everything she got, the sponsorships the attention, the accolades. The combination of Mia's personality, looks and talent has done a great deal for women's soccer. Yet no one can tell me it is not harder for someone who does not have Mia's looks. That's society, and it sucks. The other issue, Millie's declining play, also has to be looked at. Some will say its pure age, some burnout, some a misdiagnosis. Since we do not know if or how she will come back, it's all speculative. Certainly Millie was unhappy in varying degrees during her time with the nats, but playing for Heinrichs, an uncommunicative tyrant, and losing Clive, did a number on her mind along with the above factors. When you are beat down emotionally, when you are struggling physically, it is hard to be strong, and it's not a bad idea to walk away. When going to work becomes intolerable, you have to leave. Every person has to do what's right for them. Every person processes experiences differently. Whatever Millie says is the truth for her. And she'd be the first person to tell you to eff off if you don't like what she says. I do not think she's asking for pity...I think she's just telling it how she sees it-she's trying to tell us that the NT is not always one big happy family, and we don't want to hear it. She's trying to let us know that things are particularly wrong on this team at the moment. She can do that now, because she's walked away. I for one hope to hear more some day. It makes for interesting discussion.
Nicely worded, DW Hopefully, we will find out soon enough what will happen next...the Olympics are just around the corner.
They might have mentioned Tiff in there but there was a 4 page article [first is a picture] on her in SIW in the April 2002 w/ Jules on the cover. I just read the article in the first column on the third page they mention how Mia was out of contract with Nike. k..sorry from diverting the thread.
well said. and if the team doesn't perform well in athens, i think we'll really see the fur fly, a la steve sampson in '98.
Milbrett article I don't know how to make a link with the title of the article, but here it is. I thought that some of you might be interested. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olym...millbrett-quitting-team_x.htm?POE=click-refer