Those Who Can, Kick Ass; Those Who Can't Have Podcasts
Idiots on the Far-Right LOVE to tear down strong, accomplished women
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Lynn Williams is right; soccer can be a cruel game. Having played myself- though never at the level she’s attained- I remember too well how a moment’s mistake, indecision, or bad bounce can steal defeat from the jaws of victory. It happens far too often- 90 minutes of flat-out, balls-to-the-wall, maximum effort can be undone by one moment of inattention, one bad pass, or one mistake by a goalkeeper.
I loved being a goalkeeper. The thrill of making an acrobatic save and potentially saving a game was epic. The downside was that when you made a mistake, it felt like you were all alone, naked in front of the crowd, your teammates, and the opposition. There was no place to run and no place to hide.
But that was part of the attraction, the risk and reward, the knowledge that if it all came together, if the team played well, if I played up to my abilities, the results could be fantastic. And the times when things came together, even if they didn’t result in a victory, could feel pretty special.
That’s something the many detractors of the US Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) will never understand. Never have so many who risked so little abused such an accomplished group of women who didn’t deserve such hatred.
Never have so many people who think they are American patriots celebrated the United States losing.
The U.S. women's national team fell to Sweden and those self-proclaimed patriots, the people who consider themselves the greatest Americans since Abraham Lincoln and Captain Kirk. The ones who say how much they love America more than you. Certainly you, if you're Black, and certainly you, if you're woke, and you, too, over there in Whatabout Chicago. And darn sure more 'Merica loving than you people who use pronouns. Or you in the liberal media, and also you who don't live in a "small town." All those self-proclaimed great American patriots who say they love America more than you cheered when America lost.
It's been stunning to see. Some of these patriots are so blinded by their hate of first, women, and second, women who have opinions about the country and world that differs from theirs that they can't see they are rooting against their own country.
Newsweek and other media outlets chronicled some of the right-wing reaction and I have to say, I have not seen this level of hatred since Colin Kaepernick took a knee.
Mind you; these are all patriots, people who proudly proclaim that they’re better Americans than you, me, or anyone else. Not that they have any basis to credibly make this claim, but they’ll happily tell you nonetheless- perhaps not in so many words, but the message comes across loud and clear. They’re superior human beings, better patriots, and exceptional Americans, far above us mere mortals.
They’re legends in their own minds…and nowhere else.
Right-winger Joey Mannarino, who has over 265,000 followers on X, posted this: "I root for America every single time they compete in sports, except for women's soccer."
"The US Women's soccer team got absolutely curb-stomped by Sweden," the great patriot wrote. "The game was lost because Megan Rapinoe, the woke piece of trash, missed a penalty kick. So Megan now bears the responsibility for why the US lost. I am so glad to see it. Go woke, go broke. Megan Rapinoe will now enter retirement with her head hung in shame."
No, I think Rapinoe will retire with much to be proud of. Yes, she missed a penalty kick (something I’d like to see Mannarino try with the entire world watching). It happens- even to the best of them and at the worst possible moment.
And Rapinoe wasn’t the reason why the USWNT lost. It’s a team game…or was Mannarino watching a different game from the rest of us?
But here’s the best part:
Rapinoe last year was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest civilian honor. Mannarino has a podcast.
What has Joey Mannarino risked? What has he put on the line? What has he spent his life chasing, only to have it all hanging on one moment?
I think we all know the answer to those questions. Frankly, Joey Mannarino doesn’t have the balls to risk what Megan Rapinoe has spent her lengthy and distinguished career facing down.
The fact is that Mannarino hates Rapinoe because she’s a lesbian, she’s outspoken, she’s far more successful than he will ever be, and she’s not intimidated by a MAGA asshole with a big mouth.
Joey Mannarino talks a good game. Megan Rapinoe has been playing and finishing that game for years, and Mannarino, if he’s smart (which I highly doubt), wants no part of her.
You also see in a number of the comments from the right them getting it wrong about Rapinoe's kick. Many of them saying flat out incorrectly, or trying to imply, that she missed a game-winner. Or that she single-handedly blew the game. She didn't but facts aren't important to the people criticizing her. Dogma is.
Someone named Vince Langman, an ultra-MAGA with over 100,000 followers on X, who has in his bio four American flags, as well as #alllivesmatter and #BlueLivesMatter, wrote: "Not only did the anti-American woke woman's soccer team lose today. Megan Rapinoe missed a penalty kick that would have sealed the win for the USA. Talk about a win-win."
Turning Point USA chief creative officer Benny Johnson posted: "Woke U.S. Women's Soccer Humiliation. After winning back-to-back World Cups the heavily favored Team USA has been ELIMINATED by Sweden in the (Round of 16). Team USA's downfall was delivered by anti-America, anti-woman activist Megan Rapinoe's EMBARRASSING free kick here."
