David Beckham Retires

 I still remember that sunny day in Los Angeles, waiting for David Beckham to enter the stadium suite that had been reserved for the local Galaxy reporters. We were a pretty small bunch, about twelve total. Soon, due to the dying print media industry, there would be even less of us. Beckham was big news at that time, though.

 He entered wearing a silver Burberry suit, smiling nervously, yet also well aware of his power to charm with that smile. Beckham tended to smile more when deflecting a question, for example, like when I asked him about his injured ankle.

 I guess the things I remember first were all the ridiculous scenarios. The reporters from tabloids who would show up at press conferences after the game to ask Beckham questions about Tom Cruise. The media chasing Beckham after matches he'd spent on the bench. Cruise, Tony Parker and Kobe Bryant all hanging out in the Galaxy locker room. The glaring Becks would do when journalists asked if he was hurting the Galaxy to go during the season to Milan, London Olympics, Royal wedding, England friendly, etc.

But what I'll recall most are the little moments, maybe. I watched Beckham's kids do a fair share of growing up during the Galaxy years. I'll remember Brooklyn peeking out behind the press conference curtain, Romeo kicking a ball around on the grass with his brothers, Cruz making funny faces. I never saw Vicki without her sunglasses, and I never saw her wear flat shoes. I would always marvel at how she could walk so well in heels.

 I watched Becks in various stages of anger, denial, frustration, despair, resignation, determination, acceptance, leadership and joy with the Galaxy. It was a rollercoaster ride that finally ended at a nice place for him, with back-to-back MLS Championship wins.

He seemed to settle in at the Galaxy once some of the hype got killed off by the initial poor results. No more press conferences at every game, just locker room interviews post-game like the others. Beckham never became just another player, but he found his niche as the team learned to utilize his unique passing game. Beckham himself learned to love Laker basketball and convertible cars. His teammates also came to appreciate his work ethic, genuine eagerness and restrained English humor.  Beckham, with his soft voice and intrinsically shy personality, wasn't ever a guys' guy, not in the sports macho sense, but he was always a loyal teammate who took the idea of his role as a sports pioneer seriously.

Four titles in four countries. It's simply an impressive feat. 

Goodbye, David. Here's hoping you were also serious about owning a team in MLS one day. There are still worlds to conquer.

Robbie Rogers, Rest in Peace

Robbie Rogers has published a blog post declaring that he is gay. At the same time, he has decided, for the present at least, to take a break from the sport to which he has dedicated almost his entire life. 

I can't really imagine what it must be like to wake up every morning and determine to live yet another day in a cocoon  of other people's expectations. I don't know what it is to fear a lack of acceptance if the careful illusion presented to others is ever shattered. Sure, we all lie a little, saying, "I'm fine," when it's not really so, perhaps, but on such a fundamental level, to daily deny the truth of one's own desire to love openly and honestly? It's got to be incredibly difficult, soul-churning stuff. 

It's also probably completely exhausting. 

Rogers spoke of happy memories in the game - I know he had them, because I was there for a few, including the MLS Cup the Columbus Crew won in Los Angeles. Besides his talent as a player, Rogers was a pretty well-spoken player in interviews, though at the same time, a bit aloof and guarded.  I never thought much of it, but can speculate now that he had to constantly be on his guard.

Perhaps Rogers would have continued to expend the energy to hide his truth had his career taken other turns. While he is rightly to be commended on courageously going public, there's a sad mixed message going out due to his apparently stalled playing career.

There has yet to be a professional athlete in the men's game to say, "I'm gay, and it doesn't matter. My game is unaffected, my teammates are accepting, and people should learn that this supposed taboo is just an anachronism." 

It might be a chicken-egg argument of, "Well, no one CAN say it, BECAUSE no one has said it before, and who wants to risk a thriving career on what might happen if they did say it?" 

What's crazy is the notion that there aren't more players like Rogers getting up every day with a sigh, going to work on the sport they love, and pulling a double-shift hiding at the same time. They're out there, of course, and perhaps yes, the mainly positive response to Rogers has encouraged them a bit. 

Or maybe they're mad. 

Maybe some of them are thinking, "Damn! So close - this guy could have been the one to show that orientation doesn't affect quality of play." 

