Comments on Fake Sigi: On Elizabeth Lambert of University of New Mexico

Wow, can't believe I missed that. Thanks.

2009-11-09T11:52:36.799-08:00

Wow, can't believe I missed that. Thanks.

You have it wrong Elizabeth Lambert is a UNM Lobo,...

2009-11-09T11:51:18.860-08:00

You have it wrong Elizabeth Lambert is a UNM Lobo, NOT affiliated with New Mexico State. You are slandering the wrong program. It's University of New Mexico.

"My take on Lambert is that we're seeing a sexist ...

2009-11-06T18:47:25.942-08:00

"My take on Lambert is that we're seeing a sexist reaction of a player cheating at roughly the level of a male player, and unfortunately playing into the hair-pulling stereotype. You could put a camera on an MLS defender chosen nearly at random, and get similar footage, up to and including David Beckham."

I can't find footage at the moment, but look at what Beckerman did to Lenhart on a fk in the first game, I think. Same stuff.

As for the development of the game, I hadn't thought about that. You should make a post of it.

Well, come to think of it, the most notorious inci...

2009-11-06T17:33:28.140-08:00

Well, come to think of it, the most notorious incidents I remember in WPS were Wambach injuring Daniela and Marta injuring Wilson, and there was one yellow card issued between them.

But...boy, the only other red card I can think of that was significant was Boxx in the World Cup final in China, and, that was widely thought to be a very harsh call. Andy's seen an order of magnitude more women's games than I have, so I hesitate to contradict him, but comparing the Sol to the Galaxy or Chivas USA, and there's no comparison about fair play.

My take on Lambert is that we're seeing a sexist reaction of a player cheating at roughly the level of a male player, and unfortunately playing into the hair-pulling stereotype. You could put a camera on an MLS defender chosen nearly at random, and get similar footage, up to and including David Beckham.

We might ALSO - should I have saved this for my own stupid blog? - see a re-enactment of the development of the men's version of the game. The game was hilariously rough, but "gentlemanly" - calls would slide because no sportsman would dream of, or tolerate being accused of, committing a deliberate foul. As the game got more profitable, and as the stakes grew larger, the incentive to foul deliberately and dive deliberately grew, and there was much more pressure on the referee to enforce the rules as written. So as more and more girls are playing for their scholarships and their livelihoods, we'll see the women play rougher, just like the men.

AND...well, Youtube. If she had done this a couple of years ago, no one would have noticed.

Hell, if she had done this last week, she would have been overshadowed by the bitching about umpires. Too much technology, bad timing, hypocritical media moralizing, the need for constant news - it's not just sexism at play here.

Turns out in MLS there were 82 red cards in 225 ga...

2009-11-06T16:37:59.388-08:00

Turns out in MLS there were 82 red cards in 225 games, compared to WPS having 4 red cards in 70 games.

If my maths are wrong on the total games played, let me know.

Wow, that's really not very many. Of course, th...

2009-11-06T16:26:27.575-08:00

Wow, that's really not very many.

Of course, there wasn't a red card in this game either, so WHO KNOWS what those women were getting up to unnaturally.

I was shocked at what Andy said, because there was...

2009-11-06T16:03:48.117-08:00

I was shocked at what Andy said, because there was a grand total of four red cards in all of WPS' first season - http://www.womensprosoccer.com/standings/detailed/player_e. I thought by and large the women's pro game is vastly cleaner than the men's version.

Heh, I didn't even think about the angle on Foudy....

2009-11-06T11:47:18.853-08:00

Heh, I didn't even think about the angle on Foudy. But you're right that they had to get a woman since she had the special knowledge.

As for crunching numbers, I am at my core lazy. Maybe scaryice over at Climbing the Ladder could take a look at WPS and MLS.

Spot on, as usual, to point out the gendering of t...

2009-11-06T10:09:06.114-08:00

Spot on, as usual, to point out the gendering of the reactions. (And, of course, asking Julie Foudy--the Token Female Analyst--to explain the incident. Because all women are secretly tapped into a collective unconscious in which we bicker over shoes, boys, and bra sizes, and we always know exactly what every other woman's motivation is.)

There is no doubt that the game was physical, and to that end, the official(s) may have been justified in letting rougher play continue. It's never a good move to start cracking down on plays that you let slide earlier in the game, so I guess I'm willing to grant a little red-card wiggle-room for the sake of consistency.

That being said, however, I do think (as a former player and a watcher and an official) that women's games tend to be officiated either much more leniently or much more strictly than men's. My skewed perspective? Officials' subconscious desire to see a muddy catfight develop? Hard to say. Maybe there IS no difference.

Want to crunch the numbers on this? We should run some analysis on fouls called and cards given at various levels to both men and women. Obviously there are a whole bunch of unquantifiable factors in play, but it'd be a start.