Hope solo suspended

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NBA is a bad example as well- it is entertainment above sport
thats why they don't allow zones-increase the scoring and entertainment value-fannies in the seats

go watch how the game is taught ,at the youth level-90% of teams play zone
ever notice that rule changes in professional sports always benefit the offense?

Purists will embrace a defensive mind-set, and the intricacies it takes to implement and stop a high-powered offense, no matter the sport.

However, for the casual fan, and that's a vast majority of a viewing audience, they want goals/touchdowns/points/runs. "Chicks dig the longball".

Soccer's #1 complaint is the scoring (maybe the diving, but I digress). So, to draw the average fan, drive up viewership, which drives up sponsership, which drives up revenue, which drives up salaries, is more offense.

Like it or not.

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Purists will embrace a defensive mind-set, and the intricacies it takes to implement and stop a high-powered offense, no matter the sport.

However, for the casual fan, and that's a vast majority of a viewing audience, they want goals/touchdowns/points/runs. "Chicks dig the longball".

Soccer's #1 complaint is the scoring (maybe the diving, but I digress). So, to draw the average fan, drive up viewership, which drives up sponsership, which drives up revenue, which drives up salaries, is more offense.

Like it or not.

agree with you- but thats for the entertainment value and $$$$ not the "game"
when people say "the way the game is supposed to be played"- sport is very simple
score more than your opponent and win
wether thats 1-0 or 10-9 whatever way works for the team you have

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agree with you- but thats for the entertainment value and $$$$ not the "game"
when people say "the way the game is supposed to be played"- sport is very simple
score more than your opponent and win
wether thats 1-0 or 10-9 whatever way works for the team you have

All true. But, without the casual fan, no sport can survive.

If I'm a headcoach, at that moment, I could care less about drawing the casual fan in. My job is to win, like you say, within the rules in place.

Change the rules if we don't like it, but don't gripe when someone exploits them.

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It is curious to me that we're hearing all these complaints about how an undermanned team took down the best team in the world. Where were all these complaints when the US men used a similar strategy to survive their group in the last World Cup?

For a country that doesn't have soccer hard-wired into its culture, we sure sound like "beautiful soccer" snobs when we complain about others not playing the game "properly." It's as if we'd be happier with a system of judges who would award subjective scores based on which team was prettier. Very silly, IMO.

I think it's because that for the first time in a long time, the US women play the beautiful game style. And I think that style is here to stay judging by the younger players and those on the cusp of the NT. They were heavily criticized as one dimensional defense, boot it and thug it under Pia when Womback was the dominate player.

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I love the way we try to "Americanize" soccer. The whole world loves this game the way it is and for its unpredictability. Sometimes David defeats Goliath. FA cup is a prime example of it. It is open to everyone and sometimes you see a small 3rd division town team beating giants like Mn Utd and others. They use all the weapons and pack in as much as possible. The rejubilation of achieving that feat is priceless and lasts forever. What doesn't matter is how they did it as long it is within good sportsmanship and LOTG.
Maybe we should just stick with nba, nhl, etc. and leave soccer for the rest of the world that careless about what we think about the game.

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All true. But, without the casual fan, no sport can survive.

If I'm a headcoach, at that moment, I could care less about drawing the casual fan in. My job is to win, like you say, within the rules in place.

Change the rules if we don't like it, but don't gripe when someone exploits them.

thats only professional sports
90% of sports survive without the casual fan- its called amateur sports
how many swim meets or volleyball games do people go to in america without their kid participating? very few
yet they still play them

[Unregistered]

I love the way we try to "Americanize" soccer. The whole world loves this game the way it is and for its unpredictability. Sometimes David defeats Goliath. FA cup is a prime example of it. It is open to everyone and sometimes you see a small 3rd division town team beating giants like Mn Utd and others. They use all the weapons and pack in as much as possible. The rejubilation of achieving that feat is priceless and lasts forever. What doesn't matter is how they did it as long it is within good sportsmanship and LOTG.
Maybe we should just stick with nba, nhl, etc. and leave soccer for the rest of the world that careless about what we think about the game.

So not true.

The whole world doesn't embrace these tactics...only when their team uses them. Portugal was skewered when they won the Euro's. Mourinho is mocked for "parking the bus", yet he's incredibly successful and his teams love him. Holland for years played beautifully, and lost, and everyone loved them. The played horribly, almost won in 2010, and were pilloried.

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So not true.