Of course, they could be 'that guy', too. No one should expect from someone else what they themselves aren't willing to risk.

Rogers has done what he feels capable of - maybe that's all he has in him now. 

"Secrets can cause so much internal damage," Rogers wrote. He also told how he now felt free.

Rest, and hopefully, restoration, will follow.

Combine Capers

So the MLS combine this year took place in sunny Florida - which was good for the players, because it's been wicked cold in Southern California of late. It's warmer today, but I'm sure that at least some of the USMNT players out for January camp have felt like it's a real winter workout. 

Anyway, I'm not at the MLS combine, but the photo op pictures some players took at the Seaquarium were emailed to me by the league, so I thought I'd share a few.  

Any thoughts on which players helped themselves with a good combine? 

Japan - France Women's Olympic Semifinal

A clash of truly tricky and skilled teams! A chance to see some of my favorite creative players in the women's game in action. 

France v Japan, naturally. 

France: Bouhaddi; Renard, Georges, Franco, Bompastor; Soubeyrand, Necib, Bussaglia; Delie, Thomis, Thoney

Japan: Fukumoto; Kinga, Iwashimizu, Kumagai, Sameshima, Sakaguchi, Miyama, Kawasumi, Sawa; Ohno, Ogimi

Japan should take it, but never count the Frenchies out - especially since they can match Japan skill for dribbling skill in team passing.What they lack, however, is that mental toughness and extra confidence that Japan has. 

3 - They've kicked off, and so far, both teams playing pretty cagey. Japan seeing most of the possession. 
5 - And Japan gets off a smooth pass to free a player - but she loses the race to the box as the French goalkeeper comes out. 
7 - Necib with an outside shot and the goalkeeper, Fukumoto, spills it, but it able to gather up the ball, as no French players were near to knock the rebound in. 
9 -Ohno nearly catches up to a long pass, but not quite. She's quick, but not fast, if that makes sense. 
10 -Japan controlling play more now, making ball possession the top priority, frustrating the French.  
 11 - Oui! No, no! How did Necib not shoot? She was in the box with the ball at her feet. No killer instinct there. See Morgan, Alex, for that. Too bad, because Necib is an artist with the ball. Still, the French team need predatory, not pretty, today. They set Necib up well with their passing, but then she dropped the ball with dallying. 
13 - Renard gets a yellow for kicking the pesty Ohno. 
14 - Bompastor with a cross that is enticing, but Japan clear their box nicely. 
17 - Japan still has most of the possession, but France definitely has opportunities to advance.  
19 - It's great to watch the nifty passing of the Japanese players. They're wearing blue, and France are wearing white. 
23 - Still, Japan not really threatening France, who clamp down when the blue shirts get near the box.
27 - Until just then, when Japan was right on the edge of the box, but France swarm in and clear before the shot comes off.  
30 - Thomis is especially shouldering a lot of the defensive work for Japan. 
32 - GOAL! Bouhaddi error! Miyama sends in one of her soaring free kicks and Bouhaddi fluffs it, letting it slip through her fingers. Ogimi takes advantage, as the French defenders seem confused after Bouhaddi's error. Her poke puts the ball in the net. 1-0 Japan leads. 
36 - Ogimi did what Necib did not, taking advantage of the moment, effectively, if not artistically. 
37 - Throw-in for France, leads to Fukumoto punching the ball out of her box, but France unable to follow-up on the chance.  

41 - France, meanwhile, are frustrated, working harder, but putting the final ball long far too often. That makes it easy for Japan.  
43 - Meanwhile, Markgraff, on the commentary with J.P., is frustrated with France's one-dimensional attack. The ball keeps going to Thiney and nobody else. 
45 - Now France has the ball in the box, but the shot by Delie is blocked.  

Halftime! Japan is on their way. 

Markgraff calls out the French for being timid.  

Seriously, NBC? You couldn't make the halftime trivia question remotely related to the sport the fans are actually watching? For those who always wondered, Bangladesh is the  largest country, by population, to never have won an Olympic medal. 

