Hooper and USA players at the WWC

She;s Brandi Chastain in a different colour uni. Think about it.

Out spoken.

Tough, BUT NOT DIRTY.

Defensive to all and any.

You hate her becuase she's what you admire, except not your nationality.

 

Perhaps. BUT if she was so wrong in her fouling, she would have gpt carded. And don't tell me you didn't see Abby dive a few times.

I did. Both, that should have been a foul, that should have been dive.

I can be impatial. You ask, and I'll tell you what should have been called.

Hoops elbow (in the second, can't rememer the time) on abby, was a foul. NO REF CALL. So what are you gunna do. The REFS CALL NO FOUL THEREFORE IN THE OFFICAL BOOK THERE IS NO FOUL. Argue that, please.

 

Hooper got 4th place.

Alas, we can sit here and argure all night about player conduct, the unfortuate part is I think i few anmenmtionasle plaers (if you wanna know the names PM me) are just as dirty as they get.

I'm not sayit cause they;re Yank, I'm saying it cause every damn team has thier player, and if you can't admit it.. mat you ... GUESSS

]oh, so right ... ROT

We a;; have that player, so stop being s o *#*#*#*#ing self rightous

 

Of course Hooper's dirty. She played at N.C. State.

I think Wambach went down easy once or twice. Hooper, though, could've carded three or four times.

She carries around a huge chip on her shoulder, which is odd considering that the U.S. players and coaches seem to have a lot of respect for her.

 

As I was pissing and moaning to my wife about Hooper's rough play I also wondered aloud whether I'd be saying the same things if she were playing for the US.

Hopefully I would, but I'm not so sure.

Of course, refs that put a stop to such play would help a lot.

 

I think it's odd considering she was trained in the US. Both at the collegiate level and professionally.

The chip on her shoulder stems from two things. (Both by the way admitted by her so I’m not making this up)

1. She would rather be playing for the USA.
2. She wants to be as popular as Mia.

 

I doubt she'd rather be playing for the US right now, she said that a while ago didn't she? When only a few years ago the canadian players didn't have a fulltime coach, 1 or 2 camps a year- in which they had to pay for...who wouldn't want to play for the US when they're making money by playing meanwhile the canucks have to pay to play?! She stuck with the team though. After '99, all the players wanted to quit...and im not talking about 1 or 2 of them, but all of them wanted to leave. And it was, after all, Hooper who made the CSA get a new coach.

She's agressive so quit complaining. That's how the coach wants that team to play. Hooper's job that game was to cover Wambach- she's big...very big, so obviously she would've had to play even rougher against her. It's not her fault the giant falls so easily or dives so much waiting for the call every game. You'd think someone like Wambach would be able to hold her ground a bit better, obviously she's a diver...Matheson coulda taken her out!

 

Re: Wah! Wah! Wah!

I wasn't whining, just commenting. But you're right I was thinking Portland. Columbus surface was excellent.

 

Lets be real people

Just a couple of quick things to say folks.

1. I don't want anybody on my team ever playing without a chip on his or her shoulder. Maybe if the U.S had a bigger chip they would have won this darn cup.

2. Anything that can be put up on a teams pin up board and used as motivation is a mistake.

3. Does Hooper go a little over the line? At times yes.

4. One of the biggest compliments you can give a female soccer player is that she plays like a guy. Hooper plays like a guy!

5. We are not discussing this issue of "dirty play" if Hooper was a guy.

6. Some of what she says about the U.S team is true. Some of those ladies have spent the time in between world Cups being "Rockstars" I believe some of the fame got in the way.

7. Hooper is a Canadian through and through. Her beef was with the CSA when she said she would have loved to played for the USA " Put it this way. Two Families. One familly feeds its kids all they want and loves a nurtures their developement. The other familly starves and mistreats the kids. You tell me what familly those skinny malnurished kids would want to belong to.

8. Hooper should be happy she was able to play in the WUSA. Maybe even thankfull. However,by some of what I am reading on these posts she should be bending over and kissing the toes of all of the Founding players. No Chance. She made a great living playing overseas before the WUSA and would have made one if the league had not exhisted.

