Oh look, the online world of WPS is in a tizzy again. Not surprisingly, the woman at the center of it all is, once again, Atlanta Beat goalkeeper Hope Solo. After the last-place Atlanta Beat lost 1-0 to the Washington Freedom on an 88th minute tally from Freedom striker Abby Wambach, Solo took to The Twitter to air her frustrations.
It should be noted that A: I did not see the Freedom-Beat game. I was at Yurcak Field watching Sky Blue FC’s season come to an abrupt end. B: The game had no implications for the Beat, and some pretty huge ones for the Freedom. A win for the Freedom guaranteed DC a spot in the playoffs while a loss or tie left things a little up in the air. Atlanta on the other hand, had been long eliminated from playoff contention and a win would only serve to end their season on a high note, and play spoiler for the Freedom. According to various match reports there were a few calls that were maybe missed for each side. And each team also had a goal disallowed. And the Beat’s Lauren Sesselmann was ejected after receiving a yellow card in each half. Ultimately the Freedom won, and will play in Philadelphia next weekend in the first round of the playoffs. The Beat’s season is, uh, over.
So here’s where Hope Solo’s twittering comes in. After the match, Solo twittered (via 5 seperate tweets, someone sign her up for a WordPress acount already!):
Its official, the refs are straight bad. Its clear the league wanted dc in playoffs. I have truly never seen anything like this. Its sad.
A goal taken away with no explanation, one offsides call against dc, many against atlanta. An amazing all ball tackle for a red
We play with 10, DC with 12. Players punched in the face. Free corners. I am done playing in a league where the game is no longer
In control of the players
The head ref calls it a goal!!!! It even goes up on the scoreboard!!! Than no explanation! Its a joke!!!! An absolute joke!
Three comments on this. 1: Perhaps this was all an elaborate set-up for the pun that occurs in the first tweet (“It’s official, the refs…”). If so, brilliant. 2: I find it hard to believe that “the league wanted DC in [the] playoffs” mostly because I don’t think there’s anyone, at all, working in the league office anymore. Unless they got an intern to do it. 3: According to the boxscore there were only three offside calls, one against DC and two against the Beat.
So then, Hope Solo apparently went to sleep or whatever, and then woke up in the morning and read some version of the Freedom-Beat match report and then took to the Twitter once again (again, via 5 separate tweets):
Nice spin on the game report brunson. The little old 7th place team from atlanta ran the show last night. was your head dizzy watching
Us ping the ball around the field?I’m proud of us ATL,we are beginning to show this league how the game should be played-beautifully.
Multiple choice question…why did the refs call back our goal? Is it… A. Free kick taken before the whistle B. Indirect not direct
C. Offsides D. Foul on unknown player Those are all the reasons we heard, so I think E is the only one that really makes sense…
E. We just want washington to win regardless
“brunson” is presumably Jennifer Brunson, Digital Media and Public Relations Manager for the Washington Freedom. I read three different “official” match reports for this game: from the Atlanta Beat site, the Washington Freedom site and the main WPS site. It seems one could read said ‘game report’ with whatever bias suits one’s fancy. And if you’ve ever followed the Beat’s twitter account during games (@ATLBeat) you know that someone in that organization is a huge fan of Atlanta Beat trivia – so Solo’s multiple choice question is really not that ridiculous.
Since ‘Hope Solo Tweetgate, Volumes 2&3’ appeared, WPS fans have taken to the usual places (Twitter, Big Soccer, et. al) to lambast or praise or poke fun or diagnose Solo with some disorder. But something else has happened. Another WPS player, Cat Whitehill, and a member of a WPS coaching staff, Emma Hayes, have also weighed in. Whitehill plays for the Freedom while Hayes is officially on the DC payroll as a “Soccer Consultant.”
@hopesolo your bitterness isn’t good for the game or your team
Emma Hayes had this to say tweet (via 3 tweets AND Twitlonger):
Just going over game moments from last night. Good game by both teams. The Ref struggled with big moments in the game but it was case for both teams.
We need to help our league by supporting our officials with training, feedback and private criticism, which we do. Now let’s move on to playoffs.
No one has a divine right to be in the playoffs. It’s earned over 24 games. And the top four teams have deserved that. Teams get fair share.
