One of my passions is soccer (no, really..?) and particularly the local soccer teams, the Timbers on the men's side and the Thorns on the women's.
Laid up as I am I spend a fair bit of time watching both teams - and the Timbers are, after a pretty awful start, on a bit of a tear so Howay you Timbers! - as well as thinking and writing about them over at my other gig, Riveting!
So it was with sickened horror I read this past week that the Thorns' coach during the 2014 and 2015 seasons was a loathsome rapey scumbag who was savaging his own players while we all cheered and sang for him and them and then got away clean after being fired for fucking up the 2015 season on the pitch.
It's a sad, tired, familiar old story, but carries a heavy blow because it comes so close to home.
Anyway, I'm still immersed in this mess as I go through the boring daily round of my rehabilitation, and though I don't want to go any deeper into it here (you can read my full thoughts on the mess over here), I just thought I'd mention it briefly.
I'm sick, sad, and angry at everyone - in my club, in the league - who had a role in this desecration of the young women of my beloved Thorns and, through them, many of my own happy and cherished memories.
Looks like they bounced the GM also. But he still retains his job with the Timbers.
ReplyDeleteI caught a small segment of the story yesterday on the BBC's World Football news program via the car radio when on the way home. They featured gold medalist Heather O'Reilly, who had played at UNC when the "rapey scumbag" coached there.
ReplyDeleteFrom the short segment I heard it seems the BBC thinks that the Thorns coach is just the tip of the iceberg and there will be much more exposed internationally.