An aspiring journalist slammed the WUSA today in the local paper. Just thought many of you might want to let him know how you feel. Who cares about women's soccer? by Steve Sanders http://www.redandblack.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/09/26/3f73988a20bdc Email a letter to the editor they almost always print them.
I'd agree with letting him alone, the problem is his facts are all screwed up. Since he's using NFL attendance and TV ratings, he should be reminded that it took more than 30 years for that league to gain any semblance of attendance or footing (and they didn't have the competitition then that soccer has now).
He's got one good fact, and a bunch of Jim Rome rehash. I still haven't heard a good answer to the question "what do you mean, forced down your throat?" (I think it's code for "my dreams of planetary gridball domination were disturbed by the mere mention of a girl's sport in a Gatorade ad", but I'm still open to better interpretations)
RE: Journalist Slams WUSA I don't think he's much of a credible journalist, but I do agree that the product, while admirable in cause, is not worthy of a professional sports league. It's all a matter of financial support and fan interest, and WUSA didn't have much of either. He said it in a chauvanisitic way, and I don't agree with that, but I understand his underlying points. I've been to a couple of games in Philly and the games were boring, to be nice about it. Top high school boys games are played at a better pace. It's great to have opportunities for young girls to strive for, but it's great to end hunger in this country, too. You just can't have it all, and in this age of the short attention span and big money sports, there is no room for the WUSA on the American sports landscape. Sorry.
not that i care either which way but... jesus, the least he could do was get his facts correct in his article. i doubt any journalists are worried about this kid graduating from journalism school.
Boys HS teams would not compare to a WUSA team. Sorry buddy. I have watched 'good' college teams (i.e. not great ones) outplay HS age boys club teams substantially. Now these same college teams do not hold a candle to a WUSA team. Sorry but you are OFF on that one. One hopes you are not raising a daughter. I am and I for one believe there is a tremendous market for this product. The NBA did not start out as a money making albotross either.
Because we know how many times MLS teams have played WUSA teams, we can say that top men's college teams will be outplayed by the WUSA. I mean, there is a track record of the women playing the men in the US, right? Who has the greater record head-to-head.. the Washington Freedom or the LA Galaxy? Sarcasm over. Until the men play the women on equal ground, comparing who's best or worst is pointless. Jarrod
I NEVER said the TOP high school boys teams would win against WUSA clubs, but having covered high school soccer for 7 years in the Chicago suburbs for the Trib (players like Mike Magee, Jonathan Spector, Ned Grabavoy, etc.) and having played high school in Jersey (against Claudio Reyna and Peter Villegas, for instance) I was making an observation about the PACE of the game compared to the few WUSA games I saw. Glad you read what I wrote. As for you believing in the product, that's great and all, but i'm curious where you even get that idea. It sounds like speculation based on what you see in your community. You really can't compare it to the NBA, of all things. Even in it's infancy, the NBA was the top pro basketball league in the WORLD! The WUSA isn't even close to being the best league in its own country! Beyond MLS, you also have the USL and men's college soccer to deal with. Attention is given, in abundance, to the best leagues in any sport. This is something MLS is experiencing when compared to Europe and South America. I will never say that this is right, but it is a matter of fact. When people can admit that to themselves, they'll see that women's soccer has a lot of momentum against it and that they will have to come up with a creative idea of selling the sport beyond relying on soccer families with girls who play.