And here’s where things get a little fuzzy for me. Think whatever you want about Solo’s behavior on Twitter. My opinion: she’s entitled to her opinion. Does it make her look petty and bitter and whiny? Yeah, a little. There is no excuse for Solo calling out a member of another team’s front office. Definitely. But the rest of it, eh. The league has, from the beginning, had this big push for players, staff, whoever to use social media. And now they are. You can’t un-ring a bell. If you want to just read tweets from players that are all rainbows and unicorns and candy and flowers and “just finished great training session!” and “go [team]” and “on the bus on the way to the game” then fine. But we all supposedly wanted an inside look at the lives and opinions of WPS players. That whole accessibility thing. So now we have it. And it’s not all flowers and candy and unicorns. If we want to hear from the players, we need to be prepared to hear the bad along with the good. So back to Cat Whitehill and Emma Hayes. Cat Whitehill presumably knows Hope Solo, they’ve played together on the US National Team for years – so was it any more appropriate for Whitehill to call out Solo on Twitter than it was for Solo to call out the refs? As for Hayes, she, unlike Whitehill, left Hope Solo’s name out of her tweeting. If one was unaware of the whole Hope Solo thing, they might think that Emma was just feeling chatty this morning and decided to pontificate on the quality of refereeing in the league (and maybe this is what happened and it’s just some great coincidence. It should also be noted that when Emma Hayes was the Head Coach of the Chicago Red Stars she was fined by the league for calling the officiating “shocking,” among other things, after Chicago’s season opening loss to Sky Blue FC in New Jersey). If we say that what Whitehill and Hayes did was somehow okay or “different” than what Solo did, it’s the equivalent saying “but she started it!” If you talk shit about my friend and then I punch you in the face, when the police come, they’re not going to care that “you started it.” They’re going to say “I don’t care, you still can’t go around punching people in the face.” And then they’re going to take me to jail.
But wait, there’s more!
What has Hope Solo done that’s so different from Hayes or Whitehill taking shots at her? Or from any of these examples:
Exhibit A: Charlie Naimo, former Los Angeles Sol GM and current Chicago Red Stars Technical Advisor (via Twitter)
When will we get proper officials???? Enough is enough. I wonder what I am saying. Mens league or something else? Shocking
Sun Aug 22 20:42:11 2010 via txt
Exhibit B: Andy Crossley, Boston Breakers GM (via Twitter)
Lilly would like to know why Kai wasn’t called for hurling her into the fieldboards right in front of me
about 22 hours ago via mobile web
Exhibit C: Natalie Spilger, defender, Chicago Red Stars on her blog, The Green Athlete
There was a lot of tension leading up to the game. Our old head coach Emma Hayes, was back on the sideline… but for the visiting bench. That, on top of the tensions that have built between both teams’ physical play (or faking thereof), made the game filled with emotions.
“Sadly, in this last game on July 4th against the Washington Freedom, I did all I could NOT to get a card. I knew that if I did, I would have to sit out in our upcoming game on Wednesday (our first home-game in what seems like forever). But, somewhere in the second half, against who other than the notorious “diver” herself, I saw the referee reach for his pocket and it was over – a yellow card.
If anyone watched the Brazil-Ivory Coast game today, and saw the red card that was given out to Kaka, let me just tell you: The red card that was given to me in last weekend’s game against the Washington Freedom was a lot like that, except less contact on my part. Even the 4th official in our game was telling the head referee that it was a dive.
Exhibits D & E: The online pissing contest between Breakers GM Andy Crossley and Beat GM Shawn McGee after ‘Hope Solo Tweetgate Volume 1: Hope Solo vs. The Riptide’ – AFTER both teams had released a joint statement that was supposed to be ‘the final word’ on the matter.
McGee in the Marietta Daily Journal – Published August 10th:
“Hope stood up for something that she believed in, and rightfully so,” McGee told the MDJ. “The way the situation was handled could have been more private, and we could have dealt with it. But I back Hope. She’s playing in huge games all around the world, and doesn’t often get rattled or upset about things that go on during games. She’s a professional in the truest sense of the word.
“It wasn’t the comments directed at her that bothered her, it was the ones directed toward teammates and I give her props for that. The sad part is that she was attempting to apologize to her fans in the tweets and mentioned some other things, and that’s the part that got picked up and became the issue.”
Crossley to The Equalizer – Published August 13th:
“The Beat organization now has additional remarks about the Hope Solo incident both to you and to venues like The Marietta Daily Journal. This is surprising in light of the hours that we spent collaborating with them last weekend on a diplomatic and carefully worded joint statement which was intended to be the final word on the matter. As the Beat have said, there are two sides to every story. So after a week of declining further comment, it is now time to level the playing field.
