Defender Elizabeth Lambert of the New Mexico Lobos has been all over the news because of her seriously rough play in a recent game against BYU. Here's the ESPN footage:
Plenty of publications have been framing this, predictably, as some sort of girls gone wild phenomenon, as if women can't be violent without also being eroticized. Others, of course, are just calling Lambert a bitch.
As a former athlete myself, and one who wasn't afraid to throw a body on someone for a rebound, I'm horrified on two levels. First, Lambert is totally out of line. I didn't play soccer, but even I can see that this kind of play is straight up wrong and shouldn't be tolerated by refs, coaches, or teammates. It's one thing to get tough on the field. It's another to punch someone in the back or drag them to the ground by their hair. That's not sport, it's violence.
But second, of course, I'm pissed that the media coverage is trying to take what amounts to an athlete crossing the line and turn it into some big gendered controversy. A girl who is violent?! Holy mackerel, load up the YouTube and set it to a sexy soundtrack! Who knew that those women folk could express anger? This one must be a bitch. So. Annoying.
Approximate transcript after the jump.
Main Commentator: Women's soccer. BYU. New Mexio. This has some MMA qualities to it [explains action]. Questionable plays throughout this game. [explains more action] There's physical. There's rough. And then on occasion there might be downright unsporty. Where's the line on this kind of rough play?
Guest Commentator: Sure, there is jostling off the ball. That's part of the game of soccer and in the women's game there's even some hair pulling, yes. But oh my goodness, if you're going to pull someone's ponytail and nearly snap their head off with it, that is going over the line.
Main Commentator: That's from a Gold medalist, so I trust her in that.
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I agree on both accounts. Here are some great lines from one of the ESPN commentators: "What is rare is when women athletes are involved in any of this type of behavior"..."its practically unbelievable"
I agree, violence from women in some sport is rarer. Women's hockey makes body checking a penalty, that's why.
I also want to point out something that I haven't heard many people talk about. It isn't directly related to the issue at hand- but it is important nonetheless. Look closely at the video right before Lambert pulls the other girl's hair. It appears that the "victim" is grabbing Lambert's crotch. Am I wrong about that? It looks pretty clear to me. If someone sexually assaulted me like that I sure as hell would pull some hair. Why isn't anybody talking about that?
Looks pretty clear to me that she grabbed her shorts. This sort of play--grabbing clothes, jostling--is par for the course in soccer, which is why that back punch probably wasn't called. If you watch that closely, Lambert was ribbed prior to the punch.
If you want to play a non contact sport, play golf. Except for the pony tail pulling I didn't see anything in this clip that wasn't typical rough play. And it went both ways. BYU gave as good as it got, including tripping, kicking & elbowing.
To put this in proper perspective, a Florida football player was suspended for just 1/2 a game for GOUGING THE EYES of an opposing player during a scrum. That clip rated about 30secs of coverage the entire week. Across all the networks. This is nothing but a gendered, double standard. Geez, you mean 'girls' can play like 'men'? Who woulda thunk it??? The commentary has been pure garbage. Now maybe they'll let us into military combat units...
Are you kidding? The eye gouge was a story for days on ESPN, with multiple figures calling for the NCAA to act with a stronger suspension than Urban Meyer wanted to call.
The story only died down when the player doubled his own punishment which, while still a slap on the wrist, made him more respectable than anyone in the story but the unfortunate receiver of the eye gouge.
I watch ESPN for pretty long stretches & caught very little on it...Also, saw next to nothing about it on the other networks, or the press...
Let me correct myself- people are talking about it online. But why haven't I seen it on any of the mainstream news shows? Did I just miss it? And how come the BYU player isn't getting some punishment for that behavior? If a man grabbed another man's crotch in a soccer game, people would take it pretty damn seriously.
THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT THIS. The media coverage has been bothering me so much. when male athletes do it, no one makes a fuss about it... but when a female athlete does it... !!!
yeah well, I'm preaching to the choir here, so everyone knows how that goes.
well, technically, people do talk about it when male athletes get confrontational or "violent," but it's seen as masculine, as necessary...
