Soccer Rant

I read an article in the Sports section of The Washington Post this morning about the U.S. women's national soccer team. The article was about Coach Greg Ryan making a change of goalie on the eve of their World Cup semifinal match with Brazil. Talk about foreshadowing! I thought that making a switch wasn't a good idea as the author of the article, Steven Goff, hinted. On my way to the office, I heard the score was 2-0 Brazil. By the time I got to the office it was 3-0. And the final ended up being 4-0. Turns out changing keepers might not have been the best idea. On the way home this afternoon I heard an interview with Hope Solo, the goalie who was benched. She called out the coach for making the change!

Here's a snippet: "It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that. There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. . . . You have to live in the present. And you can't live by big names. You can't live in the past." Good for her!

Now, before the comments roll in about a blog post on women's soccer, know this:

1) I consider soccer not only a sport, but a good one.

2) I have three daughters who may one day play soccer.

3) I know probably not many people are blogging about this, much less men blogging about it, and I don't care.

RANT ALERT!

It irks me when people make stupid decisions and replacing a successful goalie (whose previous three matches were shutouts) on the eve of the most important match since the 2004 Olympics qualifies in my book as stupid.

On a positive note, D.C. United won last night!