When it comes to sports, Americans are just as passionate, if not more so, than any other people on earth. We are passionate about our teams and our rivalries. We love and defend them even when they are not playing so well, (see loyal St. Louis Cardinal fans like myself and their current state of play). But where we all draw the line, is when our team decides to wade into the political arena, and think they are going to make a statement that represents the rest of us as well. The U.S. Women’s Soccer team has a history of individual team members doing this and getting blowback for it. But apparently, some lessons are hard to learn, and the team is at it again.
The Women’s World Cup Soccer tournament got underway on Saturday in Aukland, New Zealand. The team won handily over Vietnam by a score of 3-0. But it was what didn’t take place before the game that is really beginning to irk fans about this team, and some even are actively rooting against them. The Vietnamese team all put hand over heart and sang their national anthem, “Tien Quan Ca,” or “Song of a Marching Army.” The reaction by the American women at the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner,” however, was markedly different. There was complete silence by all but a few members of the team. It is that silence that has many fans plenty ticked off and they voiced their anger on social media.
One tweet asked, “Can someone teach [the United States Women’s Soccer team] the words to the ‘Star Spangled Banner’? Their silence was deafening.” Former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik called it out for exactly what it was, “an international embarrassment [sic].” He added, “No one should be allowed to wear the American flag, and represent the U.S. if they don’t believe in it. Most of them don’t even know the words.” While many of the social justice “statements” like kneeling during the playing of the anthem, begun by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick in 2016, have had their 15 minutes of fame and are not as prominent as they once were, the U.S. Women’s soccer team has apparently decided to carry on the dubious tradition.
One of the first to do it on the U.S. women’s team was Megan Rapinoe, who stated in 2019 in an interview that she would never sing the national anthem again. That interview began to resurface and make the rounds on social media after Saturday’s game. She claimed that the meaning of the anthem had “changed dramatically” for her and that it had become a “somber moment” for “peaceful protest.” When asked if there was anything that might change her perspective on the meaning of the anthem for her, she stated,
It would take a lot. It would take criminal justice reform. It would take the huge inequality gap that we have to be much better. It would take a lot of progress in LGBTQ rights. We just have such a disparity in this country in so many different ways, inequality in so many different ways. I’ll probably never put my hand over my heart, I’ll probably never sing the national anthem again.
But a quick perusal of social media showed that most soccer fans really didn’t give a flip about Rapinoe’s political views; they just wanted the team to represent the United States in a dignified and respectful way. And the general consensus is they did not. Many responses called out the players’ behavior on a world stage as “disgraceful,” and many expressed hope that the team would lose every game they played. Another response called for the team to get a “Bud Light” moment, referring to the disastrous drop in sales and revenue suffered by Bud Light after trans activist Dylan Mulvaney appeared on a Bud Light can, and customers promptly distanced themselves from the brand. The same respondent also suggested that sponsors should pull out of any associations with the team.
Megan Rapinoe recently announced her retirement after this year’s Women’s World Cup. Will the anti-American culture that seems to surround this team vanish with Rapinoe? Maybe, a few more public displays of affection for a country that has given these women an amazing opportunity and the acknowledgment of that just might get American soccer fans back on their side and rooting for them. But more importantly, this team are role models for millions of young girls and women who play soccer. It would be nice if they could remember that.