Heather O’Reilly calls out USSF member for disrespecting the USWNT

I have been a fan of the Uswnt since 1995 i've never seen a Uswnt behave so badly after winning a World Cup i was disgusted at the behavior of a couple of players not all of them in the Thailand game when your up 7 - 0 stop celebrating goals and show some class everyone was saying this not just Mr. Flamhaft.

 

Stephanie Yang obviously earned Christmas Card List status by beginning her article with the indelible fact…….”American Treasure Heather O’Reilly”.

 

This is a polarizing topic. I was at that game. I left early. Yes it was a great display. Was I embarrassed? Yes. Alex counting her goals on her fingers when you’re up by 10. Pinole sliding into the team bench scoring the 11th. Hugs and high fives I have no problem Americans get crap constantly. No need to put fuel on the fire I

 

One of the things in life that I detest is when people claim to speak for me or for "everyone." hellraiser has every right to post her/his/their opinion here. But it is outrageously arrogant to claim that "everyone" was saying what you believe. You were "disgusted" at the behavior of a couple of the U.S. players. Fine. But, as part of "everyone," I'm disgusted at your ridiculous claim that we're all with you.

 

For anyone who would just like to copy and paste from one of the two threads we already have on the game and celebrations, I'm posting the links to the threads here:

https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/13-0-discuss.2104375/

https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/wwc19-usa-v-thailand-june-11-pre-pbp-post.2104187/

 

Until yesterday, I was unaware that USSF had a General Meeting held on an annual basis. However, I’m glad that they have a ban on yahoos like me from attending.

I reread and rewatched the statement of the American Treasure Heather O’Reilly (hencefore “ATHOR”, commensurate to her Goddess-like status)…..so diplomatic, so intelligent, so passionate, so eloquent.

Perhaps what Mr. Flamhaft lacked from the WWC was conduct and behavioral perspective that I could have provided if he would have joined me in Lyon for the Post-Championship Match celebration.

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When trying move mountains, you must exert the same action that formed them - - constant, intense, unyielding, tremendous pressure. Note to Federation: These Women aren’t going ANYWHERE. Not the least of which, is off their perch - - - - day 1,689 of the Women’s World Cup Championship reign.

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And we didn’t move up in the rankings?

damn!

 

So, it was the World Cup, not a friendly, not a recreational Sunday meetup. Thailand, for better or for worse, ended up qualifying for the final 24 teams or however many women's nat'l teams it was. They ended up unfortunately in the same group as the most dominant team in the world, men or women, the United States Nat'l team. Yes, it was brutal, yes sympathy is a normal human response to the underdog team. But, unfortunately, you can't let up against your opponent in such an important game in the most important tournament in your career, you are being disrespectful if you try not to score goals anymore and essentially stop playing the game. It is absolutely not the women's fault they scored 13 goals, they are trained to play the game no matter if the opponent is obviously a weaker side. It's actually good for the opponent to face the top team because they need to know what it takes to someday get to that top 5 level, they won't learn playing teams like Vietnam or whatever weaker nat'l teams are in their region.

If you have a problem with the celebrations that showcase an arrogance, then surely you must have issues with the 1,000s of male athletes that do this in soccer, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, MMA, wrestling, swimming, rugby, cricket, track and field, tour de France, golf, tennis, yes tennis especially, surfing, volleyball, NASCAR, and I'm sure I'm missing like another 50 professional sports where males beat their chest at every trophy or medal they win. Where's the protest or outcry for them? I mean heck, Kobe Bryant was an amazing athlete and grew up to be a great father but damn was he arrogant AF and selfish with the ball. Nobody cares.... there's murals of him everywhere, people getting tattoos of this guy, everything. He's worshiped! Nobody is going after him for being arrogant, his nickname was even BLACK MAMBA, that's a baller name that oozes arrogance. You have other male athletes with crazy arrogant nicknames, LeBron James is KING, that's about as arrogant as you can get.

Do any of these women have stupid arrogant nicknames or showboat every single game they play? No. They showboated one very important match in the most important tournament in their sport.... I don't care if they celebrated goal #149, they are playing to win the darn tournament and they know goal differential counts considering other strong nat'l teams are in the same group as they.

I feel like if you have a problem with the USWNT being arrogant, you should probably hate 90 percent of the male athletes in this world too because they are just as bad, even worse in some circumstances, do you think their fans are going to be so hurt by their arrogance? I assure you maybe 5 people might be mad out of 50 million people that follow them on social media.

 

Pardon me for thinking that some of the complainers about the celebrations of the US team in the Thailand game are offended that Rapinoe was, shall we say, a little less that respectful to the President of the United States.

I'll bet a nickel that if Rapinoe wore a MAGA hat they wouldn't be complaining.

