OT: USA Women's Soccer & Hope Solo

[RockyMTblue2]

Do you two know there derivation of the expression: "Don't go off half cocked?"

 

[snowkot]

Do you two know there derivation of the expression: "Don't go off half cocked?"

Knee jerk responses - and that's fine.

But, unfortunately, the issue is way more complicated than that. The Patriots cut Aaron Hernandez immediately. Alex Rodriguez lost a year of his career, yet never was found guilty, never failed a drug test, never admitted to doing anything wrong. There are many, many examples of athletes being suspended by their teams, the overwhelming majority of which were not representing their country to the world.

To be clear, I am not advocating for her immediate suspension here. I do not have access to the individuals and can only offer opinions on the information made available.

We do know she has prior history resulting in suspension. We also know, as per the linked article, from the police reports, she told an arresting officer "“You’re such a b---. You're scared of me because you know that if the handcuffs were off, I'd kick your a--." There's more from that police report in the article. We now have public allegations from her sister.

As such, it's more than reasonable to offer that the USOC should have already done their diligence, investigated this fairly and completely, and made their own determination. If they then decided a suspension was not warranted, so be it.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Knee jerk responses - and that's fine.

But, unfortunately, the issue is way more complicated than that. The Patriots cut Aaron Hernandez immediately. Alex Rodriguez lost a year of his career, yet never was found guilty, never failed a drug test, never admitted to doing anything wrong. There are many, many examples of athletes being suspended by their teams, the overwhelming majority of which were not representing their country to the world.

To be clear, I am not advocating for her immediate suspension here. I do not have access to the individuals and can only offer opinions on the information made available.

We do know she has prior history resulting in suspension. We also know, as per the linked article, from the police reports, she told an arresting officer "“You’re such a b---. You're scared of me because you know that if the handcuffs were off, I'd kick your a--." There's more from that police report in the article. We now have public allegations from her sister.

As such, it's more than reasonable to offer that the USOC should have already done their diligence, investigated this fairly and completely, and made their own determination. If they then decided a suspension was not warranted, so be it.

Guess I should have been clearer - I was talking to 2 posters who argued until they agreed they had nothing to argue about! Not the merits of this/your discussion. Sorry.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

My 2 cents, for what they are worth -

- While I accept leagues investigating things, I'm not sure I want to rely on their investigations, positive or negative as their results may be in any individual case. This based on a variety of cases over the last couple of years.

- I think it would all be easier if there was a specified code of conduct out there that clearly specified when a "role model" crossed the line

- I don't think that even committing a crime - simply committing a crime - should necessarily automatically result in uber employer determined punishment in the non-athletic world. It depends on what the crime was, what the legal ramifications were and what the consequences are (and what the whole business says about the individual). And forget the whole question of when has a person paid enough for whatever they did. These are weighty issues. Athletes are judged differently - and more harshly - in my opinion because they are role models. So I do agree to a higher standard, but I really, really think that standard needs to be pre-determined, not decided after the fact.

 

[CocoHusky]

Coco - and one that hits home 'Coach accused of sexual harassment and sexual discrimination and is retained by national olympic team'.
In your sited examples there is a direct correlation between the behavior - dishonesty in the workplace - and the actions taken. Being drunk, mean, demeaning and dangerous (?) while representing your team/country is one issue and would have been dealt with quite differently I am sure from how the actual situation has been dealt with that took place in private life away from the team.
The reporting on the incident also includes the fact that a broom handle was broken over Hope's head resulting in a possible concussion. Concussions can lead to a wide range of behavioral modifications in the short term and could possibly explain some of Hope's behavior in the immediate aftermath of the altercation. I am not saying it did, but unfortunately as we have been made aware over the last year, not all cops are great people who are adept at defusing tense situations.

