Tag: women’s soccer

mind games, olympic sports, soccer

Monday Myriad: Paralympic wrap, injured gymnasts and Diamonds

Posted on by Beau Dure
Shirley Reilly photo by USOC/Long Photography

Yes, the Monday Myriad is back! Mostly because I want to try to mention the big stuff and some fun stuff that happens on weekend, and soccer coaching/PTA/parenting duties don’t let me work an actual seven-day week. It only seems that way.

And we had a lot of long-term events wrapping this weekend. Feels almost like the end of summer, and not just because we have a nice cool front on the East Coast after the power-threatening storm front Saturday.

Here we go …

Paralympics: China dominated the final medal count with 231 medals, 95 gold. Britain was a distant second overall with 120; Russia a remote second in golds with 36. The USA finished with 98 medals (fourth) and 31 gold (sixth).

The U.S. highlights near the end were in the team events — silver in women’s sitting volleyball, bronze in men’s wheelchair basketball. The wheelchair rugby team lost 50-49 to Canada in the semifinals and rebounding to beat Japan for bronze. Women’s wheelchair basketball missed the podium, finishing fourth.

Also this weekend — Shirley Reilly got a long-awaited gold medal after several near-misses, winning the marathon in a sprint finish. Yes, that’s right — a sprint finish in the marathon. Think about that the next time your local pro athlete talks about a “gut check.”

As in the Olympics, the USA’s strengths were in the pool (41 medals, 14 gold) and on the track (28 medals, nine gold). Cyclists accounted for 17 more, six gold. The rest were scattered among wheelchair tennis (three), archery (two), judo (two), rowing, sailing and the three team sports above.

Chess: Armenia won the Olympiad, barely beating Russia on tiebreak. Ukraine took sole possession of third. China, which handed the USA its sole loss, took fourth. That left the USA in fifth, with Gata Kamsky and Hikaru Nakamura posting the eighth- and ninth-rated performances.

The U.S. women didn’t do quite as well, finishing 10th. They rebounded from some puzzling results with a nice run, only to run into Ukraine and then draw Mongolia. Top three: Russia, China, Ukraine.

Cycling: Alberto Contador won the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain, for the European language-impaired). We can only hope he gets to keep this one. Spanish riders dominated, while Britain’s Chris Froome should get some sort of endurance prize for finishing fourth after reaching the Tour de France podium and medaling in the Olympics.

Track and field: The Diamond League is done, and I’ll be parsing the results from the complete track and field year sometime this fall. Or maybe when the Diamond League site stops bogging down. Season winners from the USA: Aries Merritt, Christian Taylor, Reese Hoffa, Dawn Harper, Chaunte Lowe.

Tennis: Serena Williams was challenged in the U.S. Open final but pulled out another win. Rain pushed the men’s final to today. Check CBS at 4 p.m. ET to see Andy Murray go for that elusive Grand Slam title against Novak Djokovic. No British man has won a major since the 1936 U.S. Open. As Channel 4 put it — no pressure, Andy.

Gymnastics: Women’s soccer isn’t the only sport with a post-Olympic tour. The gymnasts are doing it, too, but Fierce Five members Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney have been injured. In related news, the “McKayla is not impressed” Tumblr is running out of good ideas.

Women’s soccer: Transfer speculation! Jeff Kassouf takes a good look at the latest rumors on big-spending Paris St. Germain, finding the Christine Sinclair rumors plausible and the Abby Wambach rumors far less plausible. He dares not speculate on Hope Solo. I’d have to agree on all three counts.

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Hope Solo: Too unique for a double standard

Posted on by Beau Dure

It’s tempting to respond to the cries of a “double standard” against Hope Solo with a segment of “Really!?! with Seth and Amy.”

Really? There’s a double standard against Hope Solo? She said something totally nasty about one of her teammates at the 2007 Women’s World Cup, but people actually like her because of it because it makes her seem like a badass. Really.

