Very Cool SI ... Very Cool

SI honors World Cup-winning U.S. women with a cover for each player

The U.S. women’s national team made history by becoming the first to win three Women’s World Cups, snapping a 16-year title drought to do so by beating Japan 5-2 in the final and capping a memorable month in Canada.

To honor that achievement, Sports Illustrated has come up with a one-of-a-kind cover shoot. Instead of one cover to honor the 23 players and coach Jill Ellis, one for each of them. From Golden Ball winner Carli Lloyd to veteran stalwarts Abby Wambach and Megan Rapinoe to backup goalkeepers Alyssa Naeher and Ashlyn Harris, each member of the World Cup-winning squad, posing with the World Cup trophy, has her own cover as part of a unique set. ...

See the whole article here, courtesy of SI.com.

Kicking Back Comments: While the title says it all, I was very concerned about one thing ... In the article I saw AARP now has Brandi Chastain as a spokesperson!! She is 46 years old. Now ignoring momentarily I am about the same age as Brandi ... is there a substantial generation gap between the juggernaut team of ole and today?

It certainly gave me pause ...

Like it, or else?

The Women Are A Cleansing Sorbet...

There's too much football. It's fine to admit it. It's utterly relentless, a bombardment of games and tournaments and friendlies, just when we thought the season was over. The FA Cup final was followed by the Champions League final after which came a couple of England games then the Copa America and oh sweet fancy Moses the European Under-21 Championships is about to start. You start to feel like Roberto Duran being smacked around, but with perpetual football rather than Sugar Ray Leonard's fists. No más, no más, no más. ...

See the whole article here from Football365.com.

Kicking Back Comments:

What a load of crap frankly. Just because people are not jumping up and down about the WWC does not mean they are bad people or don't like The Game, it just means they are not interested or may not be entertained. There was a great reply to this article here on Football365 itself and an even better comment to that article:

"...While I agree with Nick Miller on the England Women's team being refreshing to watch (it's so weird watching football without the diving and swearing at the ref) I'm going to make an appeal to the good writers at F365. Can the next article on women's football not be a hand wringing 'why are people so negative' one like Jonny Nic's was the other week. Can we please have a 16 conclusions, or a preview of the Norway game, or even a profile of a couple of the players. If you want people to take the women's game seriously - then lead the way by giving it some proper coverage. Like you do with the Spanish League for example. A regular weekly column by one of your fine writers would be a much bigger boost to the game then trying to tackle misogyny single handed. Plus I really want to know who's at no. 50 on a WWC ladder! Mike, League 2, BRFC"

Honestly too, if this was true, most of the world would be considered a misogynist as attendance has been heavily inflated (source it look like only 313,411-ish in actual attendance for all matches to date) and while the US and Canada matches are very well attended, it looks like few others are. A real question is why this is the case? Remember from earlier that Canada was the ONLY country to bid on the WWC. Let's face it WWC is just not a money maker in most places. 

It is interesting though. People are about to go to jail and alter their lives forever in trying to get a World Cup into a particular country ... yet only a single country bids on the WWC.

Lets face it folks, it's not about misogyny, it's about money, and there is sadly not much in the women's game today.

Shades of 1994?

Women's World Cup: Nigeria's Njoku suspended three games for elbowing

A second-half substitute, Njoku was standing with her back to Kerr in the 76th minute of Australia's 2-0 win when she drove her right elbow into Kerr's face, knocking her to the turf. Kerr, who was originally thought to have a broken jaw, was attended to by trainers but finished the game. She is expected to play Tuesday against Sweden. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of the LA Times.

Kicking Back Comments: 

A few thoughts on this one. (The match report is here.)

First, is for anyone who thinks the girls don't play as rough as the boys, think again. This was a vicious off the ball hit that could have seriously injured that player if it landed correctly. It reminded me of this classic from the 1994 World Cup which caused Tab to be out for some time.

Second, is this was behind the referee so she had no chance to see it. I do wonder what the 4th was doing at the time however as it was fairly close to the bench area. Yes, if the 4th had seen that, I would have expected the crew to take action in sending the player off. To me this includes a quick peek at the video monitors to get the info. Something this vicious needs to be dealt with.

