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August 16, 2016Happy Tuesday, WFNY!
As I stepped out the front door this morning and felt this bizarre sensation, one of cool air and comfort as opposed to the usual brick wall of warm humidity, I realized relief is just around the corner. But before we get to the end of summer, we still have one more thing to finish, and that is the Summer Olympics.
I don’t know if it’s just because America has been kicking so much butt or what, but these have been a pretty awesome version of the Olympics so far. Which is surprising, of course, because for the last two years we have been sold nothing but doom and gloom for these Olympics. In truth, while watching from afar, these Olympics have seemed fine. Sure, as Ryan Lochte found out, if you wander outside the Olympic Village, anything can happen. But overall, through one week, I would rate this year’s Summer Games a smashing success.
The worst thing to come out of the Olympics, actually, has been Hope Solo. For those who might have somehow missed it, after the USWNT’s shocking loss to Sweden in the quarterfinals, the American keeper called Sweden “a bunch of cowards” for having the audacity to play a style of soccer that allowed them to win.
To be clear, Solo is an incredible soccer player. She’s bar none the best keeper I have seen play the game. She’s a major reason the USWNT has been so dominant over the last decade-plus. Nothing can ever take away what she has been on the field. But she is a nightmare off the pitch. For much of her abrasive career, the USWNT has had to go out of its way to make excuses for Solo, to allow them to continue to play someone who has always been infinitely better than any potential replacement. This latest incident is one that embarasses the entire USWNT as a whole, and that’s what makes this one sting so deeply for an organization that has always stood behind Solo.
Look, I get it. I grew up a Detroit Red Wings fan, and the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals still burns. That year the Wings went into the Stanley Cup Finals as a pretty big favorite, as they featured one of the most unstoppable offensive attacks the NHL had ever seen. The Wings averaged almost 4 goals per game in their first three rounds of the playoffs. But the New Jersey Devils brought something called the “neutral zone trap”, a system that is boring as hell to watch, but that is virtually impossible for any offense to punch through. In the four game sweep, the Devils held the Wings to just 7 goals total.
And you know what? I thought the Devils were cowards. I hated the way they played. Even when the Wings later adapted their own form of the trap (as did pretty much every team in the NHL until the league later abolished the two line pass rule in 2005 to open the ice more … the results and effectiveness of which are highly debatable) and won multiple Stanley Cups of their own, it felt dirty. That 1995 Stanley Cup Finals series is one of the most frustrating sports moments of my life, right up there with the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals the Cavaliers dropped to the Magic and the 1997 World Series.
But you know what? That anger and frustration I feel from that series … it’s not because the Devils are cowards. My anger isn’t at them. I’m angry because the Red Wings lost. Period. Would I have really felt any better had the series been lost in a wide-open fashion? Not really. I would have blamed something else, I’m sure. But the anger and frustration would still be there.
So I understand Hope Solo’s anger and frustration. I really do. But I also know that had I been interviewed after the Wings loss, I certainly wouldn’t have voiced my belief that the Devils played a cowardly style of hockey. That ideal of sportsmanship is only further magnified in the contextual scope of the Olympics, where countries are supposed to come together, everyone gives their best, and the best athletes prevail. It’s not a thing where every country is supposed to just let the US win.
Yes, Hope Solo is right. Sweden played a boring style of soccer. It was maddening. Nothing is more fun to watch than wide open, beautiful soccer. Watching teams grind out the game by making pointless passes whose only purpose is to prevent the other team from getting touches is miserable. But it’s also effective. Spend any time watching European professional soccer, particularly the English Premier League, and you will see countless games of undermatched teams playing the exact same style that Sweden used. Which is why the tactic isn’t cowardly, it’s smart.
American sports are riddled with romanticized ideas of the underdog using any method at their disposal to overcome all odds and win. In baseball, America’s Pastime, the best players are routinely intentionally walked. In basketball, poor free throw shooters are intentionally fouled to try to slow down their opponent. In football, teams play prevent defense and the offense will take a knee. Sports are about maximizing the chances of winning and reducing your opponent’s’ chances.
Whether it be Rocky fighting right-handed before switching to the left, Norman Dale installing a slowed-down, pass-heavy, defensive-minded approach to basketball at Hickory High, or Daniel Russo implementing a deceptive crane kick to win the karate tournament, our sports movies are saturated with this concept of underdogs digging deep into themselves to find a way to limit their opponents and give themselves a chance to win. We love it. Had the roles been reversed and the USWNT did what Sweden did, we’d laud them forever as sports heroes. But when it happens to us? We hate it. That’s the nature of sports.
