Then the coach called her “unpatriotic” in a media interview for deciding to play for Russia.
The only way I would represent another country is if I had some meaningful ties to it – you know, if my grandparents were from it, or I had spent quite a bit of time there or something.
In other words, I would be comfortable being mildly mercenary, but not nakedly mercenary like Hammon.
I think the word “traitor” is effing ridiculous.
When the US hosted the World cup in '94, several of the Team USA players had lived all their lives elsewhere. Traitors?
You’re making the erroneous assumption that any significant number of Americans knew that (or knew anything about soccer at all, come to think of it). If anything, Americans tend to think of soccer as a sport for foreigners and little kids, and wouldn’t be surprised or outraged if the entire “American” team consisted of foreign-born players.
As for this particular WNBA player, well, thirty-two years ago this would have been a big deal. Now? Almost nobody will care. Hardly anybody here regards Russia as an ideological foe any more (a somewhat hostile rival, yes, but not a real enemy), and hardly anybody gets that excited about more than a few Olympic events. There are a few colleges (University of Tennessee, e.g.) where women’s basketball has loads of fans, but in general, women’s basketball attracts so little interest that practically nobody is going to care about “treason” like this.
I was looking at it from the other side: were they traitors to their home countries (which most likely had established soccer traditions) because they left home to play for the US?
Here’s an article that includes Becky’s point of view. She’s hardly a traitor. I think what she’s doing is perfectly OK.
You seem to have confused an Olympic event with something that actually matters. They’re playing a game. Who wins, who loses, and what side they’re on when they do either is almost entirely immaterial.
From that article: “But if the 5-foot-6 point guard from America’s heartland does ascend that medal stand in Beijing, she won’t be wearing America’s red, white and blue.”
Oh? Remind me again what color Russia’s flag is? I guess the color order matters?
Read it this way: “…she won’t be wearing America’s read, white and blue.”
(Emphasis mine) Past tense, right?
Of course she should play for Russia. They’re the only ones offering her a spot. How else can she prove to the American coaches that they made a mistake in not picking her, other than by playing for the opponent and playing well. That’s what happened back in '76, when a guard from Marquette named Butch Lee, while playing for Puerto Rico, almost singlehandedly beat the U.S. basketball team at the Montreal Olympics.
Best of luck to her.