OCTOBER 01, 2007

I've been tying to get a post written about the World Cup but it's not an easy task because of how complicated the whole thing is - the melodrama that went on, the back history to it all, the analytical analysis, all the angry venting. How do you get that explained and written up in a concise manner? Especially when you're so angry about the whole thing you can hardly see straight?

And then I reminded myself that, on the grand scale of things, it doesn't really matter what or how much I write about this, or if I even write at all. It's not like the world is going to stop spinning if I don't adequately sum up my every last thought and feeling about the World Cup, especially considering how nasty it was. In a lot of ways, I'd just like to forget the whole thing, as I'm sure many of the players would.

So, in order to end the misery of trying to write amidst the anger, I'll instead sum things up by saying U.S. coach Greg Ryan has made too many mistakes with this team and he needs to be fired, but I'll refrain from the ten page dissertation on the reasons why. That, and I think Greg Ryan turned goalie Hope Solo into a scapegoat after the team's humiliating semifinal loss. Yes, she was wrong to speak out about her coach to the media after the semifinal and she apologized to the public and team for that, but Ryan let the media blow it out of proportion, didn't bother to explain why Hope was so upset (there was more than the obvious reason), and topped it off by having the players vote on whether Hope was suspended from the team.

What kind of professional coach let's team members vote on the punishment of other players? That's just petty, cruel, and totally unprofessional. Greg Ryan made epic mistakes that cost the U.S. the World Cup and totally divided the team but acted like it was no big deal and was wholly unapologetic about it. One of his players erred by making angry remarks to the media after a loss, for which she apologized, and she was kicked off the team for it. Very hypocritical if you ask me. But, like I said, Greg Ryan needs to go. Or, at the very least, he seriously needs a crash course in remedial ethics. Stat.

Ross and I were talking about all this earlier and Ross commented that Greg Ryan did to the U.S. Women's National Team what the wanker coach did to the Timbers last year - took a great team and turned it into crap. And since the Timbers solved that problem by firing the wanker coach and hiring one of their own players to replace him, I suggested maybe the U.S. team should do the same. But what player or former player should replace Ryan? I vote for Brandi Chastain. She played many years for the team, scored the historic winning goal in the '99 World Cup, and she isn't afraid to run around in her sports bra. Which is a hell of a lot more than you can say for Greg Ryan.

But now the nightmare that was the Women's World Cup is over and it's time to take a deep breath and move on. And, if nothing else, the University of Portland will now get Stephanie Lopez and Sophie Schmidt back. Steph was playing for the U.S. in the World Cup and Sophie was playing for Canada, which means they both missed the start of UP's season and it'll be great to have them back.

listening: roxy music . reading: ---

walk: 0 minutes . weight lost: 12.5 pounds

HOME  |  ARCHIVES