UC there are only two reason why this is coming up again. 1) Hope is back on the National team 2) The legal proceedings from the incident are unresolved. Although the incident happened in the privacy of a home and away from the team it must be addressed. Glory and Britney's dust up was away from the team also & in the off season-doesn't matter if it happened in China either. Not all cops are adept a diffusing tense situations I agree but I don't see 4 officers in separate statements conspiring against Hope. The outside the lines report addressed the issue of the concussion causing Hope to act that way. The Dr. an expert on concussions concluded that a person with a concussion does not act the way Hope acted. If a 6'9" in 260 lbs. man/child broke a broom stick over Hope's head then she is lucky to be alive.

 

[j66kicker]

My 2 cents, for what they are worth -

- While I accept leagues investigating things, I'm not sure I want to rely on their investigations, positive or negative as their results may be in any individual case. This based on a variety of cases over the last couple of years.

- I think it would all be easier if there was a specified code of conduct out there that clearly specified when a "role model" crossed the line.

Does this exempt Charles Barkley?

 

[j66kicker]

Should Geno have been suspended while the claim that he had taken retaliatory action against the USAB security guard was being investigated? No, he should not have been, and neither should Hope Solo.

Like Hope's case, Geno's case (civil, unlike Hope's criminal case) was thrown out based on technical issues (venue), not based on evidence.

 

[Nuyoika]

UC there are only two reason why this is coming up again. 1) Hope is back on the National team 2) The legal proceedings from the incident are unresolved. Although the incident happened in the privacy of a home and away from the team it must be addressed. Glory and Britney's dust up was away from the team also & in the off season-doesn't matter if it happened in China either. Not all cops are adept a diffusing tense situations I agree but I don't see 4 officers in separate statements conspiring against Hope. The outside the lines report addressed the issue of the concussion causing Hope to act that way. The Dr. an expert on concussions concluded that a person with a concussion does not act the way Hope acted. If a 6'9" in 260 lbs. man/child broke a broom stick over Hope's head then she is lucky to be alive.

Then they burned the evidence... like what in the world? If you thought you did the right thing and that Solo was the aggressor... why burn the evidence of what happened? It's like a lifetime movie. Maybe if people stopped putting athletes on pedestals and remember all the crap you deal with they have to deal with too.

 

[snowkot]

MSN weighs in...

Team captain / Solo's roommate: "I'm worrying about the World Cup, that's all I care about. Hope is my roommate and we don't even talk about it. It's all old news, we just laugh about it."

<U.S. Soccer president Sunil> Gulati did admit the federation never bothered to talk to Solo's half-sister or her nephew, relying on Solo's version of the story instead. "Based on the public reports of the incident and the partial police report, we understood that the complaining witnesses would likely contradict Ms. Solo's version of events with equal vehemence..." In other words, U.S. Soccer didn't investigate because it didn't want to know. It didn't investigate because it didn't want to take the chance of having to discipline the world's best goalkeeper just as the U.S. was beginning qualifying for the World Cup.

 

[UcMiami]

Coco - I wish I had your full confidence that police officers would not support one another in tricky situations - not saying any of them did anything wrong or acted in any inappropriate way, just had one of them done so, I would expect the others to back him/her up. That is one reason for the push for body cameras.

The breaking of the broom handle I believe is supported by both sides in the disagreement - one of the few things that is.

It is also important to note that this is not 'domestic abuse/violence' in the classic sense as while it occurred in the home it did not involve partners - it was a family brawl. That is not to condone violence, but to point out that it does not involve the insidious power dynamic associated with domestic abuse/violence. What would be the penalty for a player involved in a bar brawl with no weapons involved and no serious injuries incurred by the combatants during the off season? A fine, maybe a few weeks suspension from team activities?

I also think that there is a big difference in perception re 'pampered athletes' and the life of a professional women's soccer player - Hope's total career earnings including endorsement money probably amount to less than one years salary for most men's premier league soccer players, men's pro basketball or football players, etc. It probably pales in comparison to even star women's basketball players earnings. She may be slightly famous right now because of the world cup, but a year ago her name recognition in the US would be amazingly low.