Rapinoe kneels for anthem again ahead of U.S. national team game

Yahoo ^ | September 15, 2016 | Leander Schaerlaeckens

[C19fan]

Would she or wouldn’t she?

Up until the United States women’s national team walked out for kickoff against Thailand in its first post-Olympic friendly in Columbus, Ohio, it was unclear if Megan Rapinoe would continue her Colin Kaepernick-inspired protest against the “oppression” of minorities by kneeling for the national anthem.

She did.

[DAC21]

To bad the Press showed up, no one else did. Otherwise we would never have heard about it. Which is exactly why they did showed up as the Lesbian had been advertising this for a while.

[Mollypitcher1]

I absolutely agree. She cant honor the flag so she can’t represent the U.S. Throw her out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JimRed]

Oppression? She should try being a Christian or Yazidi in ISIS territory, or a woman in ANY Islamic country!

[bgill]

Never heard of her and after reading the article I’m not sure what sport this is. Thankfully, there’s a picture which shows a bit of what might possibly be a soccer field but who knows. Whatever, not wasting anymore time with her kind of scum. She can stay in Thailand. I’m sure they treat their citizens better than the US does despite what the Human Rights Report says.

[sphinx]

I agree that women's soccer should not be played in big football stadiums. Sometimes the women are forced into it for lack of an appropriately sized venue, but obviously, vast expanses of empty seats put a damper on things.

I don't know where this photo of Rapinoe kneeling was taken. She doesn't seem to be wearing a national team uniform, so I presume it's a club game. The USWNT has drawn an average attendance of 15-16,000 a game this year. It drew over 27,000 last year, but that was inflated by the "victory tour" crowds after the World Cup win. The NWSL is averaging about 6,000 a game this season. Right-sizing the stadium is important; a full house makes for a much more spirited fan environment and is more fun all around -- and in a smaller stadium, there are no bad seats ....

I am not hung up on crowd sizes per se. U.S. team sports are dominated by football, baseball, and basketball. Hockey is a very distant fourth. Soccer is fifth and may overtake hockey in the foreseeable future. Attendance is what it is. The U.S. men's professional soccer league has clearly reached financial viability and is secure going forward. The game can grow at its own rate provided that the right structure is in place.

The challenge right now is getting women's professional soccer to the same point. Women's sports are simply not competitive with men's sports in attendance and revenues anywhere in the world, in any sport. So what? That doesn't mean they shouldn't be played. They should be played, and enjoyed, for their own sake, at whatever level the player and fan base can support. Women's golf and tennis seem to be sustainable at a professional level. No women's team sport, yet, can say the same. U.S. women's soccer, however, seems to be approaching that point. This should be welcomed and encouraged.

On the men's side, U.S. soccer is behind the rest of the world, where soccer is the preeminent sport and thus the sport of choice for most of the best athletes. The U.S. men are a respectable second tier team, but are no threat to win a major tournament. On the women's side, however, U.S. soccer is the best in the world. I'm willing to guess that U.S. attendance figures for the women's game are ahead of the rest of the world as well. They are what they are.

The key thing at this point is achieving financial viability for the professional league so that the top players can continue to develop after college. The international nature of the sport makes things complicated and involve issues related to government support and/or funding from national sports federations or men's leagues. The U.S. provides better support for women's sports at the youth league, high school, and college level than do most other countries. But we expect women's professional soccer to stand on its own. That's the current challenge.

[wku man]

I think you're giving BLM and their SJW hangers-on too much credit. Hardly anyone, even conservatives and patriots, knows there's more to the National Anthem than what they hear sung by urban yodelers at the ball game. You're assuming these dim-bulb BLM types and Generation.com as a whole actually know something of substance.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho! God Bless Texas!

[PLMerite]

I notice she gets out in front of her teammates to do it.

[PLMerite]

“Can’t say what was happening to her on this board.”

Gotta pay for it somehow. And with women I think it usually comes down to that.

[ggboss]

When they showed her kneeling, I switched to another program . Learned later that she was actually put into the game by the coach. Anyway, will not watch the US women’s team again until she is gone

[dp0622]

And it’s not pretty.

Maybe this soccer player, is that what she is, can move in and find out. For a month.