Growing up, soccer just wasn't my sport. I'm more of an (American) football guy. And as such, I struggled to juggle a soccer ball outside Rachel's office with my colleagues. But I found myself trying really, really hard (as Rachel noted at one point when she expressed concern that I might injure myself). Reflecting upon it, I realize I wasn't trying hard because there was a camera present. I wanted to be good at soccer.
And as you saw prior to last night's Interview with four members of the World Cup runner-up U.S. women's soccer team (and in several of our soccer-themed segments in the past few weeks), a lot of Americans care about being good at soccer. Whether it was about a genuine love for the sport, national pride, or just wanting to be good at something the whole world but us seems to live and die for -- whatever it was, people were inspired.
Midfielder Heather O'Reilly noted last night the effect the 1999 World Cup champion women's team had on them as young girls, and the effect they hope to have on girls today. I can testify -- and so can those reaction videos -- that they did not simply move young girls. They moved men and women, young and old. They moved me. Role models are not confined to gender. I'm proof positive of that.
(Thanks, Will Femia, for the pics. Full segment here.)
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That interview was serious Rachel fangirling awesomeness. :)
Was quite impressed with your Juggling Skills..Rachel. Interview was great though
I was wondering if Rachel was going to get a T-shirt or something. Thanks for posting the pics. Wonderful.
As far as role models, I think Rachel is a great role model: get an education and be smart, work well with others, be fair minded, work for what you want instead of expecting life to hand you your dreams on a silver platter, and be yourself in a world that is trying to conform you to be some media perpetuated model. The women on the soccer team are also good role models.
We all want to be good at something so that we can have that inner assurance that we are worthy despite anyone else's opinion, and that our talents and skills contributed to the common good. That's my take on it.
Rachel is a positive role model for my sword swinging daughter.
Like Jamil, I'm an American football fan. However, I tuned in to see our "girls" go for the World Cup. It was real nail-biter...a terrific game. Like many Americans I have trouble with the slow pace of the scoring. What really impressed me was the SKILL these ladies displayed. Holy cow! Amazing athleticism and discipline! The bazillions of hours of training and playing that went into the making of this team were obvious. My hat's off to the USA Womens Team! You go girls!
It's funny, because my friends and I were talking during the game about the perception that soccer is "slow paced", but they. never. stop. moving.
I love American football, but talk about a slow pace. Start. Stop. Start. Stop.
I think once you get into watching the back and forth and the steals and shots of soccer, you stop thinking about how many points are scored and just start to enjoy the game.
And that's what was nice about everyone getting into this amazing run by the US women. I think a lot more people really DID see the skill and athleticism involved, and once again, are hyped about the awesome sport of soccer/futbol. :)
DJ, you are right about American football being slow. I believe there is a station that shows an entire game's action in twenty-something minutes, once they cut out the non-action minutes. Plus only half the team is on the field at any given time, since very few players "play both ways", that is on both offense and defense. (No pun intended.)
O yeah! What a glorious interview! Loved the turkey and wild turkey handshakes!
That was an incredible run at the World CUp, ladies! Congratulations and I was happy for Japan, as well. Obviously, the final was well played and came down to the wire, which team had the penalty kick to win?
You could tell Maddow was a soccer player with the juggling snippet.
I heard she was an excellent volley baller in a former time...
Watching this whole experience with the Women's Team has made me glad to be a woman in this post Title IX world. Thank you to Rachel for showing such enthusiasm toward the team.
Have great admiration for the US Women’s soccer team’s accomplishments at the World Cup. But I’ll be honest, the (seemingly) lack of racial diversity of this team bothers me. Anyone else think so? Does anyone know the story behind the program?
Yes. This is my impression why (but caveat what the heck do I know)
A) Soccer in America is still very much a pay to play sport and thus a middle/upper-middle class sport. And to reach a high level you need intense parental involvement (read: parents with extra time) and money for travel, camps, teams. High school soccer is meaningless (as compared to basketball, for example) and some players skip it entirely to focus on club, because that's the real feeder. Unlike basketball, you can't develop your skills on the playground and win a scholarship to a basketball high school that will feed you into college.
B) Basketball is still a bigger deal than soccer at the collegiate level and the WNBA more successful than the WPS. So if you are a star athlete and your love for basketball and soccer is the same -- what would you choose?
C) IMO this is another reason why the world is catching up to us. They don't have this model and our pool has stayed the same since 1990 and hasn't expanded in demographic even if it expanded in numbers.
I agree with you.I watched this from England and was amazed by the lack of diversity in a U.S sports team, especially one which represents your nation in an prestige tournament.Hopefully this will be looked into and addressed as the team and the sport can only become even stronger in your country by getting as many people involved as possible.The success of this team should be something you can build on.
Paul, we're busily cutting everything. The likelihood of a national soccer program is growing dimmer by the day.
Arts and music, sports and physical education, these are considered extras now being cut, and in some school systems around the country, haven't been formally offered in years.
