uswnt

Ugly Americans

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The Megan Rapinoe penalty kick that went terribly awry hadn’t yet landed in row twelve Sunday, sending the USWNT home way earlier than expected from World Cup 2023, when Twitter and other mediums fired up the disgust, disdain, and downright hate.

America loves a winner that also loves America.  America empathizes with a loser that also loves America.  America hates a loser that also hates America.

Ms. Rapinoe(we aren’t sure that she would approve of the MS) became the lightning rod in the middle of the storm that this team created.  They managed to skip/kneel/ and act disinterested during the National Anthem one too many times for one too many American.

Their gripes were plentiful and aimed at a country that gave them opportunities a plentiful.  Social injustices were just the start.  Equal pay became the cry.  And, mint dyed hair herself said that her greatest accomplishment over the last eight years with this team was “equal pay.”  Interesting answer.

People’s want for equal pay in America is tempered by doing an equal job in the capitalist arena.  When far fewer folks watch the tv pays far less to teams because advertisers and sponsors get charged less.  Usually.

Don’t believe it?  Ask any WNBA player.

And, the last straw was her overtly expressed desire for trans women to be allowed to play soccer, and for that matter all sports, with the biological kind.  American sentiment runs strongly the other way.

The kick and the team’s shortfall have now been labeled “the woke choke.”

Megan Rapinoe is on a very short list of the most controversial sports personalities of the 21st century.  She’s got a lot to say on a lot of topics.  America prefers to keep sports as an escape from the daily discourse that is far too rampant.

Some, predictably and as is their right, dribbled in her defense.

Pablo Torre, Spanish soccer player for La Liga club Girona tweeted, “Nothing says AMERICA FIRST more than rooting against *checks notes* the literal U.S national team because they *checks notes* peacefully exercised freedom of speech.”

Someone needs to tell Pablo that freedom of speech in the USA works both ways. If you don’t like red, white, and blue, red, white, and blue might not like you either.  If he would have received a Presidential Medal of Freedom as Rapinoe did, he would know that.

The penalty for missing a penalty kick is that you get sent home.  The penalty for missing a penalty kick when you have repeatedly trash-talked your home is far greater.

Rapinoe’s world stage just collapsed and not a moment too soon.

That is unless Joe Biden invites them to the White House to celebrate their 16th-place finish.

 

Stoppage Time

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Everyone is famous for 15 minutes.  Megan Rapinoe has been famous for a few weeks now.  We know, if you are a fan of women’s soccer, she has been famous for a lot longer.  And, now her fame extends beyond the pitch where the USWNT (United States Women’s National Team) won every match on their way to another World Cup championship.

On the field her abilities are indeed world (cup) class.  She won her one on one’s, dribbled well, passed even better, and scored from every angle.  She even knocked in a penalty kick or two.

As she left the field Sunday she stepped on an American Flag on her way to a guest appearance on Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper’s CNN show, and a parade down Broadway in New York, New York.   The honorable Mayor of New York, New York Bill De Blasio sat to her right as she spent a few minutes at the parade’s end to address those who attended.

In a nutshell, we paraphrase, she said in all of these moments, 1) that she and all of her teammates that “she has spoken to” won’t accept an invite to the effing White House, and 2)  why would they allow Trump to use the platform that they have built to put them on display, and 3) she would go talk to people in DC that had views like hers, and 4) we need to listen more and talk less,  and 5) equal pay for equal play, and 6) this World Cup win is so much more than what was on the field. It seems like one of those sort of iconic turning points in history, to be honest, and 7) no she’s not running for the White House, she’s too busy.

We hear her outrage in her words.  We see her outrage in her actions, like when she kneels for the national anthem.  And, we wonder.  We wonder if she is misguided or not.  We wonder if she is actually leading or following.  And, that makes us wonder if she is anything more than the next Colin Kaepernick.

If so, that would be unfortunate.  Because, if she took a step back, she would realize that all of that which she has been able to accomplish comes from the freedoms that her country affords.   Why not go visit with our President if you really want to effect your view of what should change?  What an unbelievable opportunity.   Talking to people who agree with you only makes you feel good about your views.  Change comes from open debate.

Why not use the “platform that you built” to get this access to the President?  Many millions clamor for such a chance.  Oh, and the platform wasn’t built just by you.  It was built by many who came before as well.  You and your teammates were plenty talented enough to walk through the door.   Take advantage.

Why not run for the White House?  Everyone else who has been famous for 15 minutes is.  You have a better shot than the mayor who sat next to you.  Oh, and did he tell you that drinking champagne in a moving vehicle is a violation in NYC?  Did he ban Big Gulps during the ride?  Well, at least you did not use a plastic straw.

And, most of all, it’s not one of those iconic turning points in history to be honest.  It’s not even close.  You have the opportunity to make it an important moment perhaps.  But to do so you need to listen more and talk less now.  Like nike, can you just do it?

If not, your flag step and Kaepernick’s dismay at Betsy Ross’ flag get dismissed by Americans who listen to disrupters like you and wish you would say more while talking less.

Everyone is famous for 15 minutes.  Including extra time you’ve been famous for more.  But, the bright lights are already flickering.  And, the roots are showing in your pink dyed hair.  Good luck.