Briana Scurry...deafening silence....

Right ON, Right On

 

If I understand you correctly, this is a racist point of view. You are saying that a white coach can never be relied upon to pick the best team. And that foot speed is the most important part of soccer. To extend your logic one step further, the "racists" in Europe have revealed themselves by giving the Football Player of the Year Award to Zinidine Zidane, a slow white guy. If you truly believe what you write, then you should say that the trophy should go to the fastest non-white player, because its all about the footspeed and the color.

 

" they maybe ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding, otherwise they might turn and be forgiven". The topic, women's soccer, is a white sport in America. And the people in power, of women's soccer, will keep it that way as long as they can. Compare Mia to Marion Jones and it's no comparision. Yet Mia is called a great athlete, and can't out run my 10 year old granddaughter. That's an english teacher who can't spell, or a dog that can't hunt. The best women athletes in America don't play soccer and won't play as long as the current system is in place. And as the male game goes, when the MJ's and Shaq's, and Ray Lewis's, Roy Jones Jr's, start to play soccer the USA will win the WWC. I saw a youth soccer game with one team all white and the other all Spainish speaking, guess which team the ref asked for birth certifcates. And this was a league game. Please report the next time you attend a college soccer game and every paid position was a person of color, or better yet, name a college soccer team that 80% of its player are Black, in America." This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

 

quote Cornbread1

Compare Mia to Marion Jones and it's no comparision. Yet Mia is called a great athlete, and can't out run my 10 year old granddaughter.

right......ok. first off Marion is not yet cleared from the dopeing issues. not saying she did but we do not yet know that she is clean. I personally hope she did not go that route because I have always respected Marion as an athelete and a person. but the Jury is out.
Secondly mia's speed is legendary. so I do not know where you get the idea that she is somehow slow.
thirdly, Mia is the complete package extremely rare in soccer. There is not much she can not do on the pitch or hasn't been asked to do and done without argument. Mia Has earned every bit of the attention she gets.

4th...and final point. you do not attack the white guy/girl because there is discrimination against another ethnic group, sect, religion, ETC. Likewise you do not blame a white ahtelete because a federation, Media in general, or society in general is still unlearning ethnic or skin color bias.
and attacking Mia Hamm is the biggest laugh of them all. because she is the one player who ran to Bri after the gold medal win in 99' not to Brandi....and it was Mia hamm who ran to her again in the 2004 Olys after the gold medal win after she could extract herself from her other teammates.
She has always heald Bri in very high esteme. And she also lived much of her life amoungst african americans. She is the one person you can point to and say is color blind.

 

Sorry your feelings are hurt, Mia is just an example of racial bias in the media.
But you prove the point, bring up the dope issue, that the system dose effect and control who is good and not. Listen to yourself," Mia speed is legendary", when was the last time a soccer player won the 100m gold medal at the Jr Olympics. Mia is fast on the pitch because MJ, and the like, can't get on the team, and that's my point... And please stop with " some of my best friends are Black", that's so not real to the issue. The issue is MJ has been drug tested more times than entire USWNT and never tested positive, and still ran 11:13 100m as a 15 year old high school kid, and then took UNC to the NCAA basketball championship as a freshman, oh yea made the Olympic team as a high schooler and did'nt live with the head coach. I know ten Black girls given that same opportunity and support, as Mia, would change the face of women's soccer in America forever.

 

Getting back to Scurry.... after she was subbed last night Iceland scored 3 goals in 5 minutes! I certainly don't underestimate her importance to this team. Keepers are rarely the big names on the team. Strikers (and mid-fielders) usually hog all the attention. And on a lot of teams the Keeper is white and the strikers are not, but nobody cries racism then. Scurry is a victim of playing in a (mostly) thankless position.

 

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Lorie Fair-Asian American
Briana Scurry-African American
Daniele Slaton-African American
Boxxy-50 % African american
Nandi Price-African American
Webber-African American
TR-Asian American

The above are players who have at one point or time been a mainstay on the WNT or have had a significant look. an are in some instances still playing on the team.
now concidering that Mia, Lil, Jules, and joy have always been a part of this team since it's inception and starters since say 91. that would leave us with 7 spots available for starters. Now Brandi was not in the 95 WWC but she has played in every other major event and been involved every other year. so that leaves us 6 spots. Daniele Slaton for one year had taken over the left defensive flank and there is no question she would have been a starting defender had she not suffered a knee injury and oen that continued to haunt her. Now is that the media's fault?....is that the federations fault?....is that the fault of the white players on the team?.....is that even her fault?...Sh!t happens.
TR was a mainstay on the team through the 90's and only lost her position in 2000 but regained it in 2003. So clearly this is a player whom has had something to offer and has played well over the years. The coach is the one who made the decision to nix her from the line up this year for the OLy's but named her as an alternate.
Webber- plain and simple an ok keeper but not exceptional. usurped by better more talented keepers. it has absalutely nothing to do with ethnicity or skin color.
Nandi Price- decent player but not yet national team calibur. might she be one day?...sure. but; she is not right now.

now are there players on the WNT who perhaps should not be there?....of course. Wags comes to mind as one who simply has not been consistant enough to warrent her spot.
I think it is time for Brandi to call it a day as well. But she will either make that determination on her own or she will be cut. I hope it is the former. Might see her as a player coach next year where she does not see alot of playing time. I would not really have too much of a problem with that. Witht he exception that I feel it takes up a roster spot for a new player to get blooded.
all the other players have earned their stripes and deserve their starting roles.