Third, this is a great use of video review after the fact. Now for anyone who is paying attention you may look at my last point and say *hey* that is a form of video review. Well, color me a hypocrite, but yes it is of sorts. My distinction is in the first case the refereeing crew is using every tool available to them *at the time of the incident* to get to the correct conclusion. After all, how many times if we see a 50-50 ball that we look at players reaction to help make a decision? In the latter case we get some delay and a booth official involved and after a 5 minute delay we get a decision and off we go. It's all too NFL for me. So for my money as the entire crew missed it, the right result occurred after the fact.

I will be curious to see if any of this crew are appointed later in the tournament for missing such a serious foul.

A piece of what?

Pia Sundhage calls Hope Solo a 'piece of work'

WINNIPEG — Ahead of the World Cup clash between the United States and Sweden Friday, the New York Times published an interview with Pia Sundhage, who had sharp words for her former U.S. players.

The Swedish coach said when Carli Lloyd felt coaches had faith in her, she “could be one of the best players, but if she began to question that faith, she could be one of the worst.” Sundhage also said if she were still the U.S. coach, Abby Wambach would come off the bench, and added that Hope Solo was one of the most challenging players she’s ever coached, “especially when it comes to trouble.” ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of USA Today.

Kicking Back Comments:

Very tactical stuff from Pia frankly and while they may see each other again later in the tournament, this was an interesting little zinger prior to what is likely to be the top two teams from Group D.

Here too is something I am learning about life ... everyone loves a winner no matter how much of a bad actor they are. If they are successful, during that time, they are forgiven. Not saying it's fair ... but that's the way it is.

Please stop helping ...

... should be Hope Solo's words to her husband, Jerramy Stevens, after his recent comments.

In the article from USA Today, Stevens (who was popped for DUI driving a US Soccer team van, and in 2012 arrested, but not charged, for assault) defended his wife, who he was arrested for assaulting, by calling the whole thing a "witch hunt."

Photo Credit: The Simpsons

I may have found a better way to say that if I was referring to my wife, but I take his point.

He continued by going so far as to call those who would report or believe the matter regarding Solo, sexist, unpatriotic, and low class.

I'm serious, look at the article.

There is a point in time that one should put the shovel down and stop digging the hole they are in. I think Stevens is past that point.

It gets better however ... with an open letter from the Senate to US Soccer regarding their investigation, its lack or adequacy, and the "tone deaf" nature of it.

Yipes.

Well US Soccer was of course forced to respond, and Mr. Gulati was of course far more artful than Mr. Solo. You can see much of his response here.

Lets face it, while I am sure a cadre of lawyers were consulted on this, I suspect the intent was finding an escape clause to let Solo play as she is probably the best keeper on the planet earth right now.

This is concerning for a couple of reasons. First is that if it is true, US Soccer is putting winning above doing the right thing. Not unique for many such organizations, but in the face of what is going on right now with FIFA, the position is somewhat hypocritical on a smaller, but no less moralistic scale.

Second is that Senator Blumenthal has it part right that US Soccer is "tone deaf" on the issue. Yes, Solo has a right to due process, and yes, the criminal case is currently under appeal, and yes there is a vocal minority that is growing which want no part of Solo's antics any more.

I have to believe the "win-win" here is Solo helps the US win the WWC and retires right on the spot to resume her defense at home. Her criminal appeal is pending and prosecutor arguments due in mid-July with oral argument scheduled for September. Plenty of time to retire.

While I don't like that personally as it continues to reward bad behavior, it may be the best angle for the majority of the parties.

Stevens is right about one thing I think ... this whole thing is sexist. As from my own opinion and a plurality of commentators, if this was a member of the MNT who was suggested in a domestic violence case, I think they would be suspended in a heartbeat.

Yes, I think that because there is no stand out star on the MNT like Solo ... but also because of the sex of the actors in this case. I am all for equality, so long as everyone is treated equally.

It's a five year mission ... or is it?

Well here we are again friends. It has been a while, but not without some significant events unfolding before us.

