Olympic Qualifying
Now, being a teacher has totally warped how I sleep. Some nights, I am literally in bed by eight because I cannot keep my eyes open. A couple weeks ago, the week after the worst week of my entire life, I went to bed, one night, at 6:30. And it's not like I'm sleeping through the night because I, well, don't. And on weekdays I seem to wake up at about 4:30 (though my alarm goes off at 5:25) and on weekends? I'm lucky if I make it to 6:30.
It blows. I'm constantly tired.
But last night the USWNT opened their Olympic qualifying tournament and since the CONCACAF qualifying is in Vancouver, all the games are freaking late. Mexico played Guatemala at 8 (or so) and the US came on against the Dominican Republic at 10:30.
But it was Hope Solo, you know? And the first non-friendly they've played since losing to Japan in the World Cup. So I had to watch!
I was watching through Telemundo's online stream, which was, apparently, a good idea, because I listened to no commentary, and any commentary there may have been would have been in Spanish and while I've recently found out I'm decent at understanding Spanish poetry, I don't know the Spanish words for "offsides" or "yellow card" or "stoppage time".
The Canadian commentary, I've heard through the Tumblr grapevine, was ridiculous, so let me thank the gods right now that I was no listening because I think I would have shit a brick.
But even though I didn't hear it for myself doesn't mean I don't have a rant.
Yes, the United States beat the Dominican Republich 14-0. Abby Wambach scored in the first minute of the game. It was already 3-0 in the first ten minutes. The halftime score was 7-0 and Amy Rodriguez, who hasn't scored in a billion years for the team, not only scored in the first thirty seconds of the second half, but she scored five times. Five fucking times. And what I kind of loved about the scoring last night (this morning) was that the ball got passed and every player had chances. Who scored besides Wambach and A-Rod? Tobin Heath, Heather O'Reilly, Carli Lloyd, Lauren Cheney, and Rachel Buehler. Rachel Buehler, you guys. One of our defenders.
Apparently the Canadian commentators had an issue with the United States beating the Dominicans so handily. They were upset that the US was letting up, playing softer, to spare the other side the embarrassment. Celebrating their goals, at all, (and they quickly went from jumping around celebrations to nothing more than high fives) was, apparently, classless and egotistical.
Say what?!
Look, the United States is the number one ranked team in the world. The fact that they didn't win the World Cup does not refute that point (and one of things I loved seeing last night was the US actually finishing shots because they had a million shots on goal against Japan in the WC final and made none in the first half . . . That game SHOULD HAVE BEEN a blow out but the balls wouldn't go in the fucking net!). The US puts a lot of money (relatively speaking) into it's women program and that means that good women soccer athletes get good training opportunities.
I understand that the Dominican Republic is poor. And I get that they don't have the same development opportunities. But guess what? This is for a chance at the OLYMPICS. The Olympics, which only comes around one every four years and is the second most important event that a soccer team can win. And if you're going to play in qualifying, you need to bring your game.
The whole idea that the US should have gone easy on the DR is insulting and I have a feeling it's also sexist. I know it's definitely condescending. I mean, I was embarrassed for the DR, too, and I was hoping the US would kind of miss a little, but I didn't want them to stop taking their opportunities. These are PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES. They are not high schoolers at the conference championship. They're playing for gold and national pride. Why on Earth should they not play to the best of their ability?
If they were men, would it be suggested that they should let up? Everyone expects this team to be the best of friends, have no worries, giggle and braid each other's hair, and I'm sure many of them do do that at times, because they are kind of ridiculously cute as a unit, but they are, once again, PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES. They may have breasts and a vagina but that doesn't mean their competition suddenly doesn't exist.
And, seriously, c'mon. How condescending is it, towards the Dominicans, to suggest that the US needed to let up? They are professionals, too, and they stepped out on that field knowing they were going to play the best team in the world. And they failed. What they need to do is fucking analyze the game, like professional athletes would, and realize that their defense was practically non existent. I can't even count how many times the US had clear, open shots, beyond the defenders. That poor goalkeeper stood no chance. And yes, Canadian commentators, the DR is poor and they don't have the resources to pump up their team. I do get that. But, again, they are professional athletes, and it would be disrespectful to treat them as anything less. (Would they suggest that US let up if they were playing Germany, France, or England? Or Brazil? I bet not.)
And can we also be reminded that the US had a serious scare at World Cup qualifying, when they didn't beat Mexico like they should have, and almost didn't make the tournament? You think they don't remember that? You think they're not going to fight even harder to make sure they don't make it in at this tournament?
Oh, and before I forget, there's a little something called goal differential, which actually means a lot in tournaments like this. The US wants to come out of its group first and Mexico is, actually, a very tough opponent. They handily beat Guatemala, too (and did the Canadian commentators bitch when the Canadians beat Haiti 6-0 last night? Haven't the Haitians suffered enough?!) so the US needs to run up goals when they can because Mexico's going to freaking beat up on the DR, too, and whoever comes out of their group first won't have to play the Canadians (who, let's be honest, will easily come in first in their group) until the final (if they get there).