Anyway, Hope Solo is a frustrating figure and a sports anti-hero who is awfully hard to root for. While I’ll miss her dominance in protecting the US goal, I’ll hardly miss having to come up with excuses for why it’s ok to root for her. And above all else, I’m mad at myself that this is what I wanted to talk about today as I thought about the Olympics. Not Kyrie Irving and Team USA. Not Michael Phelps. Not the Final Five. Not Katie Ledecky. Not Kerri Walsh Jennings.
It’s been a great Olympics for our country. The US is dominating the medal count with no signs of slowing down. It’s just such a shame to have this one ugly blemish among an otherwise awesome two weeks of competition and sportsmanship.
50 Comments
I once watched a hs basketball game where one team just held the ball for the whole quarter because they were outmatched. Score at halftime was like 6-4 or 8-4
Solo is batsh*t crazy. This is just the latest in a long line of idiocy perpetrated by her.
Her husband is a real piece of crap, too.
She is an embarrassment . She makes the USWNT really hard to root for.
Sore losers suck.
That’s probably the nicest thing you can say about her.
I’m just gonna leave this here.
https://twitter.com/mgbode_WFNY/status/764176644126801920
I would just like to say that it’s great to have the WFNY home page back to normal! I feel like my old self again. Ahhh, I can ride a bike again!
http://i.imgur.com/9Raxavu.png
Yeah, Wisconsin always plays like that.
https://media.giphy.com/media/kMM3vtBEgSsLu/giphy.gif
Nope. You’re not the only one. I wouldn’t put it past her to shove a light saber through her father’s chest on a skywalk above an endless chasm. (See what I did there? It’s layered.)
Joking aside, I think she’s a despicable human being. For the same reason that we are all outraged by domestic violence by NFL players, we should be outraged by her. I’m not sad to see her go.
If it were a guy, it would be a non issue (would not have been allowed)
Her husband is Jerramy Stevens. He might be a bigger POS than her.
They deserve each other, I suppose.
Counter-point on the Olympic glory: I hate the “medal count.” It’s an artificial jingoist creation (I can say this as a recovering jingoist). While I would have loved to have been in the Olympic stadium in ’36 to see our flag held high in front of the Fuhrer and to see Jesse Owens dominate those games, and while I still get emotional seeing a countryman/woman on the gold medal stand with the national anthem playing, I’m otherwise completely and utterly bored with the nationalistic take on the Olympics. While the proliferation of on-line content has alleviated this immensely, it still prevents us from seeing some really great events, competitions, and athletes that don’t happen to be from the Red, White, and Blue. For example, last night I watched the entire men’s pole vault finals, and got to see a Brazilian win gold over the reigning world record holder and gold medal winner. It was the most amazing thing I’ve seen in the games. I’m thankful for NBC for providing that content, and I believe portions of the event were shown briefly on the primary telecast, but we collectively missed out on this beautiful, amazing display, primarily because our main attention is always drawn to the American domination anticipated in other events (that had finished hours before).
In short, I don’t care that the U.S. is supposedly dominating the world in the number of medals earned. With over 550 athletes, we’d better! Math and statistics dictate that we should. I’m certainly no globalist, but in the context of the Olympics, I want to revel in the world’s athletes.
Don’t begrudge those that do love the medal count; it’s just an opposite perspective (admittedly laced with judgment – sorry).
Great point on the soccer strategy. I thought what Sweden did was brilliant. I didn’t think I would be, but I was thrilled to see them win. Their strategy was absolutely legitimate, and it completely worked! Their counter-attacks were great, and the USWNT has nobody to blame but themselves for not stopping them. And besides, it came down to penalty kicks (the worst way to win any competition, IMO). Nothing cowardly about taking the came to that crapshoot of a finish. I feel bad for Alex Morgan for missing that kick, but come on – that’s one you just can’t miss. I’m very happy for Sweden. Well done doing what they had to do.
“In short, I don’t care that the U.S. is supposedly dominating the world in the number of medals earned. With over 550 athletes, we’d better! Math and statistics dictate that we should.”
That brings up the conundrum of soccer. With our overwhelming population advantage, we can’t seem to field a men’s team that is consistently competitive on a world level.
I love to think what our soccer teams would be like if our best athletes played that game instead of football, basketball, etc. LeBron James or a Gronkowski (any of them) as goalkeeper? Come on.
Or rugby?
C’mon, Adrian Peterson playing rugby?
We should rule rugby.
For sure. As I dream, I just want to see highlights of Barry Sanders playing striker. Messi would have nothing on that guy.
Just win baby.
Please tell Blackburn.
I expect they’ll be flirting with relegation to League One.
Venkys has destroyed Rovers.
