Megan Rapinoe isn't here to make you comfortable

[demmiblue]

It’s hard to keep count of all the polarizing ways that people describe Megan Rapinoe. The United States women’s soccer forward is a star, and she’s a pariah. She’s fun-loving, and she’s annoying. She’s exuberant, and she’s excessive. She’s a necessary voice, and she’s an irreverent troublemaker. She’s delightful, and she’s disgraceful. She’s essential to our World Cup hopes, and when she declines to sing the “Star-Spangled Banner” with her teammates, she’s inappropriate for our world-class ego.

She’s America, too, by the way. Oh, she’s America. And there is no counter to that.

Rapinoe is just a person unafraid to express the good, bad and unflinchingly ugly in our diverse and complicated country, and that allows her to be a mirror. The way you react to Rapinoe reflects an image of America. It can be depressing to see, but at least it is true. This is the point of her audacity, of her declaration that she is a “walking protest.” She forces you to care.

Love or hate her, celebrate with or root against her, dig or diss her colorful hairstyles. She’s still going to represent the U.S. and do so with athletic grace and grit. She’s still the woman who scored two goals on penalty kicks to lead Team USA past Spain and into the World Cup quarterfinals. You will pay attention to her, and if you’re not too busy listening to your own voice, perhaps you will learn something.

...

Her stances don’t make her different from her teammates and a detriment to this great soccer program. They verify that she is a product of a revolutionary tradition.

...

But she is an essential rebel: a defiant woman refusing to play by the antiquated be-cute-and-courteous rules that make many men feel better about female athletes. She is a societal disrupter, born of a program of societal disrupters, and thank heavens that this individual decided to join forces with this team.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/megan-rapinoe-isnt-here-to-make-you-comfortable/2019/06/25/af08fda0-977c-11e9-8d0a-5edd7e2025b1_story.html?utm_term=.4700b68f7d0a&tid=sm_tw

[Me.]

1. And By The Way Traitor Trump

The women, by the numbers, are a bigger draw than the men

[Harker]

2. Exceptional athletes

are fun sometimes.

They make me smile when I struggle up the stairs.

Let them exult in their youth and power.

[Girl powers]

3. Fox soccer coverage

Fox commentary
USA won 2-0 on two penalty kicks. Did not mention “by whom” so I will - Megan Rapinoe. Fox is too pathetically small minded to give the name of the hero. Should make you suspicious of all their commentary. GGP