Women's World Cup - 2019 Champs!

[budwom]

I ripped my softball uniform top off one time and small children ran away, not sure why.

Good to have that Thailand game behind us, hopefully everything is on an even keel from here on out, Chile ain't that great but shouldn't go down by double digits...

[JasonEvans]

Brandi Chastain became a global celebrity by scoring a big goal and celebrating like a champ.

Yeah, sorry. Sorta knew my comment was outta line. Thanks for calling me on it.

[OldPhiKap]

^^ that was IIRC the final sudden death penalty kick of the FIFA Championship game. A moment well worth celebrating bigly. WAAAAAAAAAAAY different than the ninth goal of an opening match rout.

[OldPhiKap]

Which always reminds me of this:

[Tom B.]

Good to have that Thailand game behind us, hopefully everything is on an even keel from here on out, Chile ain't that great but shouldn't go down by double digits...

FWIW, Chile (#39) is actually ranked five spots below Thailand (#34) in the FIFA women's world rankings.

But yeah, I'd be surprised with another double-digit drubbing.

[Acymetric]

FWIW, Chile (#39) is actually ranked five spots below Thailand (#34) in the FIFA women's world rankings.

But yeah, I'd be surprised with another double-digit drubbing.

I have to believe there is a lot of noise in the women's rankings after you get past the top 10 or maybe 15, just because of the huge talent disparities between a lot of the teams leading to weird/inconsistent results.

[budwom]

I have to believe there is a lot of noise in the women's rankings after you get past the top 10 or maybe 15, just because of the huge talent disparities between a lot of the teams leading to weird/inconsistent results.

yeah, that plus Thailand plays most of its games in Asia, Chile mostly plays in the western hemisphere (some Yerp) so it becomes tough to gauge relative merits. Thailand was surely hampered by having a goalie who was three feet tall.

[OldPhiKap]

NED - CMR very entertaining this morning.

[awhom111]

Congrats to Duke alum Rebecca Quinn on making her tournament debut when she came off the bench in Canada's win.

As for changing substitution rules in soccer, drastic changes would be difficult to pass. Right now they aren't even sure whether special rules should be brought in for potential concussions. Heck, it took 40 years of World Cups before any substitutions were allowed at all.

[OldPhiKap]

Next USWNT March is this morning, so LGUSA!

[Tom B.]

A few more thoughts on this before we move on to the Chile game...

I've hear this a good bit today and I guess I get it... but it feels to me like it may not be a great idea to launch a controversy about sportsmanship while asking your boss for a raise.

FWIW, Sally Jenkins has a different take.

The short version -- the USWNT isn't asking for a raise. They've been trying that for years and gotten nowhere, so now they're in "Screw it, we're done being polite" mode.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/the-us-womens-national-team-is-american-treasure-pay-them-a-bounty/2019/06/12/1c151908-8c9a-11e9-adf3-f70f78c156e8_story.html

Picture the expressions of U.S. Soccer Federation officials every time Alex Morgan went lightly skipping down the pitch and scored another goal in the Americans’ opening match of the World Cup. The falling faces, the slack mouths, the groans and the fingertips pressed to their creased foreheads as their legal position became ever more indefensible.

Just imagine how that record-setting 13-0 victory over Thailand will play at a jury trial. It’s going to be a lot of fun watching lawyers for the soccer federation try to justify why the U.S. women’s national team, with their air rifles for legs, are paid 38 cents on the dollar compared with their male counterparts and had to sue for fair wages. It’s going to be pure entertainment listening to federation president Carlos Cordeiro stammer out an explanation on the witness stand of why this team, which is nothing short of an American damn treasure, isn’t worth equal coin to a men’s squad that can’t beat Jamaica.

I don’t want to hear another word about whether the Americans scored too much or over-celebrated. This is a team in full attack mode, fighting not just to win a World Cup but to prove a larger point about their worth. They have been denied fair pay compared with their men’s team for years, and they’re out to make a statement about just how good they are, both on the pitch and in the court of public opinion. You don’t make up a chronic pay gap with ladylike restraint. You do it by kicking through a wall.

