SOLO FREEZES BRAZIL: I've been trying to think of something to say about yesterday's Women's World Cup quarterfinal match between the United States and Brazil other than wow and um, wow, and then it occurred to me this morning. I believe this is the first women's sports competition I can think of in which gender was irrelevant to and did not alter one's appreciation for the event. Not once did I mentally compare the quality of play to that which one might see in a men's game, not once did the match seem smaller, less physical, less intense, less anything. This was a game for the ages, and I sure hope you watched it.
Bonus: Gus Johnson calls the Wambach goal.
In re Hope Solo: GO HUSKIES.
ReplyDeleteWe Tivoed and have not watched yet, but I'm very excited to sit down with the girls and enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteBut re: your thesis, Adam, would you not have said the same thing about the 1999 US-China match? Y'know, penalty kicks, Brianna Scurry, Brandy Chastain? Because my wife and I were watching that game at the G-Man at Penn State with a big Arts Fest crowd that year, and I found very little distinction between the bar crowd reaction that we were a part of that day (and I mean all game long, not just for the fantastic finish), and what I would imagine the G-Man crowd's reaction would have been to similarly hard-fought PSU football game, much less a US Men's World Cup match. I realize this doesn't specifically touch each element of your thesis, but I think a strong case can be made that a major college sports bar crowd's intensity is a pretty close proxy.
What a remarkable game yesterday. I was actually at the Women's World Cup finals in 99 (eleven rows behind the net, sadly not the goal they used for the shootout) and I will never forget the euphoria of the stadium once the US finally won. As a female who grew up playing soccer (on both a boys team and then a girls team), I'm not sure I even bothered to compare the level of play to a men's match. I idolized Michelle Akers Stahl, Mia Hamm, and their teammates as a child, and I knew the USWNT had a much greater chance of winning than the US Men's team. But I'm certainly glad to see Women's Soccer getting more attention.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing this lacked was the soccer people shouting at me "NOW SOCCER IS GOING TO TAKE OFF!" like they did after the Donovan goal last summer. So when the U.S.A. wins with a "Friday Night Lights"-style finish and no one is telling me how I'm a sports dumby because I don't usually follow soccer, that's pretty much a perfect combination.
ReplyDeleteI think the point where Brandi Chastain removed her shirt is probably the point at which gender was no longer irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteI'll hop on to say that "one" should be replaced by "my" in the above statement.
ReplyDeleteI played soccer for my high school team back when giant lizards roamed the Earth. The girls didn't have a team, so the three of us played on the guys' team. Thank you very much, Title IX.
ReplyDeleteI lovedlovedloved the 1999 team and would have had two fillings with them any day of the week. I watched every moment of the World Cup last year.
I'd gladly toot a vuvuzuela in the streets if I thought soccer was finally going to take off here in the States, but I think there's nil chance of that happening.
I accept the Yellow Card for solipsism.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty exciting. I mean, now that I think about it, there probably wouldn't have been all the space on the wing for the cross that set up Wambach's header in the mens' game. It's comforting to know, however, that women soccer players are just as good at pretending to be hurt as men.
ReplyDeleteas far as is soccer going to take off? Soccer's doing fine in the U.S. Good crowds for USMNT games and the Womens' World Cup, a domestic league that is doing a credible job of developing talent and attracting fan support, and plently of interest in the top European leagues. DOOP! Come on the U!
I'm confused on how people can still question "will soccer take off in the USA" after the reaction to yesterday's game. It already has taken off!
ReplyDeleteDo I think soccer as a sport will top football and basketball and baseball? No. But I do think it can eventually push its way into the Big Four discussion. I don't think it's quite there yet, as the biggest ratings are the international games, and not the MLS. And I'm saying that as a convert to soccer as of 2006. I love watching international competitions. Soccer is my new favorite summer sport.
ReplyDeleteSoccer is probably a bigger deal than hockey at this point. It seems like there's far more enthusiasm for the World Cup or Women's World Cup than the Stanley Cup. MLS is still very much a niche sport, but the World Cup is a sufficiently big deal at this point.
ReplyDeleteBecause it's an international competition. Do you remember how excited everyone was for USA/Canada in Olympic Hockey?
ReplyDeleteGive Americans the opportunity to chant U.S.A. and root against other countries and they will jump at it, regardless of the sports. (And I'm not saying that to judge - I love chanting U.S.A. and mocking other countries.)
So glad to find the soccer love. My husband and I were just saying that 4 years it would not have occured to us to watch the women's world cup, and now we are planning our schedule around it. Helps that our 10 year old has been playing goalie on a travel soccer team for the past 4 years. Hope Solo is very big in my house.
ReplyDeleteWait, there's flying soccer? I have to start paying attention.
ReplyDeleteI agree with every word of this.
ReplyDeleteCan't hurt to have the next game on the otherwise quietest sports day of the year.
ReplyDeleteLike, a million times! Mighty are the women that wear the purple and the gold!
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Duvall.<span> </span>
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that this game had an exciting finish, didn't it also showcase everything bad about soccer? One of the few goals decided by (bad) referee decisions, one team plays shorthanded for most of the game and it barely matters, and a blatant fake injury as a game tactic (what would we be saying today if that tactic had worked?). But the worst thing for me is that, after no actual overtime, they switch to a completely different game that has more in common with rock-paper-scissors than actual soccer (completely eliminating whatever beauty there is in teamwork, strategy, endurance, etc.)
ReplyDeleteI think there are lots of sports where the power differential actually means the women are playing a different, and often more interesting game. Tennis and volleyball come to mind. There are also sports where, to my eye, the woman are just doing a poor imitation of the men: golf, basketball, gymnastics.
But you can enjoy just about any sport if you start to identify with the players. That applies to other things as well. Think about the number of medicre TV shows we keep alive just because we like some of the actors.