My feelings are not hurt. But; I am going to defend Mia anytime someone points a finger at her and says she is a no talent (implied) who got by on her looks. the fact is she is an exceptionally gifted player who happens to also be attractive. and people are drawn to. Adn she is the only player I ever saw play who made me hold my breath every time she touched the ball because you just knew she was going to make something happen.
I have seen her blow by Nigerian players and Brazilian players at will. Mia's speed on the pitch IS legendary. simply because a player is fast does not mean that she is gifted with the ball at her feet. or that she is good at making split second dicisions. there is more then just speed that goes into making a soccer player successful. and speed is not neccessarily an imparitive in the game of soccer.
As for Dopeing and skin color. the jury is still out on Armstrong too. I do not discriminate. in fact I am leaning more toward him possibly dopeing then M.J. at this point way too many people coming forward with stories. again i hope it is not true. you want to beleive that atheletes are successful on their own merrit, and it does their sport a terrible dis-service when they cheat. no matter who they are or what color their skin is.
As for the WNT.....their blood is tested every practice. and they are tested at the conclusion of every major match. so it is innacurate to say that they are not tested with any frequency. They were tested after every single Olymic match they played in.
my point put simply is this. there are more white american kids playing soccer then African American or any other ethnicity. but; the numbers from the african american community are growing. One could equally argue that African Americans see Soccer as a white sport and do not there for choose to play that game but go into Basketball, ETC. One could also argue that Basketball is an African American sport and white boys/girls are in the minority. maybe African american players are chosen over white players because asside from a few white men/girls can't jump. I mean really, there is discrimination on both ends of the Ethnic equation. you can argue against this if you want to, but i have seen it first hand.

and bare with me if I bounce around here a little. but; it seems to me that Marion Jones has gotten an aweful lot of T.V. Mag Ads, text, exposure from the media. As have the Williams sisters, as have several WNBA stars of African American origin. and you know what the common factor seems to be?...they are all attractive. So if there is a bias. I am more inclind to think that it is driven by looks, not by skin color.

 

Hamm-star please take a breath, listen to yourself. USWNT tested after pratice everyday, all the players, stop and think. I know about blood test, you are not seeing the forest. Who is the coach for the NT, head of the USSF, Asst coach NT,President of CBS,Fox,ESPN, do you get my point. This is not about Mia Hamm. Your feelings are hurt because I said Mia isn't fast, truth hurts sometimes. Mia said Heather O'Reily was the fastest player on the NT. Heather isn't the fastest player on UNC team. So lets just say Mia is the best ever and the best that will ever be, and every person will be judged by the content of their playing ability and not by the color of her skin. And the only job a Black man will have, in women's soccer, will be on top of a John Deer

 

Are you forgetting Clive Charles?

 

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thankyou Jo, you saved me the trouble.

 

Question: Briana, soccer is a team sport and you were part of the team, but you did make the game-winning save. Did you feel at all slighted at the lack of coverage that you received?
Briana Scurry: I don't feel I was slighted at all. I think I had more coverage than anybody else on the team. I was in every major newspaper in the country the next day. I signed a deal with Pepsi four days after the World Cup ended. And I've been flying all over the country since then doing appearances for different corporations. And there are many other appearance and endorsements in the works, all kinds of things. With that in mind, I definitely don't feel I was slighted. Maybe over-covered, actually!
http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/chat/1999/women/scurry081799.htm

San Diego, CA: Have you ever faced adversity while playing soccer, and if so, what did you do to challenged the system or people's perception of you?

