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Yesterday, England won the 2022 women's European cup.
What made it sweeter was it was against Germany. In England's footballing history (Soccer for those in the USA), Germany always end England's dream of winning anything. Often in a penalty shoot-out. The men's team lost to Italy in the final on penalties last year.
It was great to see the crowd of families. Lots of men, women and children. It set a new record of 87,192 for the highest attended match at either a men's or women's European Championship on Sunday. It was brilliant to see so many women in the crowd's celebrating with almost as many men. The men's game often has mainly men in attendance.
This was England, not Britain. In the Olympic games, we compete as a whole nation. In football and other sporting events, we compete as individual countries. England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Often it annoys me when I see people waving Union flags ( It is not a union jack, the is called "jack" on ships). The England flag is the cross of St George. The cross of St George had been hijacked by right-wing for years and some people were afraid to show it.
Hopefully, this will do, what in England, what winning the women's world cup did for soccer in the USA. I remember when I was 10 asking my friend, a girl to play footbll with us. She told me girls don't play football. I never understood that even back in the 70's.
Inflation is very high over here at the moment. Energy bills may go up to £500 per month on average. We need something to cheer us up
Comments
Smashing, ladies!
Absolutely smashing! Congratulations!
Energy bills need help from that Orange Oil from across the pond! But not likely for a while. :(
Sara
Between the wrinkles, the orthopedic shoes, and nine decades of gravity, it is really hard to be alluring. My icon, you ask? It is the last picture I allowed to escape the camera ... back before most BC authors were born.
No box
Once again there is no checkbox for massive indifference.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
You’d
Think there would be, I’d certainly add to your vote!
Madeline Anafrid Bell
Contradiction?
Can you really be indifferent if you feel a strong need to express your indifference?
MaryQ
Annoyed
When I come to BC, it's not to read the sports news. Don't care what game or country. I don't follow the sports where I live. I do wish that when OU (University of Oklahoma) plays Texas a freak tornado wipes out the stadium, but that's weather, not sports.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
I see a lot of things discussed here I have no interest in
And sports is definitely one of them. I'm not even interested enough to scan this blog and find out the World Cup of what? But that's why God gave us mouses to click away to something else with. I would love to just be annoyed occasionally instead of increasingly terrified for the future of America, the human race & all life on Earth. We are all seriously fucked, individually and collectively headed for total and infinite nothingness so who cares about some blog, or what other people do to distract themselves from the futility of our pointless existence?
Don't mind me, I've had a few. Sauza hacienda + limeade, so yummy!
Time to dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BodXwAYeTfM
~hugs, Veronica
And remember...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
To be honest
I probably find less than half the stuff on this site interesting. I'm convinced that if I went looking for it I'd find things that annoy me as well.
I'm also well aware that what I don't find interesting other people might find fascinating, funny, thoughtprovoking or just worth a few minutes of idling. That kind of gives me a good feeling.
Well don't read it then
Well don't read it then
Leeanna
Well don't read it then
This reminds me of a troll that keeps complaining to Maryanne that she shouldn't post stories of Fictionmania.tv every couple of days .
Everyone tells him. Just don't click on them!
It's like me complaining to coca cola about the billboard I pass on my way to work because I drink Pepsi.
I'M NOT INTERESTED IN COCA COLA WHY DO I HAVE TO KEEP LOOKING AT IT.
But I wouldn't do that, that would be stupid. Wouldn't it?
Leeanna
I'm still on Germany v. Austria
I've got the games recorded and I'm only on Germany v. Austria at the moment, but I'm loving these games. It being a Euro competition, the American team's not playing, so each game I have to decide who I'm cheering.
England v. Spain was quite a game, wasn't it? A very dramatic moment when Misa Rodriguez got a yellow card while sitting on the bench! I loved the way the ref walked all the way over to where the subs were sitting, points, You -- down here! and whips out the yellow card.
England has a great team this year -- all of them memorable players -- and well done.
- io
Spoiler alert!
This entire thread is a spoiler.
Hardly.
It's impossible to avoid. It dominates the news and the front pages are filled with it. I was happy England won but I'm beginning to wish they hadn't because it's reinforcing the idea that 'sport' and 'football' are synonymous. My daily paper (yes paper - we have one delivered every day) sports pages are already at least 50% football (mostly men's until now). The sports in which I competed for years never get a mention until we win a few sailing golds at the Olympics, or Tom Pidcock wins Olympic gold for cross country mountain bikes. Then it all goes dark.
R
I think the reason that
I think the reason that football is so popular is that it is cheap to play. As a child all you need is a cheap football and that's it. So the sport is relatable to a huge portion of the population.
Mountain bikes aren't too bad at an entry-level I suspect. I dare say if you have one and are serious about it, it could cost a small fortune. Sailing, I have no idea how much that would cost.
Tennis is seen as a bit of an elitest sport. The equipment isn't too expensive, but joining a club etc is beyond many working class families.