9. My take on her beef with some of the founding players is that they DID NOT pull their weight in the WUSA and that my friends is the the pisser. When you are busting your but on a daily basis and producing at record breaking levels it is tough to see people who are floundering professionally constantly being propped up to the fans and living large because of it. No folks, I am not talking about Mia Hamm. That girl is a stud and Hooper is the first to admit it. But unlike some other Founders she brought it every week she played. Hurt or healthy.

10. Finally, I am a proud yank. I love to watch the US play. But I have to say that all I hear from them is that they play a superier style of soccer than Canada or for that matter other teams around the world. I have to say this , and some people might not like it. If you listen to some of the statements from the US team you would think that there is two styles of Soccer. Brutally physical and Very Technical. They aspire to be totally technical and they have achieved a very high level. But the bottom line is that you have to KICK ASS when you play. And that they don't do all that well. If I ever hear one of my players crying about the physicality of an opposing team I lay into them. Either you match it or even better it or else you are doomed at some point. Physicality is a huge part of soccer. Couple it with technique and you have a serious problem for the other team. I am not talking cheap. Just very physical. The USA suffer from a Physics proffesor's mentality at times when the more apropriate mentality would be that of a steelworker. Get your lunchpales girls and get yourselfs ready for the Olympics. GO USA

 

Re: Lets be real people

I think people are confusing what people say (fans, media) about the US, and what the players actually say themselves. Us fans may say they are better then everyone else. The media in their limited knowedge of women's soccer may say that. Not them.

I have never heard the US players give anything but respect for all the teams they play. Are they confident? Yes. Cocky? No. Believing you can win every game isn't arrogence when you go out and bust it to do so.

I haven't read anything with the players complaining about the game being physical. and, there is a difference in being physical and being dirty. Big difference.

Don't confuse the team with the fans. We may be arrogent, the team, is not.

 

Lets be real people

Jay Jay

I hear what you are saying. I Just want to say that the word "dirty" should not even come into the play as far Canada and Hooper go. I have seen various degrees of "Dirty" and what I see in Hooper is not that. Would you call Wambach "Cowardly" when she dives? Would you call Parlow a "Low down dirty cheat" when she goes down without being touched? I wouldn't. Just like I wouldn't call Hooper dirty for her physical play. It is a sad but true fact that everybody uses there elbow.Yes I said it, Everybody. Some people do it more and better than others. The fact is that if you don't you are going to be taken advantage of.

What I think bugs me a bit is that it is now known that physical play can knock the US of of their game. It can get under the skin of some of their players. That bothers me. Let's face it Canada had no business going so far in WWC. There hard work and Physicality got them by. Sure they have a couple of pro's and one or two stars but they were college kids and even High Schoolers for the most part. Bottom line is that some other countries, including the US, need to learn from this. They need to be way more physical. They need to take their physicality right to the edge. Like CAnada tried to do.

Jay Jay I just don't see what Hooper does as dirty. I'll say it again. If we were talking about guys we wouldn't have this conversation.

 

To my knowledge the only one who's play suffered cause she was to busy being a "rock star" was Scurry. And she outright admits that. As to the other players NO WAY. Between 99 and 2003 they had: The 2000 Olympics. trying to get the WUSA off the ground. playing full seasons while doing all the off the field stuff to promote the league. Rock stars? No I don't remember any of them living up the high life. they didn't have time.

That's on way to look at it. But i read her coments regarding this a different way. To me it seemed like she wanted to be in a US uni from the get go.
"I'm not going to lie. Of course, when I was at North Carolina State, I thought about that but then there's that rule that once you play for one country, you can't play for another. I just have to play the cards I've been dealt and try to do my best for Canada."
Does her malnourishment with team Canada go all the way back to college days?

I don't think kissing feet is the issue. Her comment that only "2 or 3 players" have done anything is IMNSHO disrespectful to the effort all the Founders put into the league. Granted the 91ers did a lot of the work. But it wasn't the superstars from the international scene that put their necks on the line to get it going. No I don't want Hooper to bend at her knees and call them rulers of all... But a little respect for the 20 players (starters, benchwarmers alike) who made the league that put money in her pocket for 3 years is not too much too ask. Coattail riders? Why shouldn't all the founders who have sacrificed a lot not reap the benefits of what they created? "Floundering" or not.. why should they forfeit what they earned to players who didn't put their names, reputations and familial well being on the line? I'm not saying Hooper and the other internationals don't deserve a piece of the pie. But let them bake their own pie, if you will. [and what i mean by that is let them build up thier own fanbase in the US with the league. Some internationals have been successful in trying too. But it's coments like the ones Hooper made that hold her "star" back]

Though your second comment puzzles me. Which Founder didn't give it their all? Which founder should have played hurt?