I think she makes a strong case. Does anyone really think 13-0 will make fewer people watch this tournament? Ha. With that one display, the U.S. women just made the whole rest of this World Cup must-see TV.

Now, can I confess something?

I loved it.

I loved every second of it.

I loved every one of the 13 goals.

I love the fact that for 24 hours, Alex Morgan had singlehandedly outscored every other country in this tournament (and even now she's still outscored all but three, or four if you count the rest of the U.S. team as a separate country).

I love that in one game, the U.S. women scored more goals than the U.S. men's team scored in the last four World Cup tournaments combined, including the 2018 World Cup, which the men's team didn't qualify for.

I loved the celebrations, the wide-mouthed smiles, the hugs, the expressions of unadulterated joy from this band of sisters that's never done anything but win and inspire young girls to work hard and dream big and be inclusive and support each other for nearly a generation now.

I. Loved. It.

You score and celebrate as much as you want, ladies. You've more than earned it.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

A few more thoughts on this before we move on to the Chile game...




FWIW, Sally Jenkins has a different take.

The short version -- the USWNT isn't asking for a raise. They've been trying that for years and gotten nowhere, so now they're in "Screw it, we're done being polite" mode.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/the-us-womens-national-team-is-american-treasure-pay-them-a-bounty/2019/06/12/1c151908-8c9a-11e9-adf3-f70f78c156e8_story.html




I think she makes a strong case. Does anyone really think 13-0 will make fewer people watch this tournament? Ha. With that one display, the U.S. women just made the whole rest of this World Cup must-see TV.

Now, can I confess something?

I loved it.

I loved every second of it.

I loved every one of the 13 goals.

I love the fact that for 24 hours, Alex Morgan had singlehandedly outscored every other country in this tournament (and even now she's still outscored all but three, or four if you count the rest of the U.S. team as a separate country).

I love that in one game, the U.S. women scored more goals than the U.S. men's team scored in the last four World Cup tournaments combined, including the 2018 World Cup, which the men's team didn't qualify for.

I loved the celebrations, the wide-mouthed smiles, the hugs, the expressions of unadulterated joy from this band of sisters that's never done anything but win and inspire young girls to work hard and dream big and be inclusive and support each other for nearly a generation now.

I. Loved. It.

You score and celebrate as much as you want, ladies. You've more than earned it.

This was my point too. 13-0 meany every yammering head on ESPN and sports talk radio was talking women's soccer. The only other way that a result would have produced so much discussion would have been a USA loss in the first game.
I have no issue with the score or celebrations. I would just note that if they slip, the world will quickly be rooting against them to fail. If you are going to crush opponents, you can't look away for a moment.

[PackMan97]

I have no issue with the score or celebrations. I would just note that if they slip, the world will quickly be rooting against them to fail. If you are going to crush opponents, you can't look away for a moment.

Yup! Arrogant Americans is what they'll call us. If they want to show the world how much better they are, they'd better be successful.

As for the entire pay issue, this was brought up in 2015.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/questio...world-cup-win/

This years figures have not been released, but four years ago the Women's World Cup brought in almost $73 million. The 2010 Men's World Cup in South Africa made almost $4 billion. Those players got $348 million, or 9 percent of the total revenue. The women's team got a higher percentage with 13 percent, but the bottom line was still much less, $10 million.

...and that's all I have to say about that.

well...maybe one more thing.

This type of jackhole isn't helping.

And outgoing FIFA President Sepp Blatter was once quoted as saying women's soccer should wear shorter shorts to raise the popularity of their game.

[Native]

USWNT taking care of business against Chile. Up 3-0 in the 36’.

[OldPhiKap]

Looking good. Sweden looked pretty good too, should be a fun match Thursday.