 

Resign for what? Why should people that support him resign? One of USSF's problems is they live in a bubble. More views need to be heard not less.

I'm still not sure why he brought it up but it was important to him for whatever reason.

 

Showboating is really irritating no matter who does it especially during a blowout. Why should the USWNT get a free pass?

 

I think a good comparison to the USWNT's dominance against lower ranked teams would be the men's "Dream Team" when it first played in the Olympics. They routinely beat lesser teams by 50, 60 points. I don't recall them being criticized for running the score up. They were celebrated for just how amazing and skilled they were.
And, we have discussed this ad nauseum. kudos to ATHOR for calling him on it.

 

Maybe that should be "the Goddess ATHOR".

 

I'm just quoting one part of the longer and important statement above by McSkilz. What that sexist fool (Mr. Flamhaft) will never face, what some of his defenders will never face, is the profound double standard about the U.S. women's 13 goals and their celebration. And how this criticism of outstanding female athletes--almost never applied to outstanding male athletes--is so emblematic of a world that still demands that women be "nice." And never, never be strong, assertive, proud, or challenging.

There was criticism right after the Thailand game. The issue got plenty of airing. But many months later, that sexist fool felt it was important in that particular setting to air his biased view of the World Cup champions. Awful.

 

Why is it sexist? It's weird he would bring it up at this point but all criticism of the USWNT is not sexism.

I imagine Spain would have received the same treatment if they behaved that way when beating Tahiti.

 

Clueless. Read all that's been said above by McSkillz and others. Or don't.

 

I did read it. I agree with a lot of it. I'm holding the USWNT to the same standards I hold Alabama football, Nadal, Hull City or whoever is pummeling the Cavs any particular day. It's terrible behavior all around.

That doesn't mean the criticism is sexist but the meaning of that word is incredibly elastic when it comes to the USWNT.

 

As a neutral fan, a was a bit taken aback by what I thought was USWNT excessive celebration on a blow out against a much weaker team. But, I think the US team was just in the zone, they went on to totally dominated the WWC, so I guess it was a team-building celebration.

Regarding "male athletes that do this..." I never saw excessive celebration on a blowout in male soccer. The biggest blowouts that I remember was Germany demolishing of Brazil on a semi-final (much bigger stakes and against Brazil in Brazil). The German players really toned down their celebration after the fifth goal. 2010's WC Portugal vs North Korea (7x0) was a group stage game and the Portuguese weren't excessive in celebrating each goal particularly after the fifth also, IMHO. So I really do not see double standards here.

This discussion gets interesting because as you and others pointed out it was more than just the celebration that triggered some people.

A USSF members state "... unsportsmanlike manner specifically by humiliating their opponents and subjecting them to ridicule and then boast and preen when humility - humility - is in order." This is problematic for me. Was Garrincha\Pele\Maradona disrespectful? What about Messi/Cristiano Ronaldo? Should technically stronger teams hold back against less capable opponents?

 

"And how this criticism of outstanding female athletes--almost never applied to outstanding male athletes--is so emblematic of a world that still demands that women be "nice." And never, never be strong, assertive, proud, or challenging."

What? are you serious? Did USWNT get criticized for totally dominating and winning the last WWC? NO! They were celebrated around the world for their amazing achievement, for being strong, assertive, proud and challenging. USWNT vs Thailand blow out wasn't a piece of "outstanding female athletes" nor it was a significant technical achievement by the USWNT. It was a complete blow out because Thailand was a much weaker soccer team. The celebration, IMHO, was a bit too much and it did rub me the wrong way.

"The issue got plenty of airing. But many months later, that sexist fool felt it was important in that particular setting to air his biased view of the World Cup champions. Awful." Fair point.

 

That team wasn't celebrating anywhere near as joyfully (I'll use that word because I'm not really convinced the US ladies did anything particularly egregious, just maybe not being as classy as they could have been) as what you saw from the USWNT in the WWC. Granted, it was just an Olympiad and not an NBA Finals, but the expectation was a win, and US Basketball usually gets them. How celebratory can you be when you're literally the best players on the planet, period, and some of your opponents want autographs and photos after the game?

US Basketball isn't amazing at all. Numbers, money, and basketball culture made it almost certain that they'd be the best.

 

That has nothing to do with what we are talking about just making shit up.

 

I agree with smallchief's comment about Megan Rapinoe and MAGA hats. (See post #11 above.)

 

The players communicated that they're not "nice," they're "bad." Those who think they should have been more humble agree. Power to the players, they communicated exactly what they wanted. And they backed it up 100%.

And one other thing, for those who are complaining about the players in relation to the Thailand game. Where are your comments about what the team did after the France game? Are you going to acknowledge how totally classy that was?