Hope Solo’s days in goal for
the U.S. Women’s National Team are numbered.
I admit in the interest of
transparency that I’m a huge fan of hers.
I admire her prodigious talent, her take-no-prisoners attitude and
outspoken nature, her commitment to excellence, her work ethic, and everything
else that has led her to become the best female goalkeeper in the world. I would be proud to see my three daughters emulate
her in all those ways as they go through life. And yes, I also admit I was horrified when I
read she had been arrested on a domestic violence charge.
I volunteered for several
years at the Domestic Violence Project at the L.A. Courthouse. My job was to
prepare emergency relief petitions for victims of domestic abuse. The brutality I saw there was horrific, and
it wasn’t limited to violence by men against women. Solo gets no free pass from
me for being female.
I’m a fan of Ray Rice and
Adrian Peterson on the field too, and yet I was still outraged that it took TMZ
and a huge public outcry for the NFL to pull their ticket. As the media crusade
against Solo continues to intensify, I worry that U.S. Soccer will succumb to
public opinion and terminate her for the wrong reasons.
The facts surrounding Rice
and Peterson are drastically different from those surrounding Solo. From the very beginning, Rice admitted to
cold-cocking his (now) wife, and even the NFL admits to seeing the tape of him
dragging her, unconscious, out of an elevator.
Peterson openly admits to beating his child with a switch.
So what are the facts
surrounding Solo’s arrest? The police answered a disturbance call to a house
belonging to Solo’s sister. Solo had apparently been drinking. So, apparently, had Solo’s sister and nephew. Solo
claims she exchanged heated words with her sister and nephew, that they
attacked her, and that she defended herself. Solo’s sister and nephew claim they
and Solo exchanged heated words, that Solo attacked them, and that they defended
themselves. Hmmn.
Solo’s sister appeared visibly
injured when the police arrived and Solo did not. That doesn’t tell us Solo was
the aggressor though. It simply reminds us of a basic human truth: if you
engage in a physical altercation with a world-class athlete you’re the one likely
to get hurt.
U. S. Soccer has been
protecting Solo since her arrest for the same wrong reason that the NFL tried
to sweep the Rice matter under the rug. Solo has been good for business. She’s at the top of her game, she’s the most
recognizable face in women’s soccer, and she just set a record for the most
shutouts ever by a goalkeeper. For a league
desperately trying to gain a foothold into the American money machine, that’s
no small thing.
At the very least, Solo is
guilty of extraordinarily bad judgment. If indeed the evidence ends up showing
that she’s also guilty of domestic violence, then she should go. Until then, while Solo proclaims her
innocence in a case that seems fuzzy at best, the league should protect her.
Not because she’s good for business,
but because her getting swept away in the avalanche of political correctness starts
to feel like McCarthyism, where the accusation itself is enough to ruin your
life and the media and others rush to convict and execute you lest they
themselves be accused of not joining the crusade.
As my mother used to say,
there but for the grace of God go all of us.
I hope U.S. Soccer has the
stomach and the heart to let the facts come to light before they act.
Thanks Norman, as for the NFL it's follow the money.
ReplyDeleteThat’s so true, Rich! Thanks for reading and for commenting.
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