I also have a love/hate with Hope Solo and in a way, the team itself. Would love to get your thoughts...
All this "its on us" about how men have to stop domestic abuse. I totally get it but at the same time...don't blame all men. I've never and will never hit a woman. I mean...while we're teaching all men not to beat women...can we teach all women not to steal? I mean, b/c a few of them do it. I know--not exactly the same thing....on top of that...Hope Solo beats the shit out of a male minor....and no big deal. Men get suspended just for being accused.
I'd love to see the women's team get more money....I actually prefer watching women's soccer--or maybe just like both equal. But I'm not an avid fan either.
They totally played the gender card....the old pay gap, we're victims...why does everyone hate women garbage. Totally threw the men's team under the bus in the process. Of course they are succeeding while the men are not. The rest of the world loves men's soccer and have built great teams...while we emphasize football and basketball. I'm happy for what the women have done but the competition is apples/oranges and its all about the money brought in....women's soccer is still a joke in a lot of countries...I hope it keeps improving b/c like I say...I like it.
I don't know the numbers so will just say "if".....If women's gymnastics team made way more than men...no one would bat an eye. If men bitched about "gender inequality"....most would laugh and women's groups would state the obvious economics of the situation.
As for Hope Solo's comments...well, I didn't see the game but to call them cowards.....come on, man!! That would be like calling Dean Smith a coward for playing 4-Corners with a big lead. If you want a better game...change/tweak the rules. How many times have we seen football games where the lesser team tries to "shorten the game"....its just so much easier to do in soccer, so as the favorite, you've got to adjust, get a lead, and force them to attack.
My dad coached high school football for 20 years...he told me a long time ago...sometimes playing with a lead is boring. The thing is....its not up to the team with the lead (or even tied) to force the action. Its what makes the games so great. You do what you can, within the rules, to compete. And sometimes there are bad rules that need to be tweaked...for example, the shot clock in college basketball.
Anyway, just wrote a book, so sorry for rambling. lol. I actually love Sweden in both men's and women's soccer so in a way, I'm happy they won...hoping they can keep advancing. I think its my love of Swedish women (of course) and also blue/gold are my high school colors!!
I love the interaction youre bringing to this thread as Bason has done. This will take me a bit to answer but bare with be .. I LOVE Hope Solo and I am first of all not one of those people who think every athlete should e considered a role model. I watch for entertainment and separate life from sport, a lot of people cant. I understand the double standard with Domestic abuse and agree vehemently that it should be equal. I Love her as a player and as a competitor, I dont know her as a person or with how the details of her case went. There are many times you hear about how certain athletes are jerks then you find out later theyre not.
I had this argument a year ago about the equal pay thing.. I love all sports but soccer is what I played personally so its my niche. I can watch womens and mens soccer no questions asked, but I cant watch womens basketball unless its a championship game. The equal pay thing is, in my opinion not sexist but being realistically where they are . Should they get paid more than they do? Perhaps strongly yes.. Should they be equal to the men? Lets compare. Youre telling me the FIFA female player of the year Carlli LLoyd should have the same pay as Messi or Ronaldo? Those two play in front of 60-80K every home game and bring in so much revenue. Carrli LLoyd plays in front of maybe 10K? Youre telling me she should be paid the same? If I sell a 10 cars and my female counterpart sells 4 should we have equal pay? Are they at a disadvantage because the womens game is not as popular, yes.. but thats just how it is.. Its not sexist but its popularity brings money. IF they got ratings for every game , friendlies not just big tournaments and they got big crowds for every game then they would bring in more revenue.. Its not sexist to me that they arent on TV as much.. Thats like saying is it sexist because womens college hoops has more exposure then baseball? Baseball is really only on nationally during Omaha. does that make it sexist against those men because womens hoops is "bigger"in the eyes of tv...
I dont like the "womens national team is more successful" argument either. You cant compare the competetion, between what then men face around the world VS the women. I absolutely love the womens national team as much as the men but its not "better". I am excited I take it for what it is but people that say its better to watch thats absurd. mens game is so much faster, quicker and more physical than the womens game. Its like aying womens basketball is better to watch mens. Its just not but I can take what Im watching and accept that.. I dont look to compare and say this isnt fun to watch. I am enthralled in every womens game, as im sitting here watching brazil/aussie.. I am also enthralled in every mens game I watch..
Youre comparison to gymnastics is spot on.. USA womens gymnastics team is way more popular and everything than the men, they win and are successful. There was just an article about it the other day (I think yahoo) because some of the men were complaining about equality in gymnastics... they even thought of competeing shirtless in part because they thought it would get more viewers....tough shit.. win and get more notoriety. but why hasnt that become a big story? because its not news..... if the women, like for soccer say that its news....
Quickly back to Hope SOlo, i like when an athlete speaks his mind and doesnt adhere to the PC stuff in american sports.. I mean my god I dont know how many times Ive heard a big time college coach talk about how good and dangerous some team like bethune cookman is.. and that goes for all sports.. was she a poor loser, probably but after a game when youre in that environment on that stage those things are said.. was she right, yes.. Technically sweden were "scared" but thats not wrong.. Sweden only could win by playing how they did. If they played straight up and pushed forward they would have lost 3-0.. As a coach you do what you can to win regardless how it looks.
I would have posted this sooner but spent the last 20 minutes tring to find this great article from last year right after world cup, written by a female talking about all the numbers and how pay was broken down and why men get paid more....Im not sure i answered everything you posted above but I tried. feel free to reply if I missed something
brazil game not going how I thought it would.. i knew aussie was good but thought brazil would start strng
heres another article thats good
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/sports/soccer/usmnt-uswnt-soccer-equal-pay.html