NWSL becoming a retirement league as well?
I mean, the USWNT players could make a shit-ton more money in England or Spain or France, and play against similarly paid players, and not just a bunch of second-rate players on teams that will not be relegated.
Re Olympics announcing, I was surprised and pleased to hear Julie Foudy and the anonymous(?) play-by-play announcer calling players “in an offside position,” instead of “offside” as other dumb American announcers do.
Hoping this trickles down to the fields I’m reffing at. “Trinity, you’re in an offside position!!”
5 yd penalty? Still first down?
Gonna miss her. I’ll keep the SI photo shot, though, to remember her by.
Good timing as she’s expecting her second child at the age of 35.
Reminds me of the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode when the heavily pregnant woman was running hard on the treadmill. I wonder how far into the pregnancy one can keep playing?
Shouldn’t be an issue of safety, really (Disclaimer: not that kind of doctor on the internet). But if you’re not as good as the next player in line, and you’ll be 37+ when you try to come back, you should probably stop playing at this relatively high level.
I hope to see her on my touchlines in a few years (probably not, as they will probably be playing club, and I don’t referee club). I’ve seen Julia Roberts and Will Farrell (who actually refereed at a tournament) on touchlines.
Emma Hayes (and other women) probably wants to coach a men’s team, but owners still not ready:
“The only reason I took this job was to meet athletic chicks!! Now, it’s too stressful and I have to watch what I say and do!! Oh, me!!”
Well, that’s what you get when you have to work with a bunch of chicks who now have power and say, because they are the product the consumers want to see and spend money on. Not you, you piece of shit GM.
“There’s a fear amongst staff about what you can say, what you can’t say, what you have to ask players’ permission for, what you don’t, if you’re going to get in trouble for this,” one GM said. “And that means, to me, it’s gone too far.”
NWSLPA chief Meghann Burke, however, said that it was “disingenuous” for GMs to simultaneously support improved player protections and then claim that the players have too much power.
Some general managers expressed worry to ESPN about the gray areas of everyday interactions, and whether a player complaint could disproportionately damage the reputation of a coach or staffer over a misunderstanding.
“The league has gone from one end of the spectrum to another,” another GM said as part of the survey. “We need to find a middle ground.”
These sentiments were shared repeatedly, but were not unanimous.
If you can’t do your job right, get out.