I'll Say It: The United States Choked

Sometimes, blogging and talking about sports for a living leads you to have to say things that are unpleasant.

I've had to salute the 15-1 Minnesota Vikings as being the best NFL team I have ever seen, and probably the best team ever to not win the Super Bowl.

How many times have we had to tip our cap at the Yankees? Or the Red Wings? It happens in sports.

And sometimes, you have to say negative things about a team you cheer for.

Sunday, the U.S. Women's National Team fell in penalty kicks to Japan in the Women's World Cup final. The game was a riveting display of skill and creativity on the biggest stage the sport has to offer. In many ways, it was a lesson to the men on how the game should be played when so much is on the line, instead of the ultra-conservative dive-fests we get in the men's World Cup.

It was a great game, but it didn't turn out the USA's way, as Japan rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 down to force penalty kicks, and then beat the U.S. team 3-1 in PKs.

In soccer, you don't see games of this magnitude happen this way very often. Sure, they go penalty kicks, but it's quite rare for a team to blow two leads in a match. It was peculiar to see that same script play out in the quarterfinal match between the United States and Brazil, where the Americans won. This time, they didn't close the deal.

Watching the match, it wasn't like the U.S. team just stopped playing when they had the lead, but they also made too many mistakes on their half of the field. A badly-hit clearing attempt led to Japan's first goal, and the extra-time equalizer was scored on a horribly-defended set piece.

The performance by the U.S. team in the penalty kick shootout was atrocious. Poorly-struck balls followed a bad-luck shot that ended up being a great kick save by the Japanese keeper, one she would be severely challenged to repeat at any point in time.

Why am I bringing all of this up? Well, watching the ESPN postgame coverage led my wife and I to the same conclusion.

ESPN was tap-dancing around reality.

The Americans choked, and no one wanted to say it.

Why did no one want to say it? Because women were involved? Because the U.S. team had to pull off an incredible win over Brazil just to get here? Because we were all -- justifiably -- really happy for Japan, a nation that has suffered greatly because of natural disasters this year?

No matter the motivation, no one would say it ... at least not on TV.

Among others, Bomani Jones and CBS' Mike Freeman tweeted such sentiments, but they still appeared to be in the minority.

The reality is that the "choking" statement is harsh, but it's true. The U.S. team didn't play well with a lead, like they felt too much pressure to hold the lead. Had they capitalized on a multitude of first-half chances, maybe they wouldn't have felt that pressure.

If that 1998 Vikings team choked against Atlanta (they did), if the Houston Oilers choked against the Bills back in the day (yes), then it's fair to say the U.S. team choked Sunday.

It doesn't mean we didn't have a great team with some great players and some faces -- namely Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, and Hope Solo -- that will potentially become household names thanks to the notoriety they gained in this tournament. It doesn't mean a silver medal isn't a great achievement.

It just means it could -- and should -- have been better.

You're not wrong if you feel that way. You're wrong if you feel that way and are afraid to express it.

Former Bulldog Honored by NSIC

From UMD comes news of a former UMD women's basketball standout who will be inducted into the Northern Sun Conference Hall of Fame next month.

Very cool news.

Denise Holm, a standout in the University of Minnesota Duluth basketball backcourt during the late 1980s, will join seven other enshrinees on July 14 when the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Hall of Fame holds its 2010 induction ceremonies. The event will take place at the Best Western Kelly Inn in St. Cloud, Minn.

The class of 2011 also includes Susan Alstrom (Bemidji State University), Manny Beckman (Minnesota State University-Mankato), Scott Dubbelde, (Southwest Minnesota State University), Elise (Olsgaard) Erickson (Minnesota State University-Moorhead), Dan Hagen (St. Cloud State University), Stephanie (Hengel) Popelar (Northern State University), and Elisabeth (Morgan) Shannon (Winona State University).

Holm was an All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and All-NAIA District 13 first team honoree as both a junior and senior and exited the UMD program as its all-time leader in assists (813), steals (236) and games played (118). The Duluth, Minn., native captained UMD to a pair of NAIA National Tournament berths (1987-88 and 1988-89) and one NSC title (1988-89) while handling a starting point guard role for three seasons. During her farewell collegiate go-around in 1988-89, she topped the NCAA Division II ranks with a school-record 291 assists (9.1 per game) in addition to establishing a team single-game mark for assists (13) on two different occasions. The co-winner of the 1988-89 UMD Outstanding Senior Female Athlete award, Holm went on to serve as the head girls' basketball coach at Duluth Central High School for five years and Duluth East High School, her alma mater, for another seven seasons. She was a two-time Region 8AAAA/Region 7AAA Coach of the Year while at Duluth East High School and, in 2004, became a member of the UMD Athletic Hall of Fame.

Cheerleading on Trial

Women have -- rightfully so -- been fighting for their rights for so many years now. It's actually ridiculous that the "Get in the kitchen" and "Make me a sandwich" crowds have lasted as long as they have.

It's proof that even human beings can be completely insensitive and stupid.

Title IX -- a law not designed for sports -- has helped women come a long way toward gaining equal footing in the athletic world. The law mandates equal opportunity for females, and it has been interpreted -- right or wrong, mind you -- to mean colleges have to even up the competitive opportunities and scholarships based on their overall student population.

Argue all you want about its ups and downs. That's a different subject for a different day. It's for real.

Schools have been looking to figure out how to comply without cutting a ton of men's sports for years. In the meantime, sports like wrestling, swimming, and sometimes hockey and football have gone away to help save money and get a university in compliance.

But what happens when a school wants to cut a women's sport to save money?

They have to find a cheaper women's sport to spend scholarship money on.

This is what happened at Quinnipiac University. The powers-that-be wanted to save a few dollars, so they decided to do away with women's volleyball. They needed a cheaper alternative to replace those scholarships and keep the school in Title IX compliance. Luckily for them, there was -- they thought -- an option.

Cheerleading.

Yes, I said cheerleading.

Volleyball players were incensed. They sued the school, claiming that cheerleading is not a sport.

Now, the case is in court, and a federal judge is charged with deciding if it's a real sport. It's one of the more interesting cases involving sports we've seen in court for some time.

... the university says is a less expensive program that serves more women, the New Haven Register reported.

Five volleyball players and their coach sued the university, alleging that cheerleading is not a real sport and the university improperly counts or exaggerates its number of athletes to get around Title IX requirements.

... Expert witness Jeff Webb, chief executive of Varsity Spirit, testified that making cheerleading a competitive college sport would threaten "classical sideline cheerleading," according to the Associated Press. He added that cheerleading is as much of a sport as chess.

Except I don't remember the last time someone tore an ACL playing chess.

Something being dangerous and athletic doesn't make it a sport. However, where do we draw the line? There are competitive cheerleading championships. Surely, you've seen them on ESPN before. The people on these teams put a lot of time and effort into what they do, and while there isn't any kind of professional equivalent to it for anyone to go in after college, there isn't a professional equivalent for a lot of college sports, but yet we label them as sports.

Sanctioning cheerleading as a college sport could be bad for the cause of women's athletics. Cheerleading involves more people and is cheaper than most any other sport a university can sponsor. If you think there aren't enough women's hockey, volleyball, or softball programs now, wait until Quinnipiac wins this lawsuit, and schools look to drop expensive, money-bleeding non-revenue sports for cheerleading.

The quality and visibility of cheerleading will rise, but is that really a good thing?