As someone who has watched a fair bit of male sports, I can't say I agree with this. I've seen others say this on other related threads - but many many times we've had male athletes get into serious trouble and get serious media attention for infractions on the field.
I can think of tons of hits to the head, from behind, etc. from hockey that got lots of coverage, were talked about lots, etc.
The only difference is they didn't sensationalize it in the same way - in that it wasn't as rare for these incidents to occur so they didn't make it sound like OMG a man went crazy and did this. Instead they focused on the act.
But men definitely get into trouble when they cross the line too. I think we need to acknowledge this in our discussions and just focus on how the coverage is different, without implying men wouldn't get any coverage at all because they would.
I agree with what you're saying because what I've seen of men's sports would confirm that. My problem with this story is that this seems to be the only thing that will get female athletes coverage. It's even made news here in the UK on Sky Sports news which seems so ridiculous to me since I'm sure there have been worse cases of incidents like this in English football. I'd be curious to know how much time ESPN has devoted to covering women's soccer before this incident. I think I'd rather them not report on any of the sport at all rather than send the insulting message that they're only interested in women's soccer when they players are fighting.
But there's a sharp imbalance here - she got kicked off the team for something that would get a man ejected and a one game suspension.
And, quite frankly, football (to call the sport by it's proper name - cause that's what everybody outside of North America calls it, not "soccer") is a contact sport - she was just doing what male footballers do all the time.
That's insane. I played mens' soccer for a good portion of my life (not at the NCAA level) and if i did one of maybe half the infractions shown, that would've earned me an instant card, if i wasn't thrown out of the game immediately. From what i could tell, Lambert was carded once--only a yellow--for a really questionable infraction.
What i noticed here was the passivity of Lambert's 'victims.' If any of this happened to men on the field, speaking from my general experience, there would have been a confrontation. At the very least the refs would've been notified. I didn't see anything like that in the cuts provided.
The philosophy here, of course, is to play the game, and "don't get mad, get even." BYU probably stayed quiet because they were ahead, and a confrontation would've resulted in cards for both sides. But it makes me wonder about the message within that discipline, of letting offenses slide. If sports are really such a great analogue for life, as most sports profess to be, what message are we sending women when we discourage them from standing up to an offender? When, in the face of violence, to ignore it and "play the game?"
I'm not endorsing violence in sports here, mind you. It's just that for men, curbing violence is seen as a necessity. For women, maybe it's more complex than that.
I think that's a great point, I follow (male) sports pretty closely and any type of violence on the field gets responded to with a very strong response, usually violent. Even perceived slights, like batters getting hit by a pitch, is usually responded to by having the victim's team hit one of the opposing players with a pitch.
While that isn't necessarily the smartest thing to do, there is something to be said for standing up for yourself. When I watched what happened with the girls, I was very confused as to why the victim seemed to just act like a rag doll, and didn't offer any resistance.
Take a look @ that video again. They may not have involved the refs, but it looks to me that BYU gave as good as it got. Lots of kicking, tripping, elbowing & shoving on both sides of the ball. I'm tired of this double standard that implies women should be wallflowers while men are the tough ones. I think the pony tail pulling is outta hand, but its no different than throwing a punch & should be dealt with the same, no more, no less.
Actually, it is a smart thing to do - because if you let the other team get away with hitting one of your teammates, they'll do it again the next time they play you, and every other team in the league will also abuse your team, because they know you wont' fight back.
Basically, if they hit one of your teammates, you have to hit one of theirs, or everybody will think your team are soft and weak, and they will punk you!
And there should be no gender double standard here - women athletes should have the same license to play rough that their male counterparts have always had!
I've played women's soccer at the NCAA level and have been in the middle of some nasty, dirty play. The only time that I've ever seen a straight-up retaliation for dirty play (it was my teammate who turned around and kicked another girl in the leg for whatever foul) resulted in an immediate red card. My teammate was out for that game and the next one. It totally wasn't worth it and much of the team (and the coach) was angry with her for doing so. We had to play a player down and we lost her help in the next game.