Like Jayjay said.. I've never heard a US player complain... Us fans do. We shouldn't put our word in their mouths.

 

eer...yes.

team canada in the late 80s when hooper was at NC State was nothing better than like ... er .. haiti. even back then there was nada support and funding for the team and i am sure the level of play w/canada could have been much lower than that of her NC State team.

hooper has been with our nat'l program since the very beginning ... through the bad times, good times, every more bad times to what now is definitely a resurgance and period of growth.

as i canadian i see hooper as a player like akers was to the US program. while many can argue that former canadian nat'l team player gerri donnelly was more of our "akers", i would have to say hooper is. as i've said, she been through it all and has carried herself with respect and admiration around her teammates.

she's done more in her career than many of the USWNT vets have ever done... she's experienced the lifestyle of playing soccer overseas when there wasn't anytype of leagues to play here in north america. she's "toiled" in the background of obscurity and all through this she has proven what an amazing player she is.

she was always one of the best players on team canada ... almost to a fault, as she was relied solely to carry team canada through most of her career up until the the 1999 WWC and was singled out when she had the courage to stand up for the women's program and how the CSA was treating it after a dismal performance at '99WWC.

and while i am sure 99.9% of ppl who watch her play call her "dirty" and whatnot, i loathe that description. i've seen hoops play in person many many times since 1998 ... not only in games but at training sessions and scrimmages ... and there is no player than can touch her in intensity, smarts and knowledge of the game. she knows what her style is and has been playing "her style" for many years ... and just because she's getting more "exposure" and "recognition" nowadays because of team canada's emergence on the int'l play and w/the beat in the wusa, ppl are just putting her in that corner and not seeing it for what it is.

"what it is" is a brand of soccer that reflects hoops experiences with the game and all the things she's been through. it's a style that many of you can argue to the bone, but it works for hoops and allows her to excel at the highest level of soccer.

from her humble beginnings in guyana to being one of the very best in the world ... hooper has done more for women's soccer in this country than anybody else, and regardless of what anyone says about her and her style of game, she will always always be one of the best in my mind.

and not to add that she's one of the nicest, warmest players i've ever met who remembers your name and always asks you how you are.

elaine

 

Ok then. I don't know if we will ever get the 'true' meaning of that statement. I'mnot questioning her nationalism. But that comment's origin is vague at best. Could it be that the close proximity to UNC and the many collegiate battles she had with US/Tarheel players appealed to her? Or the dismal state of CSA? Who knows.

 

No doubt some founders came into the WUSA at the end of their careers.

Re: Foudy and Overbeck- IMO the recognition and fanfare they get is deserved. Regardless of their play. I'm not saying call them the best in the game. But recognize and respect what they ,especially Julie, have done for the league. I don't see anything wrong with their status. Now if because they are so loved it prevents players who produce from getting recognition would be wrong. But i just don't see where that has happened. On the contrary. Complete unknowns to the American soccer fan like Prinze and Pichon have done well in this regard. Pichon is a fan fav in Philly, ask them they love her. Sun Wen and Dominguez carved out a nice fan base in ATL. Julie the Aussie was sorely missed by the fans in SJ. I don't think it's just plain rotten luck that Hooper hasn't been that embraced outside of the rabbid Beat/Canada fan. I think her mouth gets her into a lot of trouble. And not just what she said the other day, there have been other instances.
And though fans like Elo may be truely genuine when they say Hooper is a nice person, that does very little to erase what she says and does in public.


Serlenga was not a founder or a 99er and as such you are right she did wane... but I don't think her star shines too bright outside of ATL anyway.

Ducar- Older, bad knees and i don't know the extent of her fight for the league.. she is a Founder and is an NCAA champ... and again i really don't think Ducar qualifies as star.

Webber- Gets the bigger founders paycheck.. but another player that doesn't that much fanfare.