So as not to get into too much, too fast, as tempted as I am, I wanted to address the beginnings of the Women's World Cup in Canada.

Back in 2011 I wrote about my genuine lack of interest in the WWC, awarding myself the "Media Pinhead Gold Medal" in jest all while receiving a few barbed emails from one of the other medal recipients who clearly had a funnybone-ectemy in their youth.

I find myself back in that same spot now, somewhat apathetic to the actual WWC play. Of course the run up was fun with the turf controversy (and Abby now an official spokesperson of Scotts), Hope Solo's epic meltdown, arrest, suspension, trial, subsequent dismissal on procedural grounds, and arrest reports which paint a not so flattering picture of the National Team keeper.

Let's face it, FIFA is not interested, as they have a few other things going on right now. In fact I would be surprised if Blatter or Valcke even went to Canada for fear of an arrest and extradition to the US. Oh by the way, FIFA fixed the tournament as well to maximize the gate too ... so they have a pretty good idea how it is going to all turn out anyway.

Local fans are not all that interested, as while the opening and USA matches were well attended (mostly by US fans), most of the other matches are not, and in fact are quite dismal. I am sure this makes FIFA very sad as they went to great lengths to make sure the matches were as competitive as they could be (see above for the source).

What is more scary though is the demographic that should be excited does not seem to be. Not that my daughter is a representative sample but she has no interest whatsoever about the tournament, and was not even aware. Same too with her team and even most of the parents. As the US progresses in the tournament I do expect this to change, but so far, a little scary.

Even the media is not interested as the coverage from most outlets has been "meh" at best and offensive at worst ... Stephen A. Smith, the gift that keeps on giving. ESPN would you please fire this clown?

Commentators have been pretty awful actually too. There are exceptions with J.P. Dellacamera, Tony DiCicco, Eric Wynalda, and Alexi Lalas, but beyond that it has been really awful with poor commentary and frankly some incorrect comments from folks who should know better. Their default banter is how the referee missed this or that, not filling with interesting facts about what is actually going on. Give me Foudy all day every day and twice on Sunday.

On a related note, FOX should take a page out of their NFL playbook and hire a referee analyst for decisions they want to discuss. Heck I'd bet you can get a bunch of quality folks to do this for a round trip to the World Cup in Canada. It would bring some sanity to a portion of the commentary.

So for my money a poorish start to the WWC with one exception that is Margaret Domka, our lone referee representative form the US, who had a good, albeit unchallenging first round match. It is unfortunate both US teams will not advance as far as the other.

Coincidence huh ...

Former USWNT GK coach: Departure had 'nothing to do with Hope Solo'

With just four months to go before the Women’s World Cup, the U.S. goalkeeper situation was already up in the air with starter Hope Solo’s 30-day suspension by U.S. Soccer after her recent incident in which her husband was charged with a DUI while driving her in a U.S. Soccer team van in Los Angeles.

So the timing of this news on Wednesday night raised some eyebrows: Paul Rogers, the U.S. goalkeepers coach since 2009, abruptly left his position with the team to take a job as the goalkeepers coach with the Houston Dynamo. ...

See the whole article from Grant Wahl here, courtesy of SI.com.

Kicking Back Comments:

The lady doth protest too much, methinks. At least Hamlet did ...

Yeah this is a bit too close in time for me to blow it off as coincidence. If (Paul) Rogers really saw another World Cup win in his very near future and hope (snicker) beyond the recent string of incidents with Solo, I find it hard to believe he would have left so abruptly, even for a MLS team.

This to me is another nail in the USWNT coffin and what we may come to expect in June in Canada.

Either way with US Soccer and Rogers saying that this was planned and there is nothing to see here leads me to be all that more suspicious there is not more here.

NO GRASS FOR YOU!!!

Back in November I shared with you all the case being brought against FIFA for the use of a synthetic surface for the 2015 WWC in Canada. For any interested it can be found here.

As I opined then, and was recently confirmed, the case was dismissed for lack of merit. In a contorted statement from council representing the players, Hampton Dellinger stated, "So after a lot of effort to reach a compromise - the players need to start their training and need to know what surface they'll be be playing on - they have decided to put soccer first and put the lawsuit behind them."