Briana Scurry: No, I have not faced any racial adversity. I have always been free to play. My coaches have all played the players that deserved to play. Even against other countries, never had a problem.


http://www.usatoday.com/community/chat/2001-07-31-scurry.htm


Although "soccer moms" is a code for upwardly mobile White families--who have forgotten that the greatest soccer player of all times was Pele--the sport has not developed a mass following in Black America.
The only African-American starter on the U.S. World Cup team, Scurry is seeking to change that perception. "It's one of my goals and it's a team goal as well to get more young girls and boys involved in soccer in general and it seems to be working," she says, as a large group of young soccer players surround her, chanting her name as if she were Lauryn Hill.
Scurry, who is 28 and single, is on a cross-country tour to promote soccer among Black children. She reportedly has asked the World Cup team sponsors to send her to big cities for clinics. "Soccer is pretty much a suburban elitist sport [in the United States]," she says. "It always has been." On this day, she was conducting a mini-clinic for Black and White American Youth Soccer Organization players on Chicago's South Side. Scurry is visiting AYSO games as a guest of Allstate Insurance Co., an official sponsor of the Toys `R' Us Victory Tour.
"Girls growing up in the inner-city aren't exposed to soccer," she says. "If they play anything, it's basketball. But there's no reason it can't be soccer. They just need to be exposed to it. I want to give them options, and I want to win while doing it."
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_3_55/ai_58398509

 

others are trying

US Youth Soccer Announces Partnership
With Soccer In The Streets
(RICHARDSON, TX | JULY, 2001) -- US Youth Soccer, the largest soccer organization for youth in America, recently announced that it will partner with Atlanta-based Soccer in the Streets to provide and enhance soccer opportunities for inner city, rural and underprivileged youth.
Soccer in the Streets (S.I.T.S.) and US Youth Soccer's SoccerStart are two nationally recognized organizations whose common goal is to educate and improve the lives of children through the game of soccer. This unprecedented partnership creates a "soccer synergy" that will enable both programs to be more effective and to reach more children.
Seven targeted U.S. cities will realize a direct effect from this collaboration, which in turn will lead to 3,500 more children kicking a soccer ball in these cities. Through specially tailored programs and available resources, at-risk children will be encouraged to examine the choices they make in life and how those choices will impact their future.
S.I.T.S. is a non-profit agency that develops soccer, educational, and life-skills programs for disadvantaged youth in their communities. S.I.T.S. specializes in introducing soccer to young people while involving their parents and the community in the development and implementation. Since its inception in 1989, S.I.T.S. has introduced soccer to thousands of inner-city youth in more than 75 U.S. cities. S.I.T.S. is rooted in the philosophy that the sport, in its simplicity, can provide children with viable, cost-effective, recreational programs.
http://www.goodnewsforsports.com/NewsRelease/archive/0801/0801_soccer_streets.htm

ATLANTA (March 31, 2003) -- Soccer In The Streets - a nationwide non-profit organization that develops soccer, educational and life-skills programs for "at-risk" kids in urban communities – has been awarded a grant to implement the GoGirlGo Project in three California cities and three southeastern U.S. cities. The goal of the GoGirlGo Project is to use sport as an educational intervention and social asset in order to enhance the wellness of girls as they navigate between childhood and early womanhood. Because Soccer In The Streets uses soccer to enhance the lives of children from at-risk, low income neighborhoods, a partnership with the Women's Sports Foundation was considered a logical step in focusing special attention on the needs of girls from disadvantaged backgrounds…… While learning basic soccer skills, the girls will also have the opportunity to learn and be inspired by the true stories from nationally recognized elite female athletes who have faced important decisions in their lives and used their involvement with sports to face such challenges. In addition, the Women's Sports Foundation has partnered with the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) in order to involve WUSA players in the GoGirlGo Project. These top-level players, including the Atlanta Beat, the San Diego Spirit and the Bay Area Cyberrays, will contribute their time and expertise to educate girls about health-risk behaviors and life lessons such as body image, bullying, diversity, smoking, drugs and stress.

http://www.sits.org/in_the_news/pr_display.asp?ID=12


Atlanta's female counterpart, Women's United Soccer League (WUSA) Atlanta Beat, have also been a frequent supporter of Soccer In The Streets programs and events. Numerous season tickets were provided to enable kids to attend matches, equipment and soccer premiums have been used as incentives for participants, and the Beat have had a presence at several key Soccer In The Streets events.
http://www.sits.org/newsletter/summer2003.html#1

In a growing initiative called Soccer Start, U.S. Youth Soccer has helped create inner-city leagues in Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas; in Minneapolis and Indianapolis; and in Washington, D.C. There are now 15,000 players in the Houston program, and 2,500 in Washington. "The reason we're not doing it in all 50 states," Lewis said, is that "we can't go in from an outside area, from a suburb, and start a program in the inner city. We have to first identify those key volunteers in the inner city, and allow them to run that program. What we will do is provide the support in a national fashion

http://www.puaf.umd.edu/Affiliates/CivicRenewal/usyouth.htm
“WUSA wasn't just playing soccer, it was going into the community and being able to help people, building playgrounds for underprivileged kids and doing camps and clinics and seeing how much these little kids look up to you,” Zimny said. “I feel sad because I feel like there's nothing to look up to anymore. These girls were so excited to see Mia (Hamm) and Abby and everyone else. They don't have that place to go to anymore ... something they were striving for is no longer there.”
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/sports/general/0720O74V70C_sports.shtml

