NFR - Hope Solo - Story Updated August 30th

[Rhys Lightning 63]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/hope-solo-suspended-for-six-months-1472098590?mod=e2tw

Basically suspended for using the 'they parked the bus' line.

Tad harsh to me, if Jose was suspended 6 months every time he used it, he'd have been out of work for about 10 years

[dhowells21]

The glove thing she did in that penalty shootout was such poor form that I do have trouble feeling sympathy for her..

[Rhys Lightning 63]

The glove thing she did in that penalty shootout was such poor form that I do have trouble feeling sympathy for her..

If it had worked, she'd be seen as great at 'mind games'. The act was no different to the spaghetti legs, or when Barthez kicked his studs against the goalpost against us causing (I think) Steve Marlet to miss

[dhowells21]

True. And whilst they're in the same bracket, and for example the Suarez handball is also 'using the rules to your advantage', it is poor form and isn't sportsmanlike (sportswomanlike?)

[westcliff white]

i have very little sympathy given her antics

[Lighthouse]

She insulted the other team and called them cowards and it is the Olympics which means you pretend you are not taking drugs, win, get money, then get caught and everybody moans. So while I dislike her antics I can also see the hypocrisy behind the decision. A good telling off and warning would have sufficed. Her reputation precedes her.

[aaronmcguigan]

Parked the bus? Did you read the story? She called them a bunch of cowards, she didn't reference their tactics.
She's got history, she's a troublemaker and it's nothing to do with mind games. Young people need great role models, especially young women, but it needs to involve respecting your opponent

[Rhys Lightning 63]

Parked the bus? Did you read the story? She called them a bunch of cowards, she didn't reference their tactics.
She's got history, she's a troublemaker and it's nothing to do with mind games. Young people need great role models, especially young women, but it needs to involve respecting your opponent

"Solo called the Swedes ?a bunch of cowards? for focusing on defense rather than attacking the three-time defending champion U.S. team."

That's the definition of parking the bus

[Fulham Tup North]

Whatever happened to being 'Gracious in Defeat'? Bad sportsmanship is up there with diving and waving imaginary yellow cards.
If you have nothing nice to say then just shut-up! 
Always nice when people who think they are 'entitled' to win things, get their comeuppance.
Doubt she will learn though, judging by the little I know of her.
She's not a relation of Craig Kline is she??  ;)

[snarks]

She clearly has issues, but the suspension is wrong

[Twig]

Hope came up the hard way and has done well for herself against adversity so I have some admiration for her.  However part and parcel of that legacy is a bit of an attitude problem.  She is always going to be a PR man's nightmare. She needed to be punished but the severity was perhaps a tad harsh imo.

[Holders]

It wasn't the only attitude problem at the Olympics but they were in the huge minority. l take heart from the overwhelming number of good sportspeople, particularly the NZ 5000 mtr girl.

[The Equalizer]

She's a petulant little girl who has no place in the Olympics.

To be honest, I don't believe that football has a place in the Olympics either. Watch the blood, sweat and tears of the other Olympians, see cyclists cross the line with a broken collar bone, and then watch some overpaid primadonna rolling about on the floor like he's been shot, and you realise that these footballers are sportsmen who don't deserve to share the same stage as the others.

[Holders]

She's a petulant little girl who has no place in the Olympics.

To be honest, I don't believe that football has a place in the Olympics either. Watch the blood, sweat and tears of the other Olympians, see cyclists cross the line with a broken collar bone, and then watch some overpaid primadonna rolling about on the floor like he's been shot, and you realise that these footballers are sportsmen who don't deserve to share the same stage as the others.

I think it's pretty dubious about any of the highly-paid professional sports being in the Olympics (football, tennis, golf). In these days of retainers and sponsorship for athletes, though, I appreciate it's hard to know where to draw the line but that's my gut feel.

[The Rock]

That is just wrong. So what, they played like cowards, no one cares. Just imagine if she bit someone like Suarez? Life in prison?

[epsomraver]

She's a petulant little girl who has no place in the Olympics.

To be honest, I don't believe that football has a place in the Olympics either. Watch the blood, sweat and tears of the other Olympians, see cyclists cross the line with a broken collar bone, and then watch some overpaid primadonna rolling about on the floor like he's been shot, and you realise that these footballers are sportsmen who don't deserve to share the same stage as the others.

0001.jpeg 0001.jpeg 0001.jpeg

[Forever Fulham]

I trashed her in a previous post when I was upset with her behaviour.  But a case can be made that she is simply the best female goalkeeper in the world.  You rarely see players get to that level without some kind of baggage.  Issues.  Personality quirks.  Defects.  Tunnel vision.  Gaps in her development as a well rounded human being.  So, while we focus on her boorish antics, we momentarily forget the skills set, the winning mentality, and that which separates the very best from the rest.  A certain Uruguayan shouldn't bite defenders in the heat of the moment.  Why can't he just be the great player he is?  A certain Serbian Swedish player is world class but craves attention and approval.  And so on.

[ToodlesMcToot]

She was suspended for an accumulation of poor choices. It wasn't just the Olympic comments - which were classless. She's been walking on thin ice for some time now but, her qualities in goal have kept her in the team. When it gets right down to it, teams, managers, fans, owners, etc want results. And, by and large, with her, that's what the USWNT gets.

[BarryP]

She was suspended for an accumulation of poor choices. It wasn't just the Olympic comments - which were classless. She's been walking on thin ice for some time now but, her qualities in goal have kept her in the team. When it gets right down to it, teams, managers, fans, owners, etc want results. And, by and large, with her, that's what the USWNT gets.

0001.jpeg

[Holders]

She probably doesn't think it out of the ordinary in a football context (men certainly) but at the Olympics her behaviour and comments stood out. I have to say though that I've always found women's football to be pretty sporting and free from gamesmanship up to now.