It's just not worth it. As a female player at the college level, you only have so many games that you're going to be able to play at that high level. Why risk it when we're out there to actually play the game?
I totally agree, but what i hadn't considered prior to this is how your example is a scary analogue for quite a few cases of sexual harassment or sexual assault--the victim is assaulted, and then faces pressure from all directions not to report.
The distinction, of course, is that "the game" is less important in real life than in sports. But even then, in environments such as business or academia, time and time again women conclude that pursuing charges is "just not worth it," balanced against to the threats to their career or position. Does sports reinforce this attitude? I don't know.
I've played Men's soccer for most of my life... played it at a collegiate level. In both high school and college, it was generally known that Women's soccer is "dirtier" and more physical, pound-for-pound, than Men's soccer. Different standards for physicality apply to the Women's game.
In limited situations in hockey, sometimes. But that's hockey, an outlier to say the least. In football, that sort of stuff will get you 15 yards, a first down, and the announcers wondering just how stupid you were to pull something like that.
I was surprised to see Deadspin (the ultra-popular sports blog that usually lays the sexism on pretty heavy) actually echo this same sentiment about this the other day. They drew the comparison between Lambert's actions and Zinedane Zidan's famous world cup headbutt (pointing out that the latter was only notable because of when it occurred). Their general reaction was something along the lines of "hey, its ridiculous to react to this simply because it happened between two women."
I'm mostly perturbed that this is being nationally covered at all. Yes, her play was inappropriate, but it was also super common, especially in male sports. Lambert's actions were a wild overreaction and escalation of small acts of rough play, but trying to draw an overreaction like this is a part of soccer strategy. It happens every day.
What does it take for a male athlete to get this kind of national attention? Generally an attack that legitimately threatened the long-term health of the opponent. Two weeks ago, a Florida football player poked a Georgia player in the eye. It recieved some national coverage and a great deal of deserved hand-wringing, but the outrage certainly lacked the absurd gloss of "whats happened to americas men!?"
Meow!!!! Kitty attack!!!
A soccer game will be as brutal as they coaches require and as the refs allow.
The clips show a game totally out of control, as if the refs had swallowed their whistles and were unable to cough them back up.
It happens a lot these days, but still: what a pity!
My sons played soccer, and they and my daughter played basketball, and all three were warriors on the field or court; they played tough, but they played fair, or else the refs, the coaches, or their parents sat them down.
Women, as well as men, deserve competent officials.
Thank you for bringing this issue up. The media coverage brings this hilarity to mind. Get ready for.... (dun dun dun) ... deadly...WOMEN.
http://investigation.discovery.com/tv/deadly-women/deadly-women.html
I'm not sure what's so ridiculous about this, it just seems to be a show about female murderers...
I think a lot of these plays were not called on by the refs because they were outside the area of play; meaning, the ball was probably up the field, and this action was happening out of the visual focus of the refs.
I was a soccer player all my life, not NCAA, but I did even play ODP (Olympic Developmental Program) and I was also trained as a ref and worked as a ref for several years. In soccer you are trained to let the ball & game play forward unless the foul is either affecting the game in some way or could cause harm to a player. Obviously, had the refs seen this behavior, it should have been called on, because punching in the back and yanking someone down on the ground is potentially harmful to the player, even if it wasn't affecting the game because it was outside the play.
I only received two yellow cards in my whole 'career', and I used to use my body to obstruct the ball all the time (supposed to be illegal to obstruct); but again, I think refs are more likely not to call something and let the players play the game. However, this clip DOES remind me of one of those yellow cards I got: I got so pissed because the other team kept getting away with side tackles and taking our feet out (illegal) and the ref wasn't calling it; so the next time this girl did it to me, I fell down (obviously, she took my feet out) but I made it a point to fall on top of her - and I continued to sit on her and wouldn't let her up until the ref finally gave me a yellow card.