But let’s finish this strong.

[Native]

Looking good. Sweden looked pretty good too, should be a fun match Thursday.

But let’s finish this strong.

Heckuva performance from the Chilean keeper in this half.

[killerleft]

Hecukva performance from the Chilean keeper in this half.

Yep, we might have doubled our total but for some very fine saves.

[OldPhiKap]

Heckuva performance from the Chilean keeper in this half.

Indeed, she was impressive all game. That match could have been 8-0 or so, legit.

[JasonEvans]

While I love the empowerment message in Sally Jenkins article and the fervor with which she and others feel about the pay disparity issue, Sally is living in a fantasy world if she thinks USA soccer is going to take the stand and be slack jawed with no answer to the questions about the relative performance of the men's and women's teams.

Whoever is on the stand will say, "While we would love to compensate the women better... while we would love for our men to be even close to as successful as our women... the reality is that by every economic measure, the women's game is only comparable to men's game because they use the same ball. Ticket sales, TV revenue, sponsorship dollars, merchandise sales... you name a measurement and the men's team is exponentially more valuable. How can we be expected to pay the same salaries to a team that generates a third** of the revenues that the men's team does?"

**- I'm guessing at this, but I bet that if I am wrong, it is because the men are worth a lot more, not because the women bring in more than I think

Look, I wish it were otherwise. I hate that women's sports are almost universally less economically successful than men's sports. But society has simply not reached a point where that has happened yet. I love that the USWNT is trying to make their case on the field with results that grab the world's attention. If I were advising them I would tell them that is exactly what they should do. I suspect their success is generating higher ratings right now, which is a huge step in the right direction. But the idea that USA Soccer is going to cave and cower because the USWNT posted an impressive result is just silly.

-Jason "crazy notion but perhaps the best way to get more money for the women would be if the men were to win more and generate more revenues for USA soccer. Then there might be more money around to afford to pay the women" Evans

[Tom B.]

Whoever is on the stand will say, "While we would love to compensate the women better... while we would love for our men to be even close to as successful as our women... the reality is that by every economic measure, the women's game is only comparable to men's game because they use the same ball. Ticket sales, TV revenue, sponsorship dollars, merchandise sales... you name a measurement and the men's team is exponentially more valuable. How can we be expected to pay the same salaries to a team that generates a third** of the revenues that the men's team does?"

**- I'm guessing at this, but I bet that if I am wrong, it is because the men are worth a lot more, not because the women bring in more than I think

Timely. From today's Wall Street Journal:

In the three years after the U.S. women’s soccer team won the 2015 World Cup, U.S. women’s games generated more total revenue than U.S. men’s games, according to audited financial reports from the U.S. Soccer Federation.

The ability of the women’s team to generate gate revenues that equals or exceeds the men’s team is an important battleground in the U.S. women’s March 8 gender-discrimination lawsuit against the federation. In the suit, all 28 members of the U.S. women’s national team player pool allege U.S. Soccer has paid them less than the men’s team, along with denying them equal playing, training and travel conditions and promoting their games less.

U.S. Soccer has made revenue generation a key part of its defense. In U.S. Soccer’s May 6 legal response to the suit, the federation said the men’s and women’s teams are separate organizations with separate collective-bargaining agreements. It said that any alleged pay differential between the men’s and women’s teams is “based on differences in the aggregate revenue generated by the different teams and/or any other factor other than sex.”

But U.S. Soccer’s numbers show that while men’s games used to generate millions more than women’s games, in recent years the gap in revenue all but disappeared.

From 2016-2018, women’s games generated about $50.8 million in revenue compared with $49.9 million for the men, according to U.S. soccer’s audited financial statements. In 2016, the year after the World Cup, the women generated $1.9 million more than the men. Game revenues are made up mostly of ticket sales. In the last two years, at least, the men’s tally includes appearance fees that opposing teams pay the U.S. for games.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-wom...5600?mod=rsswn