On the heels of the United States women falling to Japan during the World Cup Finals this past weekend, there has been debate as to what actually happened. Did the Japanese team win the match? Or did the United States team lose the match? The answer is actually quite simple. Yes.
News flash people - for a team to win, the other one has to lose. How is this a difficult concept to follow? The way it happened is irrelevant. Whine all you want about missed opportunities or letting leads slip away twice. In the end, a win is a win and a loss is a loss. They don't give extra credit for trying.
What is lost in all of this is that the Japanese team was a resilient group that played within their system and capitalized on their opponent's mistakes. If that strategy sounds familiar, that would be because that is essentially what the Boston Bruins did on the way to winning the Stanley Cup. Yet no one was crying that Roberto Luongo lost the Stanley Cup instead of the Bruins winning it.
So, move on everyone! Accept this for what it is - a victory by a nation that has had a year of earthquakes, tsunamis, potential nuclear meltdowns, and the inability to restock those vending machines with schoolgirl panties. Can you imagine living in an area where you cannot get access to those whenever you want? It's like they fell back to the Dark Ages.
Congratulations to the Japanese women's team. Now we can all ignore women's soccer for another four years.
Showing posts with label 2011 Women's World Cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011 Women's World Cup. Show all posts
Monday, July 18, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The Women's World Cup
Stop the music, because we have heard this song before.
Back in the halcyon days of yore, 1999 to be exact, there was a team of women, vying for a championship on fields of green. They faced off against a foe that was, for all intents and purposes, representative of everything that their home country was not. In the end, the US Women's team won, forever leaving the iconic image of Brandi Chastain ripping her shirt off (back when she was hot, and was not showing more neck veins and tendons than Arnold Schwarzenegger).
Riding the afterglow of their victory, a professional women's soccer league came into existence. Founded in February of 2000, the Women's United Soccer Association came into existence. Fielding eight teams, they began play in April 2001. Then they realized what should be obvious at this point - that there is not enough interest to maintain a viable women's league in ANYTHING, aside from beach volleyball and pole dancing, in this country. The league suspended operations on September 15, 2003, and faded off into the dust of history.
Back to the present. We find ourselves looking at yet another women's soccer team that has managed to capture the imagination of the United States. This time, they came back from seemingly insurmountable odds, as they had to contend with being down a player, questionable (and that is being charitable) officiating, and a soccer team in Brazil that was hungry to win the championship. Despite it all, they managed to tie the game on a miraculous play from Megan Rapinoe to Abby Wambach. They would then defeat Brazil on penalty kicks to advance to the semifinals.
Now, once again, the United States is presently enthralled with this group of women. So, this means that some people with extra money are going to look to find a way to exploit this, and gain more money for their coffers. So, in another few months, the concept of yet another women's soccer league may get bandied about, as what would be a better way to cash in on this phenomenon?
Here's an idea that would be the equivalent - find a fireplace and throw that money into it. Because you are just as likely to make some money by doing that as you are to turning a profit with a women's sports league. For proof, just look at the WNBA. Despite David Stern forcing the NBA to keep it on life support, it still hemorrhages money like a Kardashian on a shopping trip.
This may be a great moment, not just for women's soccer, but for soccer in general when it comes to this country. However, one moment does not turn into anything more. Americans are, by nature, easily distracted by the newest and shiniest thing. Women's soccer just will not hold their attention if it is constantly around. Let them be relevant once every four years, and accept that is all that will come of it.
Back in the halcyon days of yore, 1999 to be exact, there was a team of women, vying for a championship on fields of green. They faced off against a foe that was, for all intents and purposes, representative of everything that their home country was not. In the end, the US Women's team won, forever leaving the iconic image of Brandi Chastain ripping her shirt off (back when she was hot, and was not showing more neck veins and tendons than Arnold Schwarzenegger).
Riding the afterglow of their victory, a professional women's soccer league came into existence. Founded in February of 2000, the Women's United Soccer Association came into existence. Fielding eight teams, they began play in April 2001. Then they realized what should be obvious at this point - that there is not enough interest to maintain a viable women's league in ANYTHING, aside from beach volleyball and pole dancing, in this country. The league suspended operations on September 15, 2003, and faded off into the dust of history.
Back to the present. We find ourselves looking at yet another women's soccer team that has managed to capture the imagination of the United States. This time, they came back from seemingly insurmountable odds, as they had to contend with being down a player, questionable (and that is being charitable) officiating, and a soccer team in Brazil that was hungry to win the championship. Despite it all, they managed to tie the game on a miraculous play from Megan Rapinoe to Abby Wambach. They would then defeat Brazil on penalty kicks to advance to the semifinals.
Now, once again, the United States is presently enthralled with this group of women. So, this means that some people with extra money are going to look to find a way to exploit this, and gain more money for their coffers. So, in another few months, the concept of yet another women's soccer league may get bandied about, as what would be a better way to cash in on this phenomenon?
Here's an idea that would be the equivalent - find a fireplace and throw that money into it. Because you are just as likely to make some money by doing that as you are to turning a profit with a women's sports league. For proof, just look at the WNBA. Despite David Stern forcing the NBA to keep it on life support, it still hemorrhages money like a Kardashian on a shopping trip.
This may be a great moment, not just for women's soccer, but for soccer in general when it comes to this country. However, one moment does not turn into anything more. Americans are, by nature, easily distracted by the newest and shiniest thing. Women's soccer just will not hold their attention if it is constantly around. Let them be relevant once every four years, and accept that is all that will come of it.
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