Earlier this morning, a producer at ESPN named Jason Romano said this via Twitter: "Hope Solo and Alex Morgan just left the office. They were absolute rock stars while they were here. Reaction was unlike any we've seen." Reading his tweet got me thinking. Ever since they beat Brazil two Mondays ago, I've heard a lot of talk about the US women's national soccer team. And rightly so. They were (and probably still are) the most talented women's soccer team in the world. Names like Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, and Alex Morgan have become almost-household names, it seems. Of course, I heard a lot of the talk about the team because I listen to sports talk radio everyday. But as with the Olympics, anything about Team USA, no matter what sport, will be part of your local nightly news. These girls were all over the place. Radio, TV, the internet...everywhere.
I heard an interview with Abby Wambach where she mentioned that Jerry Seinfeld and LeBron James were following the team and sharing their support on Twitter. I'm sure there were lots of other celebrities who tweeted about them as well. President Barack Obama took to Twitter himself (which he doesn't normally do) to show his support. You may have heard that the World Cup final match between the US and Japan set a Twitter record and got some pretty good ratings too.
Having said all of that, I have this confession to make. I didn't really care that much about any of it. And all in all, I didn't really get all the hype surrounding the whole event. The only reason I cared at all about the American women's soccer team, was the fact that they were American and they were competing in an international competition. And that's it. Sorry to say, but there's no other reason.
In the days since the final game loss to the Japanese, the reaction of the media and the general public has been interesting to say the least. Some people are like myself -- like it, don't love it -- and then there are some people out there that think the USA victory over Brazil was literally one of the greatest sporting events of all time. Okay, I'm kidding a little bit. But seriously, some people are getting a little over their skis about the USA's 2nd place finish.
The Big Lead's Ty Duffy writes about one of the culprits in his most recent article. Her name is Dr. Jennifer Doyle and she writes for Fox Soccer. Here's Duffy's quote:
Dr. Jennifer Doyle writes for Fox Soccer that “getting the coverage once every four years is not even close to enough.” She writes:
Given all the stories out there in the women’s game, it’s high time we all raised our expectations and welcomed women’s soccer into the sports world, with its own glories and its own dramas. And as is the case with any other sport, we expect to see it covered — not only when the national team is in the World Cup final, but also when the national team players go home, change into their club kits and put their shoulders to the tough work of building a league.
Close to enough for whom? Women’s soccer receives the level of coverage of “any other sport,” with a negligible audience. Attendance numbers in the low four figures and even those official numbers might be inflated. The league dumped a team during the season last year and has just two teams surviving with their initial city and brand intact from 2009. Anyone, off the top of their head, wish to guess where magicJack, Sky Blue FC and the Western New York Flash play?
I had no clue they even had women's professional soccer in America, did you? I mean they have a team called magicJack and that's it. Not even a city attached to the name. Listen, it's nothing personal, but Dr. Jennifer Doyle is wrong, and we don't need women's soccer to be covered more than it already is. There is just not a demand for it in America, and that's the facts. It's unfortunate, but true. If there is no natural demand, it doesn't make sense to force it onto the American sports fan.Doyle continues in her article: "Sports media needs to learn the lesson that the US Women's National Team has been teaching it since 1999. It needs to start treating the US women’s team like it treats other names in sports — with consistent attention to both its successes and its struggles. Front-page celebrations of a come-from-behind victory are wonderful. But for longtime fans of the sport, getting that coverage once every four years is not even close to enough."
If you ask me, Dr. Doyle should be grateful that women's soccer is covered as much as it is currently. Stop complaining and trying to make people who may not care as much about the sport feel bad for not caring like they should. You simply cannot make people like something they don't like. That's a simple fact of life. From certain kinds of food to certain types of music to - gasp!- the sports people like to follow and watch. You can't force people to be interested in women's soccer or watch more women's soccer on TV, etc.
Look, I'm a huge rugby fan. Have been since I lived in Australia about ten years ago and learned to love the game while I was there. I live in America, where (like soccer) rugby isn't exactly what you would call popular. In fact, I would venture to say that soccer is 100x more popular than rugby in America. Rugby is virtually nowhere to be found on American television. If I wanted to watch an important rugby game of my choice, I would probably have to go down to Kells Irish Pub downtown and ask them to play it on one of their TVs. And even then, they might not carry the channel that the rugby game is on.
That's just how it is, and I can accept that. I can't force other people around me to like rugby or want to watch rugby. It's a complete waste of time. If I were to write articles about how much people should love rugby and want to watch it on TV, it would be a complete waste of space and time.
So it is with women's professional soccer. There just aren't even people demanding to see it as some people (smarter people than us, like Dr. Doyle) would like there to be. And there's nothing anyone can really do to change that.