In other words ... they got nuthin' ... legally speaking.

There is an important point in that last statement too as I believe that FIFA and the CSA got it wrong and the WWC should be played on grass. That last statement however is a far cry from what the case itself and how is was processed should determine as a victor.

Take a look at "Of Privilege and Preference ..." by Elizabeth Cotignola which in part calls Wambach et. al. v. Canadian Soccer Association, nothing more than a temper tantrum to which these players feel they are entitled.

I agree with her, as well as how the case was brought both in form and in venue, but at the same time, I think the women are entitled to the same surface as the men. Not because they are women, but because they are playing at the highest level of The Game, and the game itself deserves that respect.

Believe me, that surface changes the game, I have the experience to know this personally. What should scare the crap out of FIFA however was not this lawsuit, nor should it be the fear of a boycott from these players or fans, it should be the fact that Canada was the only country to complete the bidding process for the 2015 Cup.

Let me write that again ... Canada was the only country to ask to host the World Cup.

Gee, ya think FIFA has bigger issues to deal with regarding the womens' game?

Richard Farley put it best in his article at Soccer Gods:

"Rather than spending so much time pursuing an inane court case, the players and their representatives should’ve been pressing the fact that this isn’t about the law. It’s about something deeper, something more fundamental. Once you break through the mire of FIFA standards, single-country bids, and the state of modern turf, this is basic, common sense stuff: Why us and not them?"

He is 100% correct.

The case of Dr. Turf and the Cowardly Judge

It sounds like something out of Encyclopedia Brown, but it is really an ESPN and Forbes article I caught the other day.

We of course are dealing with the case where the CSA and FIFA want to use artificial surfaces for the Women's World Cup coming up in 2015 and the ladies will have none of it. Honestly, they shouldn't either and I support their position. Every other World Cup has been played on grass, why not this one? The surface changes The Game without question.

Where this starts to get funny is the manner in which the matter is being brought ... as a gender discrimination case. Now the lawyer in me gets it as it would be really hard to make a legal argument around "Hey you are doing this because it is makes more economic sense as CFL teams play here too and its expensive to upkeep grass versus a synthetic."

Yes folks, shockingly this is about the money.

Now the ladies have a viable complaint as I said, albeit a poor vehicle to bring it as, I'm sorry, playing on a synthetic is not a gender issue as it affects both equally. There were a couple of other things that stood out to me in this brouhaha as well:

From this ESPN W article, even the human rights folks are cowering from this fight. From the article:

"Given the jurisdictional complexity of this case, I am far from certain that it would be possible to ... render a decision on the merits within a few months," Jo-Anne Pickel, vice chair of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, wrote in her decision Friday, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN.

For those uninitiated to double speak, this is saying the Human Rights Tribunal does not want anything to do with it as all, tacitly supporting my premise this has nothing to do with discrimination. If this was a real human rights issue, believe me, they would be a part of it.

Funniest part was FIFA charging to the rescue and providing an "expert" on the matter. His findings, and appropriate commentary, were found in Forbes in "FIFA Roll Out Their "Rug Doctor" In Women's World Cup Turf War". From that article:

To quote from Professor Harrison’s bio provided for the Geneva 2014 International Sports Convention he studied for a B.Sc. in Polymer Science at Liverpool University; was a Textile Technologist; completed a Ph. D at Loughborough; worked in Polymeric Materials; helped to develop Sport Surfaces (notice the capitalization) and worked in Industrial Flooring.

Rather than an expert who might be able to provide a balanced view FIFA instead opted for the equivalent of having Dracula speak on the need for more blood banks.

Don't wan't to provide a grass surface year round? NO PROBLEM! Provide a modular grass surface for just the World Cup. Anyone remember 1994 here in the US where FIFA refused to play on a synthetic surface? How did we solve that? We had octagons of grass that were pieced together for the matches and moved onto the synthetic surface. After matches, they were moved out in the sun to keep form. Problem solved!!

Let's face it, any World Cup should be played on grass. It's not about the gender, it's not about the money, it's about The Game and honoring it for how it was and should be played.

Can we all just agree on that?