It's a little thing I like to call sports. And what's great about sports is that it makes shit like politics and economics disappear. In some cases, it makes shit like gender and sex disappear, but not for some commentators last night, who decided to make the entire game about (I would argue) economics and gender.
Well, to them I say a hearty "fuck you!". This is sports. Deal with it.
It blows. I'm constantly tired.
But last night the USWNT opened their Olympic qualifying tournament and since the CONCACAF qualifying is in Vancouver, all the games are freaking late. Mexico played Guatemala at 8 (or so) and the US came on against the Dominican Republic at 10:30.
But it was Hope Solo, you know? And the first non-friendly they've played since losing to Japan in the World Cup. So I had to watch!
I was watching through Telemundo's online stream, which was, apparently, a good idea, because I listened to no commentary, and any commentary there may have been would have been in Spanish and while I've recently found out I'm decent at understanding Spanish poetry, I don't know the Spanish words for "offsides" or "yellow card" or "stoppage time".
The Canadian commentary, I've heard through the Tumblr grapevine, was ridiculous, so let me thank the gods right now that I was no listening because I think I would have shit a brick.
But even though I didn't hear it for myself doesn't mean I don't have a rant.
Yes, the United States beat the Dominican Republich 14-0. Abby Wambach scored in the first minute of the game. It was already 3-0 in the first ten minutes. The halftime score was 7-0 and Amy Rodriguez, who hasn't scored in a billion years for the team, not only scored in the first thirty seconds of the second half, but she scored five times. Five fucking times. And what I kind of loved about the scoring last night (this morning) was that the ball got passed and every player had chances. Who scored besides Wambach and A-Rod? Tobin Heath, Heather O'Reilly, Carli Lloyd, Lauren Cheney, and Rachel Buehler. Rachel Buehler, you guys. One of our defenders.
Apparently the Canadian commentators had an issue with the United States beating the Dominicans so handily. They were upset that the US was letting up, playing softer, to spare the other side the embarrassment. Celebrating their goals, at all, (and they quickly went from jumping around celebrations to nothing more than high fives) was, apparently, classless and egotistical.
Say what?!
Look, the United States is the number one ranked team in the world. The fact that they didn't win the World Cup does not refute that point (and one of things I loved seeing last night was the US actually finishing shots because they had a million shots on goal against Japan in the WC final and made none in the first half . . . That game SHOULD HAVE BEEN a blow out but the balls wouldn't go in the fucking net!). The US puts a lot of money (relatively speaking) into it's women program and that means that good women soccer athletes get good training opportunities.
I understand that the Dominican Republic is poor. And I get that they don't have the same development opportunities. But guess what? This is for a chance at the OLYMPICS. The Olympics, which only comes around one every four years and is the second most important event that a soccer team can win. And if you're going to play in qualifying, you need to bring your game.
The whole idea that the US should have gone easy on the DR is insulting and I have a feeling it's also sexist. I know it's definitely condescending. I mean, I was embarrassed for the DR, too, and I was hoping the US would kind of miss a little, but I didn't want them to stop taking their opportunities. These are PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES. They are not high schoolers at the conference championship. They're playing for gold and national pride. Why on Earth should they not play to the best of their ability?
If they were men, would it be suggested that they should let up? Everyone expects this team to be the best of friends, have no worries, giggle and braid each other's hair, and I'm sure many of them do do that at times, because they are kind of ridiculously cute as a unit, but they are, once again, PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES. They may have breasts and a vagina but that doesn't mean their competition suddenly doesn't exist.
And, seriously, c'mon. How condescending is it, towards the Dominicans, to suggest that the US needed to let up? They are professionals, too, and they stepped out on that field knowing they were going to play the best team in the world. And they failed. What they need to do is fucking analyze the game, like professional athletes would, and realize that their defense was practically non existent. I can't even count how many times the US had clear, open shots, beyond the defenders. That poor goalkeeper stood no chance. And yes, Canadian commentators, the DR is poor and they don't have the resources to pump up their team. I do get that. But, again, they are professional athletes, and it would be disrespectful to treat them as anything less. (Would they suggest that US let up if they were playing Germany, France, or England? Or Brazil? I bet not.)
And can we also be reminded that the US had a serious scare at World Cup qualifying, when they didn't beat Mexico like they should have, and almost didn't make the tournament? You think they don't remember that? You think they're not going to fight even harder to make sure they don't make it in at this tournament?
Oh, and before I forget, there's a little something called goal differential, which actually means a lot in tournaments like this. The US wants to come out of its group first and Mexico is, actually, a very tough opponent. They handily beat Guatemala, too (and did the Canadian commentators bitch when the Canadians beat Haiti 6-0 last night? Haven't the Haitians suffered enough?!) so the US needs to run up goals when they can because Mexico's going to freaking beat up on the DR, too, and whoever comes out of their group first won't have to play the Canadians (who, let's be honest, will easily come in first in their group) until the final (if they get there).
It's a little thing I like to call sports. And what's great about sports is that it makes shit like politics and economics disappear. In some cases, it makes shit like gender and sex disappear, but not for some commentators last night, who decided to make the entire game about (I would argue) economics and gender.
Well, to them I say a hearty "fuck you!". This is sports. Deal with it.