It's nice that there are parents who are able to take their children to games and pay for camps and teams, so that we do have a wonderful women's soccer team to send into international competition, but you're right, it would be nicer if soccer (sports! art!) were for everyone, and not just a privileged few.
What's really fascinating about this is that across the world, soccer is massive, and I realized why a few years ago.
All you need is a ball. Sometimes people play with whatever they can put together to resemble a ball. In the poorest nations, people play futbol, because they can make some round thing to kick around out of whatever.
So I find it fascinating that in the US, it's such a "moneyed" thing, when around the world, it's easy for so many to play precisely BECAUSE you don't really need any other gear.
Truth be told though, it's just still not a popular sport here. Schools (if they have any money at all) put it into football or basketball mostly. It's a shame for all the reasons stated above.
great interview! thanks for not asking them "how did it feel to come so close and then lose? why do you think you choked?"
as always the questions rachel asked allowed for them to put their success into a larger context of women's sports in general.
it was clearly a case of who was more excited to meet who. a tweet from megan rapinoe post show:
Rachel hasn't learned her lesson from Republicans.
When you hit the ceiling, you get a senior citizen to pay to fix it.
Or send a child up on the roof...
The thing about soccer is pretty simple: human beings can play it. You don't have to be seven feet tall [1] or built like a bulldozer. You just have to work at it.
Sure, some people are born with the fast-twitch muscles, the reaction times, all that. But you can't just look at 90% of your first-grade class and say, "they'll never cut it." Everyone has a chance to be at least good enough to play in scratch games.
Walk down the street in any European city on a spring or summer evening and every stretch of grass has a game going on. Football (and I don't mean the kind with helmets and pads) may well be part of the reason so many other countries are healthier than we are.
[1] FWIW, I'm one of those well-over-six-feet types everyone insisted should have been good at basketball. Great way to make someone hate sports for life.
Also, It's the sport that takes the least investment. There is a reason that golf is considered a rich person's sport, it requires vast tracts of land, and occasionally, carts.
Tennis, Hockey, even Baseball needs extra equipment,
But for Soccer you just need the ball and some space.
@ vox, you do need one more thing for a quick Footie game, a couple of jumpers that are placed on the ground for goalposts. :)
great interview, MS Maddow! ever think about a P/T gig at ESPN, womens sports? oops- too much like Olbermann. but serious- I could feel the electricity from your enthusiam radiating out my TV screen. Wild turkey high fives to you !
One word, and one word only, comes to mind. Beautiful.
Rachel it doesn't look like you destroyed any ceiling tiles. If those are the fiber type, it probably just popped up off it's track and standing on a chair, you could of probably just put it back in place. Now unless you cracked or chipped it then maybe it's a different story, but from the video it doesn't look like that. You should of got the whole msnbc staff and set up a real game match in the office, lol.
Okay... can Rachel ski ?
Well, I thought I should once again voice/type my appreciation for Title IX. I think that is a dinosaur from the early 70s, yet still SO relevant. This is how more females became higher skilled and more competitive.
In my day, the best a female could do was G.A.A. (Girls Athletic Association), which was a far cry from the competition of today.
My previous partner (who died of cancer many years ago), a Boston University PhD in sociology (one of Howard Zinn's students) was a fierce advocate of Title IX. She would SO have loved this team.
In the early '70s, my introduction to team sports was through soccer. I was one of two girls "allowed" to play on the boys' team because we didn't have a girls' team in the area. I'm currently teaching at a high school that offers 14 varsity level sports to young women. Amazing!
You are lucky to be at a school that offers such opportnities to young women. Many schools are cutting their sports programs (except football and men's basketball) due to financial difficulties.
I know this comment is two days late and not many will view it, but the comment is still relevant. I remember six years ago when my sons high school girls soccer team went to the state finals (my son was in 3rd grade at the time). The team lost after triple overtime and the game was decided by penalty kicks.
My son was naturally saddened by the loss To cheer him up I explained to him that any two teams that end up ried after three five minute overtimes that force the game to be decided by penalty kicks are basically equals. In other words, the game ended in a dead heat with two winners and no losers. It is unfortunate that we must ascertain only one at the top especially in tournament play.
In reality, in maintaining their equality with the Japanese team the American girls can be seen as on the same level with them. I'm not attempting to take away from the Japanese team's victory. I'm just stating that the two teams are inherently equal.
TYPO (fayem): ried = tied
You know, I really need to get new letters on my keyboard keys!!
I agree with you and I don't. Yes, the two teams are inherently equal, and a game decided on penalty kicks, or free throws, or a shoot-out is essentially a dead heat decided by the good fortune of the final goal.
However, we as a species are incredibly competitive, and the world we live in is set up for winners and losers. The current struggles in politics are a classic example of one group's need to win over the other at any cost.
I think it would be better if we lived in a world where progress were a cooperative effort, but until these religious conservatives stop trying to impose their faith-based 'values' on the rest of us, cooperation just doesn't seem to be possible.
i'd really love to play juggle-ball with you Rachel....seriously....wager & all :D