Re: USWNT U23 vs Pali Blues "But as women we all understand that people are human." WOW *pushes jaw back to mouth*
Re: USWNT U23 vs Pali Blues Nice article.. it's been a bumpy road, but the important thing is that they are being professionals; some of that credit goes to Pia for addressing the problem of team chemistry from the very beginning.
Re: USWNT U23 vs Pali Blues I find interestingly the comments about of Llyod. I was at the Brazil game in China with Friends and Family and the group was sitting on the opposite side of the field from the bench. After the game, Solo and Lloyd almost immediately came over to the family section while the other players remained consoling each other on the field. It was as if both wanted to distant themselves from the fiasco. One other person later said it was like “we had nothing to do with it”.
Re: USWNT U23 vs Pali Blues I thought the comments about Lloyd were interesting too. I made a comment after one of the Mexico games that Lloyd was the only one that was sitting by Hope, or talking to her. There are pictures from the game where Lloyd got a black eye that show her standing by Hope and talking with her. My respect for Lloyd has gone up a couple of notches.
Re: USWNT U23 vs Pali Blues I remember that as well KC. I find Carli a pretty interesting person. She is one of those people who seems wise beyond their years. Whenever she gives an interview she sounds so mature that I forget how young she actually is.
Agreed, kcguru. Carli Lloyd deserves much respect for her maturity and kindness to Solo in those trying weeks post-WWC. I know it's been discussed to death, but to read again the sickening pettiness of the majority of the team toward Hope was a reminder of how pathetic they all were. Wambach admitting that they had overreacted (ya think, Abby?!)in their judgement is long overdue. Female athletes could benefit from Hope Solo's example -- she has become one of my favorites on the team, not only due to her play, but also her willingness to push through adversity (I knew about her father, but not about her best friend's death), say what needs to be said, and not retract "controversial" comments just because some people don't like it. Let's win gold, dammit!
I see a big difference in how the older players reacted to the Scurry/Hope fiasco. I believe the older players, especially Lilly and Rampone (with Wambach following them) were very much in favor ostracising Hope.****If you remember Ryan said that he discussed this all with team "leader"**and they came to a conclusion**together - great leadership Lilly. Listening to Foudy's commentary while this was happing it was obvious that A. The older players have a very different mentality. B. The older players felt like they could have been in Scurry's place, so to speak. C. The bond between Scurry and the other older players was more important than the truth and a younger players future. In a way, I felt like all the the 91's were collectively holding onto their past glorey through Scurry. How many times did I have to hear about all the great things Scurry did for the team and how much respect she deserves? Espiaclly from Foudy and Brandi.
I can agree with that. I remember when Keepergate was going on, there were a couple posts that talked about maybe having some factions within the team, that it was like the older players wanted one thing and the younger players wanted something else. Now, I'm not saying it was true, just that I remember reading it and it would make sense if that is what happened. One quote also stood out to me... "Things are changing," says veteran forward Abby Wambach . "The younger players have a little bit of that emotional attachment to each other, but less so than in the past. You don't have to like each other, but once you cross that line, if you can like each other for at least 90 minutes, then I think you can be successful." What I got from that is that the youngers players are bringing more of the "yeah, sisterhood is great but your ability to play the game is way more important," attitude onto the team, which I think is great but I also think that it's new territory for this team. So much of this team's history was built upon the "I'm doing it for my teammates and the team and that's what matters" and it worked. They were individuals on a team. It appealed to the masses. It was the feel good story. Now, it's ok for players to want to push themselves and to win, for themselves just as much as for the team. Instead of individuals on a team, we're starting to see a team of individuals, which can be just as successful, I think.
I wouldn't trust a thing that Ryan says about this debacle. He struck me as, from the start, trying to shift the blame onto anyone but himself. We don't really know much at all about what happened, and demonizing Hope or demonizing the "old guard" just deflects attention from the poor coaching decision that started it all. I hope that someone writes a book about the episode one day. Nothing I've seen so far, explains anything to my satisfaction.
In case y'all missed it: No Marta, Cristiane and Daniela for the Brazil friendly matches: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=711814
It took you too long to know Hope Solo is Big on character!! I knew that since I first saw her in goal against Scotland in 2002.. from that day she was my girl along with Abby... I knew some day that day they were going to be great players in the future... just want to boast about my judgement... apart from the old timers Akers,Mia and Mackie I was not hot on anyone... Hope,Lloyd,Osborne of the present team along with Woznuk are my favorite.... Abby as a player is fine with me but I am not so hot about her character!!! trust my judgement I know character when I see it... just want to rant....
Sports Illustrated Article? Driving in to work this morning, I was listening to Steve Szabin (spelling obviously wrong) on Fox Sports Radio and for the first time he mentioned women's soccer - and he talked for over 10 minutes about it. Unfortunately, the talk was all about what was in a Sports Illustrated article on women's sports (it sounded like it was all about what was wrong with it.) That last bit makes me wonder if there was a second article out there now that had the Solo controversy as just part of something larger.
from the North County Times: Del Mar's Buehler finds spotlight with U.S. women's soccer squad GO BUEHLER!
Begging (a little) does anyone know if ESPN will be re-playing the Commerce City match from today (well yesterday). We were there but want to watch the televised version too and TIVO (or TITO as Dane Cook would call it in instances like this) recorded the Home Shopping channel in its default channel setting (lowest number). I need to get that little brat fixed but in the mean time I need to watch this match? Help?
Just a few random articles. http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-07-08-voa43.cfm http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=554783&sec=us&root=us&&cc=5901 http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/other/07/14/0714olysoccer.html
Does anyone have a link to the Brazil - US friendly last night in CO? I really want to watch it asap!
Beijing Orders Pollution to Vanish http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1822476,00.html?cnn=yes