“Fact: Solo’s post-game Twitter allegations were not independently corroborated by anyone in attendance who was not an acquaintance of Hope Solo.
Exhibit F: Christie Rampone, defender, captain, and former coach, Sky Blue FC (via Twitter, although this specific tweet has been deleted)
Congrats to the referee…I’m sure you’re a big fan! We get screwed every time we come here, why should tonight be any different?
So there you have it. People who aren’t Hope Solo acting like Hope Solo. I’m by no means defending Solo, but if we’re going to slam a player for complaining about stuff via the internets, shouldn’t we be treating all the players, coaches, GMs, and others involved with WPS equally? Is Natalie Spilger calling Abby Wambach a ‘diver’ on her blog or Charlie Naimo angry-twitting about officiating really any different, or better, than Hope Solo angry-twitting about officiating? Is it the frequency that we find so bothersome? Is it simply that it’s Hope Solo? Something else?
I think Solo should absolutely be held accountable by the league for calling out, by name, a member of the Freedom’s front office. Beyond that, I say let them all tweet and blog and do whatever. We all follow the players, GMs, coaches, etc. who use Twitter or write blogs, and at the end of the day, we’re grateful for the inside look. If we’re going to demand accountability for all of Solo’s twittering, then we need to demand the same for everyone else. Personally, I’d rather know that a player gives a shit about the game enough to be angry about it.
Updated (09/14/2010): The league has disciplined Solo for her twittering:
The WPS Disciplinary Committee has reviewed the public statements made by Hope Solo following the match on September 11, 2010 and has suspended Solo for one WPS league game, issued a fine of $2500 and given 8 hours of community service for prejudicial statements and public criticism as covered in Section 13.1.3 of the League Operations Manual. Solo has the right to appeal the decision of a one-game suspension and community service within seven (7) days and within thirty (30) days for the fine.
Whether it was the accusations of match fixing, the aforementioned calling out of a team staffer, or simply that it was just one too many times from Solo that pushed the league to take action, we may never know. Regardless, the Disciplinary Committee has now drawn the line and decided that Hope Solo crossed it. My hope (no pun intended) now is that they don’t keep moving it. But I also hope (again, sorry!) that this doesn’t stop players, coaches, and team and league staffers from speaking their minds. I’d still rather know that a player cares about the game enough to be angry about it – and now that they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is.
Excellent read. Very good to point all the other people in and around the league who express (although maybe unfavorable) their opinions using social media. I, for one, often sit back, crack open a beer and enjoy every moment that Hope goes on an angry tweet spree. It gets especially fun when Cat decides to chirp in, for more reasons than one. But mostly because Cat has a history of telling Hope her two cents when she should probably keep her mouth shut, which has created some less than pleasant feelings between the former BFFs. (I am of course referencing Keepergate 2007 where Cat told her afterwords: “I think you’re trying to get sympathy because of your dad’s death.” Ouch.)
This kind of drama and tension is better than Grey’s Anatomy.
Is it great that Hope has called out specific members of WPS staff? Not so much. I know that the people in the offices for each team work extremely hard to make this league run and I’m supremely grateful for them all. So I overwhelmingly agree with punishment for criticizing office staffers since her criticism for the referees is one of many.
Im gonna agree with Natalie Spilger and say Abby Wambach is a diver. she’s the biggest faker ever it pisses me off to watch her play she cries about everything. Watch the footage of the last game vs red stars. she cried bout getting hit in the eye off of noguiera look back.. she got hit in the head by the ball..not the eye. WHIMP
Thanks for this, it was a really thoughtful blog post. (And they say it can’t be done!) I agree that Hope calling out a specific member of another team’s staff (or even a member of her team’s staff) is particularly egregious. However, any time a player in any sport accuses the officials of fixing the match, that player needs be punished. I hope WPS will take action this time.
You’ve earned my highest praise for a blog: I’m saving an RSS subscription in my browser. (For what little that may be worth coming from someone you don’t know.)
Is waiting for men and women to be treated equal in sports. Ms Solo keep doing what you do and do it well. You made me so proud as a women and an athlete. Keep fighting the good fight.
Hey Lauren, Good post. I wanted to share a couple thoughts. (I worked in the WPS league office until July when it was reorg’ed.)
Jennifer Brunson – @itsbrunson on Twitter btw – along with all the people that work in this league, work their butts off to make it a success. Incredibly long hours, high demand, and little pay all for the love and potential of the league. Personally I think it’s a shame any player wouldn’t pay every WPS employee, volunteer, intern, executive, referee and owner the utmost respect in public – and vice versa.
