Women’s soccer, at least for now, commands center stage
This is America, 2019.
The women on the U.S. national soccer team, tough and strong, are these forces playing their style uncompromisingly and incomparably _ winners winning. As a team, for the team, for their teammates, for their country.
This is America, 2019. A response to everything this team does comes with a smidgen of smug judging. Like a know-itall older sibling, so many onlookers _ in our lives and online _ believe they know precisely how this team of women should act, and they'll be the judges of whether the team fits within their parameters.
This is America, 2019. Alex Morgan: Celebrity sports star. She's a sensation, a previous champion, a national hero. She's ubiquitous and glamorous but still plays her sport with gruff grit. She honors the legacy of the women who played before her. She knows her history and takes pride in making some, too. She has 3.7 million followers on Twitter and countless followers of younger soccer players, girls and boys, who watch and want to play soccer like Alex does.
This is America, 2019. Alex Morgan: Offensive feather-ruffler. She scored a gorgeous goal in the World Cup semifinal against England — the go-ahead goal and eventual winner — and in a cunning, confident and soit-seems controversial manner, made a tea-sipping gesture, pinkie out.
Her creative celebration fit the times in which a younger generation of athletes flash flamboyance.
They work hard, so they celebrate hard. This was an endzone touchdown dance or some choreographed silliness done by the walk-ons on the end of a college basketball bench, following a big 3-pointer.
But the negative response to Morgan came in a virtual deluge, much from the other side of the ocean, who claimed she disrespected England.
Again, she pretended to sip a cuppa tea.
This is America, 2019.
The most dominant, elegant, highest-level of sport is played by our native daughters.
There was Becky Sauerbrunn, born and raised in St. Louis, extinguishing England's offensive attacks (except for, it's only fair to point out, her leg-clipping in the box that led to a penalty shot). Rose Lavelle, strategically toying with defenders, unleashing moves that take multiple buttons to make on a video game. Crystal Dunn, composed on defense, fearless on the occasional burst on offense. And Alyssa Naeher, hoping to someday have a sentence said about her without the words "Hope Solo," making her own mark as the U.S. goalie, stopping that penalty shot in the 84th minute.
This is America, 2019.
These same women have to fight for equal pay. They sued the United States Soccer Federation, claiming "purposeful gender discrimination." As Sauerbrunn said in a statement: "It is wrong for us to be paid and valued less for our work because of our gender."
This is America, 2019.
Our nation showing so much passion for women's sports. It's such an exciting time. The front page of last Sunday's New York Times Sports section featured only stories about female athletes: Serena Williams, Maya Moore and soccer star Megan Rapinoe. Across the country, there's inner-office talk about the soccer game _ even watching the soccer game at the office. There are boys wearing the jerseys of their favorite female players. There are sardine bars hosting watch parties.
This is America, 2019.
We're totally immersed and into women's soccer ... until we're essentially not at all, once again. As summer cools into fall, so many sports fans forget about the players they once adored. There is such a jarring disproportion in popularity between international play and professional play. The women play in a league whose acronym you probably couldn't guess _ and for teams you probably didn't know exist. They're still the same stars from your beloved national team, but behind clouds.
This is America, 2019.
Rapinoe, the mesmerizing, polarizing goal-scorer, unabashedly proud of her teammates, her own hard work, her family, her girlfriend, her beliefs and her social-justice causes. This is America, 2019. Rapinoe, the captain of the America's national soccer team, having to explain that she's "extremely American."
"I think that I'm particularly and uniquely and very deeply American," she told reporters in France on Wednesday. "If we want to talk about the ideals that we stand for _ the songs and the anthem, what we were founded on _ I think I'm extremely American.
"I think for detractors, I would have them look hard into what I'm saying and the actions that I'm doing. Maybe you don't agree with every single way that I do it, and that can be discussed. I know that I'm not perfect, but I think that I stand for honesty and for truth and for wanting to have the conversation and for looking at the country honestly and saying, 'Yes, we are a great country, and there's many things that are so amazing.' And I feel very fortunate to be in this country”