46 - Miyama skies a shot over the bar. She did that a lot while playing for L.A. She's got serious skills, but sometimes would get the yips in front of the goal. 
49 - Miyama is money on freekicks, however. She punts it perfectly to Sakaguchi, who heads it perfectly into the corner in the midst of befuddled French defenders. 2-0 Japan. 
50 - France finally earns their first corner, but it's probably too little, too late. Yes. It leads to two shots by France, but the first is blocked and the second way high and wide. 
52 - Frustrated France is now getting a bit pushy. 
53 - Oooh, a shot by France! Saved, but out for a corner. 
54 - Doesn't lead to a decent shot, though. 
60 - Injury on the field. Japan's 17 limps to the sideline, but she looks fine.  
63 - Another decent chance for France wasted as the shot from Necib goes way high.  
67 - LeSommer goes too high as well. 
68 - Ohno in the box, with some nice cutback moves, but George finally makes the stop. 
69 - Another high shot from France.
71 - Necib in the box - this time she shoots, but  Fukumoto is on it, with no rebound. Nicely done. 
72 - France shooting at everything now, but rather wildly. Japan stoically is weathering the storm.  
76 - GOAL! Until now. LeSommer takes a quick one touch on a Thomis pass and it's all net. 2-1 - Japan still leads, but with a small cushion.  
78 - Penalty! LeSommer draws one from Sakaguchi, the veteran. The French player put on a wily move in the box. 
79 - Captain Bussaglia takes the penalty - yikes! WIDE! France dies a little. So much for the miracle comeback. 
80 - LeSommer with a half-bike in the box - almost a goal as the rebound is barely stopped by Fukumoto.  
82 - Bouhaddi out of the box,  half clears the box. France goes right back o the attack, gets a corner. 
83 - Japan are backed in, but they finally clear it. 
86 - France flailing away, finally without timidity, but still without accuracy, as yet another shot goes high.  
89 - Time is running out for France.  
90 - After France takes another corner, Japan spring an outlet, but the final shot goes off the near post. Japan nearly shut the door. 

Quezalti Alvarado of Mexico is almost ready to blow the final whistle. France is out on one last attack, but Necib's tame shot is an easy catch for Fukumoto. France has a couple of final shots blocked, but finally the whistle peeps. It's over. 

Japan goes to the gold medal match. It's expected, and deserving, but France will rue missed chances for quite a while.

USA - v North Korea

Here we go. . .

USA: Solo; LePeilbet, Rampone (c), Buehler, O'Hara; O'Reilly, Lloyd, Cheney, Rapinoe; Morgan, Wambach
North Korea: O Chang Ran; Kim Nam Hui, Kim Myong Gum, Choe Un Ju, Ri Ye Gyong; Jon Myong Hwa, Kim Chung Sim (C), Pong Son Hwa; Kim Song Hui, Choe Yong Sim


2 - Megan Rapino with a great run up the wing - leads to an angled shot that's out for a corner kick. Wambach was crying out for the pass before the shot. 
3 - Corner out for another corner before Korea clear. 
4 - Wambach taken down.  
5 - Lloyd to Morgan, who gets a shot off as she's falling, earns a corner.  
6 - "They don't have jukes," says Ben, who is watching the game with me, "even though they're aggressive." He's talking about North Korea
7 - Wambach tries a half-bike and it bounces past the goalkeeper and in! Offside, though.
10 - Ok, I have this to say about Brandi Chastain's commentary - though I don't agree with Solo slamming her on Twitter. Players need to learn to take criticism, and Rachel B. is a big girl. But Chastain is partial to the players she played with or knows personally. Like she just said that Wambach, a master of stealth fouling if there ever was one, a professional for not retaliating to the physical play of the North Koreans.
11 - Actually, that's valid. A pro plays through the pain and then dishes it out at the next opportunity.  
13 - Amy LePeilbet goes down and her defender is shown a yellow for the slide/scissor kick. 
15 - Great passing gets the USA into the box with Morgan against the goalkeeper, and she winds up quickly, shoots, and it's off the post.  Dang that was close. 
17. - Lauren Cheney gets tugged down - and speaking of retaliation, the camera catches her swinging her cleats back into ther opponent.  
20 - Another build up play, but the cross from OHara goes straight to the goalkeeper, OchanRan