Really? A double standard? Landon Donovan quickly moved to apologize for talking in public about David Beckham — saying the same stuff that tons of Galaxy fans were saying as well — but there’s a double standard against Hope Solo? Really? Donovan and Beckham actually sorted it out while Solo still holds a grudge … and wait a minute, that grudge blew open with something she said? Really?

Really? Have any of Hope’s fans ever listened to a sports talk show? If a backup quarterback ever said, “I would have made those passes,” Colin Cowherd wouldn’t even need a microphone to broadcast his show nationwide. He’d just stand up on the roof at ESPN and yell.

Yeah, really! And then Solo does an interview with Jeremy Schaap, and her fans gripe that he asked her about her relationship with the older women’s national team players? After she wrote a book that talked about that relationship?

Really! If Jeremy Schaap interviewed Jose Canseco about his books, do Hope’s fans think he would not ask him about steroids? Really?

And the E:60 video is all Hope’s side! Where’s Cat Whitehill? Where’s Julie Foudy? Where’s Briana Scurry? Really!

Really! And yet Hope has fans on Twitter who say the old guard refuses to “pass the torch.” The Who can keep touring until they don’t have anyone left, but Brandi Chastain’s supposed to disappear at age 40 like some soccer-specific remake of Logan’s Run? Hope’s the one with a memoir out and the excerpts at espnW about her conflicts with the “old guard,” but they’re the ones keeping the past alive?

Really! Really? ….

(This has been “Really?! with Seth and Amy)

So yes, I’m a little skeptical of the “double standard” notion — at least in terms of how Solo and her book have been treated in the media.  The Schaap interview is labeled as “contentious” — which is often Schaap’s style, anyway — and yet Schaap didn’t really challenge anything she said in the book. Schaap didn’t fire back with, “You lost respect for Kristine Lilly? Really?” He asked her to name a name that’s named in the book so they could discuss it.

What I said the last time I wrote on this book two weeks ago is still valid — there are multiple sides to a lot of the issues in Solo’s book, and the other sides aren’t talking. That’s not acquiescence on the part of the “old guard” just because Solo’s book hit the NYT best-sellers list. A lot of NYT best-sellers are political smears, and the politicians in question often don’t respond to them, either. Silence is often a valid PR strategy in such cases.

With so few people speaking up, Solo is really getting a free pass on her unflattering portrayal of players who still have a lot of fans, no matter what Solo’s Twitter echo chamber may say. It’s all her side of the story — which, again, is the point of a memoir. If you lose respect for Lilly, Hamm, Scurry and company because of Solo’s book, that’s really your fault, not Solo’s.

So it’s difficult to make a case for a double standard in terms of the media coverage. What about elsewhere?

And here’s where it gets tricky. Would a men’s team ostracize a player the way the USWNT did to Solo?

I had a long private conversation with another journalist about this yesterday, and we couldn’t think of a case of another athlete being ostracized the way Solo was. But we didn’t know of someone saying the things Solo said in 2007. We also didn’t know of someone being benched the way Solo was — starting goalkeeper until the semifinals, then suddenly yanked from the lineup.

Maybe such a thing has happened to a hockey goaltender or football quarterback somewhere along the way. Men’s teams have their internal disputes as well, often protected by a code of silence and vague words in the media. Perhaps someone at this weekend’s Victory Tour game in Rochester will ask Abby Wambach why, as depicted in Solo’s words, she suddenly thought Briana Scurry was better-suited to the World Cup task than Solo was in 2007. I’d be surprised if the interviewer got a complete answer.

But it’s hard to come up with anything that matches every aspect of Solo’s case — the undisputed starter, with no injuries to consider, suddenly being benched.

Was Solo treated differently within the team because it was a team of women? We really don’t have enough evidence to say. We know men can be called out within the team for their practice habits — ask Allen Iverson. But even if someone were to claim flat-out that Solo was benched for her performance in practice, one of several possibilities floated and never nailed down, could we really compare Iverson’s case with Solo’s?

