I just got done watching the "Dare to Dream" HBO documentary which I never seen before and I was really moved by it. It was really amazing to see the storyline leading up to the 99 WWC since I never got to see the USWNT during their infancy periods in the late 80s/early 90s. I remember watching the 1996 Olympics and not really seeing any of the USWNT games and I always wondered if it was my fault for simply not paying attention but then on the documentary they said they never aired the Finals game on television. Then I realized that's probably why I never really knew of Mia Hamm until 1999. Anyway, I was thinking I guess this documentary was made in 2005 and it ends on the majority of the 91ers retiring and moving on after 2004 Olympics and they ended it like, will women's soccer ever recover from this transition? I was thinking to myself, it's so funny to think all the drama that played out a few years after this documentary was made in 2007 WWC, the beginning of the WPS that has managed to survive longer than WUSA, and now the amazing drama of the WWC 2011, I can't help but think maybe they should do another chapter of this "Dare To Dream" documentary and do a sequel that highlights the transition to Abby Wambach, Boxxy, Lloyd, Heath, Hope Solo, Kreiger, Alex Morgan, etc. to the new continuation of the team. Just a thought anyway, but then again the documentary "dared me to dream" I suppose
Yeah I had a similar reaction the first time I watched it too. In regards to the 1996 Olympics, yeah it was very frustrating because I knew when their games were and all we got of the semifinal and final games were about 5-10 minutes total of game action, focused on the goals and broadcasted as if it were live, which obviously wasn't the case since somebody just happened to score right when they started showing us game action. I do remember that the 1995 Women's World Cup was on ESPN, which was cool. I think that's what caused me to expect to see their games in the 1996 Olympics. Then, of course, 1999 blew previous media coverage out of the water. It would be interesting to have another documentary. Especially with how dramatic the 2011 Women's World Cup was with new non-1999 players.
I agree, they aren't world champions yet. In the future documentary (hopefully not to far away is 2015) the WWC2007 can be part of the buildup but choking on the penalty shootout won't be nice way to end. Possibly saving the WPS and moving it past WUSA was its greatest achievement If anything Japan should be doing a documentary, starring Sawa - 5 world cup attempts ! It is sad to think that players like Abby, Hope (with all her lingering shoulder pain) and Boxx might not lift the cup despite their contribution
Maybe they didn't win it, but the story of how they got to the final and what happened in the final was about as good as you get in sports. But, if they do win in 2015 I do suppose it would make an even better documentary to release it following that with in-depth portions covering the 2011 event. What the U.S. did to make the final was incredible, especially the Brazil game. I will never forget where I was when Wambach's goal went in. And what happened in the final will never take away from that. It's getting tougher and tougher to win in the women's game and I would say that making the final in 2011 was much more impressive than winning it all in 1999.
Considering the context of the original was and NOT the 1999 win, I don't think the 2011 PKSO loss is any reason to not make a "sequel". Granted, getting a gold in London would be a much better "sending off" than USA 2(1)-2(4) JPN would be, but just as the original referenced WUSA I think that if a sequel was made now, capping it off with the strong finish to the WPS season would be a perfectly fine "sending off". Considering the changing of the guard that's taken place since '04, and just how gripping Germany'11 was, I would agree that now would be a fine time to do a sequel. The transition has been made. It was definitely a bit rough, but the ball seems to have been set rolling for good now.
Please, no sequel. The first one was really good, and deserves to be the only one. Any future documentary of this type causes the original to lose some value. Mia Hamm and the 91ers were the real pioneers. Not Alex Morgan and crew. Sure, we'd all love to see the new players acting stupid on camera in between highlight footage of major tournament games relived again with their thoughts. But don't call it "Dare to Dream part 2". If you do make another documentary, make sure it's in a totally different fashion, and sends a completely different message other than "we finally made it", and "we helped make this sport what it is today". I think an "individual player's" documentary would be more appropriate for the 2nd documentary. Maybe one of the players on the team, if they came from a poor upbringing, were questioned about their sexuality or sexual orientation, and had way too much adversity and excruciating odds to face to get where they are today as a professional athlete. Something along those lines, something that causes the tears to flow when watching them go from pain to bliss. America is an individualistic society. We get in the mind of the character on film. We live their lives through them, and feel as they feel. Maybe we could get in the minds of one of the players and see how hard it was to go from being a little soccer kid trying to make it when everyone told them that they had no chance. It would be unique coming from a "woman" telling us how tough it was being a little girl who was told she'd never make it in soccer. Since usually those storylines are about male athletes instead, it would make this documentary truly unique and special.
I think a documentary focused on two players specifically: Lloyd and Boxx. How these two were able to overcome their complete lack of foot skills to start on the USA national team; ending with Lloyd's triumphant penalty kick landing in row 12.