In the wee hours of this morning, the Spanish Women’s National Team defeated the Swedish team 2-1 and advanced to the Finals of the Women’s World Cup. In the early morning hours tomorrow, England will play the hosts, Australia, for the honor of meeting the Spaniards in the Finals. The Australian team – – known as The Matildas from the song Waltzing Matilda – – have come a long way to achieve this status. The Matildas played in their first Women’s World Cup tournament in 1995 and lost all three games in the Group Stage by a combined score of 13-3. It was not until 2007 that the Aussies graduated to the Knockout Round in a World Cup tournament and here they are in 2023 one game away from the Finals. The Matildas will enjoy a lot of hometown advantage and they must be the sentimental favorites here.
In other soccer news, the English Premier League saw its first weekend of action but did not exactly put out the welcome mat for the three teams that were promoted to the Premier League as a result of last year’s action.
- Burnley: This team won the English Championship League last year to earn promotion. They opened this year on the road against powerhouse, Manchester City and lost 3-0. Man City should be in the thick of the fight for the top spot in the Premier League this year, so perhaps this result is not as bad as it looks.
- Luton Town: This is the Cinderella story of the EPL this year. In 2009, Luton Town was demoted out of the professional leagues in England and had been found guilty of “financial irregularities”; the team was on the verge of dissolution. Since then, Luton Town has fought its way up the five levels of professional soccer in England and clawed its way into the EPL for now. Luton Town opened this season at home against Brighton and lost convincingly 4-1.
- Sheffield United: The Blades – as the team is called – were last part of the EPL in 2019 and the team holds a distinction that cannot be matched. In 1993 when the EPL was formed, Sheffield United was in the league and the Blades registered the first goal ever in EPL competition. Sheffield United opened league play this year on the road against Crystal Palace and lost 1-0.
Moving on … I have mentioned in the past that there is an ongoing investigation in Iowa of college football players improperly betting on sports. There are new developments on that front according to the Des Moines Register. The most outrageous allegation is that a defensive tackle for Iowa State, Isiaha Lee, bet on Iowa State games in which he played and in at least one of those wagering events, he bet against Iowa State. Forget any consideration of the” bad optics” that might be associated with such behavior; I doubt you could find any ethicists who might say that this behavior exists in a positive light in the ethical universe.
If Isiaha Lee really did what is alleged here, then his behavior dwarfs the actions of another player identified as part of this investigation. Jirehl Brock – a running back for the Cyclones – is accused of “tampering with records” because he placed bets in accounts registered to someone other than himself. According to the Des Moines Register, Brock bet on four Iowa State games including two that he played in.
Iowa State coach, Matt Moore, has said that when a young man makes a mistake, that is not a reason to “give up on him”. Considering that Jirehl Brock was his leading rusher last year and that Moore’s starting QB is also implicated in this investigation, you can write off some of that thinking to enlightened self-interest. Even though it is unquestionably true that young males tend to “make mistakes” and do dumb things, there are certain categories of “mistakes” that transcend your “garden variety youthful indiscretion”. Betting on the outcome of a game in which you are a participant – – and even worse betting against your team – – separates out into an elite category of “mistakes”. If these allegations are proven to be accurate, these young men deserve a lifetime ban from collegiate athletics and nothing less.
Switching gears … It seemed as if the investigation into improper recruiting by Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines during the “dark period” caused by the COVID outbreak had come to a conclusion. Reports said that Harbaugh would be suspended for the first 4 games of this season. That was not even a slap on the wrist because those four games were against three out-of-conference cupcakes and then Rutgers. But this matter took an unusual turn last week.
The NCAA seems to have rejected the reported deal and any resolution would be pushed back until after the upcoming college football season. Then the Committee on Infractions would take up the matter – – raising the question, who has been working on this issue for the past several years if not the Committee on Infractions? Here is the distillation of the alleged infractions in the case from an NCAA official:
“The Michigan infractions case is related to impermissible on and off-campus recruiting during the COVID-19 dead period and impermissible coaching activities …”
On the surface, it would appear that this could be resolved in less than several years, no?
Finally, here is an entry from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm pertaining to soccer:
“Football: 1. An American sport in which men try to get a teardrop shaped ball from one end of a big field to another while grunting, piling on top of one another and giddily jumping up and sown when they succeed. Homoerotic? You decide. 2. An English sport in which the fans could kick the ass of just about any of the players.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………