Point the fingers. Start the blame game. Keep booing. A venerable sporting franchise has collapsed over this past weekend: The U.S. Women's World Cup Soccer Team. Before stepping out on the Chinese World Cup pitch, super sponsor Nike proclaimed the team "the greatest team that nobody knows". Well more than a few now know about them. The women were playing the World Cup for the first time without most of their veterans (i.e. Mia Hamm, etc.) All was going along well with new goalie sensation Hope Solo. Inexplicably U.S. coach Greg Ryan reached back to that past by playing the unused former great, Brianna Scurry, in place of Solo in the all important semi-final match versus Brazil. Everything went wrong as Scurry seemed sluggish and the team seemed off its mark and the almost unbeatable American strikers lost 4 to 0. Not that the Americans were playing that great in the tournament but Coach Ryan blinked at the wrong time by losing faith in a goalkeeper who was performing and peaking at just the right time. He basically divided his squad between those wanting the younger Solo to stay in the net and those who backed the coach's move. Wrong time and wrong place for such boneheaded decision making. Solo pointed out the insanity of the coach's decision and might become ostracized by the U.S. soccer federation. By Hope Solo going on record with her feelings this negative story might have turned on the appropriateness of her comments instead of staying fixated on Coach Ryan. Nike wanted publicity for the team and they now have tons of it: All of the wrong kind!
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