A scrimmage is so much a game but a Friendly that has very loose terms. Neither side really is out there to win but to focus on internal fundamentals and trainings. I mean REAL head to head. Unless, of course, you're suggesting that the US is playing the WWC as hard as they played UVA's B team. Until we get there, it's really of no import to compare men vs. women. Let's watch the sport and support the sport, and not worry about the silliness. Jarrod
The article in question is not worth reading and not worth responding to. (Do we need to start an "OFFICIAL Soccer-bashing and Women's Sports-bashing" thread?) I used to let soccer-bashing articles bother me but, for the last 30 years or so, I've just been ignoring them. In fact, if I can avoid it, I just don't read them. (in the dozen or so years that I've been a fan of women's soccer, I've added women's sports bashing articles to the list of things I ignore) Many of the articles on the shut-down of the WUSA have been combined soccer-bashing and women's sports-bashing articles that have made two main points: Soccer is boring and Americans don't like it and they never will. Women's sports are slow and boring and nobody likes them and they will never succeed as professional sports. Most of these articles are poorly researched. I wouldn't say this article was poorly researched, because it wasn't researched at all. It's just opinion and I don't give a rat's behind what this idiot's opinion is. What a soccer-hating twerp says cannot affect my enjoyment of the sport unless I let it. The same goes for what the soccer-hating trolls on BigSoccer say. You know the ones, the ones who are rejoicing at the shut-down of a soccer league, the ones who have nothing better to do than to come to this forum and rub our noses in it, the ones who are so insecure in their masculinity that they feel the need to reaffirm it by laughing at the failure of a women's league. They are best ignored as well. Comparing men's sports to women's sports is an exercise in futulity because there is virtually no rational way to compare them. If you don't know why, read a high school level biology textbook. World-class women's soccer IS played at a pace comparable to top-level high school boys soccer. That doesn't mean it can't be successful as a professional sport. World-class women's tennis is played at a pace comparable to boy's HS tennis, yet women's tennis is a successful profesional sport. When someone says, "women's soccer is slower than men's soccer", I always want to ask if they figured that out all by themselves or if they needed help. I go to a lot of games, both men's and women's at various levels and the difference in pace is enormous. I tell anyone who thinks that pace is the be-all and end-all of sport that they shouldn't go to a women's game, because they aren't going to like it. The skill level, at any given level, is comparable. The guys really don't screw up a whole lot less, they just screw up at a much faster pace. (Considering the difference in strength and speed, UVA's "B" team should be beating the USWNT by about 40 to zip, that is, if the skill level is the same. But, obviously, it's not - you strength and speed wienies, put that in your pipe and smoke it) Women's sports will never be as popular as men's sports but that doesn't mean that women's sports can't be successful. The games I've been to over the last dozen years or so have been about evenly split between men's and women's. The memorable games I've seen have been about evenly split between men's and women's. Women's soccer is not for everybody. It can be incredibly boring. Men's soccer can also be incredibly boring. One is not better than the other, nor is one more exciting than the other. They are different, but they are both soccer and I like them both. I really don't care if other people don't like one or the other, or both. It's not my problem.
I've been waffling on this question, but I'm leaning toward those who would call out the writer for his ignorance. Ignorance left unchecked only breeds more ignorance. I especially object to ignorant writing making "global" assumptions such as the two bullet points you make above. Not only are those statements ignorant, they're blatantly untrue and provable (which tells me that his editors are ignorant as well). For example, Soccer is boring and Americans don't like it and they never will. I am an American. I like soccer. This disproves the statement. Further...I did not grow up as part of the soccer culture. I have never played the game at any level but knockabout in the front yard. I am a soccer fan. That further disproves the statement. Women's sports are slow and boring and nobody likes them and they will never succeed as professional sports. If nobody likes womens' sports, there would be zero ticket buyers in not only WUSA but WNBA and LPGA and WTA and so on and so on and so on. What the writer really should say is "I think soccer is boring and I don't like it and I never will." He has a right to that opinion (much as we would rather he keep it to himself). What the writer does not have a right to do is globalize his dislike for the game to all Americans.
Somebody call Hell - it's obviously getting really cold, because I agree wholeheartedly with nsa here. This is an imbecile, a mouthbreathing moron with the perspective of a turnip. Wasting your time on his opinions is simply a silly waste of life. I already regret the two minutes of my life it took to read his ignorant twaddle. Don't ask me to waste two more responding to him.
Iread the first few posts then ignored the rest. I love MLS and I could care less about WUSA. It's slow and boring. The only people that went were school girls that played the game and their soccer parents that they dragged to the games. Minor league at best but mostly a painful experience. Good bye and good riddance.
a dork - but a gutsy one Obviously he doesn't know his footy, but he has the cajones to bash on a very politically correct topic. You have to give him props for that. Just because it's not cool to say that the WUSA was a waste of time and money, it doen't mean that it isn't what millions of sports enthusiasts thought.
Ladies and Gentleman, The a-hole's article wasn't just a slam on women's soccer, this guy was ragging on the entire sport. Some of you seem to have missed that.