22-  The rain is coming down harder. 
24 - This could be a mess - given that the USA hasn't scored yet. They're dominating, but without a goal as insurance, they're vulnerable. 
25 - AND THEN THEY SCORE! WAMBACH!. Morgan races and takes down a long pass, does a great turn on her defender, but instead of shooting, slips the ball through to Wambach, who dinks a simple shot past OchanRan and into the goal. USA 1 - NK 0
27 - Great team play on the goal, though Morgan did the most impressive bit on the job. 
30 - North Korea looking more aggressive now, but to no avail. 
35 - OHara with a nice move to dispossess a Korean player. 
37 - Bored with the game, the commentator is filling the audience in on North Korea's woes with steroids and FIFA. We get it - they're evil and the American girls are angels and doubly deserving of victory for their goodness. 
39 - How did that not go in? Morgan feeds Wambach again, and her sliding shot is off the post via a goalkeeper deflection. OReilly tries to clean it up and poke the ball in, but it's into the side netting.
42 - Lloyd shoots! Too high.  
43 - Corner for the USA, off a free kick after Song Hui Kim given a yellow.  
44 - North Korea work their way out of trouble, all the way back to the USA end. 
45 - Solo calmly catches and quickly gets the ball going the other way, understanding the need to score before the half ends. It would be nice to put the game into safer territory.  
Solo again gets the ball, off a pass - it's probably the third time she's touched the ball all game. 
HALFTIME
It's been a nice performance by the USA thus far.

46 - Right back at it, and the USA doing well again. Good balance to their passing and movement.
48 - OReilly fights for the ball, gets it to Wambach, who slows down the play a bit by getting it stuck under her feet, before finally passing to Morgan, who dishes to Tobin Heath, who tries to get too cute with the shot and gets it over the bar in a 1v1 versus the goalkeeper. Keep It Simple, Tobs.
51 - North Korea looking hapless right now. They need to regroup.
53 - Then again, for all the USA passing prowess, it hasn't led to another goal. They've been wasteful.
55 - Lacking a bit of killer instinct, perhaps.
57 - Also, they're not actually creating that many chances. No shots for quite a while.

80 - Oooh! RED CARD - CHOE MI GYONG It was her second yellow.
Cheney is taken down and the free kick is wasted because the ploy with OReilly and Cheney didnt work out.
82 - ARod is on for Cheney.
85 - In a way, it looks harder now for the USA to score - North Korea holding back, pretty much, not trying to score as they did before. 
90 - done! An efficient, if close, victory for the USA.





 

Not So Money

It's funny, right after I've been going on about how the USA women's soccer team needs to keep things real instead of presenting a plastic image of perfection, an interview with Hope Solo comes out that definitely depicts the players as flesh and blood. 

Be careful what one wishes for, I guess. 

I mean, did I need to know that the whole USA team got drunk celebrating their gold medal? 

Well, it's really no different than what the guys do - champagne showers are standard for victory moments, and it's easy to drink the fizzy stuff and get wasted.

Mighty Megan

I remember when I first started covering women's soccer and another reporter mentioned the girlfriend of a top player. He seemed surprised at my confused look, then calmly explained that a few of the USA women's national team were gay. 

My confusion, though, wasn't because I was surprised that some of the team's players were lesbian. My first thought had been, "Really? Why is anyone hiding someone they love from the public?" 

When I voiced this question out loud, my fellow reporter smiled, "Well, they aren't really hiding. I mean, their teammates know. If you cover the team long enough, you'll see their girlfriends often enough that you'll figure out which players are gay. They just don't really make it obvious to fans or anyone else."

Basically, the world at large was kept in the dark. I'm all for privacy in people's personal lives, but frankly, that's not what has historically happened with the straight members of the USA women's team - or the men's team, for that matter. Engagements are trumpeted and marriages are announced regularly on the official blogs for both squads. 

It's especially the USA women's team has sold to the public an image of themselves as "good girls". I've long thought that it should be more about athletes as real people. 

Megan Rapinoe is definitely keeping it real by letting the world know that she is homosexual.

In doing so, Rapinoe is setting an example not only for some of her fellow teammates, but also for young soccer-playing athletes everywhere to be true to themselves and to who they love.