The league does absolutely support their athletes and staff using social channels like Twitter – you’re right on. And I don’t believe that’s a bell that the league would ever want to un-ring. Opinions are great, and Social Media gives female athletes a channel/voice where no other media outlets would even sniff at a story. IMO the key to success here is comprehensive media training.
However, when it comes to public criticism of the the league, referees, etc. there are guidelines in place. WPS treats Social Media channels just like any other form of public communication like TV, newspapers and radio. The things one can/cannot say are clearly spelled out in the PR policy. The league and teams now need to enforce these rules and dole out appropriate consequences. I think I feel a blog post of my own coming here…
Anyhow, thanks for staying on top of this. Cheers, and keep up the great work. AV
There are also these comments by Kate Markgraf:
markgraf15: Disappointing loss. I really wish the level of referees was equal with the effort expended by the players. it’s (cont) http://tl.gd/39maag
August 22, 2010 9:21:38 PM EDT via Twitter for iPhone
markgraf15: Oh great- same ref from last game
August 19, 2010 7:49:10 PM EDT via Twitter for iPhone
markgraf15: Nervous and excited for my red stars. Cmon bellacias!
7:21 PM Aug 19th via Twitter for iPhone
As of right now, still up on Twitter.
Awesome blog – couldn’t agree more. Was Hope smart in Tweeting this stuff? Probably not. But we don’t have the blogosphere and message boards freaking out when other players criticize the refs or the league.
(And Whitehill should focus on her own fitness and lack of leadership – it is not good for the game or her team, either).
Officiating was been a hot button for many teams in many games this season. I like Abby as a member of the US National Team, however I believe the label “diver” is appropriate. She is a big girl and there is no reason why a player half her size is able to draw a foul for knocking her over. More than anything I want the league to survive this time around. I disagree with the fans of the men’s teams that refer to the athletes of the WPS as “prissy little girls”. Let’s remember that it’s the US Women that have won the World Cup and Olympic Gold. The sponsors should be looking closer at this sport. The women have babies and come back to play the game they love. Don’t they deserve the same respect?
As my mamma says don’t go tearing something apart unless you build something in its place. Solo may have some points but she is not affecting change here just just whining about calls and crying like someone stole her binky. It doesn’t help, it undermines the league, it creates/widens divisions. Hayes’ comments on the other hand are constructive and…well …polite.
So I don’t agree that Solo’s tweets are the same as some of the others mentioned. Tweeting about a perceived bad call is a lot different from accusing the WPS of match fixing. If Solo is that aggrieved then she should formally write or interview about it so we can get a more well rounded opinion instead of a bitter rant.
Officiating is bad, it was last year too. I’ve seen Chicago, Athletica (RIP), Boston and now ATL get a serious raw deal from the officials. But what a thankless, crap paying job being a ref is. It’s bad enough when you walk out there, you know people are going to whine at you for 90 minutes but now they have tweet abuse for day later.
Solo’s comments were a bit more over the top and less articulate than most of the others referenced. Love her or hate her, she gets people talking, so it can’t be all bad. It is true that she and Whitehill have a history. Solo aired her side in public. I’m not sure Cat ever did.
[…] blow by blow, take a moment to read what I feel is the best recap and discussion of the incident: Guess What? Hope Solo’s Not the Only One Behaving Badly on the Internet! on the Seventeen Letters […]
EPL, NFL, NBA, and NASCAR participants can get fined tens of thousands of dollars for criticizing officiating.
This should be no different.
What a great piece! Agree completely. Never was a fan of Whitehill – not sure what she is mixing with her HINT, but I don’t want any.
She was fined $2500, suspended for 1 game next season, and sentenced to 8 hours of community service. I’m assuming they are counting the spat with the Breakers as her first offense, since they only fined Tony D. $750 and then $1000 for his public criticisms.
It all seems a bit much.
I imagine she’ll appeal, or she’ll just say FU to the league and go play in Europe. I’m hoping for the former.
The league wants them to use Twitter as their grassroots marketing, but only say things that they like. Can’t have it both ways, WPS.
On the surface, it looks like this is a bad thing for WPS, but for a league that needs/wants more attention, this is one way to get it.
Hope Solo’s outspoken personality is good for the league. The more she says what’s on her mind (and the more she gets punished/fined for it), the more mainstream press will be talking about WPS. That’s not a bad thing.
If Hope hadn’t made those comments on twitter, I wouldn’t be reading a blog entry about women’s soccer and writing this comment.
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