From USA Today:
Solo couldn't play or train with the team and had to take her meals apart as the team shunned her. By Sunday evening, it was unclear if she would even fly back to the U.S. with the team she had been a part of for more than two years.
"The circumstance that happened and her going public has affected the whole group," said Kristine Lilly, a 36-year-old forward who played in a record fifth World Cup. "And having her with us would still be a distraction."
Hope Solo has been shunned y'all. Did I miss a memo? When did the women's national team decide that it would run with Amish rules? The teams 4-0 loss to Brazil is somehow not an embarrassment anymore. This behaviour is.
Maybe all that hanging out in Red China has gotten to girls and they've all gone commie. Please save yourself the keystrokes required to tell me that this is a team sport and yadda yadda yadda; I know this. But when a player makes a statement, and a very informed and intelligent one at that, that disagrees with the status quo and gets treated like a leper for it it's a real shame.
This team has been wetsuit-tight in the past but this may be the end of all that. If Greg Ryan remains skipper he's going to have to either ditch his best keeper or call in Dr. Phil for the next team meeting.
17 comments:
F$@%in women. This is just like when the men shunned DMB after he criticized Arena... oh, wait.
This is all beautiful stuff...I'm not seeing anyone mention that this kind of high drama in the "press" is indicative of a program that is reaching maturity (see Italy, Engerland, etc.). The coach will lose his job, Scurry & Lilly retire and the next generation (this includes Solo) move on.
This drama is so lame. If US Soccer hires that therapist from the Metallica Some Kind Of Monster film, I'm boycotting this shit for life.
Hey, Kristine, you're not just old, you're old AND a bitch. Excellent role modeling.
CAT FIGHT!!!!
Awesome post Laurie. Spot on – and kudos for TOR in taking the right stance on this matter by backing Solo.
Sunil needs to resign, Ryan needs to be fired, Lilly needs to retire without honor and Abby can go suck one.
I'm also really disappointed with the remaining team members who did not have the fortitude to stand up to Ryan and his assistant coaches (Lilly/Abby) to tell them to go pound sand.
The only winners from this world cup are Germany and Solo.
These are not good female role models for my daughters. WOmen of substance would not let a male coach tell them how to thing and agree to act liek junior high school mean girls and shun an excellent player like this. All good athletes think they can do better when sitting on a bench -- that is their drive -- they sure as heck don't sit there and say "wow, she's really good, even though she just let in three soft goals, maybe I should stop playing." The US Womens' team has lost my support. Lilly and Wamb can burn in hell. SOrry Hope.
it's sad that Greg Ryan wasn't fired on the fucking spot...
i really wish the US would have gotten stomped in the third place game though,
Melanie Jackson, writing on ESPN's website, also summed it your sentiments pretty well... where was team unity fighting for Solo when she was benched before the Brazil game? I don't understand why American coaches balk at putting new players in high-stress level games. Wasn't it the new kids on the pitch that got the men's team to the quarterfinals in 2002? Wasn't it Dempsey who scored the only US goal in 2006? The younger players have the brash egos required to take the risks needed to win. Experienced players come with their emotional baggage. We're continually shooting ourselves in the foot by playing this stupid 'experience' card. I hope Solo knows she's not alone. Just like Jimmy Conrad, she's got a posse.
yo, someone should start a "hope has a posse" support web-site ASAP and all the soccer blogs should link to it.
It's been said before but bears repeating: The most DEAD ON thing Hope said was that it is not 2004 anymore. Lilly and Scurry need to go. I am sickened by Wambach's (henceforth 'wormtail') sucking up to Lilly and wanting to give her a good send off. What?? She has had her success and glory. She did NOTHING in this Cup. The best player in the world is 21 years old and plays for Brazil. They have a ton of young players. Ours, including Hope, need to be on the pitch, not the bench. Ryan is a weak coach, and before he had Hope as a scapegoat, he had Laurie Osborne. After the Brazil game, he was asked if his (stupid) change of keepers affected the outcome of the game. No, no, he says, it is so tough when you start off with an own goal. Everything went downhill from there, he says. And, oh, that Marta is so brilliant. That's good, Ryan, throw your own player under the bus for your lame mistake. Then, allow another player, whose heart was broken, to be ostracized by the old, shriveled, decrepit 'leader', as Lilly is called. What a joke. I guess the spirit of Chinese repression and censorship and a communist herd mentality seeped into the American camp. Someone said all the players jumped on the Ryan bandwagon to keep their spots for the Olympics. Yep, when one stray sheep is culled from the herd, the herd turns on it. And boy, did that ever happen. If that team had a true 'leader', they would have stood solidly behind Hope and against Ryan and he would have been the scapegoat, not a young player. If he had just, from the beginning, in the aftermath of the Brazil debacle, accepted blame and said he had made a bad decision and put Bri and Hope in bad situations, then, THEN, I think all this controversy would have been avoided. The girls would then have all rallied around him in support and it all would have been better. Hopefully they are rallying around Shannon Boxx who was wrongfully and horribly DQd. That ref should never call another international match, and neither should the assistants on that side of the field. And shame on the Brazilian player (Daniella?) who got tangled up with Boxx and celebrated her sending off, knowing full well there had been no foul. How I wish the Aussie ref from the Final had called the US-Brazil game. She didn't fall for the Brazilian histrionics and diving. I HATE that kind of soccer. It is not usually seen in the women's game. Boy did we see it on Thursday. Disgusting. Disgusting that Ryan (or Lilly, who is probably REALLY running the team) didn't give us a fighting chance to beat them. I am sick about all this and if US Soccer doesn't get rid of Greg Ryan, and if Hope isn't back in the nets for the next match, I will no longer be a fan of this team. Goodbye Lil, it's been great, time for you and Bri to ride into the sunset.
How can we start a bring Hope back to US WOmen's soccer (get it?) on line petition?
I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult as there is already one to fire Ryan.
Fire Ryan Petition
Everyone should email the U.S. Soccer Federation and tell them to fire Ryan and bring Hope back. Here is the link:
http://www.ussoccer.com/contact/saveContact.jsp
SF: Dude, why not bump this to the top of your page? we need to get more people to join Hope's Posse!!
Spot on "seeker" great post. The communist herd mentality did take over for fear of losing their spot on the Olympic squad. All of them are cowards and not true friends of Hope.
I guess by now you have seen that Hope is groveling. Since her job is a pro soccer player, I guess she has to. I guess you saw that Scurry is now the starting keeper. Maybe you even saw that Hope did not even suit up, hoping to kiss and scrape her way into the good graces of that 'petty cabal' that is her team. Oh, yeah, she had to publicly apologize AGAIN., and single out Scurry and Ryan for her mea culpa. It sickens me, and I have lost all respect for that team. But not for Hope. This is when someone who really has guts and principles should have stood next to Hope and said that the Emporer isn't wearing any clothes and looks ridiculous.
Thanks for the post, pretty worthwhile info.
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