Friday, September 28, 2007

Solo to coach: You're an idiot


Have you heard goalie Hope Solo's comments yet? For those of you who haven't, Solo went off on Coach Greg Ryan's decision to play Brianna Scurry (see picture) instead of her against Brazil. The result: a 4-0 U.S. loss.

Solo said: "There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves...The fact of the matter is, it's not 2004 anymore."

(Solo was referring to Scurry's past World Cup play against Brazil.)

I heard Solo's comments on the Mike and Mike show this morning. Mike Golic blasted her for dissing Scurry saying that calling out the coach was one thing, but doing it to a teammate was another.

I'll be honest. I thought it was awesome that she spoke up. She definitely has a right to be mad, and she was just saying what everyone else was thinking.

Most athletes that speak up have unwarranted beefs. I mean, who cares what T.O. has to say?

But Solo had reason to sound off. You only get the World Cup every four years. Why not go out guns blazing? Then it shows how much is really at stake.

Athletes are, for the most part, hesitant to say anything that might upset the apple cart. How many times have you heard: "It just wasn't our day" or "The other team was better."

Here we have an athlete sticking up for herself, basically saying the coach was a jackass and, frankly, most everyone agrees with her.

Hey, I've played on plenty of teams and I give props to Solo for saying she could have done better. And she isn't in this for herself. She's in it for her team.

Remember. A team is made up of individuals. In this instance, Solo is one voice that should be heard.