Being from Albuquerque, New Mexico I feel it is necessary that I talk about the situation that escalated between Elizabeth Lambert, from the University of New Mexico, and her opponents the BYU Cougars. Seeing her play in high school I can say there were never any major problems with her. I mean she never did what she did in this game. If you don't know what I'm talking about, let me explain. She through a girl down by her ponytail, was punching, and even kicked a ball into another players face. Personally I have never seen anyone do this in the game of soccer. Men's or women's. It was shocking to say the least. However, I think ESPN did wrong by repeating the clips over and over again. First off, this was the one rare time I have seen women's soccer on sportscenter. The only other exception would be if it was the finals of the NCAA tournament or the US women's soccer team had a big game. I think the reason why ESPN reacted the way that they did was because they don't see women being this violent. Men's soccer is aired on ESPN all the time and mentioned on consent basis. And you see constenly they are hitting each other and hurting one another, but they don't focus on showing just that. They actually show highlights from the entire game. Before sportscenter showed the highlight, he the broadcaster said this has some MMA qualities to it. Which right there is making a joke towards the situation. It's pretty bad when the only time a women's soccer story is mentioned is if she takes off her shirt or she is beating up on the other players.
Here is a clip from what happen during the game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNmPybFK2_o
2 comments:
I played soccer and the only thing that was out of the ordinary was the pulling of the girls ponytail so hard that she fell to the ground. Soccer is the most dangerous sport there is because it is very aggressive, with little protection, and alot of physical contact. There is also 22 people on the field at once and the referees will never see everything that is going on. I've been kicked in the face with balls, tripped, punched, pushed, grabbed, etc. and soccer players just know that's what happens in the sport, especially in big games when emotions are high so besides the hair pulling the activities weren't much of a surprise to me.
A journalist's mission is to find a story - therefore, there is definitely a story in this situation. ESPN does not pride itself in showing outrageous behavior, but it has to - that is the business in which ESPN resides.
I agree, though, play like this in soccer, male or female, is stupidity. Play the game clean and if you are not good enough, face it - cheaters never prosper.
Post a Comment