My sport is field archery. Shooting life size animal targets in woods simulating hunting. Basic equipment is around £200-£300 . Then around £100 for club and insurance.
I shoot about 50 times a year. Only cost is replacing lost or broken arrows.
Bow hunting anything live is banned in the UK. I have seen horrible stuff on YouTube with people shooting animals with arrows as thin as knitting needles. The animals run off to die long lingering deaths.
I just "hunt" rubber targets.
Leeanna
Youth Sports
One of the tragic trends in youth sports is the cost. Parents are very willing to pay whatever it costs to make their child a "star." And, there is no end to the number of people willing to profit from this.
Soccer should be cheap but:
Soccer teams MUST travel and play in tournaments. $$$$
Soccer doesn't really demand an expensive uniform, but the average kit is very spendy and you need new uniforms every year. $$$$$
Camps to provide an edge for your son or daughter -- so they won't be cut. $$$$$
You can't have parents coaching when you can hire a professional. $$$$$
If that coach happens to have a European accent the cost goes up. $$$$$
My guess is the average soccer season cost me $1,500 to $2,000 per child. That doesn't include the cost to me for coaching. I once calculated that coaching cost me $4,000 to $5,000 per season -- not including anything for my time.
A basic rule of thumb is that a parent's expectations for their child's success is in direct proportion to their investment. Much of the horrid downside to youth sports is attributable to money spent.
Most parents are chasing the holy grail of college scholarships. I once had a parent on a team I coached who lived in a $6 million home, who was obsessed with her child earning a college scholarship in hockey. He was great kid with limited athleticism. She poured $thousands a year into this pursuit. He eventually got a college scholarship that paid about $2,500 a year.
I lived in a very affluent neighborhood where the parents openly talked about leveraging their money to buy sports success.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
That's one of the reasons why I'm no longer interested in sports
Money, early elitism and excessive prestige
.
Elite sports are too riddled by money and national prestige to be interesting to me. May the best medical team win!
In youth sports all too often the elitist view take precedence at a very early age. Apparently there is no room for those who don't aim to be stars (and/or wrecks).
My nephew was passionate about a team sport. He played actively and almost never missed a training session. He was not very good and at the age of 11 he was cut. His sisters didn't participate in organised sports. Guess who, as adults, exercise regularly and who doesn't.
Parents? Don't you just love them?
When I lived for a while in N.H. the topic of sports scholarships was always front and centre of the conversation. Our neighbours could not grasp that I played Rugby just for the fun of it. We simply didn't have and probably still don't that sort of emphasis on sports at college level here in the UK (Oxford vs Cambridge rowing is an exception). The fact that I captained the College 1st 15 for two years just confused them. They could not understand that I didn't want to go on with Rugby as a career. It was 100% amateur back then but there again, I wasn't that good when compared to top flight 1st 15 players. After University, I joined a 3rd tier club and played with the 'turn up on a Saturday afternoon, have a run around for 60-80 minutes and then down a few pints afterwards team'. We had fun and it didn't cost the earth. That totally escaped my US neighbour's logic.
Most were dedicated towards getting their children into the best possible college and if they got a scholarship so much the better. If the scholarship was for sports then even better. Having fun was just not on their radar. Sad really.
I read a few years ago now that the Sports Department of the University of Florida had a budget of over $100M. That is IMHO obscene but $$$$ rules everything.
As my then-wife and I did not have any children we soon tuned out of their cravings and came back to the UK.
Samantha
I know the is a lot more
I know the is a lot more money to be made in the USA on children's sport. Several of my neighbor's children play for local boys' and girls' teams.
The only outlay is the kit and getting them to the game.
What happens in the USA always comes here after a few years. I don't think this will be an exception.
Leeanna
European Soccer Has It Right
Youth soccer players in US will play three to four games for every practice session. The reverse of that is closer to the truth in Europe -- playing a game for every three to four practices. We have our children play a huge number of games for our entertainment.
In a game, there is one ball and twenty-two players. During practice players often each have their own ball. Where do you think most development happens? There is a direct correlation between the frequency of games and -- severity and frequency of injury.
Soccer is not unique in the outlandish number of games played. Basketball is another prime offender.
People watch the hellish schedules for the pros and emulate them. Maybe they should notice the number of pros on the DL.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
It's not like that in the UK
It's not like that in the UK Jill.....Yet
I know you see it on TV shows the pushy mother or father. Didn't realise how true it is.
Leeanna
Tom Pidcock
You missed him blasting away from the GC leaders and unexpectedly winning at Alp d'Huez during the Tour de France!
One to watch for the future.
It was good to watch. I know
It was good to watch. I know some obviously have no interest, but over 17 million watched it.
That's over 1 in 4 people in the UK.
Leeanna
Soccer Participation
The U.S. women's team was/is phenomenal. They are the best U.S. sports team in my lifetime -- with the possible exception of the Kareem/Walton led UCLA basketball teams.