They had a great coach and fantastic management. All they needed were funds.
All Venkys had to do was write checks, and Big Sam and John Williams would have pushed them up the table. Buuuuut, noooo….
I am shocked people watch the NBC nightly broadcast outside the older folks who might not have seen the results. I also wonder if NBC will provide those APPs for free next time or have it as an additional charge.
I am quite happy having our athletes not play soccer. Mostly because I don’t enjoy watching the sport as much as the other ones they do play 🙂
I do wonder what would happen if someone bankrolled a rugby league instead of the Arena League for all of the failed NFL prospects and players.
I doubt they’ll charge for the app. I’m sure they have agreements in place with all of the TV providers (which you have to have in order to watch extended content), so they’re making plenty of cash. The financial incentive to charge for the app may not outweigh the bad PR for doing so. They’re rolling in dough during the Olympics, and the free app makes them look like the good guy – though they aren’t. No need to reinforce their blatant greed with abject greed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j7uesqPmQ8
Soccerfootball has become my second favorite sport to watch, right behind footballfootball – and in many ways, it’s so much better (e.g., the announcers). It really is a beautiful game.
I agree if things stay about the same as now, then NBC will keep things the same. But, as more and more people go purely app-based for their television coverage, I wonder what the TV-world looks like in 2020.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see each channel offered independently with surcharges for specific events such as the Olympics.
I don’t doubt it. I just don’t have time to learn the inner-workings and my boys have chosen football and baseball (they did give soccer a try). So, just a matter of time management really.
That would be awesome. So many of the US team’s players are former college football players already. Imagine if it was a natural pipeline. Tim Tebow for rugby team captain!
Tebow as an Olympian! I wonder why he is trying out for MiLB instead of competing for gold medals.
The mythical ala carte programming that we all dream about! Partly because my work used to bring me into the realm of cable TV, I’ve seen so many studies on the possibilities of moving away from the current structure. For so long, the economics just didn’t work out; it turns out that paying ala carte would end up exceeding the average monthly cable TV bill – but I think those conditions are shifting quickly. Out here, Comcast (NBC’s evil sister) is already beginning to delve into those types of offerings, bundled with increased quality internet service.
I dream of the day Comcast offers out of market NFL games ala carte.
Solo is just not a likable person.
Haha, dream about. I agree the more it goes to ala carte, the more total will need to be paid into it. Yes, the media companies already own SlingTV and Hulu, etc. and are learning how to do these things while making the most $$$.
Right now, I pay less than I did for DISH or DirecTv and have everything I want. But, I can see it changing swiftly in the future. We’ll see.
What’s kind of funny is that this was the USMNT strategy for ages. Bob Bradley loved himself some counter-attack soccer. It’s what you do when you don’t have the horses to run with the best teams. It’ll win you a surprise game or two, but never the whole tournament.
I admit that my wife and I have been watching it almost every night. It’s kind of like watching a greatest hits album, but with Olympic events. If somebody from another country does something amazing, it will be covered, but mostly it’s coverage specific to my US-rooting interests.
Shoot, forget goalkeeper… If LeBron had played soccer since he was 4 years old, he would be the most terrorized forward in history… I’m sure of it.
We just hit up the APP and go through the highlights of different events at night unless it is something of specific interest (like women’s gymanstics) where we can watch the full event.
Should only be a matter of time before he’s pushing a two-man bobsled in the winter olympics, right?
But that would divert my attention away from playing Final Fantasy 4 on my phone.
Why?
APP works on FireTV or whatever internet device you want to hook up to TV. If you don’t have one, then most laptops have an HDMI cable that also works.
I’m more talking about all of the selecting. It’s much easier to just sit there and let TV tell me what to watch (fashioned in true Homer Simpson beauty)
Haha. OK, fair enough. If there’s an event you like though, they tend to run anywhere from 1-4 hours, so you can just click and let it run.
We should hold a WFNY Comeback Special! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzLHU6S4oic
One of my favorite moments in all of Simpsons history.
A thread on top Simpsons moments would be one of the most lethal productivity killers ever to afflict this website. I’m thinking an aggregate of hundreds thousands of dollars lost over the course of a workday…in other words, let’s make it happen, editors!
There are no shortage of blind spots in our cultural approach to “gender equality”
“With over 550 athletes, we’d better!”
Don’t forget to include more money, better coaches, facilities and chemists. We are the Yankees.
Literally.
No understatement permitted on this thread. Please see comments above. She’s despicable, horrific, irredeemable. Husband is far far worse.
Just because not sure anyone posted it this Olympics. Perfectly describes summer weekends when my kids were kiddies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SG8Zg3Adck