San Diego Spirit players will be part of a new joint project between the WUSA club and the City of San Diego's Department of Park & Recreation. The first session of the program will be held on Wednesday, July 17, at the Stockton Park & Recreation Center on 32nd Street in San Diego. It is expected that 15-30 inner-city children ranging from ages 11-14 will be at each of the clinics along with the players. Sessions will include a 15-minute warm-up, a 30-minute soccer game and a question and answer period. The City of San Diego Department of Park & Recreation will be providing park and rec centers for these sessions to take place and organizing the children at City Heights, Stockton, Memorial, Mountain View, Silverwing, Serra Mesa, Linda Vista, Kearny Mesa, Morley Field, Adams, and North Park.
http://www.womensoccer.com/refs/wusa_refs/wusa-sand_16july02.html

 

Lockjaw and D.W.

nice posts

would like to add that Mia's speed incidently was impacted by a tight hammy which has given her problems since last year, and a pretty nasty quad contusion that became a quad strein in the Oly's, suffered in the Japan match. that makes running a little tough.
and lastly..if you know anything about Mia. then you must know that she would never say she is the best at anything. anotherwords even if she was the fastest she would say it is someone else.

there got the Mia stuff out of the way.

look. Little boys and little girls who are in the ethnic Minority and live in this country under financially straped roofs do not often find their way onto any field never mind a soccer field. And those that do are supported by afterschool programs who fund their oppertunity. and it is not just the ehtnic minorities that find themselves in this position. it is also poor white america as well. it seems we forget that there are poor white families too who face the same struggles.

 

My point was, a slow guy like Zinadine Zidane is not going to show up on your radar screen, if all you do is look at 440 times, like cornbread1 apparently does. I rate Mia above average in speed among soccer players, but more importantly she knows when to run.

 

Oddly enough, much of the "racial insensivity" is being fed by African-Americans themselves.

In the District of Columbia, a female preacher uses incendiary rhetoric ("We resent a takeover of our community.") to demand that a soccer field be turned over to her church:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/archives/cover/2003/cover1003.html

 

This maybe true....but how many of them WANT to play soccer or even know what soccer is? How many of these girls' parent would allow their athletically gifted prodigy to play soccer...a sport that players aren't paid but minimum wage compared to other sport.

 

Thanks for asking, point well taken, most will opt for the road of least resistance such as B-ball, track, or tennis. Yet reading other posts my point is proven. Only when it's to the advantage of the elite soccer minds dose speed not count. In every American sport, there is no replacement for speed, yet post here will still try to turn a jackass into a race horse. My point is racial prejudice is, and always will be, a major factor in who makes the team and who dose'nt. If anybody doubts this, answer this question: which do you think is better, all people in America should earn $5000 a year or, the poorest earn $100,000 and the richest earn $10,000,000.

What do you think the USWNT would look like if Pele was the head man, and what if Freddy Adu was the head coach would the team be the same? And would winning be enough to change the mind set of the old heads.
A man can't serve two masters, and in this nation where a man puts his money that is where his heart dwells. The only Black coach, a paid position, was Clive Charles, replacement is Black right, was at a school that dose'nt even have a football team. There are 301 Div-1 women's soccer teams and how many Black coaches, how about AD's, ref's, lets try score keepers, I know there has to be some Black folks that can count. It's far easier to kill your unborn baby in America than to be Black and get a job coaching women's soccer.

 

Sorry I missed that, article. But having read it now you must be kin to John Kerry. White folks setup a league of all white kids to play in the hood and meet with some parents asking why. Right on for the Black parents that said soccer is a sport that excludes Black kids so go play in your own hood." What's your name".answer Toby"

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------Your missing the point. How many "Black Coaches" are there?

simple mathmatics.

If there are
100-white coaches
50-Hispanic coahces
and 5- Black coaches.

then does it not seem reasonable to expect that in a job market of 150 positions for soccer coaches. the Black Coaches would take up 5 positions and be hugely outnumbered by the others not because the others are better coaches but merely because there are more of them.

 

Briana Scurry a lesbian? Big deal. I think she is very attractive and would love to screw her all weekend. Hell, Ill sit in the corner and watch her get in on with her girlfriend....assuming her g/f is also attractive.

 

WOW. If anything this thread brings back some memories.
I remember cornbread1 and defensewins

Whatever happened to Thomas Flannigan?

Man, I've been on these boards way too long. People have come and gone and I'm still hanging out here.

 

Wow. I spent way to much time here. Thank god I became disenchanted because of the whole Greg Ryan/Scurry/Solo/ debacle followed by the bitchy treatment of Solo by her USWNT teammates.

 

Are you back? It would be nice if you were back. 2007 a long time ago.