It wasn't a free kick. It was a penalty kick.
Hey, MAGA assholes, if you’re going to criticize something, at least know what it is you’re talking about. Otherwise, you look like the blithering idiots you are.
Langman and Johnson are just two MAGA cement heads who know nothing about soccer. All they know is that they HATE Megan Rapinoe (though they can’t clearly articulate why) and can’t pass on an opportunity to pile on.
Dudes…you’re an embarrassment to yourselves. ‘Course, y’all lack the self-awareness to understand that.
The right-wing has hated the women's team for years. After the Americans lost to Canada in the Tokyo Olympics two years ago, right-winger Brigitte Gabriel, who has over 900,000 followers wrote: "The US Women’s Soccer Team went WOKE and now they lost to Canada. That’s what happens when you put political propaganda before sport and hard work."
There’s just so much stupid at work here, and from people who couldn’t define “woke” if you handed them a dictionary and a librarian in a two-piece bikini.
Besides, what has Brigitte Gabriel ever worked for in her life? What has she sacrificed years of her life for? What has she pursued in this country and perhaps Europe or South America as she sought to hone and perfect her craft? What has she risked to reach the level she’s at?
I already know the answer to that- nothing. She’s a coward who’d much rather criticize and condemn those who spend years pursuing a passion with no guarantee of success.
So when they lose, it's because they're woke. But what about when they win?
One of the things you see in the criticism is how little the people doing it actually know about soccer. They don't know what a free kick is. They don't know that America lost mainly because they had 14 World Cup first-timers, a new coach, multiple injuries and a more competitive global landscape.
All of this outrage is fake. It's all bad faith arguments designed to satisfy right-wing people.
It’s all about piling on a team of talented and successful women who’ve spent their lives pursuing their passion to be the best soccer players they can be. Their critics? They’re little more than keyboard warriors and MAGA jerk-offs who risk nothing and have accomplished even less. They know nothing of risk and reward, nor do they understand the commitment and the passion it takes to reach the level of the women who make up the USWNT.
Yes, the USWNT lost to Sweden, but that’s the risk of athletic competition. Americans aren’t guaranteed victory because we’re superior beings. It happens occasionally that the competition is every bit as good and sometimes better. Every time the USWNT steps on the soccer pitch, there’s a chance it may lose. That’s the nature of competition.
Of course, the Right-wing nattering nabobs of negativity don’t understand that. They’ve never risked anything, so they don’t understand that competition sometimes means losing. What they do know is criticizing those who take risks and fall short. Criticism is easy; those who risk nothing can always find something to ridicule. People like Matt Walsh have almost certainly never risked anything to succeed. They’ve never laid it all on the line to achieve something. They’ve never spent their lives sacrificing and honing their craft in anticipation of a moment when the pursuit of a world championship might rest on their shoulder.
Athletes like Megan Rapinoe and the other women of the USWNT seek out moments like that; they live for that kind of pressure. They consider it a privilege, a reward for the years of practice and experience they have behind them. They’ll happily take the ball, put it on the penalty dot, stare down the opposing goalkeeper, exhale, and take their shot.
Cowards like Matt Walsh couldn’t handle the kind of pressure that comes with knowing both teams, thousands of fans in the stadium, and millions of viewers worldwide are hanging on what you do with the challenge of that moment.
Whether it’s Matt Walsh, Brigitte Gabriel, Benny Johnson, Vince Langman, Joey Mannarino, or the battalions of other Right-wing know-it-all low-life critics and instant soccer experts, these folks are examples of the Dunning-Kruger Effect. They lack the self-awareness to comprehend their ignorance and embarrass themselves completely by publicly flaunting their ignorance. They’re world-class dumbasses who don’t even realize it.
The women of the USWNT have spent their lives pursuing a lofty goal- a World Cup championship. They were successful in 2015 and 2019, and they, unfortunately, fell short this time around, but that’s the nature of athletic competition. Sometimes you come up against a team that is better than you on a particular day. It doesn’t mean you’re a loser or a failure, only that they fell short on the day they played Sweden.
They took a risk and fell short, but they have the satisfaction of knowing they gave it everything they had. Sometimes it’s not enough, so you’re left to look forward to trying again another day. And losing to Sweden is nothing to be ashamed of. While the USWNT was the #1-ranked team in the world on the day they played, Sweden was #3.
What have the armchair warriors risked? Nothing. And what have they gained? Exactly.
They were born losers. They’ll live their lives as losers. They’ll die as losers. And yet they have the audacity to think they’re better Americans and superior humans.
That’s what losers do.