I would venture Hooper has more WUSA fans than both combined.

Whalen- Bad break with the knee out two seasons. But the fans in NY really love her, she's done a lot in that community. Big paycheck yes.. but a t the low end of the Founder scale. Hooper and the big internationals prolly make more than she.

Fair- A lot of UNC fans on her side. I'll agree with her being a tad on the over hyped side.

I see what your saying and i agree with most of it. No doubt some don't play to the level of the internationals and some get inflated paychecks. But my point is this: Respect and credit where they are due. With a lot of these older "floundering" players their actions and hard work off the field made it possible for the "unrecognized" player to get it done on the field. And that’s the root of my criticism re: Hooper’s comments. She belittled the efforts of those players in short sentence. There were more than "2 or 3" on the field with her on Saturday.

 

Serlenga was not a founder or a 99er and as such you are right she did wane... but I don't think her star shines too bright outside of ATL anyway.

Actually she was.




No doubt some founders came into the WUSA at the end of their careers.


I think Foudy Should have been in the prime of her carreer. She was 30 years old When the league started. like I said. Her prime. No long Pro seasons that put a ton of wear and tear on her legs. Bottom line is she stagnated .


Finally, In the world of Pro sports the bottom line is Production. If you are not producing as a player then you are standing still. Every player worth his or her salt would trade their mother if it meant their team was going to get better because of it. And that is the way it should be. If you not helping your team win then you are helping them lose. She was a great great player when she was young and hungry. When she became the ambassador of womens soccer her game suffered. I could care less what she represents for US Women's soccer. It could and would have been somebody else. iI she had just kept focused on her game she would have done a better job for her team. Her PROFESSION suffered because of her distractions. She has all of her life to be what she aspires to be. Whatever that is. But she only had a few years to be as good as she could on the field and at the age of 30 she stopped. That is the shame. If you were to ask her what her favorite thing to do in the world is she would say I love to play. In 15 years she is going to remember her playing days fondly. I hope she doesn't realize that she would have been better at the game she dedicated her life to if she would have focused on her profession more at the end of her carreer

 

Whalen- Bad break with the knee out two seasons. But the fans in NY really love her, she's done a lot in that community. Big paycheck yes.. but a t the low end of the Founder scale. Hooper and the big internationals prolly make more than she.


Whalen made what every other founder made. No amount of Public Relations is worth what she made. If it is then I want to get into that line of work.

 

Re: Lets be real people

Two words: Joe Franchino. Check out what the MLS boards have to say about him.

Re: Serlenga -- I believe you're confusing "Founding Player" (there were 20) with the players allocated at the start of the league (24). Serlenga was not a Founding Player -- check the WUSA media guide if you have one.

Re: Parlow. Quite the contrary -- I don't think any other Founder developed her game as well as she did. She was something of a one-dimensional aerial player at the elite level for a while. Now she's a much better playmaker. Still not the fittest player on the team, though.

Overbeck (age, medical conditions) and Whalen (knees) simply broke down, though I wouldn't rule out a Whalen comeback.

I always thought Webber was overrated, though she was terrific the last time I saw her in the WUSA.

Back to the point -- Hooper is the Franchino of the WUSA, though she's more talented. She gives hard fouls that mock the competence of the refs assigned to her games. I've heard she's nice off the field -- which, oddly, also is true of NHL "enforcers."

 

(friendly, well-intended sarcasm)
Yeah, I'm sure Whalen is tooling around New York in a Mercedes, waving to the garage attendants as she pulls in to her spacious apartment building, where she lives in the space formerly occupied by Jackie Onassis.
(/friendly, well-intended sarcasm)

Actually, most PR people probably make double what Whalen would have made last season, and they don't risk blowing out their knees.

 

Re: Parlow. Quite the contrary -- I don't think any other Founder developed her game as well as she did. She was something of a one-dimensional aerial player at the elite level for a while. Now she's a much better playmaker. Still not the fittest player on the team, though.


Beau Drue

I will use her last season as an example. 11 points. She scored a hat trick in a one game blowout against Phili. That means 5 points for the rest of the season. Oh and also. She had the captains band taken from her. That does not happen to a person that is performing well unless she asks. And she did not ask. She was trade bait by the end of the season.