Nothing Wrong With 13-0, But be Fair to the Critics

Everybody who has been following the Women’s World Cup knows about the kerfuffle surrounding the 13-0 U.S. victory over Thailand.   Some critics (notably archrivals Canada) accused the U.S. women of running up the score and celebrating excessively once they had the match well in hand.  Members of the U.S. team and Coach Jill Ellis retorted that point differential matters in the group stage, that any goal scored in this tournament is worthy of celebration, and that letting up can be an insult to the opponent.  It is also worth noting that Thailand professed not to have been offended. 

This longtime watcher of the USWNT agrees that they have nothing to apologize for.   The reasons above suffice.   I would add that the goal celebrations were characterized by team joy, with no intent to rub the opponent’s face in it.  And sportsmanship was on full display as the teams mingled after the match.  The members of the U.S. team, who have performed so well while endeavoring to get the equal treatment that is their due, don’t deserve to have this micro-controversy sullying their achievement.   Those critics who persist in denouncing how the US played that match need to let it go.

But they weren’t wrong to raise the question in the first place.  In big time sports, when one team runs another one off the field (or the court) and appears to have a good time doing it, debate about the victors’ conduct is a virtual certainty, regardless of the competitors' gender.  It happens every year in college football.   It happened in the glory years of the Olympic men’s basketball team.  If you win a World Cup match by the widest margin ever, someone is going to raise the perfectly legitimate question of whether you handled your domination gracefully.  In this case, the people who raised the question got a sober, cogent, non-indignant response from the leadership of the USWNT.   From other people, not so much.  Some of those sticking up for the USWNT have not done them any favors with their shady style of advocacy.

In the immediate aftermath of the match, on one of those sets where five or six commentators take turns providing their take on what just happened, FOX commentator Rob Stone argued (perhaps just trying to stir up some controversy, FOX-style) that the USWNT had run up the score and celebrated excessively once they pulled away.  Alexi Lalas, perhaps the most tiresome blowhard among contemporary soccer commentators, replied “This is the World Cup.  They’re here to win, not make friends.”  Leaving aside that “not here to make friends” is the classic way for jerks to rationalize their obnoxious behavior, the phrasing of this retort is the either/or fallacy in full bloom.   I’m going to go out on a limb here:  seeking victory or seeking friendship weren’t the only behavioral possibilities open to the USWNT!  There’s all kinds of ways you can behave toward an opponent without compromising your commitment to victory.  

More abuses of logic followed.  An Atlanta radio guy saw Lalas' false dilemma and raised him a false analogy.   Last night, as the Braves were beating the Mets 12-3, local sports radio host Andy Bunker tweeted, “If this was women's soccer, people would be mad at the Braves.”  12-3 is an uncommon score in baseball, but nothing like a 13-0 World Cup score.   The score would have to be an unprecedented major league baseball score - something like 36-0 - for the situations to be comparable.  

For me, the most widespread and most bothersome tendency has been how readily defenders of the late game celebrations have distorted the critics' actual complaints beyond all recognition.  "Maybe you should stop celebrating when you're up by 10" has somehow morphed into hating on celebration, period.  The most egregious example I’ve seen is local soccer commentator Rob Usry’s comment on Twitter: “America is the greatest country in the world because as a kid you can be and do anything you dream of. Except celebrate a goal in the World Cup and not get shit on by dumbasses who want everyone to get a participation medal.”  Really?  Find me one person among the celebration critics who actually subscribes to the "we're all winners" pablum.  Carli Lloyd’s critic-trolling sarcastic golf clap celebration after the team’s first goal Sunday against Chile was in a similar vein.  “Is this how you expect us to celebrate, you killjoys?” she seemed to be saying to the scolds with her demure little clap.  It was funny, but if that’s what she meant, she distorted the complaints of the critics as badly as Usry did.    Did anyone complain about the US women’s celebrations after their first, second, third, or sixth goal against Thailand?   It was only when the score got really high that anyone objected. Does the apparent unwillingness of Usry, Lloyd, and others to deal with the critics' real complaint instead of a strawman version of it mean that perhaps there really was something wrong with the late game goal celebrations?  

There must be some – perhaps many - among the USWNT’s critics who simply don’t like to see women succeed athletically or express any joy over their success. It disrupts their puny worldview.  Guys like that will look for any pretext to put down women athletes.  But you don’t have to be sexist or anti-competitive – or a dumbass - to have genuine misgivings about your favorite team wildly celebrating their 11th, 12th, or 13th goal.