The whole world doesn't embrace these tactics...only when their team uses them. Portugal was skewered when they won the Euro's. Mourinho is mocked for "parking the bus", yet he's incredibly successful and his teams love him. Holland for years played beautifully, and lost, and everyone loved them. The played horribly, almost won in 2010, and were pilloried.

Guess who doesn't give a flying ****e - the team that won
Portugal doesn't care-because they have the trophy and you don't
the detroit Pistons won 2 championships UGLY -but those are the glory years in Detroit and they could care less what anyone else thinks about it

they play to win-thats why they keep score, style points are not relevant

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Guess who doesn't give a flying ****e - the team that won
Portugal doesn't care-because they have the trophy and you don't
the detroit Pistons won 2 championships UGLY -but those are the glory years in Detroit and they could care less what anyone else thinks about it

they play to win-thats why they keep score, style points are not relevant

Yes, that is the point. The team that won doesn't care, nor would I. But, to say that "the rest of the world" doesn't care isn't true. Everyone other than those teams that win complain about it when it happens.

[Unregistered]

I love the way we try to "Americanize" soccer. The whole world loves this game the way it is and for its unpredictability. Sometimes David defeats Goliath. FA cup is a prime example of it. It is open to everyone and sometimes you see a small 3rd division town team beating giants like Mn Utd and others. They use all the weapons and pack in as much as possible. The rejubilation of achieving that feat is priceless and lasts forever. What doesn't matter is how they did it as long it is within good sportsmanship and LOTG.
Maybe we should just stick with nba, nhl, etc. and leave soccer for the rest of the world that careless about what we think about the game.

BTW, England, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, etc have their stadiums packed across the country. Know why? they purely love soccer and they hope their team wins.

[Unregistered]

Yes, that is the point. The team that won doesn't care, nor would I. But, to say that "the rest of the world" doesn't care isn't true. Everyone other than those teams that win complain about it when it happens.

thats because "The rest of the world" LOST!!!!!

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"Parking the bus" and playing a primarily defensive game is most likely making a comeback due to the quick counter-attack styles of play that have mostly replaced possession-focussed soccer at the highest levels. It really isn't that hard to understand.

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Parking the bus/playing ugly soccer isn't illegal - folks can gripe but that's all. Solo calling the Swedes "cowards" for playing that way also isn't illegal nor should it cause her to be fired! Gripe about her being a jerk all you want but she shouldn't be fired for something so silly!

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Parking the bus/playing ugly soccer isn't illegal - folks can gripe but that's all. Solo calling the Swedes "cowards" for playing that way also isn't illegal nor should it cause her to be fired! Gripe about her being a jerk all you want but she shouldn't be fired for something so silly!

She clearly violated the Olympic oath. She wasn't fired, she was suspended, and the organization that you work for has a right to temper what you say if it reflects negatively on them.

Don't like it? Do something else.

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She was suspended AND her contract terminated

U.S. Soccer terminated the contract of goalkeeper Hope Solo on Wednesday for what it called “conduct that is counter to the organization’s principles.” The federation also said it had suspended Solo from the women’s national team for six months, but in ending her contract, it sent a strong signal that Solo — who has balanced on-field excellence with off-field controversy for more than a decade — might have played her last game for the United States.

And to reinforce that her being let go isn't just about her comments -

“Taking into consideration the past incidents involving Hope, as well as the private conversations we’ve had requiring her to conduct herself in a manner befitting a U.S. national team member, U.S. Soccer determined this is the appropriate disciplinary action,” U.S. Soccer’s president, Sunil Gulati, said in a statement.

Solo has been the starting goalkeeper for the United States since 2005 and its preferred starter in three straight World Cups and the three most recent Olympic tournaments. She has made more than 200 appearances for the team, and while her play on the field has been exceptional at times — she was voted the outstanding goalkeeper of the past two World Cups — she has caused public relations problems for herself and for U.S. Soccer away from the field.

In 2007, she was ostracized by the national team for several months after ripping its coach at the time, Greg Ryan, for starting her backup in a World Cup semifinal that the Americans lost, 4-0. At the 2012 Olympics, she took to Twitter to publicly criticize the former player Brandi Chastain, who was calling the team’s games for NBC. Then came Solo’s arrest on domestic violence charges and the van episode with her husband last year.

But with no American goalkeeper playing well enough to supplant Solo as the starter over the past decade, her coaches and U.S. Soccer have weathered each storm and continued to send Solo back into the net."


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/sp...ccer.html?_r=1