No. They’re just too different. And not just because they’re men and women.

Solo’s unique. That’s why she’s selling books. And that’s why people are going to discuss and debate what she says. No double standard there.

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AmWoSo (American Women’s Soccer) Power Rankings: June 4

Posted on by Beau Dure

Which teams are best in the post-WPS American women’s soccer scene? We’ll tell you (at least, we’ll give a consensus opinion) in our AmWoSo Power Rankings. This is a joint project of The Equalizer, All White Kit and SportsMyriad.

Comparing between the W-League and WPSL Elite — or even comparing WPSL Elite to regular WPSL — is difficult because teams don’t have many common opponents. One exception: The WPSL Elite’s Boston Breakers won 1-0 at the W-League’s D.C. United Women when the Breakers were nearly at full strength. United had just flown in Joanna Lohman and Lianne Sanderson, and Becky Sauerbrunn wasn’t available.

So to some extent, the rankings are based on players who have built reputations elsewhere. A team that has 7-8 players with WPS experience is going to be ranked higher than one built entirely on unknown players — until results convince us otherwise.

The results, though, can be confusing. Consider the W-League Northeast. The Long Island Rough Riders beat the New Jersey Rangers 10-0 and 7-0. Then the Rangers beat the New York Magic 2-0. Then the Magic beat Long Island. Go figure.

We do have one great resource on the W-League, though: AWK’s Chris Henderson did a lot of roster-crunching in the preseason and named seven favorites: Ottawa Fury, D.C. United Women, Atlanta Silverbacks, Pali Blues, Santa Clarita Blue Heat, Seattle Sounders Women and Vancouver Whitecaps. Vancouver has been disappointing, though its division is stacked. Ottawa suffered a surprising loss but should be watched the rest of the way.

The WPSL Elite is more clear-cut. Four teams are stacked with WPS talent. Four aren’t, though one of those teams (New England) has what appears to be a competitive squad. Yet we still have a question at the top — Boston has run off some terrific early wins but lost on the road to a well-rested Chicago team. Chicago takes the top spot for now, but Boston may easily claim it at some point.

Here’s what we have so far (at the bottom, check out the games to watch — or follow on Twitter — this week):

1. Chicago Red Stars (3-0-0, WPSL Elite) – roster
The Red Stars moved down from WPS after the 2010 season and kept a handful of experienced players. They also added WPS stars Lori Chalupny and Jen Buczkowski. The Boston game was their first real test, and they passed, winning 1-0.

Continue reading →

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Reflections on “The Man Watching” and Anson Dorrance

Posted on by Beau Dure

If the mark of a good biography is something that makes you think about several aspects of life, then The Man Watching is a very good biography.

The subject, North Carolina and former U.S. women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance, is described as someone you either love or hate. Surely a third camp exists — one that finds Dorrance’s contradictions and complexities fascinating. (If you need personal disclaimers here: I’ve interacted with him once, 21 years ago, and I found him to be a gracious winner.)

Dorrance is a military son who wanted to be a soldier. Today, he’s a women’s soccer coach who corresponds with his players with often-emotional letters, and his daily schedule and desk have no sense of military order whatsover.

Everyone wants to mimic his success, and yet the coaching style that carried him through much of his career is out of vogue now, both in terms of soccer tactics and player management.

He’s a book-devouring intellectual who turns around and competes with an arrogant fervor that would frighten most of the other folks in bookstores and libraries.

His intellectual approach to life made author Tim Crothers’ job a little bit easier. Though Dorrance may come across as arrogant, he’s open to self-examination and reflection. He’s candid about his successes, failures and controversies, something I’ve heard from Carolina colleagues who have covered his team.