Was it worth it? Actually, yes. But it wasn't a finals game or anything that affected my playing the next game or my teams rank in the league. So I completely understand why the receiver of this attack didn't react.
Final thought: I think the best comment made above was about how this is the only way female sports gain media attention. That seems very true to me, and is very sad and frustrating. I have hope, however; Chicago just got a professional female soccer team, the Red Stars, which is a good sign. Women's sports are growing - pretty soon, the media won't be able to ignore them or only show them when it gets violent.
ESPN did a fairly fine piece about the incident. At least, I can't remember any egregious remarks regarding "catty" sportsmanship, which I was certainly expecting. But that it was reported on at all is still a testament to the "girl fight!!!!" treatment the incident got in the press.
Lambert's play, at least the clips shown by ESPN, is clearly unsportsmanlike, but not every clip displayed awful fouls. Soccer is a much more physical sport than most non-players know. And it's really hard to know how bad some of her acts were outside of the context of the rest of the game. It could have been a very physical game.
I've seen games, played in front of full bleachers, where two players have gone after each other throwing punches and neither player get ejected.
Still, at least three, possibly four, of the plays I saw warranted at LEAST a yellow card, meaning that she should have been ejected from the game
I take it back... ESPN's reporter did a pretty poor job. He sounded incredulous and super serious, like a NASCAR racer had died or something.
I think the primary implication is that our society has become so violent and so obsessed with carnage that even women are acting like men. It has been reduced to spectacle, certainly, but when popular perception is that women simply don't behave this way, that line of "logic" is quick to follow.
The next argument will be that feminism encourages women to act like men. Just you wait.
I think the primary implication is that our society has become so violent and so obsessed with carnage that even women are acting like men. It has been reduced to spectacle, certainly, but when popular perception is that women simply don't behave this way, that line of "logic" is quick to follow.
The next argument will be that feminism encourages women to act like men. Just you wait.
OK, I don't follow soccer, so I had no idea that it involved so much contact. It makes me wonder... the guest speaker talks as though (less rough) hair-pulling isn't uncommon in women's soccer. Is that true, and if so, why are so many of the women wearing their hair down? Wouldn't cutting it short or putting it up give them an advantage, at least until the other teams followed suit? Is it a rule or a tradition to keep it in a ponytail/braid?
(I'm not not not trying to suggest that this is the other woman's fault in the slightest, or that she "should" have done anything differently. If she had her hair up, Lambert still could've pulled her down by the hair or just pushed her. I'm thinking specifically about the less-rough hair-pulling that players might reasonably expect as part of the game, if that really is something they can expect.)
WOW! I would definitely investigate the refs. I'm thinking get rid of them. You cant cheat like that. Because of the cheating by them they should have the game be an automatic loss. If someone pulled my hair like that I'd be pissed. Definitely time for punching back.
My take might be different. I will admit she was clearly wrong but I liked her aggression and her fire. Last year the big todo was the softball team carrying the fallen opponent around the bases. I didn't like it, if I gave up a homerun I wish a teammates of mine would aid the enemy like that. That's betrayal. But women sports are supposed to be warm and cuddly--and therefore not taken seriously.
...also as those of us who watch ESPN know this didn't get anymore heat than the Florida footballer player did for his dirty play.
2 things: the florida player's dirty play was a lot more serious because eye injuries are so much more serious.
second, even with that, i'm not sure it got more "heat", compared to market share. The florida-georgia game was already covered by ESPN, so it was already newsworthy. And the discussion surrounding it wasn't a discussion based on sexist attitudes.
Conversely, mid-major conference Women's college soccer is not usually considered newsworthy. It is way below ESPN's radar, therefore it takes a lot more outrage for it to make these kinds of headlines. The ONLY reason it even made it on ESPN was because these were two women fighting and people wanted to be shocked about that.
I disagree with everything you said.
...but the eye part