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.
Seventeen Letters 