Continue reading →

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Briana Scurry bids farewell

Posted on by Beau Dure

It’s startling to hear Briana Scurry get emotional. Throughout her career, from the 1996/1999/2004 triumphs to the 2007 Women’s World Cup controversy, she has always been the calm one. The quiet one, like George Harrison of The Beatles. She didn’t embrace the spotlight like Julie Foudy or Brandi Chastain, nor was she pushed into it like Mia Hamm.

But in announcing her retirement today, Scurry paused and struggled with a breaking voice. The decision wasn’t surprising, but it was clearly difficult for her.

Scurry’s playing days had been winding down since the 2004 Olympics, which she recalled in today’s conference call as a great moment that no one expected outside the players themselves. She took a year off in 2005 and returned to the national team for three games in 2006. In the World Cup year of 2007, she had four starts and one sub appearance before coach Greg Ryan threw her into the fire, starting her ahead of Hope Solo in the semifinals against Brazil. It was an embarrassing moment for the team — Brazil won 4-0, Solo griped with stunning candor, and Ryan lost his job despite losing once in 55 games (45-1-9).

Thankfully, Scurry’s final appearance on a big stage was a win — the USA won the third-place World Cup game 4-1 over Norway. She also won her last start — again a 4-1 decision, over Finland at the 2008 Four Nations Cup. She made four sub appearances the rest of the year, mostly after the USA won gold in Beijing with Scurry’s name listed as an alternate.

When WPS started stocking rosters for its debut season in 2009, Scurry wasn’t among the allocated players. Few people knew of her plans — again, she was the quiet one — until the Washington Freedom drafted her. She explained in the 2009 preseason that she was taking her time in deciding whether to play.

She started the WPS inaugural game, but playing time was scarce after that. Erin McLeod won the starting job for the Freedom last year. This year, she played just 45 minutes. McLeod is out with a knee injury, but Scurry has been hampered by lingering effects from a concussion — a common problem that has put all too many players on indefinite hiatus.

But she said today the concussion was not the determining factor in her retirement. It’s simply time. Yesterday was her 39th birthday — not ancient for a goalkeeper but certainly enough to make anyone contemplate a new direction.

Scurry had two periods of accomplishment that no goalkeeper has exceeded. In the mid to late ’90s, she was simply the best in the world, often unchallenged behind a dominant U.S. team but ready when needed. She and the U.S. team avenged their 1995 World Cup defeat with Olympic gold in 1996 — and yes, she reiterated today that she did indeed run naked through a deserted street to celebrate. Then came the glory of 1999 — the penalty kick save, the World Cup win.

She struggled to get back to form in 2000 and wound up as Siri Mullinix’s backup when the U.S. women took silver in Sydney. But when the WUSA launched the next year, she was more than ready, twice taking the Atlanta Beat to the title game. She was back in the U.S. net for a third-place finish in the 2003 World Cup.

Then came the final run for the great generation of U.S. players — the 2004 Olympics, when the team won gold away from home soil in Greece. That was a final celebration for Hamm, Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett. (Brandi Chastain and Kristine Lilly, who has inhuman energy for her age, would stay in the game long enough to play in WPS.)

Scurry deserves mention along with that generation. She should one day be in the Hall of Fame along with Fawcett, Foudy, Hamm, April Heinrichs, Shannon Higgins-Cirovski, Carin Jennings, Carla Overbeck and Michelle Akers, who paid tribute to Scurry’s shot-stopping prowess on today’s conference call. (Even with the finicky Hall voters who have yet to get Earnie Stewart inducted, I’d guess Chastain and Lilly will get the call as well.)

Those who thrive on irony will note that Hope Solo, now the Atlanta Beat’s goalkeeper, can keep the Freedom out of the playoffs on Saturday and send Scurry out of the game on a bitter note. Solo won’t have any motivation other than her usual desire to win a soccer game. When Solo visited Washington with the now-defunct St. Louis Athletica earlier this season, she and Scurry smiled and hugged.

The arguments are over. What remains are the accomplishments and the quiet dignity with which Briana Scurry went through her career.

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