Girls came to soccer in droves to emulate them. That growth ebbed, possibly when parents realized that players can and do get hurt playing soccer. Two of my children had surgery due to repetitive action injuries. My daughter's college roommate had lost most of her short-term memory due to headers.
As a coach, I quit having header practice right around 2000.
Participation is on the rise again.
Megan Rapinoe was just awarded the Medal of Freedom -- the highest civilian award. The list of heroes is long and lustrous: Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Julie Foudy, Carli Lloyd, Brandi Chastain, etc.
Congratulations to England. It's The Beautiful Game.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Thank Jill. Yes the USA are
Thank Jill. Yes the USA are the team to beat.
The popularity means you have a huge pool of talent to draw on. Well that and having a population of 33 million.
In the UK it was still seen as mainly a men's sport. This should change things.
Leeanna
Football injuries
(I refuse to call it Soccer... Sorry)
I received more injuries playing Footie than I ever did playing Rugby (I was a no 8 forward). Go figure.
I have to admit that most of the time Footie is a great game but more often than not let down by the numpties that support their teams.
Their tribalism can and sadly does get violent.
Samantha
There didn't seem to any
There didn't seem to any reported trouble. Lots of women and children tend to be avoided by the brainless thugs that like to fight.
"Wot women playing football?. Should be at home making my dinner."
Rugby has good reputation for non violent crowds.
Leeanna
Rugby has good reputation for non violent crowds.
Indeed. Plus fans from opposite sides are not segregated AND you can get a drink (aka Beer) during the match.
Samantha
Rugby and football (soccer)
I can't remember who said it:
Rubgy is a hooligan's game played by gentlemen.
Football is a gentlemen's game played by hooligans.
As the players on the pitch do, so the watchers in the stands copy them.
from
what i've seen it was the players who were out of control, stripping on the pitch, invading a press conference etc, etc but 'because they are women' thats alright, if it had been the mens team in a similar position there would have been calls for imprisonment at the very least. Yes they won the contest, they played pretty well but they are not great heroes to hold up to our children. Heroes don't play the 'professional' foul that i saw at least twice by England players, they also know how to behave, oo it was exciting (if you like kickball) but was it really neccesary for 20 grown women (supposedly) to run around screaming like 5 year olds with the same level of control for half an hour, and worse, the BBC making light of it. Shining examples of womanhood - well i'm glad my daughter is old enough not to be influenced by their loutish behaviour.
Lots of TV's were tuned to it, more were not.
I was never that enthused by participation in 'team sports' but give me rugby or cricket over football any day.
Madeline Anafrid Bell
I'm surprised by the negativity here
One of the things that attracts me to womens soccer is that it's competition without testosterone.
Another is that teamwork can be a beautiful thing. I can understand negative feelings about that word "team" -- but there is a vast difference between a group of players, no matter how good, and a actual team, where the players know and understand each other. They can carry out moves that are impossible otherwise.
Since soccer is not as popular here in the States as it is elsewhere, there are a lot of high-school teams that have a hard time coming up with eleven players. The kids who play are there because they want to play, even when they are beaten to a humiliating degree by private schools with an endless supply of subs.
My daughter was bullied and timid until she discovered soccer in high school. Her team almost never won, but they played with a lot of heart. Because of the lack of players, she'd often finish play an entire girls game, then an entire boys game, and wish there was a third game to play.
There is something amazing and beautiful in seeing the teams from the various European countries, each with their own character, and each with a chance.
England did a great job, in my opinion, in hosting the games this year -- except for one thing: the stadiums were sometimes too small for the number of spectators who wanted to come.
- io
Knute Rockne
"I play not my eleven best, but my best eleven." - Knute Rockne, hallowed football coach.
Many people think coaching involves deciding who are your best players and playing them. Not always.
"I think that you might be so sure that you're one in a million, that sometimes you forget that out there you're just one in 11." - Ted Lasso, fictitious football coach.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I think in the Premier
I think in the Premier League and world cup etc it was 3 subs per team. From next year I believe the premier league is going to allow 5.
Women's football in the UK had struggled to find venues to host games in the past.Hopefully, that will now change.
Leeanna
The Forgotten Games?
The Commonwealth Games are currently under way in Birmingham (that's the English Birmingham).
What?
Not a mention! Could that be because England are not winning everything?
They may well do in the end, and then we'll never hear the last of it.
I don't begrudge the competitors their moments of triumph and glory but I'm sure I'll be sick of the jingoistic media coverage before it's over.
We are catching up. Why are
We are catching up. Why are you Aussie's so bloody good at sport?
Well except football.
Really though for a nation of 27 million you punch well above your weight.
Leeanna
It's Our National Religion
Well, everything except Rugby Union (Bloody Kiwis) and football with a round ball.
Our kids are born with swim fins!
Reminds me of another country
Lithuanians are said to have two religions. They are also Catholics.
(Basketball goes without saying.)
The team that won the men's basketball olympic gold in 1988 was majority Lithuanian.